The entire physical universe was created for God’s glory. When we rebelled, the universe fell under the weight of our sin. Yet God did not give up on us.

The serpent’s seduction of Adam and Eve did not catch God by surprise. He had in place a plan by which He would redeem mankind—and all creation—from sin, corruption, and death. Just as He promises to make men and women new, He promises to renew the earth itself.

“‘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’” (Isaiah 66:22).

“In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

Many other passages allude to the new heavens and New Earth without using those terms. God’s redemptive plan culminates not at the return of Christ, nor in the millennial kingdom, but on the New Earth. Only then will all wrongs be made right. Only then will there be no more death, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:1-4).

Consider this: If God’s plan were merely to take mankind to the intermediate Heaven, or to a Heaven that was the dwelling place of spirit beings, there would be no need for new heavens and a New Earth. Why refashion the stars of the heavens and the continents of the earth? God could simply destroy His original creation and put it all behind Him. But He doesn’t do that. Upon creating the heavens and the earth, He called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Not once has He renounced His claim on what He made.

God isn’t going to abandon His creation. He’s going to restore it. Earth’s destruction will not be permanent but temporary. Just as our destroyed bodies will be raised as new bodies, the destroyed Earth will be raised as a New Earth. We won’t go to Heaven and leave Earth behind. Rather, God will bring Heaven and Earth together into the same dimension, with no wall of separation, no armed angels to guard Heaven’s perfection from sinful mankind (Genesis 3:24). God’s perfect plan is “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).

God has never given up on His original creation. Yet somehow we’ve managed to overlook an entire biblical vocabulary that makes this point clear.

Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Regenerate. Resurrect. Each of these biblical words begins with the re- prefix, suggesting a return to an original condition that was ruined or lost. For example, redemption means to buy back what was formerly owned. Similarly, reconciliation means the restoration or re-establishment of a prior friendship or unity. Renewal means to make new again, restoring to an original state. Resurrection means becoming physically alive again, after death.

These words emphasize that God always sees us in light of what He intended us to be, and He always seeks to restore us to that design. Likewise, He sees the earth in terms of what He intended it to be, and He seeks to restore it to its original design.

In his excellent book Creation Regained, Albert Wolters writes, “[God] hangs on to his fallen original creation and salvages it. He refuses to abandon the work of his hands—in fact he sacrifices his own Son to save his original project. Humankind, which has botched its original mandate and the whole creation along with it, is given another chance in Christ; we are reinstated as God’s managers on earth. The original good creation is to be restored.”

If God had wanted to consign Adam and Eve to Hell and start over, He could have. But He didn’t. Instead, He chose to redeem what He started with—the heavens, the earth, and mankind—to bring them back to His original purpose. God is the ultimate salvage artist. He loves to restore things—and make them even better.

“Ruined sinners to reclaim.” This phrase from the hymn “Hallelujah, What a Savior!” reflects God’s purpose in our salvation. Reclaim is another re- word. It recognizes that God had a prior claim on humanity that was temporarily lost but is fully restored and taken to a new level in Christ. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). God has never surrendered His title deed to the earth. He owns it—and He will not relinquish it to His enemies. In fact, Scripture tells us that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).

Note that it says Christ came not to destroy the world (which is his world) but to destroy the devil’s works, which are to twist and pervert and ruin the world God made. Redemption will forever destroy the work of the devil by removing his hold on creation and by reversing the consequences. Far from destroying the world, God’s plan is to keep it from being destroyed by Satan. God’s plan is to remove the destruction that has already been inflicted on it. His plan is to redeem the world. God placed mankind on Earth to fill it, rule it, and develop it to God’s glory. But that plan has never been fulfilled. Should we therefore conclude that God’s plan was ill-conceived, thwarted, or abandoned? No. These conclusions do not fit the character of an all-knowing, all-wise, sovereign God. Second Peter 3 does not teach that God will destroy the earth and then be done with it. Rather, it promises that God will renew Heaven and Earth.

God is not some hapless inventor whose creation failed. He has a masterful plan, and He will not surrender us or the earth to the trash heap.

That makes me want to thank Him right now. How about you?

God, expand our view of your greatness so that we may gain an appreciation for the greatness of your redemptive work. Thank you that you did not abandon us to Hell, but that you loved us enough to shed your divine blood to rescue us and our planet. Thank you that we have a future, and that Earth—from which you formed us, and over which you made us to rule—also has a future. Help us to anticipate that future today. And may our anticipation affect the decisions we make. We ask these things in the great name of our Redeemer, Jesus, the Lord of the earth.

Excerpted from 50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light.

From Eternal Perspective Ministries

Now available as a special edition with a leatherlike cover, Randy's 50 Days of Heaven brings eternity to light in 50 inspiring and thought-provoking meditations to be read one at a time, including questions of self-examination as well as prayer. These snapshots of Heaven will forever change the way you think about the spectacular new universe that awaits us! Many people who have read and appreciated the Heaven book will find this very helpful, not only as review, but as an opportunity to focus on bite-sized chunks.

50 Days of Heaven (special edition) retails for $19.99 and our everyday low price is $13.99. Through May 30, use the coupon code SPRING25 to get an additional 10% off.

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