This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

When we read the post-resurrection accounts of Jesus’ life, we see that his glorified body  is able to navigate the ravages of a world still under the curse of sin. Jesus eats our food, travels our roads, speaks with befuddled eyewitnesses of his death and resurrection, passes through closed doors, transports himself effortlessly from one location to another, and finally launches from the Mount of Olives into heaven. 

Our resurrected bodies are destined to have many of the same capabilities. Yet there’s still something missing in God’s redemptive work. The world in which we live is still fallen, a reminder of the full effects of sin. So, a day is coming when our sovereign Lord reverses the curse and makes all things new (Rev. 21:5).

Jesus refers to this as “the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne” (Matt. 19:28). Peter urges us to wait for “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). And in his vision of the world to come, John says he sees “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). These passages refer to the future glorification of the created order, a world purged of sin and its stain, where the pristine innocence of all creation is restored.