Study Series 16 Lesson 9: This study covers chapter 21 and goes into numerous topics such as:
THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH
At the conclusion of the millennium, John sees the arrival of the new heavens and earth, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1).
When studying Revelation, it is vital that we always keep in mind that Revelation is a book which is dealing with and describing things in both the seen and unseen realms. It is imperative that we remember this in order for us to properly interpret passages.
• A key thing to remember is that the “new heavens and earth Eternal kingdom” is a new arrangement of the universe, both in the unseen realm of heaven and in the seen realm on earth. The invisible realities of His Kingdom emanates in the unseen realm from heaven, and manifests itself on earth through the visible Church. The New Heavens and Earth is a new government (Kingdom) and new world order of things both in the SEEN and UNSEEN realms, based on the redemptive work of Christ. The old arrangement of the world, which was based on the sacrificial system (instituted since
the fall in the garden where the Lord Himself slayed the first animal to cloth Adam and Eve), passed away, and Christ’s new world order (kosmos) or administration (oikonomia) was established.This creation of “a new heaven and a new earth” is not the creation of a new planet with a new sun, moon and stars, as many materialistic sects would have us believe. What John sees is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies which described the New Testament order as a new heaven and a new earth. The expression denotes a change in the spiritual and heavenly order of things (cosmological change). The old cosmological heaven and earth since the time of Adam was instituted by God in the garden through animal sacrifice (Gen. 3:21) (typological of the true sacrifice who was to come – Christ), and was codified and ratified into
an Old Covenant through Israel at Mount Sinai (Deut. 5:1-22; Isa. 51:15-16). Isaiah’s new heaven and earth was preceded by his portrayal of ancient Jerusalem’s destruction and followed by the creation of a new and different Jerusalem (Isa. 65:15-66:24).
Also, topic studies on:
• The New Jerusalem – Contrasted with the Old
• The New Jerusalem – Bride/Wife
• Babylon, the New Jerusalem and the New Tabernacle
• No More Tears
• The New Jerusalem and the Glory of God
• The Kings of the Earth Shall Bring Their Glory into it
• Nothing Unclean in Paradise
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