A New Heavens and a New Earth
17“For I will create new heavens and a new earth;
Isaiah 65:17-25
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man,
and the one who misses a hundred years will be considered cursed.
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be like the lifetime of a tree.
My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor without success
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.
24 Even before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like cattle,
but the serpent’s food will be dust!
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
John Lennon of the Beatles wrote a very popular song in 1971 called “Imagine” in which he expressed his belief or hope that that there is no hell, and no heaven for that matter (actually, this song promotes a materialistic Marxism ). My Lutheran confirmation pastor, a supposed Christian, did not believe there was a hell either. This was and is a very common belief. People would like it to be true. But from a biblical perspective, there are two problems with this belief. First, there is Scripture: 2 Pet. 3: “the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” (3:7) Our gospel lesson: some will be shut out. Other texts in Matthew: “outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” “They will go away into eternal punishment.” Hell is clearly taught.
The other problem is this: If there is no hell, then why did he send his only Son, have him endure great humiliation, have him suffer and die? These events and the whole Christian religion make no sense if there is no hell. If everyone either goes to heaven or non-existence, then why all this suffering? This would all be a bunch of unnecessary and useless work if everyone goes to heaven or non-existence, if there is no real hell to save us from.
Today, however, we will not focus on hell, but the opposite of hell. Our Old Testament lesson: For I will create new heavens and a new earth. Our Epistle lesson (2 Pet. 3): the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. … But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Rev. 21 speaks of it as well: “… I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (21:1)
So, the present heaven and earth – the universe as we often call it that we currently live in – is going to be destroyed, and another one that is beyond this life, beyond this world, beyond this universe, beyond time and space – a new heaven and new earth – will replace the present heaven and earth. The new heavens and earth are not the opposite of the one we live in now, for there are some similarities. Rather, the opposite of the new heaven and earth is hell.
So, what I am going to do now is describe a few amazing aspects of this new heaven and new earth that you might desire it because it is so fantastic.
- No more remembrance. Our text says, in the new heaven and earth “the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.” I was dean of students at Bethany Lutheran College. And to this very day, I will run across a former student who will sheepishly admit he was in my office once or more for discipline. I often say, “honestly, I don’t remember.” My failure to remember can be a kind of comfort for them. “The past events will not be remembered or come to mind.” The saints who are there will not remember the bad things, the sins, the rebellion, the sadness, the pain, the loss. Something you did or experienced here that caused you pain, depression, embarrassment, tears, guilt – anything connected with the fall, or sin, or imperfection, or death – will not be remembered. These memories are gone.
- Unending perfect beauty. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. Everything there will be “made in heaven,” or more accurately, Jesus-made. It will be a great work of art and architecture that we will be a part of, that will never stop satisfying the senses. Think of something a father, grandfather, made for you when you were a child. I made a model horse barn for my children over 30 years ago that has survived. But everything here, especially everything that is man-made, is decaying and will eventually be destroyed. But there in the new heaven and earth things will not decay, their beauty will not fade over time; there will be no ugliness, nothing will ever get boring. You will be able to explore caves, waterfalls, mountains, oceans, seas, forests that will never lose their beauty and wonder. CS Lewis: “Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
- Perfect harmony. “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle.” There will be a perfect harmony between God and all creatures and beings in the new heavens and the new earth. If creatures are there other than humans and angels, they will be awesome, not awful; we will not fear them, and they will not fear us. You will not be saddened by the death of any creatures – pets if they are there – because there is no death. There will be no ugliness of maggots. “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21)
- Perfect bodies. The people who are there will have real bodies, but they will be glorious, honorable, powerful, imperishable, and immortal. “[Christ] will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body…” (Phil. 3:21) Or, Isaiah 40: “… they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Is. 40:31). Our bodies will not get old; they will be ageless; they will not grow frail. There will be no need for cataract surgery, no blood pressure pills, crutches, no walkers, no cholesterol medication, no need for colonoscopies, no chemotherapy, no surgeries, CPAP machines. In fact, there will be no doctors; neither will there be counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, parole officers, or sheriffs and deputies; there will be no armed forces; none of these are necessary.
- Perfection within. Those there will have perfect joy, glorious rest, everlasting mercy, unlimited comfort, eternal pleasures. There will be no more loneliness, no fear, no pain, no weeping, no crying, no mourning; no anger of God because there is no sin, and because there is no sin there is no more death. “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:54).
So, does anyone want to go there? What is to come in the new heavens and new earth is barely imaginable now. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)
The important question: Why are they there? Why will they no longer remember sorrow, sin, pain, and the things that brought tears and guilt? Why will they only know perfect and unending beauty, harmony, imperishable and glorious bodies, and joy?
There is a particular scene in the Book of Revelation that reminds them and us of the answer. “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, …And [they]fell down before the Lamb. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy … because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God people from every tribe and language and people and nation. …I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Rev. 5)
This scene takes place in the new heavens and new earth and tells us who we will see and focus on above everyone else, who our praise will be directed toward above everyone else: one who is both a King and a Lamb. And this scene therefore is also a reminder of the most important day and event in the history of the world, that day we call Good Friday. So, let’s go there: Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple robe around Him. And they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were slapping His face. Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing Him outside to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging Him.” … Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” … “Here is your king!” But they shouted, “Take Him away! … Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” “We have no king but Caesar!” So … he handed Him over to be crucified. (John 19)
“We have no king but Caesar!” Well, they should have had a King besides Caesar, and it should have been this Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Why? Because he alone conquered their, and your, enemies, the enemies that count; and he conquered them by allowing himself to be slain, by becoming a sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
I slayed him, I crucified him. You slayed him, you crucified him. But this is how he conquered. His blood conquered your sins. His blood cleanses you from all your sins. And his blood has conquered your eternal death, your hell.
So why will those in the new heavens and the new earth be there, where the past events will not be remembered; where there will be unending harmony, beauty; immortal, imperishable, and glorious bodies; and endless joy? Because while they were alive here on earth, they bowed before Jesus as King and truly believed and trusted he was the Lamb who conquered their sin and the eternal death – the hell – they had earned. That’s it.
Will you be there? How do you know? Well, who are you? What is your nature like? Is it a nature that requires the sacrificial work and blood of Christ? If from the heart you say “yes,” do you also believe he is the King who became the Lamb of God for you? Know then the new heavens and new earth are yours. “Then the King will say to [you], ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'”
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