1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. 
	We have spent much time dealing with the resurrection of our glorified bodies in Jesus Christ. There is a fulfillment to the plan and purpose of God’s creation of man that will be seen in the complete men and women of God that we will become under His divine creative hand. The power of the resurrection victory of Jesus Christ will be in full display in the people whom He has redeemed to the glory of God. But that is not the totality of what God will accomplish in Jesus Christ. 
We ended last week with the consideration that it is not just humanity that will be glorified in God’s plan. All of creation is waiting for the redemption that is to come in the triumphant return of Jesus Christ. Just as our bodies will be redeemed, so will this entire creation be the recipient of the completed work of God in His Son.
	This truth should cause us to look more closely at the Word of God in terms of what will be in place in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. So often, we put limitations on what God tells us through the prophets’ and the psalmists’ writings. We are often inadequate in our understanding of the complete truth of what will be in place in the world to come under the power of God’s Son. We fail to recognize that what was written will take place. We often conceptualize the Word of God into compartments of our understanding, thinking figuratively of things that will, in fact, be in place in the dispensation of God’s eternity.
	As a brief side comment at this point, this is an area in which I urge, no, in which I absolutely adjure each one of us to go before the Holy Spirit in the manner in which we hear His Word preached. We need to do so with hearts that desire Him to validate and to prove or disprove that which we hear. This should be the case with every message that is given in the name of the Lord. We should never accept statements with blindness. We should always take what we hear to the Lord for Him to validate that which is preached. 
I do urge a caution in this sense, however. Just because we like what we hear does not make it truth and just because we dislike what we hear does not make it false. Very often, we hear exactly what we need to hear. Yet we hate it and do not want to accept it as true. We do not want it to be true. However, the Holy Spirit uses that seemingly distasteful truth to cause us to see His light, to grow up into His Wisdom and Understanding. 
	As well, often the things that we want to hear are just that, what we want, and not what we need. So many of us are very adept at seeking out what we crave until we hear it. As we are warned in     
2 Tim 4:3+4, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. 
We run to this person and to that person until we are told what we desire to hear rather than what we need to hear. That is a dangerous game that will surely lead us into the arena of falsehood and self-deception. So with every message that is put before us, let us listen with hearts that seek for the Lord to validate His Word and to make us listen to Him and to His truth and to desire His truth above all else.
	Back to our current consideration then, we should realize that the Word of God looks forward to the time of the complete redemption of even this earth upon which we live, to the glory of God on high. One passage that is often looked upon with scant literalness is Isa 11:6-10. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. Then it will come about in that day That the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. Many regard this as merely an allusion to the spiritual well-being and peace that will be in place. But, in light of the complete glorification of the reign that is to be established by the return of the Lord, this is a picture of the divine reality of the glorified earth. There will be a complete and perfect harmony in all of creation in the light of Jesus Christ. 
	Isa 35:1+2, The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God. 
This is a picture of the completeness of what God will accomplish in the restoration of His creation under the ministry of the victory of Jesus Christ. Are we getting a sense of the majesty that will be in place in the accomplished work of our Lord and Savior? We must look beyond the meager scope of our own, limited, albeit glorious and revered salvation, to the full salvation of God’s entire creation in Jesus Christ. There will be no, little, single, insignificant area in all of creation that will not be subjected to the perfect work that God has accomplished in the giving of His Son to redeem His creation. There will be no loose ends, no minor capitulation to sin and the curse of its stain. Every aspect of God’s creation will be cleansed and glorified by the blood of the Lamb to His glory. 
	As we have fully considered in our deliberations of hell, even the cursed in hell and Satan and all His minions will be forced to give the glory to God. They will recognize His righteousness and justice and holiness under which they will be eternally damned for their callous disregard and cursing of His offered love in Christ Jesus. 
Rev 5:11-13, And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 
	All of creation will be eagerly praising God for His glorious work. Ps 96:10-13, Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming; For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples in His faithfulness. 
This is no small thing in regard to this earth that was created specifically to contain us. God made it perfectly suited as our habitation and that is something that we must never forget in our discussion of heaven. God has a purpose in this earth, and that must never be overlooked as we read His Word and consider His mighty hand in operation.
