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Speaker: Jerry Cisar
See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.…
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.…”
says the LORD. (Isa. 65:17-25)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17)
Isaiah gives us an amazing promise and Paul makes an astonishing claim. The amazing promise: a new heaven and a new earth… a new creation. Everything new! A world in which God is no longer mad at us, but rather rejoices over us and take delight in us. It is filled with joy, life, and peace! A world in which there is no more weeping, no more crying; no more childhood death and disease; no more “premature death” (65:19-20). A world in which enemies become friends!
Most people would likely say, “I want that world!” Who doesn’t? But then an astonishing claim: If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come! Creation is another word for “everything”. There is God and there is creation — everything that isn’t God!
So to say that if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come… is to say, “Everything has been completely transformed!” Or… “the old has gone and the new is here!” How can Paul make such an astonishing claim? Has he not been to my church? How did it happen?