Systematic Theology: A 7-Day Crash CourseSample

The End Times: The New Heavens and New Earth and Hell

The last few verses of Isaiah’s prophecy speak of the eternal states of the saved and the lost. In the previous chapter, God proclaims “I create new heavens and a new earth and the former things shall not be remembered” (65:17). Isaiah foresees a future life that is new (65:17), joyous (65:19), secure (65:20–23), and peaceful (65:24–25), and now he expands that description: the new world will also be unending, universal, and worshipful (66:22–23).

Many believers correctly understand the intermediate state (after death and before resurrection) to be a happy spiritual existence in the Lord’s presence (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). But some incorrectly extrapolate that idea into the eternal state and assume we will be disembodied spirits in an ethereal heaven forever.

Scripture, however, teaches that just as God created Adam and Eve as holistic beings of body and soul, so we will forever be with the Lord united in body and soul. And just as “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), so the final state of affairs will be a new heaven and a renewed earth. This is the testimony of Isaiah, Jesus (Matt. 19:28), Paul (Rom. 8:19–22), Peter (2 Pet. 3:13), and John (Rev. 21:1).

Isaiah also speaks of the final destiny of the lost. Although God’s promises of salvation are universal in scope, not everyone repents and believes. The prophet speaks of worshipers going outside the city walls and seeing in the city garbage dump the corpses of those who rebelled against God. The saved will agree with God’s righteous judgment of the wicked, in which “their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isa. 66:24). The lost will suffer perpetual death as unending punishment for sin, as Jesus confirmed (Mark 9:43–48).

Theology for Life—Isaiah’s prophecy ends with a stark contrast between two eternal destinies: eternal life with God on the new earth or eternal death. The Father sent the Son to save and not to condemn (John 3:16–18). Have you trusted Jesus for salvation?