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TextText• Heb. 11:13-14, 16 (NIV):–“All these people were still living

by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. . .

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–“. . . 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. . . 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

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IntroductionIntroduction

• We have been talking more recently about how God is going to renovate the Earth by fire, and then renew it and make it into the New Earth.–In this lesson we will talk about

when and where our deliverance will come.

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• If God were to end history and reign forever in a distant Heaven, Earth would be remembered as a graveyard of sin and failure.–This would mark God as a failure,

something that He certainly is not, nor ever will be.

–Instead, as we have been studying, Earth will be redeemed and resurrected.

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• In the end, it will be a far superior New Earth.–The New Earth will preserve and

perpetuate Earth’s original design and heritage, with the exception that it will be a redeemed, perfected, sinless Earth.

• Isaiah and the other O.T. prophets make clear the destiny of God’s people.

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• God’s people will live forever as a free, blessed and joyous people. –In our text, all the Heroes of Faith

mentioned were still living by faith when they died.

–They did not receive the things promised.

–They only saw them afar off and welcomed them from a distance.

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• These saints admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth, looking for a country of their own…–“They were longing for a better

country – a heavenly one…” and the Bible says God has prepared a city for those who look for it (See: Heb. 11:13-14, 16).

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The O.T. Hope For A New Earth

The O.T. Hope For A New Earth

• The “country of their own” spoken of in Heb. 11, is a real country with a real capital city, which is “the New Jerusalem.”–It is an actual place, where God’s

children, who are aliens and strangers on earth, will ultimately live in their resurrected bodies.

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• Since the promises God made to them were promises regarding the Earth, then the “heavenly country of their own,” must ultimately include Earth.–The fulfillment of these prophecies

requires exactly what Scripture elsewhere promises – a resurrection of God’s people and God’s earth.

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• What thrilled these pilgrims and strangers was not that God would rule in Heaven – He already did.–Their expectation was that one

day He would rule on Earth, removing sin, death, suffering, pain, poverty, and heartache.

• The O.T. saints believed that Messiah would come and bring Heaven to Earth.

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• He would make God’s will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.–They longed for God’s rule on

Earth, not just for a hundred years or a thousand, but forever.

• As commonly taught, the O.T. concept of Heaven is stunted.–And yet, the O.T. actually says a

great deal about the eternal Heaven.

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• Unfortunately, many don’t realize it because people assume that these O.T. prophecies don’t refer to Heaven on Earth.–However, these Scripture

passages DO refer to Heaven on Earth.

–God will dwell with His people on the New Earth.

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• For example, Isa. 26:19 (NIV):–“But your dead will live; their

bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” (emphasis mine).

• God’s people are not looking for deliverance FROM Earth, but deliverance ON Earth.

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The MillenniumThe Millennium

• So much has been said about the Millennial reign of Christ that many have reduced the coming reign of Christ on Earth to a 1,000 year Millennial reign on this present earth only.–This is an error; a

misinterpretation of the Scripture.

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• This misunderstanding has caused many to miss the biblical promise of an ETERNAL reign of Christ on the New Earth.–Due to this, it is necessary to take

a moment to look more closely at the Millennium.

• Revelation, chapter 20, refers six time to the Millennium, describing it like this:

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–The devil is bound for 1,000 years. (v.2)

–For 1,000 years, the nations are no longer deceived by him. (v. 3)

–The saints come back to life and reign with Christ until after the 1,000 years are ended. (v. 4)

–The rest of the dead do not come back to life until after the 1,000 years are ended. (v. 5)

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–The saints will be priests and kings for 1,000 years. (v. 6)

–Satan will be set loose at the end of the 1,000 year Millennium, and he will prompt a final human rebellion against God. (vv. 7-8).

• From a pre-millennial viewpoint, the Millennium will be a literal 1,000 year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• The Millennium will begin immediately upon Jesus’ return when He defeats His enemies in the battle of Armageddon.–During this 1,000 years, God’s

promises of Messiah’s earthly reign on this present earth will be fulfilled.

–Redeemed Jews will live in their homeland.

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–The Church will govern under Christ.

• The Millennium will end with a final rebellion against Christ, and this present Earth will be renovated by fire, and will then be transformed into the New Earth.–I bring up the Millennium to point

out that it only a temporary reign on this old Earth.

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• God’s eternal reign will be on the New Earth, once He has redeemed the Earth and made it into the New Earth.–That reign will last for all eternity,

not just a thousand years.

