The Generation of Jesus Christ - What It Means

[KenH]

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:1

I wonder; What is the purpose of the new earth?

The new heavens and earth, wherein righteousness will dwell, replaces this sin-filled heavens and earth. What a glorious hope for all of God's elect to look forward to - sin-free resurrected spiritual bodies and a sin-free heavens and earth.

2 Peter 3:10-13
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:1

I wonder; What is the purpose of the new earth?

The purpose of the new earth is to remove the curse. Scripture is very clear that the present creation is under the curse of sin and death, and that the new creation is the removal of everything the curse brought into the world. Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.” That is the plain statement. The new earth is the place where the curse is gone, where death is gone, where sorrow and pain are gone, and where righteousness dwells.

Romans 8 says that the whole creation groans under bondage and waits for deliverance. Second Peter 3 says that the present heavens and earth will pass away and that we look for “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Revelation 21 says that God will wipe away all tears and that the former things have passed away.

So the purpose of the new earth is the removal of the curse and the restoration of creation to what God intended before sin entered the world. It is the home of righteousness, free from corruption, decay, death, and judgment.

 

[canadyjd]

The purpose of the new earth is to remove the curse. Scripture is very clear that the present creation is under the curse of sin and death, and that the new creation is the removal of everything the curse brought into the world. Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.” That is the plain statement. The new earth is the place where the curse is gone, where death is gone, where sorrow and pain are gone, and where righteousness dwells.

Romans 8 says that the whole creation groans under bondage and waits for deliverance. Second Peter 3 says that the present heavens and earth will pass away and that we look for “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Revelation 21 says that God will wipe away all tears and that the former things have passed away.

So the purpose of the new earth is the removal of the curse and the restoration of creation to what God intended before sin entered the world. It is the home of righteousness, free from corruption, decay, death, and judgment.

And so I learn something new every day.

Very well stated. Thank you

Now the question, is it literal or is it figurative… like so much else in Revelation.

I always considered Heaven to be the future of all believers. Does this description of a new earth simply refer to our perfect existence in heaven with God?

Peace to you

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

And so I learn something new every day.

Very well stated. Thank you

Now the question, is it literal or is it figurative… like so much else in Revelation.

I always considered Heaven to be the future of all believers. Does this description of a new earth simply refer to our perfect existence in heaven with God?

Peace to you

Yes it is literal. Revelation often uses symbols, but it also interprets its own symbols, and when the text speaks plainly of a new heaven and a new earth, it is describing an actual renewed creation. Revelation 21:1 says the first heaven and the first earth pass away, and Revelation 21:5 says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.” Those statements only make sense if there is a real creation being restored.

Heaven is the dwelling place of God, but the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God. It is heaven brought to earth. The new earth is the place where God dwells with His people, where righteousness dwells, and where the curse is removed. So our future is not an existence floating in heaven, but a resurrected life in a renewed creation with God dwelling among us.

 

[Ascetic X]

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:1

I wonder; What is the purpose of the new earth?

The purpose of the new Earth is to host the New Jerusalem. It is where righteousness will prevail, the nations will be healed, and there will be no more curse on the plants or animals. It is where the servants of the Lord will reign and work.

Revelation 22

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

 

[canadyjd]

Yes it is literal. Revelation often uses symbols, but it also interprets its own symbols, and when the text speaks plainly of a new heaven and a new earth, it is describing an actual renewed creation. Revelation 21:1 says the first heaven and the first earth pass away, and Revelation 21:5 says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.” Those statements only make sense if there is a real creation being restored.

Heaven is the dwelling place of God, but the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God. It is heaven brought to earth. The new earth is the place where God dwells with His people, where righteousness dwells, and where the curse is removed. So our future is not an existence floating in heaven, but a resurrected life in a renewed creation with God dwelling among us.

I shall ponder this. Thanks

Peace to you

 

[KenH]

2 Peter 3:10-13
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Hebrews 1:10-12 says the same thing:
And,
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
And the heavens are the works of thine hands:
They shall perish; but thou remainest:
And they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,
And they shall be changed:
But thou art the same,
And thy years shall not fail.

