NT Promise 107: A New Universe

2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.


The penultimate promise of God (after the promise of resurrection) is that He is creating a new heaven and a new earth suitable for our resurrected bodies. It is edifying for us to ”look for,” that is, to reflect, dream, fantasize, imagine, and meditate on what this will be like. It gives strength and hope to us in our present condition.

We cannot imagine a life in an environment in which only righteousness dwells, for we have never experienced such a place. We live in world wracked with sin and death, and have used to it. But somehow, down deep, we know there must be a better life in a wonderful place. For we all have a vague memory of the first Paradise, and we hold the unquenchable hope of the future Paradise. This promised hope is sure. Faith sees this eternal new world. We are already a New Creation in Christ Jesus.

Year by year we grow closer to death, and we feel it. At the same time that the outer man is perishing and growing weaker, the inner man is being renewed and growing stronger day by day. And this Strong Life inside eagerly anticipates the revelation of the bodily resurrection and the new heavens and new earth. No one and nothing will be able to diminish the peace or make us doubt the promise.