The End of the World

Good morning, church. Pastor Matthew here on this cold Sunday morning and glad that we can join together in person, even as we're separated.

And as we're coming together, as I often say when we are separated, but we're together virtually,

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We're going to jump right in this morning.

You'll remember that we are studying the book of 2 Peter together.

And the book of 2 Peter is a letter. It's a letter written by a man named Peter.

And he writes it to a church somewhere in the Roman Empire in the 60s AD.

And we're near the end of the letter now. We've been in chapters 2 and 3 and especially in chapter 3.

And as we're in chapter 3, we're continuing to talk about what we started in chapter 2, which is the idea of the false teachers.

And you'll remember that the false teachers are promoting a couple different things.

They're attacking the reality that Jesus is coming back to the earth.

And they're also attacking the authority of scripture.

We've been talking the last two weeks about their objection that we saw in verse 4.

And their objection is that Jesus is not coming back.

And the reason that they claim he's not coming back is because he hasn't come back yet.

In other words, why is it taking so long?

And we saw two answers to that last week.

One, Peter rejects the premise of their question.

He says, God's view of time, God's relationship with time is very different than your view of time, your relationship with time.

And then he also tells them, God is not slow, he's patient.

He's not slow, he's patient.

So that's where we've been.

Here's where we're heading this morning.

We have the same situation we had last week, which is we have got some heavy sledding theologically.

And so I want us to go in with a strategy.

You'll remember I told you last week we were not going to discuss all of verse 10 because we were going to discuss that this week.

So this week, we're starting at verse 10 and we're going to verse 13.

We are going to focus on verse 10, the end of verse 12, and verse 13.

We are not going to look at verse 11 at all.

We're not going to look at the beginning of verse 12.

We will cover those next week.

So there's just a lot going on in these passages.

They're very dense and we don't want to rush through them.

And so it's for that reason that we're taking it slow.

So we didn't cover as much of verse 10 last week.

We'll cover it this week.

We're not covering verse 11 this week.

We'll cover it next week.

And next week, we'll add verse 14.

With that strategy in mind, I want you to think of this question.

Ask yourself this question.

When you think of the end of the world, what comes to mind?

When you think of the end of the world, what comes to mind?

And in addition to that, when you think of what's talked about in Scripture as the new heavens and the new earth,

what comes to mind?

What comes to mind in that situation?

Christians have a variety of ideas about what this is going to look like.

Some Christians believe we're going to have this sort of disembodied existence.

Now, they wouldn't necessarily articulate it that way.

But when they think about the end of the world and the new heavens and the new earth,

they think we're escaping material reality somehow.

Now, some people think that maybe there's an alternate earth that we're going to go to.

There's this alternate universe.

And so I'm not going to give you the answer right away,

but I'm just going to remind you there's all kinds of ideas about what's going to happen.

And I'm sure you have an idea as well.

And so that's the question we're going to be asking this morning as we look at 2 Peter 3.

We're not going to look at everything the Bible has to say about the end of the world.

We're going to look at what this passage has to say about the end of the world.

And so it's with that that we turn now to God's Word.

I invite you to turn with me in your Bible, either a physical Bible like I have here,

or on your phone, or maybe on a web browser.

I do encourage you to have all of chapter 3 opened up because we're going to refer back,

especially to verse 7.

But as we come to this, remember that this is God's Word.

In Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5 tells us,

Proverbs 30:5

every word of God proves true.

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

And so that's why we read now 2 Peter chapter 3, starting at verse 10.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,

and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,

and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved,

and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,

what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

waiting for and hastening the coming day of God,

because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved,

and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn.

Verse 13.

But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens

and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you again for your Word that you've given to us,

that you haven't left us alone to wander around,

but you speak clearly to us.

And we thank you that you do that,

even when it's cold outside and it's snowing,

and even when we're separated in person

and we have to join through the internet over video.

We ask that you would help us with that this morning,

the many distractions that come as we're watching a screen

rather than looking at a person,

and that you would show your power by still speaking clearly to us in your Word.

