The Creation of the New
Heavens and the New Earth
Part
2 of The Creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth Part 1.
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“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah
65:17)
“Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13)
The Completed and Finished Work of Christ
The new heavens and the new earth are the
completed and finished work of Christ. And in them happened “the dispensation
of the fullness of times” (Ephesians 1:10) when he gathered together IN ONE
“ALL THINGS” in Christ, whether in heaven or on earth. Heaven and earth JOINED
IN ONE. It is called “THE ONE NEW MAN” (Ephesians 2:15) where “there is NO MORE
SEA” (Revelation 21:1). Sea – the
Gentiles. See Isaiah 42:10; 49:1; 66:19.
In Revelation 17:15 the waters are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues”. In Genesis 1:10 God called the waters as “seas”. The Land – Israel,
the people of God, the habitation of God. Now there is no more sea and land
division or Jew and Gentile distinction.
In the Body of Christ “there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11). In the new heaven and earth, there is no more
sea or waters [Gentiles]. You will see only “the land”. You mean only “Israel”? NO! God finished the division. There is no more
such thing as “Israel” in the sight of God. He broke down the middle wall of
partition (Ephesians 2:14) and it is eternally. Today there is no more the
middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles. It means in the “spiritual”
not in the “natural” aspect, there is no more Jew and no more Gentiles. Jews today in the “spiritual” are
Gentiles. All are Gentiles. It means
that all are in the equal level. God is no respecter of persons. Yes, there are
still “Jews” and “Israelites” by blood and race, but in the sight of God they
are no more “God’s people”. They are declared “LO-AMMI” by God. No more special chosen people. That age was
finished.
The House of Israel and The House of Judah.
When
the northern kingdom of Israel, the House of Israel, composed of ten tribes
committed “spiritual harlotry” in the Old Testament, God judged her, gave her
the bill of divorcement (Jeremiah 3:8)and declared that she was “Lo-ammi”:
for she was no more God’s people, and
God was no more her God. According to
Hosea 8:8 “Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be
among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.” It means that the House
of Israel (10 tribes) became “Gentiles” who became “Gentiles in the flesh”,
“uncircumcised” people, “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world”
(Ephesians 2:12). That’s why in the New Testament times they were called by
Jesus as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6; 15;24) and by
Peter in 1 Peter 1:1 as “the strangers
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia”. They became the “Uncircumcision”, the
“Greeks” and the “Gentiles” to whom Paul was ministering. They were the Gentiles
ministered to in the Acts of the Apostles. (I
will explain this truth in another series of notes).
The
same thing happened to the Southern Kingdom of Israel, the House of Judah which
was composed of 2 tribes (Judah and Benjamin). From being the “chosen” people
of God, they became “Gentiles”. Paul the
Apostle told them in Acts 28 :27-28 “For the heart of this people [the Southern
Israelites who were Israelites during that time] is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you,
that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles [All men, all nations
without distinction], and that they will hear it.”
The
House of Judah in the New Testament just like the House of Israel in the Old
Testament was declared “LO-AMMI”, “NO MORE GOD’S PEOPLE” and became as
“GENTILES”. Why did God do it?
Romans 11:31 For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
After that declaration, the Jewish nation
joined their 10 tribe brethren and all the nations of the world in becoming
“Gentiles” . That’s why since that time even until now and in eternity, they
were no more “special” and “chosen” people. In other words, Israel doesn’t
exist.
So in the New Heaven and Earth, what is the
“land”? It is no more “Israel” because there is no Israel. That land is “the
church, the body of Christ”.
Paul the Apostle declared to us the mystery
which was kept secret from the sons of men in the past ages but is now revealed
to his saints: “That the Gentiles [nations] should be fellowheirs, and of the
same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel”. (Ephesians
3:6)
The Gentiles spoken by Paul in Ephesians 3 are
the “nations” including Israel. It was
declared after the declaration of judgment in Acts 28:28. It means “all
nations”, the “all men” of Ephesians 3:9 in equal levels. The mystery is that the believers in the
nations, i.e. Israel and all nations of the world are now fellow-heirs. No
special people. All are fellow members of the “One Body” and all are
fellow-partakers of God’s promises in Christ.
The New Jerusalem
The “New Jerusalem” in contrast with the “Old
Jerusalem”.
The New Jerusalem is called the “NEW”
Jerusalem not because there will be a “New” natural city of Jerusalem in
Israel. But it is called “NEW” because it is the “spiritual” Jerusalem. Remember the principle? Natural to Spiritual
principle. The New replaced the Old. The spiritual replaced the natural.
The New Jerusalem in contrast with the Old
Jerusalem. Revelation 21:2
The Heavenly Jerusalem in contrast with the
earthly Jerusalem. Hebrews 12:22
The Jerusalem which is above in contrast with
Jerusalem that now is. Galatians 4:26
Revelation
21:3 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.
It is the result of God’s covenants with
Israel, namely the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. It is called the “NEW TESTAMENT”. The New
Testament is different from the New Covenant. The New Testament is the written
declaration of God of our rights and inheritance as sons and daughters of God
through Christ.
God said to Abraham:
Genesis
17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee,
and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for
an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
God also said to Moses:
Leviticus 26:11 And I will set my tabernacle
among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And
I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
God said through Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land
that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and
they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's
children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting
covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My
tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be
my people.
God said through Jeremiah:
Jeremiah
31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
God said through Paul the Apostle:
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the
temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people.
God said through John:
Revelation
21:3 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.
God wanted to have a people of his own and
then he chose Abraham to be the father of that people, and his seed to be his
people through the covenant. He repeated this statement to Moses, to the
prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to apostles like Paul and John. He made the Old Covenant with Israel. And he
made the New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.
And then finally, in Revelation 21:3 God did no more make a covenant with any
Israel, but God declared a Testament, the New Testament sealed with the blood of Christ. And he dispensed his grace to “ALL MEN”. Now,
he finally dwelt among men on earth through Christ.
Unlike the Old Order – the covenants – today
through “the dispensation of the grace of God” to the Gentiles/nations/all men
(Ephesians 3:2,9), today anybody among the nations of the world can be part of
God’s people. No blood requirement. No race qualifications. No language
required. No circumcision required. Even
water baptism is not required anymore.
IT IS UNCONDITIONAL. Whether people like it or not: God’s tabernacle is
with men. It is God who chooses not men. The church, the believers were chosen
even before the foundation of the world IN CHRIST (That was before the law
era/the Israel era). Men shall be his
people not by their choices but by God’s choice. The world was Israel. The foundation of the
world was the foundation of Israel. Before the foundation of the world
(beginning of Israel) , Abraham was chosen as the father of many nations,
through the promise and not through the law. Even before the law was given, we
were chosen, which means “WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW TO ISRAEL”.
These words “I WILL WALK AMONG YOU AND BE YOUR
GOD AND YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE” were “COMPLETELY” FULFILLED in Christ in
Revelation 21. The New heaven and the New earth. God’s people – from Abraham to
Moses, Moses to Christ, Christ to Christ. Before the law, during the law, and
after the law. It is God’s people.
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