Eternity
After the dissolution of the present heaven and earth at the end
of the millennium, God will create a new heaven and a new earth
(Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1). By a definite act
of creation God calls into being a new heaven and a new earth. As
God created the present heavens and earth to be the scene of His
theocratic display, so God will create the new heavens and earth to
be the scene of the eternal theocratic kingdom of God.
(Things to Come, p. 561)
Israel's covenants guarantee that people the land, a national existence,
a kingdom, a King, and spiritual blessings in perpetuity. Therefore
there must be an eternal earth in which these blessings can be fulfilled.
By a translation out of the old earth Israel will be brought into the new
earth, there to enjoy forever all that God has promised to them. Then it
shall be eternally true, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people" (Rev. 21:3). The
creation of the new heavens and new earth is the final preparatory act
anticipating the eternal kingdom of God. It is now true that God has a
kingdom "wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet. 3:13).
(Things to Come, p. 561)
It has already been demonstrated from passages such as Rev. 21:3 that the
Lord Jesus Christ will be dwelling with men on the new earth in the eternal
kingdom. Since Scripture reveals that the church will be with Christ, it
is concluded that the eternal abode of the church will likewise be in the
new earth, in that heavenly city, New Jerusalem, that has been especially
prepared by God for the saints. Such a relationship would be the
answer to the Lord's prayer for those God had given Him: "Father,
I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me" (John 17:24) . Since
the eternal glory of Christ will be manifested in the eternal kingdom,
in his eternal rule, it is natural that the church should be there to behold
that glorification of Christ forever. (Things to Come, p. 562)