We ask these things knowing that you'll help us,

not because of what we've done or how we've performed,

but you'll help us as we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Now, I didn't plan to preach this sermon from a room in my house,

but it actually proves to be timely and helpful.

And I want you to think for a second,

as you look at this room that I'm in,

what does it say to you?

Now, there's a variety of things it might say.

You might say that there's not a whole lot of things on the wall.

And so you might think, well, that's what it's like to live as a bachelor.

You know, it just doesn't know what to do with this room.

There are other things it might say to you.

I'll tell you what it says to me.

When I look at this room and a variety of places in my house,

it screams the 1990s.

This house was built in 1995.

I only bought it in 2019.

And so I have not had it that whole time.

But if you look at that door right there,

you look at those closet doors,

that is something that happens with 1990s houses.

You would not buy a house today and see those kinds of doors.

You wouldn't necessarily see those colors, right?

There's something dated about it.

And when I first walked into this house with my realtor,

back in the spring of 2019,

one of the first things she pointed out to me was the kitchen floors.

She said, these kitchen floors,

you can tell something's, they're not been treated well.

The owners are using too much water when they clean them.

Because you can see there's a little bit of a bend in some of the pieces.

It's sort of this, I'm not good at describing these materials,

but you know, it's a non-wood material.

Some kind of plastic.

But they said it's been cleaned with too much water.

And so you see the edges start to kind of come up on the different pieces of the floor.

Well, after I purchased the house,

I had a handyman come and take a look at a variety of things.

And he looked at the kitchen floors and he told me,

the problem with these kitchen floors is not that the previous owners

use too much water when they clean it.

The problem is that these floors aren't designed to be in contact with water.

You have the wrong kind of floors for a kitchen.

And unfortunately, those same floors are also in several of the bathrooms.

And so he looked and he said,

these floors are not meant to be in bathrooms.

So over time, regardless of what happens,

water is going to destroy them.

You have the wrong flooring.

Of course, this is what happens when you're a homeowner, right?

And you buy a home that's been in existence for a long time.

You inherit all sorts of decisions made by other people.

And so when it comes to these kitchens,

they have to be replaced.

They don't have to be fixed this year.

They don't have to necessarily have to be fixed next year,

but they must be fixed.

In other words, there is a coming day of judgment and wrath for my kitchen floors.

My kitchen floor has failed.

I might wait for a time.

I will not wait forever.

There will come a day when they will be destroyed.

And of course, there will be a process to it, right?

There's two parts.

First of all, it's going to have to be stripped down,

and then it's going to have to be remade.

That's the same thing we see Peter here talking about

when it comes to the judgment of the world,

the end of the world,

and the new heavens and the new earth.

There are going to be two steps,

just like with my kitchen floors.

When the judgment comes,

when the day of wrath appears,

so it is with the earth.

It is first,

and this is what we're going to look at at the beginning,

it is first going to be stripped down to the studs.

God is going to strip this world down by fire.

We look with me now at verse 10.

We've already looked at the beginning last week,

that the day of the Lord will come like a thief,

and then we see that the heavens will pass away with a roar.

Now, of course, we have to wonder

what exactly is meant by heavens

when we come up against a passage like this,

and we're going to clarify it by looking back at verse 7.

So I invite you to look back at verse 7 with me.

We looked at this a while ago,

but it says,

but by the same word,

the heavens and earth that now exist

are stored up for fire.

So verse 7 is going to clarify

a lot of what we come up against today,

and we see heavens and earth coming together as a pair,

and we also know they're going to be destroyed by fire.

So when we see heavens and earth as a pair,

what I want you to think of

is everything that God has created.

Now, today is Valentine's Day,

and as one person illustrates it,

when we come against phrases like this,

if you were to say to your spouse,

I love you, body and soul,

what do you mean?

Well, you're not trying to draw out

different distinctions about the human epistemology.

What you're actually trying to say is,

I love all of you.

