781. IX. THIS IS WHAT IS MEANT IN THE APOCALYPSE BY "THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH," AND "THE NEW JERUSALEM" DESCENDING THEREFROM. We read in the Apocalypse:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:1-2). Something like this is also written in Isaiah:
Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth; be ye glad and rejoice forever; and behold, I will create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy (Rev. 65:17-18). It has been made known previously in this chapter that the Lord is at this day forming a new heaven from such Christians as acknowledged in the world, or after their departure from the world were able to acknowledge, that He is the God of heaven and earth, according to His words in Matthew (28:18).