The greatest hope for the world is in Revelation 21:1-5:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,  prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

      First, “new heaven and new earth” is not speaking of a new planet or universe but a new social order on earth (government, commerce, etc.). Satan, who is now “the prince of the air,” will be replaced by the spiritual powers of God’s kingdom, just as there were new heavens and earth after the flood, but that did not mean there was a new planet or universe.

      So, it will be that the kingdom of God will displace the social order on the earth, and Satan will no longer rule as the “prince of the air.” Then there will be peace, and the restoration of the earth will begin to turn it into the paradise it was originally created to be, as the prophets foretold.

      The greatest promise of all is that God is going to dwell on earth among men. His will is going to be done throughout the earth just as it is in heaven. For this reason, the Lord has been building a city that will be like no other. This city of God is also called His bride, as its citizens will be the saints who served Him in this age.

      When Abraham was given a vision of the City of God, he was compelled to leave everything and everyone he had ever known to become part of that city. All who see it will be compelled to do the same. It is far beyond anything humans could ever build, as it is founded on God’s perfect character, love. Our purpose for this study of Revelation is to see this city and for it to become the vision that drives our lives as it did the patriarchs and all true sojourners since. There is nothing on this earth in this age that can compare to what God is preparing. When we see it, this whole life will start to seem like “just a vapor,” as it’s called in James 4:14, and our lives will be rightly centered on the things above.

      As we see in the Scriptures, Satan tries to counterfeit everything God does. He is also trying to build his city among men, to dwell in the midst of it just like God will dwell in the midst of His city. We are told that the evil one will even take his seat in the temple of God and declare himself to be God. What the devil does on the earth during this time will convince many, for a time, that this is God, and they will be deceived because they do not know God.

      But through the Scriptures—especially the book of Revelation He gave through John—the Lord has given His bondservants the knowledge to recognize this ultimate evil, so we are not carried away with what will, for a time, deceive virtually the whole earth. The answer to not being deceived by this, his mark, or anything else Satan does to supplant God’s plan is to know the Lord—and how He is building the foundation for His kingdom—so well that we can easily distinguish Him and what He is doing from all else.

      We are told in Scripture that what we will have in our life to come is far more wonderful than we can even comprehend now. We have been given every understanding that we need to discern the devil’s work and, more importantly, to prepare the way for the Lord and His coming kingdom. This is the charge we have been given: to preach His kingdom and to prepare the way for it. Much of the knowledge and understanding for this is given to us in the books of Daniel and Revelation, as we will see.

© 2025 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.