I love you, body and soul.

You're not trying to make this philosophical statement.

You're making a personal, emotional statement.

I love every part of you.

The heavens and the earth are going to be destroyed.

Everything is going to be destroyed.

Verse 7 is easy because heavens and earth are together.

Verse 10 makes it slightly more challenging

because they're separated,

but the point remains the same.

What God has created will be judged by fire.

The heavens will pass away with a roar,

and this roar here is most likely the sound of fire.

You know that if you're by a bonfire,

there's a sense in which it roars.

Now, we're very careful about bonfires here in Colorado,

but if you're from the East Coast,

you are much more casual about them,

and you know that people love to have them in a large field,

and as they get larger and larger,

the sound increases as well.

The same thing is what we're told here in verse 10.

These heavens are going to burn up,

and there's going to be such a great fire

that you can hear it.

Now, we've been talking here about heaven and earth, right?

So we've covered the heavens,

and then we find out here the heavenly bodies

will be burned up and dissolved.

And if you're like me,

and you're using an ESV translation of the Bible,

you'll see that there's a note at the bottom,

and it says it could be translated heavenly bodies.

It could also be translated elements.

I'm going to argue here that it's translated elements

for a variety of reasons.

A main one is that that matches most closely with verse 7.

Verse 7 tells us about heavens and earth.

Verse 10 is expanding on verse 7,

so we expect to hear about the heavens,

and then we expect to hear about the earth.

The elements then are giving us more detail

about what it means for the earth to burn.

Everything that makes up the earth is going to melt.

And so really what's going on in verse 10

is we're seeing an expansion,

an elaboration of what happened in verse 7.

And so that's essentially summing up for us

this judgment by fire that we've seen.

The heavens will pass away by fire.

It's going to be so loud there's a roar.

It's also going to be so hot that the elements,

here translated heavenly bodies,

will be burned up and dissolved.

So this is going to be a fire

that is incredibly hot.

Now I'll just point out that this is parallel

with verse 12.

In fact, verse 12 is essentially saying the same thing.

So I'm not going to recover all this material.

This will help you understand

why we waited for verse 10 for this week.

But verse 12 tells us,

the heavens will be set on fire.

Exactly what we saw in verse 10.

The heavens have a roar to them, a loud fire.

And the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn.

Again, we're going to translate heavenly bodies as elements.

So the earth is going to melt as it burns.

And so I've spent a long time just telling you

what verse 7 has already told us,

that the heavens and the earth that now exist

are being stored up for fire.

Now there's a variety of views about these things.

We don't want to get caught up in the details

because we want to understand the main point.

We don't want to get caught up in,

so caught up in the details that we miss the main point.

And the main point is this.

There is a totality to God's judgment.

It will touch everything.

He is coming in judgment for both the heavens and the earth.

Everything that he has created will be remade.

And we have to see also the parallel

that's going on here with the flood

to help us understand how this is going to work.

So we're told about this judgment by fire

in verse 7, verse 10, and verse 12.

And it's compared to the judgment

that has already happened by water.

So remember verse 5,

the heavens existed long ago and the earth,

again, heaven and earth together

for what God has existed, created.

The heaven and the earth,

verse 6, was deluged with water and perished.

So there was a judgment in the flood by water.

That's in the past.

There will be a judgment by fire.

That's in the future.

This raises, of course, for us the question,

what is this exactly going to look like?

What does it look like for the earth

to be judged and destroyed by fire?

What does it mean for the elements to melt

and the heavens to burn?

Well, this is actually a pretty easy question

for us to answer.

And all we have to do to answer it is this.

Think about the last time

that you witnessed a total and complete judgment

of the entire world.

Just think about that.

You know what that looks like.

You know what this will look like.

Of course, I joke, right?

You have never seen an entire and complete judgment

of the world.

And so, of course, there's going to be an element

in which we can't fully understand

or comprehend what this is describing.

This gets back to what we talked about last week.

