THE NEW CREATION
ROM.
8.18-25
beyond imagination
• We cannot imagine what is going to come next
– He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has
done from beginning to end. ECC. 3.11
– No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him. 1 COR. 2.9
beyond imagination
• Stretch your mind and strain your eyes to build a
sustaining hope
– HOPE is the theme to the new creation
– The creation waits with eager (αποδεχομαι) longing. ROM. 8.19
– Hope that creation will be set free from corruption to bring to glory the children of
God. ROM. 8.20-21
– We wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies, we groan inwardly for the
hope that we were saved by. ROM. 8.23-24
– The new creation is unique—hope that is seen is not hope ROM. 8.24-25
where is heaven and hell?
• Heaven and hell are physical not just spiritual
– Resurrection of believers 1 COR. 15
– Resurrection of unbelievers DAN. 12.2; REV. 20
• Heaven and hell continue to exist after this creation
– The Bible clarifies that heaven and hell continue after the moment God
commands the cosmos to be “rolled up like a scroll” (IS. 34.4), to “disappear with
a roar” (2 PT. 3.10), and to “melt in the heat” (2 PT. 3.12)
• Eschatology is becoming part of the world of cosmological discussion
– Heat death
– Big Crunch
different physics
• No death or decay
– “The order of things has passed away, I am making everything new! (REV. 21.4-5)
– “No more death or mourning or crying or pain.” (REV. 21.4)
• This implies an elimination of the second law of thermodynamics.
– cf. “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (ROM.
8.21)
– cf. “The redemption of [their] bodies” (ROM. 8.23)
different physics
• New Jerusalem (REV. 21.10-27)
– The measurements used by the angel’s rod is given in cubits (17.5 in.)
• The walls are 216 ft. thick
• The length, width, and height are 1,380 miles each
• The structure has corners so it is either a cube or a pyramid
– Thus, spatial dimensionality
different physics
• Gravity
– Gravity turns all massive bodies larger than 300 miles (500 km) in diameter into
spherical shapes
• New Jerusalem is 1,380 miles!
• Electromagnetism
– Bathed in light, but not electromagnetic light
– No sun, moon, or stars will exist (IS. 34.4; REV. 21.23; 22.5)
– No darkness, night, or shadows (REV. 21.23; 22.5)
different physics
• All laws are linked to thermodynamics, gravity, and
electromagnetism
– The elimination of all three from the new creation implies a removal of all present
physics.
– God means it when he says, “I am making everything new.”
oneness with people & God
• different dimension
– A resemblance of his oneness (JN. 17.21)
– We can never be so “far” from each other to not have immediate and intimate
contact with others at the same “time.”
– Perhaps time may be geometric instead of linear (there will be time)
– Countless, simultaneous interaction
• No schedules or lines to spend time with Jesus (2 COR. 5.8; PHIL. 1.21-26), a
friend, a relative, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Adam, or whomever you
wish!
prepared by grace
• A full pardon gives the new creation of rewards and
pleasures as expressions of grace
– Only humans can experience grace, angels only observe it
• Angels observe us as they seek to comprehend the full impact of this grace(1
COR. 4.9; 1 PT. 1.10-12)
• Angels watch us grasp how “wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ” (EPH. 3.18)
• God’s “intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of
God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
realms.” (EPH. 3.10)
– Because of grace, redeemed humans will experience new creation rewards in
ways angels cannot
relationship pleasures
• Beatification (1 COR. 13.12)
– We will be filled and surrounded by God’s goodness
– We will be taught by God (JN. 6.45)
– No marriage or family
• Ultimate oneness with people and God is described in the new creation as a
marriage feast (REV. 19.7-9)
– All of us will be family
• Marriage, family, and relationships as we know it will be replaced by
something so much more intimate, pure, and wonderful (even greater than
sexual intimacy!).
• Never again will space, time, physics, and the effects of sin keep any of us
apart.
designed for us, for his glory
• How deep the love!
– A few glimpses and clues that God has left for the new creation are amazing!
– How much the Creator has invested and will continue to invest for humanity’s
sake is astounding beyond all comprehension.
– Have you ever given the new creation attention?
– How often are you groaning in the hope for the new creation, the redemption of
this universe and our bodies?
How shall we escape if we ignore
such a great salvation? (HEB. 2.3)