	Christ’s very words, recorded in Matt 5:5, are a promise that is a very literal one, and must not be disregarded or ignored as improbable. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Neither should we minimize the Lord’s teaching us to pray in Matt 6:10, 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 
These are not statements to be discounted as unrealistic or merely a conceptual possibility. Those who are gentle in the grace of God will absolutely inherit the earth. There will come a time when, in all reality and fullness, God’s Will will be done perfectly, faithfully, absolutely, fully, and eternally on earth as it is even now in heaven. 
	Quote, The change will be vast, for ‘the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up’ (2 Pet. 3:10). Our minds cannot conceive such a cataclysmic transformation, so all-embracing that God can say, ‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth’ (Isa. 65:17). But the word ‘new’ in the ancient Greek translation of this text and in the parallel New Testament passages does not mean absolutely new, but new in quality, in freshness. As with our new resurrection bodies, the basic identity is retained. The cautious A. A. Hodge comments: ‘As to the location of the place in which Christ and His glorified spouse will hold their central home throughout eternity, a strong probability is raised that it will be our present Earth, first burned with fire and then gloriously replenished.’ End quote.  
	Think of what this means. Heaven will come down to Earth and it will be a new environment from which the glory of God will emanate throughout all the eternal ages to come. Thus we have the vision of the Apostle John fulfilled as recorded in Rev 21:1-3. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them…
	Quote, Here is the grand scale of the Father’s purpose in the Son, ‘that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, which are in heaven and which are on earth’ (Eph. 1:10). Note the ‘all things’. Not just the souls and bodies of the elect, but ‘all things’. ‘For it pleased the Father…to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven’ (Col. 1:19-20). End quote. 	
	This counters one of the reasons why we often do not look forward to going to heaven. We fear that we will be forced to leave this Earth, which has been our home for these too few years of our lives. We love this home that God has given us and it is right to do so. We are encouraged to regard this earth as the handiwork of God, created especially for us. Gen 1:28-31, And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food "; and it was so. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. 
	We enjoy thoroughly the beauty of the handiwork of God as it proclaims His glory on this earth. Ps 24:1, The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains…Isa 6:3, The whole earth is full of His glory." 1 Chron 16:30-34, Tremble before Him, all the earth; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns." Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord; For He is coming to judge the earth. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
We are not to love this world for its own sake nor the things of this world, as we are so warned in this morning’s reading, 1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. 
	And there are specific warnings given to those who are blessed with the physical wealth of this world. 1 Tim 6:17-19, Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. 
	Still, as we have seen, we are to love this physical earth of God’s creation solely for the reason of seeing God’s glory manifest in it. Quote, What a joy, then, to realize that we will not have to say a final goodbye to earth, but will inhabit it for ever in the life to come! We may not remember it as our previous home, for God tells us about the new heavens and new earth that ‘the former shall not be remembered or come to mind’ (Isa. 65:17), on which J. A. Motyer comments, ‘The awareness will be of a total newness without anything even prompting a recollection of what used to be.’ But surely there will be a deep-seated sense of familiarity, of belonging. It will not be alien to us, but we will feel it to be our own place. ‘On the new earth we hope to spend eternity, enjoying its beauties, exploring its resources, and using its treasures to the glory of God.’ End quote. 
	There will be the union of heaven and earth, such as we read in Ps. 33:3-5, Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the LORD is upright; And all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD. And in Ps 85:10+11, Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth; And righteousness looks down from heaven. 
This will be the arena of the glory of God that we will inhabit for all the eternal ages to come. We will be in the direct presence of God on this earth which fully contains and expresses His glory. It will be the revealed perfection wrought in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All sin and its stain will be gone. Our glorified bodies, minds, souls, and spirit, along with the entirety of this creation will be singing the praises of God Almighty.
We will sing in perfect unison the songs as recorded in Ps 98. O Sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre; With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD. Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the Lord ; for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. Amen!

This morning’s benediction is 1 John 2:24+25. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. Amen.