Remember, I told you,

when we came to the portion

that a thousand years is like a day

and a day is like a thousand years to the Lord,

I reminded you that we have to have humility

when we come to these things

because God is so much higher than us.

He understands and knows things

that we have no frame of reference for.

You have never experienced

a total and entire judgment of the world.

You have no frame of reference for it.

And so, of course, it would be difficult,

in fact, perhaps impossible for us

to fully understand what this will look like.

Thankfully, the point, the goal of this passage

is not for us to know every detail

about the coming judgment,

but to have assurance, as we talked about last week,

that it will, in fact, happen.

God will come and judge the world by fire

even though he delays now.

And these things are outside of our frame of reference.

There's a certain sense in which we won't fully understand

what verse 10, verse 12, verse 7 is talking about

until we experience it.

Remember, we talked about this concept before.

People in the Old Testament had prophecies

about what Jesus' coming would look like

and they were surprised.

We have prophecies about what his second coming will look like

and we will be surprised.

And so there's some humility that comes here

as we think about and look at Jesus' second coming,

his judgment on the world.

What we do know is the main points.

It will be total and complete.

It will consume the heavens and the earth.

It will not be by water, but by fire.

Now, much of the application for this passage

is going to come next week in verses 11 and 12.

We have so much to cover just in terms of the new heavens

and the new earth that we need to split it into two.

And so some of this we just need to wait for next week.

We are laying groundwork right now

that we're going to see the fruit of next Sunday.

But I'll give you one application now.

There's one section you may have noticed in verse 10

that I did not talk about.

And it's at the end.

After the heavens and the earth are burned up,

the works that are done on it will be exposed.

In other words, God is coming with this complete judgment

and as part of his judgment,

everything that's secret will be made known.

In fact, Jesus himself talks about this in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

He says,

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed

or hidden that will not be made known.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark

shall be heard in the light

and what you have whispered in private rooms

shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

God will delay his judgment for a time.

He will not delay his judgment forever.

There will be secrets for a time.

There will not be secrets forever.

And so the point that I made last week still stands.

Remember the beginning of verse 10.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

When it comes and everything is revealed,

all secrets are made known,

will you be saved or will you be destroyed?

When God's judgment comes,

when everything that is secret is made known,

will you be saved or will you be destroyed?

You'll remember from the last several weeks,

there are only two kinds of people.

Those who have faith in Jesus Christ,

who have repented of their sins

and embraced his offer of salvation

because they know that when Jesus lived,

he lived the perfect life that we should have but didn't.

And when he died,

he received the punishment that we deserve

and saved us from it.

Those who have faith in Jesus Christ will experience that.

They do not need to be afraid of the end of verse 10.

All the works on the earth being exposed.

Those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ

must have great fear.

And as I've been telling you,

the time to repent is now.

God will delay his judgment.

He will not delay it forever.

He is coming like a thief in the night.

When he finally returns,

we will be surprised.

And when he returns,

every secret will be revealed and made known.

And so while we can't imagine or understand

or know every detail,

we know what we need.

We know that he's coming to judge.

And we know that the works that are done on the earth

will be exposed.

Remember,

I told you there's two steps

when the day of judgment and wrath come

for my kitchen floor.

Of course,

the first is that it's going to be stripped.

And that's what we've seen here in this passage.

The first step is this judgment by fire

that's going to strip the earth.

The second step,

however,

it's that it's going to be remade.

It's not just that I remove the old kitchen floor,

right,

but that I'm going to put something

more beautiful,

more wonderful,

more glorious,

more resilient,

something that can actually handle water on it.

And that's the same thing we see here

in this passage.

It's not just that fire comes and destroys,

but that the world is also going to be remade.

And that raises the question here,

right,

what does this fire do?

Does it destroy the world completely?

Is this earth that we live on

going to disappear?

This gets back to the question

I mentioned at the very beginning,

which is that a lot of people

have different ideas

about what's going to happen

at the end of the world.

