THE COMING

New Heaven, New Earth

Isaiah 65:17-25

17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered or come
into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and
the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

Isaiah 65:17-25

21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree
shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring
of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.

Isaiah 65:17-25

24 Before they call I will answer;

while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy
mountain, says the Lord.

If you had the power

to change ONE THING in
the world
what would it be?

Natural
Natural
things
things
that
thattake
take
destroy
destroylife
life

Man-made
Man-made
things
things
that
thattake
take
destroy
destroylife
life

Natural
Natural
things
things
that
thatmake
make
life
lifedifficult
difficult

Man-made
Man-made
things
things
that
thatmake
make
life
lifedifficult
difficult

Where is
God?
Is He
listening?
Does He
care?

Am I
loved?

Can we rewind history,

go back to the time of creation,
and stop Adam and Eve from eating
the forbidden fruit?

Whats our story?

The Past Forgotten

17

For behold, I create new heavens and a

new earth,
and the former things shall not be
remembered
or come into mind.

The Evil Taken Away

Life as it should be
19

20

no more shall be heard in [Jerusalem]

the sound of weeping and the cry of
distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his
days,

The Evil Taken Away

Life as it should be
22

23

for like the days of a tree

shall the days of my people be...
They shall not bear children for
calamity

The Evil Taken Away

of work and its fruit

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their
fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of
my people be,
21

Intimacy with God

18

But be glad and rejoice forever in that

which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.

24

Before they call I will answer;

while they are yet speaking I will hear.

Paradise Restored
25

The wolf and the lamb shall graze

together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my
holy mountain, says the Lord.

What do
they
mean
for us?
Rev. Bishop N.T. Wright
a leading New Testament scholar
retired Anglican bishop

And the good news of the Christian gospel is that this new
world,
this new creation, has already begun: it began when Jesus of
Nazareth rose from the dead on Easter morning, having faced
and beaten the double enemy, sin and death, that has
What youand
do, defaced
and whatGods
you are,
stands
as a sign of
corrupted
lovely
creation.
contradiction to the follies of our world, because it stands as a
signpost pointing along the pilgrim way, the road along which
you travel looking for those in need of healing and hope: the
road, in fact, to Gods new creation.
-- NT Wright, The Road to New Creation

The point of the resurrectionis that the present bodily life is

not valueless just because it will dieWhat you do with your
body in the present matters because God has a great future in
store for it
What you do in the presentby painting, preaching, singing,
sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells,
campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy,
loving your neighbor as yourselfwill last into God's future.
These activities are not simply ways of making the present life
a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when
we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may
call building for God's kingdom.
N.T. Wright,Surprised by Hope

then should we live?

Life with
FAITH, HOPE, LOVE

Live

THE COMING
New Heaven, New Earth