Learning The Righteousness of The New Heaven and the New Earth (Singlz’ Summit Day 2, Evening Session)

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:5). Newness is the agenda of the throne of God. It is He who sits upon the throne that makes all things new.

This is not speaking of the newness that is attained at the New Birth (2 Corinthians 5:17) – the newness of the spirit. The newness being talked about in Revelation 21:5 is complete newness – in the soul and body. God is new, but what makes a thing old is sin. God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). If His mercies are new every morning, then He must also be new.

“[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.” [5] And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” (Rev 21:1,5).

The conversation in Revelation 21:1 is what led to the conversation in Revelation 21:5. All things new are the new heavens and new earth. If God wants to make a man new, He gives him the new earth and new heavens in his soul. Men will be raised that will have the new heavens and new earth in this present world.

The new heavens and the new earth are already being given to us at this time. One who has received the new heavens and new earth in his soul is a ruler in the world to come.

“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.” (2 Peter 3:10). These are literal prophecies, so the present world will be dissolved. Before the physical elements of the current heaven and earth are dissolved, God will dissolve the form of the present heaven and earth in us. The tribulation we experience is to disengage us from the present world. One can be in the present earth and have newness.

“For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.” (Hebrews 2:5). The commission of every new testament apostle is to build new people. One cannot follow after righteousness without seeing the reason for receiving newness. Satan has been giving man a counterfeit life disguised as righteousness. When the light of the world to come shows up, we will know that what we have been holding is a counterfeit righteousness, which is sin.

“And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.” (Isaiah 51:16). Those who will become God’s people must have possessed the new heavens and new earth in their souls. The new heavens and earth can be planted in men through speaking. The essence of the Church is to raise men with commodities of the world to come. The world to come should become our present reality. We cannot talk about newness without talking about the estate God has called new, which is the estate of the new heavens and earth.

“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. [2] And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:1-3). What makes the new Jerusalem new is the constitution of the new heavens and earth. Until we have attained complete newness from the earth to the heavens, we are not yet God’s people. The people of God are men that have His things – men who look like Him. When God says we are His tribe, it means we are alike and we are like Him.

“God Himself” in Revelation 21:3 refers to the eternal God. This means that the eternal God would come and dwell with us. Jesus has all things new inside of Him and He is better than the present heavens.

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13). The promise of God to us is the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. The passing away of the present heavens and earth shows that the present does not have righteousness. The present heavens and earth will not pass away if it has righteousness. Our obedience to God will make the present heavens and earth perish faster.

The beginning of newness is the New Birth, that is, to be born again. It is to be born into a new order of life. The first righteousness we got at the New Birth is the righteousness of the earth. There is the righteousness of the earth and the righteousness of the heavens. When we become born again, righteousness has not yet dwelt in us (2 Peter 3:13); it is still a gift. For righteousness to dwell in us, we must learn it.

We must first learn righteousness, then obey it. Righteousness does not dwell in us until it has become the commodity of the soul. The righteousness of the earth is the preaching of Christ. Our Lord Jesus was not born Christ, rather, He was made Christ (Act 2:36). Jesus became Christ by obeying the righteousness of the earth. One who has learnt Christ will obey Christ and attain the life called “righteousness”. It is at this point that righteousness has dwelt in the soul.

The present heavens and earth are receiving the visitation of the righteousness of Christ and not the dwelling of Christ, which is why they will pass away. It is so evident that the commodity of newness is righteousness. One cannot attain newness without learning righteousness.

There is a righteousness of the law and there is another that is called “self-righteousness”. The righteousness of the law is attributed to religion. With knowledge, it is easy to deal with the righteousness of the law, but it is more difficult to deal with self-righteousness. One who is learning the righteousness of God can mingle it with his own self-righteousness. What makes us feel good when we are not new is self-righteousness.

The righteousness that dwells is the righteousness that has settled in the soul. Self-righteousness refers to things that are good in us. There is the righteousness of the earth and that of the heavens. One cannot receive the righteousness of heaven if such has not received the righteousness of the earth that has settled or dwelt in him. The way that seems right to a man (Proverbs 14:12) is his self-righteousness. When a husband and wife have attained the righteousness of the earth, conflict in marriage will be very minimal.

We have to let go of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness would hinder us from receiving the righteousness of the Kingdom of heaven. John the Baptist knew some “earthly righteousness” during his conversation with Jesus. One cannot access heavenly righteousness without fulfilling earthly righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ. As much as Christ is, there is still more.

Christ is in our spirit, but the soul still needs to learn to walk in the ordinances of the righteousness of the earth. The earth will have some measure of renewal if there are men that fulfill the righteousness of the earth. As such, we must strive to first attain the righteousness of the earth.

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:9-10). The righteousness of the earth is not just life alone but life and peace. Peace is settled righteousness. One can be learning righteousness, but it may not have settled in the soul. The issues of fornication and adultery are beneath the earth. Perverted earth includes the issues of envy, unforgiveness, bitterness, etc,. When we learn the righteousness of the earth called Christ, we will be obeying laws against the things of the perverted earth.

When you obey the laws of perverted righteousness, it means that the righteousness of the new earth has not yet settled in the soul. When righteousness has not settled in a soul, such a person has alternatives to obeying the righteousness that is in Christ. However, when righteousness has dwelt in a soul, such a person will be at peace no matter what is done against him. We should be assured that we can carry measures of righteousness of the earth and the heavens to come before we leave this earth.

Meekness, kindness and patience are all elements of the world to come and we will do well to learn them.

Message Ends