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Introduction
In popular talk, we often speak about 'going to heaven' when we die. However our understanding of this is often quite vague, with ideas of sitting a cloud and playing a harp. In several places the Bible predicts that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. One of these is the second letter of Peter, where he says, “we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home” (2 Pet 3:13). The question is what relationship this new heavens and earth has with the current physical earth. Sometimes the question is stated as, 'What will be new about the new heavens and earth?' Will God utterly destroy the current earth and create a completely new earth, or will he in some way transform the current earth to remove any traces of sin and the fall?
Will this physical earth be destroyed?
In 2 Peter, it predicts the following, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.” (2 Pet 3:10), also, “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire” (2 Pet 3:12). At first reading, this would suggest at on the day of the Lord, the current earth will be completely destroyed.
New heavens and a new earth was also predicted by Isaiah, “For I am about to create new
heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind ..." (Is 65:17-25). In this ideal place, there will be no more suffering, people will live for greatly extended lifetimes, and there will even be peace between the animals (also Is 11:6-9).
In the Book of Revelation, John was given a similar vision of the future glory. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Rev 21:1). This will be where God will dwell with his people, and where there will be no more death or suffering (Rev 21:3-4). Then from his throne, God made this statement, “See, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5).
The same question also needs to be asked about these two passages, are they speaking about a completely new earth to replace this one, or will this earth be transformed? Again, at first
sight, they would appear to predicting that the current earth will be destroyed and replaced.
Hope for the physical world
However, there is one passage would suggest something rather different, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rom 8:19-21). Paul is saying that there is also a glorious future for the physical creation, when the effects of the fall will be reversed.
What is new about the new heaven and new earth?
The basic question is really over the meaning of the word ‘new’, whether ‘new’ means a
replacement, or a restoration and renewal. In Revelation, God said, “See, I am making all
things new” (Rev 21:5), which can be read either way. In 2 Corinthians, Paul states this, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17). A believer in Christ is a new creation, not meaning that the old person has been completely replaced, they are still the same person, but that person has been transformed by the Spirit of God.
Paul is predicting a glorious future for the physical creation, which will be enjoyed by the believers. Both will be a new creation. Believers are a new creation now, while the physical creation must wait until the day of the Lord at the second coming of Jesus.
If this is the case, then Peter’s prediction of burning with fire is not necessarily meaning destruction and replacement, but rather burning with fire for cleansing, purification, and the removal of the effects of the fall.
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