What does it mean,

in other words,

in verse 13,

when we're told that we're going to have

a new heavens

and a new earth?

In what sense is this world new?

Is it new in the sense that

God's going to create a new earth?

Is he going to create a new universe?

Well,

I'm not going to belabor it,

but I'm going to cut straight to the point

when we talk about

the new heavens

and the new earth,

I would put it in the words

of one theologian

who says this,

the new heavens

and the new earth

will be new in quality.

It will not be new

in time or origin.

It will be new in quality.

It will not be new

in time or origin.

Now,

if that sounds

fancy and technical,

then I just want you

to think about it this way.

If I told you

or someone told you

that they were remodeling

their kitchen,

they might say this.

They might say,

I'm getting a new kitchen.

Right?

And,

that kitchen

is only new

in quality.

In other words,

it's still in the same room.

When I

have

the replacement

of my kitchen floors,

I'm not moving.

I'm not taking

the kitchen

and putting it upstairs.

It's going to stay downstairs.

I will have

the same address

when and if

I have new kitchen floors

and you send me

a Christmas card,

you're going to address

it the same way

that you did

the previous year.

We get a new earth.

In other words,

the address

stays the same.

That is what we mean

when we say

that the new heavens

and the new earth

are new in quality.

We might put it

in a different way.

If I get a new kitchen,

it will be new

in quality,

not new

in location.

God is going

to strip the earth

down to the studs.

That is different

than destroying

or annihilating

the earth.

Okay?

God will make

all things new

here.

When I replace

my kitchen floors,

I will have

new kitchen floors

here

in this house.

The house

that I'm talking

to you from.

The floors

will be new

in quality.

They will not

be new

in location.

Now,

I've stated here

I have to prove

to you that this

is true.

You may think

I'm just playing

fast and loose

with the words here.

Right?

Doesn't new

mean new.

Now,

first of all,

I'm going to call

your attention

to the context

of this chapter

itself.

In this chapter,

we're told

about the flood.

Right?

Verse 6,

the earth

that then

existed was

deluged with

water and

perished.

But what does

it mean that

the world

perished in

the flood?

Well,

we know

that we

still live

on the same

earth that

suffered from

the flood.

So,

it perished

in the sense

that it was

purified.

It perished

in the sense

that the sinful

civilization that

existed was

done away with.

It was that

sense in which

it perished.

It's a related

word that Peter

here uses

in verse 12,

I believe,

or verse 10

to describe

what's going

to happen.

Yeah,

verse 12,

what's going

to happen

to the earth.

And so,

in context,

in the context

of this chapter,

when Peter

talks about

destruction,

he's talking

about new

inequality.

We know

that because

that's the

kind of

destruction

that happened

in the flood.

And so,

why would we

assume that

it's any

different

in this

second judgment?

The judgment

by fire.

So,

in the context

of this passage,

when we compare

verses 6 and 7

with verse 12,

we should assume

that the judgment

by fire is similar

to the judgment

by water.

Both destroy

the earth

in a certain

sense.

Both,

neither one,

I should say,

annihilate the earth.

The earth as we

have it is still

going to be here.

Now,

there are a variety

of other arguments

I could make

to explain to you

that the earth

is going to be new

only in quality.

I'll just give you

a couple more.

If you're familiar

with the Apostle Paul,

you know that in

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

he writes about

the creation

and he tells us

this in verse 19,

the creation

has eager longing

for the future.

In other words,

there's a sense

in which

the trees

and the mountains

are looking forward

for Jesus'

second coming.

We don't know

exactly what that

looks like.

We just have to know

that there's a sense

in which that's true

because Paul tells us

the creation

has eager longing

for the future.

And you have to ask,

why would the creation

have any sort of longing

for the future

if the future

involved the creation

being completely annihilated?

Then,

he goes on to tell us

in verse 21,

the creation itself

will be set free

from its bondage

to corruption

and obtain the freedom

of the glory

of the children of God.

And so,

the creation

is going to be set free.

