The title of my sermon tonight is The New Earth.
Let's go ahead and start there in Revelation chapter 21.
The Bible reads in verse 1.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.
I want you to notice that word, passed away.
And there was no more sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men.
And he will dwell with them.
And they shall be his people.
And God himself shall be with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away.
Again, I want you to notice that term, the former things are
passed away.
And then in verse 5, he says, and he
that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, write, for these words
are true and faithful.
Now, the first point that I want to make tonight
about the new earth is that when it comes to the new earth,
God is not going to make a new one.
But he's going to make all things new.
So we see in verse number 5, he says, I make all things new.
So when it comes to the new earth,
this would be like if I said, I'm getting a new kitchen.
It doesn't mean that the old kitchen
is going to cease to exist and a brand new kitchen
will be built from scratch, but that rather, the kitchen
is going to be made new or renewed or remodeled.
Now, when we think of the term passing away,
the Bible says many times, heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.
That same term is used about us as well, isn't it?
When we talk about people dying, we
say that they passed away and a loved one passed away.
And the Bible uses that term as well about people
dying, that they passed away.
Well, when the Bible says that the earth is going to pass away,
that's similar to what it means when
it says that we will pass away.
I'm going to get into that in a little bit.
But first of all, let me just prove to you
that this earth that we are on right now
is going to be here forever.
Now, that might shock you a little bit,
but let's look at what the Bible says.
Turn back in your Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter 1.
Ecclesiastes chapter number 1, and then we're
going to go to Psalm 104.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 1.
I'm going to show you some clear scripture that just comes right
out and tells us that this earth will be here forever.
You say, wait a minute, Pastor.
It's going to pass away.
I'm going to get to what that means.
And I'm going to prove this from scripture tonight.
But let's start out by going to Ecclesiastes 1.
Let's just lay down a foundation here
that there are several clear scriptures that tell us
that this earth will be here forever.
Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verse 4.
The Bible reads, one generation passeth away,
and another generation cometh.
But the earth abideth forever.
Go, if you would, to Psalm 104.
Psalm 104, while you're turning there,
I'll read for you Psalm 78, 69.
The Bible reads, and he built his sanctuary
like high palaces, like the earth which
he hath established forever.
So the Bible says that God has established the earth forever.
One generation passeth away, another generation cometh.
But the earth abideth forever.
Look at Psalm 104, verse 4.
Who maketh his angels' spirits, his ministers a flaming fire.
Who laid the foundation of the earth
that it should not be removed forever.
The foundation of the earth shall not be removed forever,
the Bible tells us.
Now, if you would go to Psalm 102.
You're really close to there.
Look at Psalm 102.
While you're turning to Psalm 102,
I'll read for you from Hebrews chapter 1.
The Bible says in Hebrews 110, and thou, Lord,
in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the works of thine hands.
They shall perish, but thou remainest.
And they all shall wax old as doth the garment,
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,
and they shall be changed.
Notice that wording.
They shall be changed, but thou art the same,
and thy years shall not fail.
Look down at Psalm 102, verse 25.
Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.
Now, if you stopped reading right there,
you'd say, well, the earth is going to perish, right?
But keep reading.
Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture
shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.
1 Corinthians, chapter 15.
So just to review what we've seen so far,
the Bible tells us, and we've all heard it a bunch of times,
that heaven and earth shall pass away,
but God's word shall not pass away.
Yet on the other hand, we have many scriptures
that are clearly telling us that the earth is going
to be here forever, that he founded it to remain forever,
that it will abide forever, even though people will pass away.
So what is it?
Is the earth going to pass away?
Or is the earth going to be here forever?
Well, the truth of the matter is that the world will be here
forever, but just as our bodies pass away,
and then we receive what?
A new body.
But is that new body a brand new creation from scratch?
Or is it our body changed?
And that's exactly what he said he would do to the earth.
He would change it.
We pass away, don't we, as Christians?
But we receive a new body, which is our old body changed.