At the end of the millennium, among the nations who are restored to be the peoples in the millennial kingdom, Gog and Magog will be deceived by the Devil to rebel against God. This will be mankind’s last rebellion against God, at the end of which the rebellious ones will be devoured by fire from heaven (Rev. 20:7-10). After this last purging of mankind, the remaining ones among them will be transferred to the new earth of the new heaven and new earth to be God’s peoples in eternity (Rev. 21:3, 24). This is the second result of God’s work of restoration in the old creation.
Satan (Rev. 20:10) with the demons who are his followers (Rev. 20:13a) and all the unbelieving sinners throughout the generations, those who reject God and would not accept God’s way of redemption (Rev. 19:20; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8), will be judged and cast into the lake of fire to suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Thus, God will terminate the old heaven and old earth and all the creatures who rebel against God. This is a result of God’s clearing up of the old creation, after He finishes both His work of the new creation and of restoration in the old creation. The new heaven and new earth thus become the universe with the New Jerusalem as its center (Rev. 21:1-2).
The saints who are perfected in the period of reward and punishment during the millennium, and the Israelites who are restored to be the priests in the millennial kingdom, will join the overcomers, who have ripened earlier, to constitute the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1-2). This is the final result of God’s work of the new creation in the old creation.
The new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1; Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:10-13) with the New Jerusalem as the center will be the new universe which God will renew out of the old heaven and old earth. Although the heaven and earth which were created by God have become old because of Satan’s corruption, God’s purpose in creating the heaven and earth could not be stopped. On the one hand, God will exercise His almighty power to judge the Satan-corrupted old heaven and old earth, and on the other hand, He will renew the judged old heaven and old earth into the new heaven and new earth; thus, the old heaven and old earth will be rid of their oldness and be renewed into a new universe suitable for God’s use to accomplish His eternal purpose and in which He might express Himself eternally and fully.
After the coming out of the new heaven and new earth, the holy city, New Jerusalem, will descend to the new earth (Rev. 21:1-2), indicating that the dwelling place of God and His redeemed will not be in heaven but on the new earth. Furthermore, the restored nations, whose rebellious nature will have been completely purged, will become the nations on the new earth around the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24). In the new universe, the new heaven and new earth, God’s focus is on the new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center.