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The Promised New EarthThe Promised New Earth

• One of the dominant themes of Old Testament prophecy involves God’s plan for an earthly kingdom of righteousness.–This pertains to the New Earth in

general and the New Jerusalem in particular.

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• For example, Isaiah repeatedly spoke of the coming New Earth.–In Isa. 9:7, he talked about how

the Messiah “will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom. . . Forever.”

• In Isa. 11:1-10, we are told of the Messiah’s mission to Earth.

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–“He will defend the poor and the exploited. He will rule against the wicked and destroy them” (v. 4, NLT).

• With the lifting of the curse, Jesus will bring peace to the animal kingdom:–“The wolf will lie down with the

lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat” (v. 6).

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–This will hold true in the Millennial kingdom as well as on the New Earth.

• Isa. 11:9 says:–“They will neither harm nor

destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

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• Isa. 11:10 says of the New Earth:–“In that day the Root of Jesse

[Jesus, the Messiah] will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.”

–This anticipates Rev. 21-22.• Where will all of these things

happen?

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• Not “up there” in some distant, ethereal Heaven, but down here on Earth, in the New Jerusalem.–As we have seen in recent

studies, Isa. 60 speaks of the city gates of the New Jerusalem always being open.

–This is because there will no longer be any enemies.

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• In words nearly identical to those of John concerning the New Earth (Rev. 21:24-26), Isa. 60 speaks of nations and kings bringing in their wealth to the New Jerusalem (Isa. 60:19-20).

• The O.T. preoccupation with God’s establishment of an earthly kingdom is clear in Isa. 65:17, 18, 19, 21, 25 (NIV):

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–“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem . . .

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–“. . . and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. . . 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. . . 25

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. . .”

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–“. . . They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.”

• The New Earth will be the setting for God’s eternal kingdom.–The New Jerusalem will be where

people come to worship and honor Him, and to pay Him tribute.

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• Isa. 66:22-23 (NIV) says:–“As the new heavens and the new

earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.”

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• The reason the Jews failed to recognize Jesus as Messiah was because He did not come as a conquering hero and set up an earthly kingdom as they expected.–The heart cry of the Jewish nation

was for the Messiah to come and set up His physical kingdom on Earth.

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• They had the correct concept, but their timing was way off.

• The angel Gabriel promised Mary concerning Jesus in Luke, –“The Lord God will give Him the

throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.”

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• David’s throne is not in Heaven, it is on Earth.–It is God’s reign on Earth, not

in Heaven, that is the focus of the unfolding drama of redemption.

–That earthly reign will last forever – not merely for a thousand years – but forever (Rev. 22:5).

• God has a future plan for the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem.

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• That plan includes an actual kingdom over which He and His people will reign on a New Earth.–It will be a kingdom of

righteousness forever.

–The natural peoples of the New Earth will build homes and live in them, plant vineyards and drink from them.

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• Isa. 65:19b-20 (NIV) says:–“. . . and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; . . .”

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Messiah’s Earthly KingdomMessiah’s Earthly Kingdom

• The Jews were right to expect the Messiah to bring an earthly kingdom.

• That is exactly what God promised in Psa. 72:11 (NKJV):– “Yea, all kings shall fall down before

Him: all nations shall serve Him.”• God has a great future in store for

Jerusalem, saying in Isa. 66:12 (NIV):

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–“For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.’”

• Nations at peace will bring their cultural treasures into the New Jerusalem, just as Rev. 21:24 portrays:

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–“The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.”

• The New Jerusalem and the New Earth will be places where there will be no sin, suffering or death.–Peace will come to the New

Jerusalem, and it will become the center of all nations. (Cf. Isa. 66:18, 22-23).

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In ClosingIn Closing

• The promise of a New Jerusalem and a New Earth, wherein God will literally reign over them both on the New Earth, is clear in the Bible.–Jerusalem will be the center of

worship for all nations.

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• The Bible’s many promises concerning the land, peace, and centrality of Jerusalem among all cities and nations will be fulfilled.–The ultimate fulfillment of many,

many Old Testament prophecies will be on the New Earth.

–It is on the New Earth that God’s people will “possess the land forever.” (Isa. 60:21).

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–“The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.”

• The New Jerusalem and the New Earth will no longer have sin, sickness, suffering or death.–The New Jerusalem, will become

the center of all things for all nations.

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• In our next lesson we will attempt to answer the question: “Will the Old Earth Be Destroyed or Renewed?”

End of Lesson