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Welcome to Christiabn Growth Center !. "Earth's Redemption and God's Plan - Part 2". Texts. Isa. 65:17a (NIV): “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth…” Isa. 66:2 (NIV):

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  1. Welcome to Christiabn Growth Center !

  2. "Earth's Redemption and God's Plan - Part 2"

  3. Texts • Isa. 65:17a (NIV): • “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth…” • Isa. 66:2 (NIV): • “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.”

  4. II Pet. 3:13 (NIV): • “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” • Rev. 21:1 (NIV): • “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”

  5. Introduction • Our last lesson sought to convey the importance of a redeemed Earth as well as redeemed humanity. • Today we will continue this thought.

  6. God’s Glory On God’s Earth • Psa. 19:1-2 (NIV) says: • “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”

  7. The physical heavens constantly declare God’s glory. • Even now, in reference to an Earth under the Curse, God says, “The glory of the Lord fills the whole earth” (Num. 14:21). • But the universe will one day behold an even greater display of God’s glory.

  8. This display of God’s glory will involve redeemed men and women and redeemed nations on a redeemed Earth. • God promises that it is on Earth that “the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it” (Isa. 40:5). • That God will be glorified on Earth is central to many passages.

  9. Two of those passages are identical: • Psa. 85:9:“Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that His glory may dwell in our land.” • Ezek. 43:2: “and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.

  10. In both of these passages, the word translated as “land” (erets) is the Hebrew word for “earth.” • Ezekiel saw God’s glory at the gates of Jerusalem. • The glory was not manifested in some immaterial realm, but on the Earth.

  11. In order to understand why Peter preached that God promised through the prophets that he would “restore everything” (Acts 3:21), consider the following passages. • These promise God’s glory will be manifested to all the nations of the Earth, particularly in the New Jerusalem, in the eternal Heaven on Earth:

  12. Psa. 102:15-16 (NIV) says: • “The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. 16For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.” • Isa. 11:9-10 (NIV): • “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain…

  13. “. . . for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse [Jesus] will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.” • Isa. 66:19-20 (NIV) says:

  14. “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. . .

  15. “. . . 20 ‘And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD – on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’ says the LORD. ‘They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels.’”

  16. Haggai 2:6-7: • “This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty.”

  17. From passages such as these, we learn that God’s eternal kingdom and dominion are not about what happens in some remote, unearthly place. • Instead, they are about what happens on the Earth, which God created for His glory. • God has tied His glory to the Earth.

  18. Everything is connected with God’s glory in the Earth: • Mankind, animals, trees, rivers, everything. • Isa. 6:3 says: • “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’”

  19. The Hebrew can be translated in this verse as, “the fullness of the Earth is His glory.” • His glory is manifested in His creation. • The earth is not disposable. • It is essential to God’s plan. • God has promised that ultimately, the whole Earth will be filled with His glory (Psa.72:19; Habakkuk. 2:14).

  20. God has plans for this Earth, and He will not let it go. • The redemption of mankind and the Earth required that Jesus die. • Both His incarnation and his Crucifixion have bound Him to the Earth and its eternal future. • Christ’s redemptive work bought and paid for our future and Earth’s.

  21. A Vision of The New Earth • Another significant passage that describes the New Earth is Isaiah, chapter 60. • Although it doesn’t contain the term “New Earth” (as do Isa. 65 and 66), it is certain that is what Isaiah was referring to.

  22. We can be certain that Isaiah was speaking about the New Earth in this chapter because His precise language is used in John’s depiction of the New Earth in Rev. 21 and 22. • Thus, Isa. 60 serves as the best Bible commentary on Rev. 21 and 22.

  23. At the beginning of this message in Isa. 60, God says to His people in Jerusalem: • “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

  24. God’s people will have a glorious future in which the earth’s nations and kings will participate in and will benefit from a renewed and glorious Jerusalem. • It won’t only be some nations, but all of them: • Isa. 60:4 (NIV) says:

  25. "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.” • This will be a time of unprecedented rejoicing, as v. 5 says: • “Then you will look and be radiant, . . .

  26. ". . . your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.” • In the New Earth, the nations of the Earth will bring their greatest treasures into the New Jerusalem.

  27. There will certainly be animals on the New Earth, as verses 6-8 say: • “Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD. . .

  28. 7 All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. 8 ‘Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?’” • Redeemed people will travel from far places to the New Jerusalem.

  29. People who dwell on islands will worship God, and ships will come from, • “. . .Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with splendor” (v.9).

  30. And in v. 11 we read: • “Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations— their kings led in triumphal procession.” • The magnificence of nations will be welcomed into the King’s great city, as v. 13 says:

  31. “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet.” • The hearts of the nations will be transformed in their attitudes toward God, His people , and His city. • V. 14 says:

  32. “The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” • God promises the New Jerusalem in v. 15: • “Although you have been forsaken and hated, . . .

  33. “. . .with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations.” • This is not a temporary period of fleeting prosperity, but it is an “everlasting” condition. • It will be for all generations.

  34. The New Jerusalem will be the beneficiary of all people groups and their rulers: • “You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (v.16).

  35. In verses 17-18, God promises something that has never yet been true of the earthly Jerusalem: • “Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. . .

  36. . . . I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler. 18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.” • Isaiah then tells us what John connects directly to the New Earth, in Isa. 60:19-20 (NIV):

  37. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.”

  38. Rev. 21:23; 22:5 says: • “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. . . 22:5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

  39. And, of the New Jerusalem, we are told that, • “nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).

  40. Isaiah tells us the same thing, using inclusive language that could not apply to the old Earth under the Curse: • “Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. . .” (Isa. 60:21a).

  41. Isaiah 60 is one of many passages of Scripture that demonstrates that the New Jerusalem will in fact be Earthly. • Isaiah’s words are applied directly to the New Jerusalem by John in the Book of Revelation. • For example, Rev. 21:25-26 says:

  42. “On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.”

  43. Redemption of Nations & Culture • Both Isaiah and John, using similar language, state that on the New Earth, • “the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into” the New Jerusalem and “the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (Rev. 21:24, 26, cf. Isa. 60:3-5).

  44. Although John doesn’t elaborate in Revelation, Isaiah is specific about what will be brought into the Holy City. • He mentions the cultural products of once-pagan nations: the ships of Tarshish and the trees of Lebanon and the camels of Ephah and the gold and incense of Sheba, which will…

  45. …be brought in by its people “proclaiming the praise of the Lord” (Isa. 60:6). • Both Isaiah and Revelation indicate that the products fo human culture will play an important role on the New Earth. • The ships, lumber, gold, camels, etc., will be good and useful in the New Earth.

  46. Isaiah and John help us to understand that the New Earth will be not only a world of beauty and wonder, but also a world that includes multinational citizens and cultural treasures.

  47. In Conclusion • Theologian A.A. Hodge has written: • “Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be thoroughly human in its structure,

  48. “. . .conditions and activities. Its joys and activities must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary and active. There must be the exercise of al the faculties, the gratification of all tastes, the development of all talent capcities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic …

  49. “. . . instincts, the holy affections, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul must all find in heaven exercise and satisfaction. Then there must always be the goal of endeavor before us, ever future. . . Heaven will prove the consummate flower and fruit. . .

  50. “. . . of the whole creation and of all the history of the universe.” (A.A. Hodge, Evangelical Theology: A course of Popular Lectures, “Edinburgh Banner of Truth”, pp. 399402). • For more on this subject see my handout “What It Will Mean For The Curse To Be Lifted” --- End of Lesson ---

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