We have been created anew in Christ Jesus: He has given us a new Spirit and cut away our old nature with a circumcision not done by human hands, building us up into a holy temple, made not by human hands, in which He dwells. And God is preparing a new heaven and a new earth for His body, the church, where righteousness dwells. The present heaven and present earth, God created in six days, with all humanity and all flesh. He will also create the new heaven and the new earth, which He has promised, making all things new; for these present heavens and this present earth are corrupt, for everything in them rots and decays with time; they are not permanent because of the dysfunction of the fallen human nature and the death which follows. The new heavens and the new earth will be a place that does not rot nor decay or wear out like a garment - it is permanent and forever. As it says, " Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” " (Revelation 21:1-5)
For the present world is predominantly evil, for the world belongs to satan, but the world to come belongs to the Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as God did away with the ancient world with a flood, and thereafter only righteous Noah and his family survived, so it be after His coming. God will preserve the righteous and they will inherit the new earth. Just as Noah went into the ark and came out of the ark, and the world was as new, for it was washed with water, so it will be after His coming burns the heavens and earth; it will be totally refined by fire. The present earth underwent a flood and wiped away the wicked, but Noah was caught up, floating above the water in the ark, and only Noah and his family were saved; and thereafter, only the righteous were on the earth at that time; although only for a short while, for sin began to reign quickly thereafter. The world was made new after the flood and Noah inherited it, but it was only washed with water. This is a picture of the end, but the end will come with fire; but the end will be replaced by a better beginning, that is, a beginning which has no end. As the LORD God says, " For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. " (Isaiah 65:17-19)
But before the coming of these things, the saints will reign with Christ for one thousand years until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. So thus, by the things which happened in the past we can see the future, for the ways of God do not change; as it says, "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. " (Isaiah 41:22)
And as Christ said, "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. " (Luke 17:26-27)
Then He says, "It was the same as it happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. " (Luke 17:28-29)
(See more on the Snare of His Coming)
No one can serve two masters: you'll end up hating the one and loving the other. If we have love for the world in us, the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15); and if we are a friend of this world, we make ourselves enemies of God (James 4:4). As Jesus said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! " (Luke 12:49)
Then He says, "What men value highly is detestable in God's sight. " (Luke 16:15)
So how can we enter into God's kingdom, if we still have love for the kingdom of this world in us? Do you not remember the beast out of the water which is written about, which has blasphemous names against God written on its head (Revelation 13)? He is a symbol of the antichrist who is to appear at the end of the world, who will have power given him from satan, the ruler of this world. So the kingdom of darkness has nothing in common with the Kingdom of Light. In fact, it hates God. So you see, no one can serve two masters, especially when they have nothing in common. All the things of this world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, come not from the Father but from this world (1 John 2:16). As Jesus says, " No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. " (Matthew 6:24)
Everything sown by the world prevents fruit for the kingdom: for they are thorns. This is the world whose will is contrary to the will of God. Whose spirit says, "Keep your opinions to yourself," and "Faith is good, only if it's kept in your bosom," and "Do not deviate from the rest of us!" But we ought to die to the world and it's passions and lusts to serve God in truth. Forsake the world. "Remember Lot's wife. " (Luke 17:32)
For the Living God purchased us with His own Son, so save yourself from this perverse and wicked generation. Don't look back. As Jesus says, " No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. " (Luke 9:62)
We will be held to the standard of truth we have received. As an example: Elisha, the man of God, did not look back when he received Elijah's cloak, did He (1 Kings 19:20-21)?
Jesus is the first of the new creation and last of the old. Everything of the old is passing away and only the work of the new will remain. Those created anew in Christ Jesus will inherit all new things. For in the beginning, God created everything by His Word, and now He creates the new by the same Word which He has made to abide in us; this new creation begins in the hearts of men; as the apostle said, " For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. " (2 Corinthians 4:6)
For the former creation points to the new creation, which starts in the hearts of men and finishes with the new heavens and the new earth. If the old were perfect, there would be no reason for a new; but the old is imperfect, and God finds fault with it; as it says, “Even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight.” (Job 25:5) And then it says, “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight.” (Job 15:15) We know that the earth is fallen, but even the heavens have fault, even though heaven is God's abode; so God is not pleased with it; for it is too subjected with violence; as the apostle mentions the " Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. " (Ephesians 6:12)
And Jesus says, " From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. " (Matthew 11:12)
So it is necessary that the heavens be destroyed too, so that all may be made new. These which come later are by no means lesser, but the greater comes last. Just as John first preached, then Jesus came thereafter; and Jesus is greater, just as the one who is elder is greater than the younger; as John testified, "After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me." (John 1:30) So likewise the lesser makes way for the greater; the physical comes first then the spiritual; first comes the temporal, then the eternal; first the Jerusalem which is below, then the Jerusalem from above. For " The Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. " (Galatians 4:26)
And we are God's house, God's building. We are being built up and edified as living stones, being made into a spiritual house where God dwells; as Peter says about the church, " You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. " (1 Peter 2:4-5)
The church will be made to dwell in the new Jerusalem, where God and the Lamb will be. As it says, “The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23) And, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:22) And, “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him.” (Revelation 22:3)
In the book of Revelation, the wall of the city of the new Jerusalem has twelve foundation stones, precious stones; and written on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And there are also gates in the city, and on the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. And He has promised to give those who overcome a white stone, written on it a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. I do not know for sure, but these stones could be used in the building of the wall of the new Jerusalem. For the names of those who inherit eternal life are written in the Lamb's book of life, and certain names are written in the architecture of the city. And God writes His name on the foreheads of His people; as it says, “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4) Then it says, " I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. " (Revelation 3:12)
Finally, I leave you with this Scripture: “The anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:19-23)