The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Three “Heavens and Earths”—Past, Present, Future

To understand the problem of the thief in Paradise, it is necessary first to understand the background of the three heavens and earths. First of all, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Then Peter tells of two heavens and earths: The antediluvian heaven and earth”—The heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:5, 6). These were the first. Those that followed the Flood, Peter calls “the heavens and the earth, which are now” (2 Peter 3:7), the next matching pair. CFF1 273.3

1. NO CONFLICT BETWEEN PETER’S AND JOHN’S VERSIONS

John the revelator, however, groups these two—the antediluvian and the postdiluvian—together and simply calls them “the first heaven and the first earth” (Revelation 21:1), or the “former” heaven and earth (Revelation 21:4), in historical perspective, in contradistinction to the coming new heaven and new earth. The present earth, Peter tells us, is “kept in store, reserved unto fire.” Then, at the close of the day of the Lord, “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). And “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved” (2 Peter 3:12). That will mark the passing of the present heaven and earth. CFF1 274.1

That which follows the present heaven and earth Peter likewise calls “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13), just as John tells of the same as “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). So there is complete harmony between them on the new heaven and earth. Even Isaiah of old, in God’s ancient prophecy, twice declared, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; cf. Isaiah 66:22). CFF1 274.2

Thus we actually have three heavens and earths: (1) “The heavens [that] were of old, and the earth,” or the antediluvian “world that then was” (2 Peter 3:5, 6); (2) “The heavens and the earth, which are now” (2 Peter 3:7); and finally (3) the “new heavens and a new earth” to come (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). Thus there is perfect harmony in the Inspired Record. And it may truly be said that the course of these three worlds constitutes the compacted history of the human race, and framework for the outworking of the plan of redemption. CFF1 274.3

2. PARADISE OF FIRST EARTH RESTORED IN THIRD EARTH

Paradise, with its tree of life, was in the first heaven and earth, but disappeared by the time of the Flood. Hence it is totally absent in the second, or present, heaven and earth. But it reappears in the third, or new, heaven and earth, with its tree of life restored (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:1, 2, 14). CFF1 274.4

Paradise is Eden restored—and that is still future, when Christ will come into His kingdom. But we repeat, Paradise was not entered either by Christ or the thief on that crucifixion day, as we shall see. And there is no reference to an intermediate state. Rather, Christ’s promise is to what lies beyond—a joyful resurrection reunion for the penitent and his being forever with Christ in His coming kingdom. CFF1 274.5

Picture 1: The City of God:
Safe in the Eternal City of God, the Redeemed Will Eat of the Tree of Life and Drink of the Water of Life in Paradise Restored Forever.
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