There is a sense

in which

there is a teaching

here by Paul

that the creation

has something

to look forward to.

Our created world

only has something

to look forward to

if God is renewing

and restoring it

rather than

annihilating it.

And so,

we see again,

new means new

in quality.

Finally,

if you think

I'm playing fast and loose

with the English language,

I'll point out

an argument

by a man

who writes

in this book

about the word

new in Scripture

and points out

that the word

new in Scripture

often is used this way.

He says this,

and he's talking about

2 Peter chapter 3,

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

this is no verbal trick,

rather it conforms

to the nature

of the theme

of eschatological

newness in Scripture.

Eschatological

is just a fancy word

that means

the end of the world.

The redeemed

have undergone

a new birth.

We are already

new creatures

in Christ,

live under

the new covenant

and have new hearts,

but we still remain

what we were before

in the sense

that we retain

all of our

substantial continuity

with the world

that God made

before the fall.

In the act

of regeneration,

God does not perform

open heart surgery

and literally

give us different hearts.

Rather,

our hearts,

a cipher

for the whole person

or seat of thought,

emotion,

and will

are rebuilt,

refurbished,

renewed,

restored,

reconciled,

redeemed,

and regenerated.

Same heart,

new orientation,

new power.

So we see that

the word new

is used this way

throughout Scripture.

I'll just point to

one example.

We're told in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17

chapter 5,

verse 17,

that if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

Well, we understand

what kind of newness

that is.

It's the newness

he speaks of here.

A newness that means

rebuilt,

refurbished,

renewed,

restored,

reconciled,

redeemed.

The same is true

of our world.

It will be new

in the sense

that it is rebuilt,

refurbished,

renewed,

restored,

reconciled,

and redeemed.

It is in that sense

that it will be new.

Now, I'll stop here

in terms of my arguments.

I have not even touched

Jesus' discussion

of the renewal

of the world

or the book

of Revelation.

I'll simply say this.

When it comes to

this category,

the new heavens

and the new earth,

theologians would tell us

it is a restoration

and a renewal,

not an obliteration

or an annihilation.

It is a restoration

and a renewal,

not an obliteration

or an annihilation.

I will install

a floor

that cannot be

penetrated by water.

In that sense,

it will be new.

God is going

to create

a world

untouched by sin.

In that sense,

it will be new.

Now,

as we look

at these concepts

of the new heavens

and the new earth,

there's a variety

of places

I could go with this.

I could talk with you

about the inherent

goodness of creation.

The fact that God

loves it so much,

he's going to redeem it.

I could talk with you

about the wonder

of the material world.

That there's a reason

that we enjoy,

some of us,

snow so much.

Some of us hate it.

There's a reason

we enjoy the beauty

of the mountains

in Colorado.

That's something good

and right.

God designed us

to be that way.

That will not disappear

when Jesus returns.

And we could go

in all those places.

This morning,

I just want you

to think of one thing

that we take away.

One application

that we have,

which is this.

When it comes to Jesus

and his victory,

it is total and complete.

Now,

it's good and right

for us to think

of Jesus' victory

over sin and death

as something

that brings us

salvation from

eternal punishment.

And that is

the most important part

for us

of his victory

over sin and death.

It is not less

than that.

The reality is

that it is much

more than that.

His victory

is so complete

that it eradicates

ultimately

every piece of sin.

It is a complete

retaking of territory.

You know,

when it comes to war,

victory and territory

are intimately connected.

If you win,

you retake

whatever territory

you lost in the war,

right?

If you win,

you might get to take

some of your enemy's territory.

The same is true

of Jesus' victory.

What sort of victory

would it be

if in winning the battle

over sin and death,

he lost the territory

of this earth?

No,

Jesus' victory

is complete.

The surrender of sin

is unconditional.

He loses nothing.

He takes back

everything.

That's how powerful

and complete

Jesus' victory

over sin

and death is.

It is not just

good news,

then,

for us as individuals.

Remember Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

the creation longs.

It is good news

for the entire world.