 

[JD731]

Mt i:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Jesus Christ is unique in that he is the only man ever born of a woman and fathered by God and connected to the physical linage through this birth. It is not a surprise. It is the first thing we ever learned about him.

Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The focus of the genealogical line of Abraham and David was fulfilled in Jesus because the purpose of this line was to provide the highway of the seed of the woman and when Jesus came we have no other genealogy listed because the promised seed came through the woman. Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (of the Father)." Full attention must now be centered on his generational time period to redeem his people, Israel, and to finish the work the Father gave him to do. His coming would not be enough to fulfill the covenants and deliver the promise. The scriptures have taught us that a 7 is going to be involved in complete things. I quoted this earlier but Jesus stated his mission after he rose from the dead. The following 70 years after his birth is his generational time period on the earth to accomplish all the OT prophets and Psalmists said he would do. Since it did not happen in the 70 years of that generation and since God cannot lie, then that generation would need to be suspended in time. The way time is suspended is by death. dead things are buried. God has power to raise the dead. That is what happened to that generation.

No one except a dispensationalist can see the parallelisms in the scriptures. I am not going to explain this because I do not want to give anyone something else to deny. But, I will say that both Israel, the collective and fleshly son of God and Jesus the Lord from heaven share the same prophetic strain. Broadly speaking both are born in the flesh and die because of sin, are buried and both are raised again by the Father early in the morning on the third day when a day is as one thousand years and a thousand year is as one day. Salvation is then provided to the nations through them.

One cannot even imagine the glorious truths he misses out on by following these false religious systems.

Ho 6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles (about Israel), inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh (Israelites V1), and might save some of them. (a remnant)
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (a resurrection)

I do not know any more than I have learned by believing the words of scriptures and being very careful about context. Salvation is about believing God the Father and Jesus Christ has reconciled us by taking away the thing that caused enmity between us. He did it by dying our death sentence that our sins demanded. I believe Jesus Christ died for me and God has received me and has counted me righteous in Jesus because he raised him from the dead. My prayer is that I please him with whatever I say about his word and say nothing amiss.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it (righteousness) was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him (the Father) that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Ga 1:1
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

 

[kyredneck]

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:1

I wonder; What is the purpose of the new earth?

'No more sea' of Gentiles. We are new creatures of the new heaven and new earth of the New Covenant wherein neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything.

 

[Ben1445]

'No more sea' of Gentiles. We are new creatures of the new heaven and new earth of the New Covenant wherein neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything.

Micah 7:19
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities;
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

 

[JD731]

I have quoted the verses in the NT with the subject of "this generation" without the context but if anyone were interested enough to look at the context one would find that the scriptures are all speaking about the same time frame in history. These men had wonderful privileges that no other generation ever had. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was in their midst and they did not recognize him and would not believe him in spite of overwhelming evidence. That is part of their condemnation and this failure resulted in immeasurable suffering and death for following generations of Jews.
I do not know what the leading religious leaders and seminary professors are saying about these words but included in them is the proclamation that this generation would not pass away until all the things concerning Jesus Christ are fulfilled.

Let me at this time introduce a new thought into the responsibilities of "this generation" of Jews. The primary message that Jesus came preaching to this generation was that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He appealed to the OT scriptures that presented the Christ, the anointed one, as the son of God and the seed of the woman. Therefore, there were two things that this generation were called upon to believe about Jesus before they believed anything else. Number one, they must believe that he is the Messiah that was prophesied in the OT who was to come and that he is the son of God. He came to no other people except to those to whom he made the kingdom promises. Here is what John, the apostle said, who wrote to Jews after this generation about the events of this generation.

