The New Heavens and Earth
S. Conway Revelation 21:1-4 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.… The retribution of God has fallen on the enemies of Christ and his Church. Death and hell, Satan, the beast, and the false prophet, have been cast into the lake of fire. The thunders of God's vengeance are hushed; the manifestations of his love to his redeemed now only remain to be told. And here their ultimate and eternal blessedness is shown to us. Their abode and condition are described as "new heavens and a new earth." Let us inquire - I. WHEREFORE ARE THEY CALLED "NEW"? The heaven, the earth, the holy city, are each called "new." Now, this may be because, in part, they are: 1. Physically new. We do not think this earth will be "burnt up," nor the elements "melt with fervent heat," nor that there shall be, literally, "a new heaven and a new earth;" all such representations we regard as metaphorical, and as telling only of great moral and spiritual changes that shall take place. But in so far as this earth has been marred and defiled, injured and degraded, by man's sin - as it has been - in that respect and degree will it be made new. The thorns and briars, the poisonous and hurtful herbs, and all else that is significant, and the result of sin, will disappear; the pestilence will no longer walk in darkness, nor destruction waste at noonday. So far will it be new. There will be: 2. A new manner of dealing with us on the part of God. This may be intended by the expression on which we are commenting. For "heaven and earth" is an expression used in Scripture to denote the dispensations of God. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth" (Haggai 2:6). The prophet is telling of the whole Jewish economy, which was to disappear and to give place to another and better. So it had been in the past; the patriarchal gave way to the Mosaic, and that was to give way to the Christian; and that, in its turn, will give way to the new heavens and new earth - a new order of things between God and man. 3. And, assuredly, it will seem new. For "no truth is more clear than this, that the world is to a man according to the state of his mind." To the voluptuary, it is a scene of animal gratification; to the worlding, it is a scene for barter; to the poet, it is beauty; to the philosopher, it is science; to the saint, it is a temple. Change a sinner's mind, and you change the world to him. He feels, and. sometimes says, "The world is a new thing to me" - "a new heaven and anew earth." And may we not, therefore, be sure that, to the new, regenerated, and perfect nature, all things will wear another aspect, the heaven and the earth will be as new? II. WHEREIN WILL THE NEWNESS APPEAR? There will be, according to these verses: 1. A newness of absence. Much that we have known here we shall not know there, for they will no longer be. See the things of which it is here said they shall be no more. (1) The sea. It is the emblem of all unrest. Here there is, indeed, much of this, and its causes are manifold. But there, "no more sea." (2) Death. (Ver. 4.) Here it may be said, "death reigns." His might, past, present, or near at hand, is scarce ever unfelt. What a change, for there to be "no more death"! (3) Pain. "Neither sorrow nor crying." That will indeed be a new world where these are not. Here, where are they not? (4) Night. Twice is it told "there is no night there" (ver. 25 and Revelation 22:5). As to the meaning of this, cf. homily on ver. 25. (5) Sin. (Ver. 27.) Here sin rushes as a raging river down our streets; but there, "there shall in no wise enter," etc. (6) The curse. (Revelation 22:3.) Here it is everywhere. On health and wealth, home and friends, business and pleasure; for there is no one of them that may not be a source of sore sorrow to us, and a very fountain of tears. Paradises are still turned into thorn beds as of old. The curse does it. "I will curse your blessings." But there, no more. 2. And there will be newness in what is present. Take only these opening verses as proof. They assure us of: (1) A new revelation of God. The holy city, the new Jerusalem - the place where of old God revealed himself - "having the glory of God." (2) A new revelation of the Church. "As a bride adorned," etc. Fair and comely, rich and honoured, blessed because perfectly satisfied. Never has it been possible to describe the Church in such way before. (3) A new realization of God. In intimate fellowship; as a tent shall he shelter and enclose them, tabernacling over them. This abiding, "He shall dwell with them." As to the depth of his love to them, "They shall be his people, and he... their God." - S. C. Parallel Verses KJV: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. WEB: I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.