God does not negotiate

terms with sin.

He does not

cede territory

to sin.

His victory

is complete.

Sin's surrender

is unconditional.

He gains

all his territory

back.

The earth

is his.

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

the whole creation

groans,

the whole creation

will be redeemed.

And of course,

this is made fully

and finally true

in Jesus.

We're told in the New Testament

about his complete victory.

Colossians chapter 2,

Colossians 2:15

verse 15,

tells us this.

He disarmed

the rulers

and authorities

and put them

to open shame

by triumphing

over them

in him.

There's a disarming

of rulers

and authorities,

right?

There's open shame,

there's a triumph.

This is Roman

military language.

He completely

defeats his enemies.

1 Corinthians 15,

1 Corinthians 15:24

verse 24,

again speaking of Jesus.

Then comes the end

when he delivers

the kingdom

to God the Father

after destroying

every rule

and every authority

and power.

Anything and everything

lost to sin

is regained by God,

including the whole world.

Of course,

that doesn't mean

there aren't things

that are lost

in the sense

that they're judged.

But when it comes

to territory,

it means that God

takes it back.

God's victory

is complete.

It's complete

because of Jesus'

victory on the cross.

When he died,

he did not just

take the punishment,

the penalty

for our sins.

He also defeated

sin and death

for all

and forever.

And so we then

see that

when he finally

comes

in his second coming,

stripping the earth

down to the studs

and rebuilding it,

recreating it,

giving us a new heavens

and a new earth.

Remember,

I started by asking you

when it comes

to the end of the world,

what do you think of?

What do you think of

when you think

of the new heavens

and the new earth?

Ronald Reagan,

President Ronald Reagan

liked to talk

about his strategy

in the Cold War

to defeat

the Soviet Union.

And he used this phrase

in various ways

at various times.

One of them was

in one of his

State of the Union addresses.

He described

his strategy

against the Soviet Union.

He said this,

my idea

of American policy

towards the Soviet Union

is simple

and some would say

simplistic.

It is this,

we win

and they lose.

What do you think

of that?

Brothers and sisters,

when we come

to this world,

we know

that Jesus

has won

and sin

has lost.

It is total

and complete.

and so we look

for the total

and complete

reclaiming

of all his territory,

the restoration

of this

entire earth.

That is what we

think of

and see

when we ask

how the world

is going to end

and we think

of the new heavens

and the new earth.

And ultimately,

it is true

because of Jesus

who has conquered

sin and death

and has disarmed

the rulers

and authorities

and put them

to open shame

by triumphing

over them

in him.

Let's pray.

Our Father in Heaven,

we thank you

for the encouragement

and hope we take

that you have

defeated sin

and your defeat

over it

is so great

and so complete

that you will

come back

and reclaim

this earth

once and for all.

We ask that you

would give us

that hope

and that confidence

as we live this week

and you would prepare us

again next week

to hear from your word

as we look to see

what kind of lives

we live

in response

in preparation

for your return.

We ask these things.

I'm grateful

that we ask them

not because of our victory

but because of Jesus' victory

and so we ask them

in his name.

Amen.

As we end our time

together,

we'll have us end

our time together

with a benediction

and you'll remember

that a benediction

is a good word

from God.

God,

it's a word

that is true

in a world

filled with words

that are not true.

It's tradition

for the minister

to hold up

his hand

to send out

God's blessing

on God's people

and it's tradition

for God's people

to hold out

their hands

to receive God's blessing

and so I invite you

even as you're

at your homes

to hold out

your hands

and to hear

God's good word

over you

from Hebrew

chapters 13.

Now may the God

of peace

who brought again

from the dead

our Lord Jesus

the great shepherd

of the sheep

by the blood

of the eternal covenant

equip you with

everything good

that you may do

his will

working in us

that which is pleasing

in his sight

through Jesus Christ

to whom be glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

Thanks for joining us.

Stay warm

and we look forward

to seeing all of you

very soon.

Thanks so much.

And we look forward