Jn 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might 1) believe that Jesus is the Christ, 2) the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
He said earlier to Israel in John 6.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

This is the exact things that the rulers of the people did not believe and the thing they would not do. Only a very small remnant of the common people believed and were saved when Jesus rose from the dead. So, instead of a national kingdom of God with the Jews as the chief nation over the whole earth and Christ reigning over it, he pronounced a curse of blindness over those rulers and determined instead to raise up a mystery form of the kingdom whose governing principles did not come from the OT scriptures, they being completely silent about it, and the kingdom would not be visible while it was being populated with born again citizens from both Jews and gentiles with the believing Jews being first and foundational.
That generation did not end but was cut off with God determining he would not establish his kingdom through them.
The book of Matthew divides the kingdom into two equal parts, The offer and rejection of the physical kingdom in Mt 1 through 12, ending with the unpardonable sin of those wicked rulers and the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven which is established in this church age. Matthew 13 is an overview , beginning to end, of this entire age in 7 parables with a 4 and 3 division.
The same spirit that persuaded the Jews that Jesus Christ did not come to establish his kingdom on earth is likewise persuading the modern church that it is not true.

1. Matthew 11:16
   But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellow
2. Matthew 12:41
   The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
   Matthew 12:42
3. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
4. Matthew 23:
   Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.I
5. Matthew 24:34
   Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
6. Mark 8:12
   And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
7. Mark 13:30
   Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
8. Luke 7:31
   And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
9. Luke 11:30
   For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
10. Luke 11:31
    The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
    
11. Luke 11:32
    The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
12. Luke 11:50
    That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
13. Luke 11:51
    From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
14. Luke 17:25
    But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
15. Luke 21:32
    Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
    
    
    • 
      
    • Acts 2:40
      And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
      Acts 8:33
      In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
      Acts 13:36
      For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
      1 Peter 2:9
      But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
      
      
      Why is it so hard to believe that God planned from eternity past to create the heavens and the earth and to give dominion over the earth to men. (And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth). And why can't they understand that Satan almost immediately usurped the dominion of the man and his wife for whom he made it and to whom he gave it. And why can't they understand that the battle is for the earth, between Satan and Jesus Christ, and all of us are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground.
    • 
      
    • 
      Matthew 12:30
      He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
      
      
      Ps 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

The rapture of the church is a real thing and it is almost here. There is not much time left to believe. The church is the body of Christ . Jesus Christ suffered once already for our sins and we believed him and received him by faith to save us from the wrath to come. He will surely do what he promised. Believe him.

 

[percho]

Just a sidenote.

I have asked many times on this forum on many threads of those who know Greek. Does the definite article have meaning in the Greek?

Relative to the, "this generation".

ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη
τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ
τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης

THE generation this

What is the meaning of the above?

In the Greek; Why, the - this?

Say from Gal 3:14 διὰ τῆς πίστεως

Does that article have definite meaning? What meaning being in the genitive?

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

Just a sidenote.

I have asked many times on this forum on many threads of those who know Greek. Does the definite article have meaning in the Greek?

Relative to the, "this generation".

ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη
τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ
τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης

THE generation this

What is the meaning of the above?

In the Greek; Why, the - this?

Say from Gal 3:14 διὰ τῆς πίστεως

Does that article have definite meaning? What meaning being in the genitive?

Brother, the Greek does not make “this generation” mean anything other than the plain, immediate referent. The article and the demonstrative do not create a special category or a future group.

In the phrases:

ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης

the article makes the noun definite, “the generation,” and the demonstrative points to something present and identifiable, “this one.” Together they simply mean “the generation, this one.” That is the normal force of the construction.

Greek demonstratives do not point to a distant or symbolic group. They always point to something near in context. Nothing in the grammar shifts the meaning away from the people Jesus was speaking to.

So yes, the Greek supports the plain reading. “This generation” means exactly what it says.

I will admit the original languages are getting a bit out of my depth, but I am following along. What I do see is that nothing in the Greek construction changes the plain sense of the words. The article makes the noun definite, and the demonstrative points to something present. Together they simply mean “the generation, this one.” That much is clear even to someone who is not real strong in Greek, like myself.