Theology of Work in Renewal | How We Participate with God in Making All Things New
Read these passages: Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 65:21-22, Isaiah 66:22; Romans 8:18-25; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:1-5, Revelation 22:3-5.
Affirmations about Work in Renewal
When we are HOME (Heaven on Modified Earth) we will work, play, and worship just like we do now yet with no effects of sin! 10 Things You Should Know about the New Heavens and the new Earth
Jesus tells “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5. He also tells us to pray “you will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:9-13. This has implications now and after his return to a renewed earth.
The Greek word for “new” in “new heavens and new earth” is καινός. It signifies what is renewed in nature, different from the usual, impressive, better than the old, superior in value or attraction. The other Greek word for “new” is νέος which signifies what was not there before and brand new in time or origin.
Believers who have died are currently in the “Intermediate Heaven.” Our ultimate destination is the “Eternal Heaven on Renewed Earth.” Blog
Renewal impacts nouns = people, places, things. Just like God’s people will be glorified and renewed, so his creation (including work) will be renewed. The End of the World and the End of Work?; Babylon and the New Jerusalem: A Tale of Two Cities
In the same way Jesus brought heaven and earth together in his incarnation, so it will happen again when he returns. Work on the Renewed Earth will not be less than it is now but rather it will be restored and renewed to something better.
Applications to Your Work
What type of work would you like to do with Jesus when you are HOME?
How does your HOME-sickness give you hope in your work now?
Quotations
It seems clear from Isaiah 60 and from Revelation 21 that we will find the new creation furnished with culture. Cultural goods too will be transformed and redeemed, yet they will be recognizably what they were in the old creation—or perhaps more accurately they will be what they always could have been.
~ Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2013), 212.
The intent of God is that we will continue to work in the new creation. In the end, God will usher in a new heaven and a new earth—a place bursting with culture and life. This means that in the end, our resurrection will not be just for our souls, but it will be for our bodies as well—just as it was with Jesus.
~ Daniels, Denise; Vandewarker, Shannon. Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work (p. 9). Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Kindle Edition.
Q. 5. What is God’s purpose for the world?
A. God’s purpose for the world is to bring his perfect rule and will in heaven down to earth so that all things flourish and honor him for who he is and for what he does.
Q. 16. What is the good news about God’s kingdom?
A. The good news is that God’s kingdom has come to earth through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of his Holy Spirit to redeem and restore all things lost in creation because of humanity’s sin.
Q. 17. What is the good news about God’s Son?
A. The good news is that through Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, God has given him authority as Lord and Savior to rule over all things and bring salvation to fallen humanity and creation.
~ Lordship Catechism by Dr. Steve Childers, https://www.stevechilders.org/lordship-catechism-introduction-2021-blog-post/
Best Books on Eternal Heaven on a Renewed Earth
Heaven for Kids by Randy Alcorn [Easy] “The best family devotions we ever had right after Papa passed away” ~ Charles
Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human by John Mark Comer (chapters 12-13) [Easy]
Heaven by Randy Alcorn [Intermediate]
Eternal Perspectives by Randy Alcorn [Intermediate; Collections of Quotations]
Not Home Yet: How the Renewal of the Earth Fits into God's Plan for the World by Ian K. Smith [Intermediate]
Heaven: It's not the end of the world by David Lawrence [Intermediate]
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright [Advanced]
Heaven is a Place on Earth by Michael E. Wittmer [Advanced]
Coming Home: Essays on the New Heaven and New Earth by D.A. Carson and Jeff Robinson [Advanced]