If you have a Bible nearby and want to follow along, I’m taking a close look at 2 Peter 3:10-12 today. But before we do, let’s pause and pray briefly.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. Please open the ears of every reader now to hear, understand, and apply it to our lives by Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.
During my time in Bible college in Texas, I once watched in shock as an acquaintance tossed a white paper bag filled with his burger wrapper, styrofoam cup, straw, napkins, and whatever else was left from his meal out the window while we were driving down the highway. When I reacted, he said something about how he doesn’t like trash in his car, and that it’s all going to burn anyway, just like the planet we live on.
We could discuss all the reasons not to litter, such as how it’s ugly or illegal, but today I want to ask a deeper question: is it really all just going to burn? That idea seems to be a common misconception among Christians, or at least it was for me for a while. Maybe you’ve been a Christian a long time and think you already know the answer. But whether you’d answer yes or no, I encourage you to come expecting God to teach something new today, as only He can.
To help us stay anchored in God’s Word, let’s read 2 Peter 3:10-12. The apostle Peter wrote these words to encourage believers to live holy and godly lives:
“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 of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!”
That paints a vivid picture of what will happen when Christ returns. Yet many people read this and assume it means the earth will be completely burned up. But notice that Peter describes the heavens and cosmic elements being burned, not the earth itself. The purpose of the fire is purification, which is a very different picture than total destruction.
Peter even compares this to the flood in verse 6, saying the ancient world “was deluged with water and perished.” That’s strong language, but after the flood the world still existed. It was cleansed, not erased. The same pattern applies here with fire. The fire of God’s judgment refines and opens heaven. Peter says the earth will be “exposed,” meaning everything done on it will be made known forever.
Commentator Peter H. Davids writes about these verses, “What is destroyed is the heavens, and perhaps with them spiritual forces that are influencing evil on earth.”
In other words, the sky is peeled back and heaven and earth are united. We are not just on our way to heaven, we are on our way to heaven and earth joined together.
The reason we’re told about this isn’t so we can justify throwing trash out the window, but so that we might live in holiness and reverence. The right response to this passage is greater awe for God and care for what He has made, not less.
Scripture gives us an illustration through nature. We’re told that a seed must die before it can grow into the plant it’s meant to become. That’s not just poetic, it’s biological fact. Seeds can lie dormant for centuries, technically alive yet inactive, and when planted, certain types go through “programmed cell death,” a built-in process that allows new life to emerge.
Paul uses this picture in 1 Corinthians 15:36-38:
“What you sow does not come to life unless it dies… but God gives it a body as He has chosen.”
And Jesus said in John 12:24,
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Because of God’s grace, for the believer, life follows death. What looks like the end is really the beginning. Just as a seed must die for new life to grow, Scripture teaches that the same will happen to this world. The earth will likewise be reborn.
Now let’s look at a few other passages that are often misunderstood. In Matthew 24:35, Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” That phrase “pass away” can sound like destruction, but the Greek word parerchomai doesn’t mean “cease existing.” When people pass away, they don’t vanish. Their bodies remain, and their souls live forever. Paul uses the same word in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We aren’t annihilated when we come to Christ, we’re transformed. The same applies to the new earth.
Isaiah 51:6 says, “The heavens vanish like smoke; the earth will wear out like a garment.” The Hebrew word for “wear out,” balah, means “to grow old.” It describes aging, not annihilation, the old giving way to the new. Hebrews 1:10-12 echoes Psalm 102: “Like a garment they will be changed.” Paul uses the same word in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” The God who transforms our mortal bodies will also transform creation itself.
Many Scriptures clearly teach renewal. Psalm 104:30 says God will “renew the face of the earth.” Romans 8:19-23 says creation longs to be “set free.” Colossians 1:19-20 declares that God is reconciling “all things in heaven and on earth.” Acts 3:21 speaks of “the restoration of all things.” In Matthew 19:28, Jesus promises “the renewal of all things,” which is the same Greek word Paul uses in Titus 3:5 for personal regeneration. And in Revelation 21:1-3, the new heaven comes down to earth. Heaven doesn’t come down to Mars or planet X Y or Z. The consistent testimony of Scripture is that the earth we know as “earth” will be renewed, not thrown away.
So why does this matter? Because what we believe about the end shapes how we live now. If the earth is just going to be destroyed, then who cares what happens to it? But Genesis 1:26-28 teaches that humanity is to steward creation, and Romans 8 shows that creation itself is not evil but part of God’s eternal plan. So just like we don’t trash our bodies, and we don’t purposely harm our bodies, or the humans bodies of others, we don’t trash and harm God’s world.
If Jesus’ resurrected body is a model of what ours will be, we learn something profound:
Jesus bore scars after His resurrection.
He ate food, yet could appear in a locked room. His glorified body was both physical and spiritual, renewed rather than replaced.
What scars will remain on the new earth?
Peter says everything will be “exposed.” Our works will be remembered, purified, and seen for what they are. Heaven will not erase history but reveal its full meaning. Psalm 111:4 says God “has made His wonders to be remembered.”
If God’s Word will never pass away, then we’ll always be able to read and understand all it records, even the hard parts. We’ll know one another in heaven, as Jesus indicated in Matthew 8:11, which means we’ll know each other’s stories. The good and even the bad will be remembered, but without pain or sorrow. We can’t celebrate the Lamb who was slain without remembering what being slain means! That gives weight to our choices today.
We’re not escaping this planet ultimately. Paradise began in a garden and will end in a garden city. We’re preparing it now for our coming King.
Renewal gives gratitude for creation right now and purpose to ordinary life. Our work, families, art, and friendships are glimpses of the coming kingdom that will be remembered. Every good meal, every mountain view, and every sunrise is not just a preview of glory, but are things that will be remembered. So everything we do today matters.
Recently someone told me they were sorry I’d gone through some difficulties, but I replied that it wasn’t so bad, and also, I know I have eternal life.
Knowing I have eternal life doesn’t depend on me, it depends on Christ, and His work is more than enough. As Martin Luther said, when we look at ourselves we can’t see how we can be saved, but when we look to Christ we can’t see how we can be lost.
That makes the new heaven and earth, and the return of Christ, something to truly rejoice in. Jesus told His disciples to rejoice that their names were written in heaven, not that they might be written in heaven. Their faith in Him made it a done deal.
So I’m rejoicing too. Heaven is coming down in its fullness to earth, and I’ll be here. I’ll remember this world, without any pain, and that thought makes me excited to live differently today.
What do you think? Feel free to discuss in the comments below, and may God bless your study.
Adorn the Gospel 