Theological glossary · FaithLogic

New creation (new heavens and new earth)

The renewal — not the abolition — of the physical universe at Christ's return, the everlasting home of the redeemed, where God dwells with his people.

From Isaiah 65:17 ('new heavens and a new earth'); Greek kainē ktisis (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15) and 'a new heaven and a new earth' (Rev 21:1).

Isaiah 65:17–25; 66:22; Romans 8:18–25; 2 Peter 3:10–13; Revelation 21:1–22:5; and, of the believer as new creation now, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The dominant reading is transformation, not annihilation — creation 'set free from its bondage to corruption' (Rom 8:21), the resurrection body continuous with the old. Recent theology (N. T. Wright and others) has stressed this material hope against a popular 'escape to a disembodied heaven' picture.

The goal of redemption is the renewal of the whole created order with humanity in resurrection bodies, God 'making his dwelling' with people — Eden's purpose fulfilled and surpassed.

Whether 2 Peter 3:10 ('the elements will be dissolved') implies annihilation-and-replacement or purifying transformation; how literally to read Revelation 21–22.

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