And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and earth have passed away, and the sea is no longer. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared 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 will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and no longer shall there be death, neither sorrow, nor crying,nor pain, for the first things have passed away.”

And the One sitting on the throne said: “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said: “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give freely to the thirsty from the fountain of the water of life. The overcomer will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be to me a son. But to the cowardly and unfaithful and abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake which burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21: 1-8

In Rev., chapter 20, John witnessed the end of Satan and the unrepentant wicked as they prepared to attack the holy city, New Jerusalem. Here in chapter 21: 1-8, John’s attention is turned to a general overview of the new earth. In the remaining chapter’s verses, John will describe the New Jerusalem.

The old earth and its atmospheric heaven, corrupted by sin, has been burned up (2 Peter 3: 10). John now sees them as a new creation that restores both to their original state when all was good. The one thing that immediately catches John’s eyes is the absence of the sea. On this new earth, there aren’t any great masses of water to separate people.

Though John wrote in chap. 20 about New Jerusalem already being on earth, he now backtracks and writes about the city, designed and built by God (Hebrews 11: 10), descending from heaven. Just as the church is described as the bride of Christ (Rev. 19: 7, 8), John describes New Jerusalem in the same way. The saints and the city are intimately and somewhat interchangeably connected, both beautifully dressed.

New Jerusalem becomes God’s new center and seat of all creation. As such, heaven is now on the new earth.

From the direction of the throne, John hears a loud voice. In so many words, the voice announces that God’s presence in the city is in the open; that He and His people can now fellowship without the need for a temple. In this restored paradise, the voice goes on to say that in God’s presence, all sorrowful tears will be wiped away. That’s because the reasons for those kind of tears have passed away. Here will be on the new earth, no such thing as death, sorrow, crying, and pain.

Then, John hears God’s voice:”Behold, I am making all things new.” That applies to not only people who will now be rid of pain and suffering. Recall that Paul said that all of creation groans and suffers pain, eagerly looking for liberation from corruption (Romans 8: 21, 22). On the new earth, all of creation is freed from sin’s corruption and decay. John is told to write about the newness of all these things because of the divine truth and faithfulness of the promise. The promise is as good as done, for as the Alpha and Omega —  the beginning and the end — God is in control.

For all who are thirsty for God, God promises that His spiritual riches will be freely given from the water of life. All things made new are given to the overcomer as an inheritance. After all, those who overcome are God’s children, with all the rights of heirs (Romans 8: 16, 17).

On the flip side, again the fate of the wicked is spelled out. They will not get to enjoy the fruit of the new earth and the heavenly city. As was shown in the last chapter, their destiny is in the lake of fire.