Passing Away is Scripture’s word for what will not last.
The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Jesus will not.
John sets two clocks against each other.
Paul uses the same language of the person in Christ:
- if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
- the old has passed away.
- That is not a claim that the body is already gone.
- It is the claim that the old order of guilt and belonging has been broken.
Peter says the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up, and he waits for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Isaiah had already sung that the heavens vanish like smoke and the earth wears out like a garment, but the Lord’s salvation will be forever.
Passing away, then, is not one fact. The world-system is already on its way out. The old life in Adam is ended for those in Christ. The present sky and soil will be dissolved and made new.
What cannot pass is the Word, the will of God, and the life that does that will.
- Passing away is certain for the world as a rebel order and for the present form of creation.
- Desire that belongs to the world dies with it.
- In Christ the old has already passed; that is conversion’s past tense.
- The Word outlasts the sky.
- Waiting for new heavens is holiness now, not escape later.
- Do not love what is leaving. Do the will of the One who remains.
- Comfort and warning sit in the same phrase: what threatens you is passing; what you cling to in the world is passing too.
- The World – Its desires, pride, and claim are timed.
- The Old Creation in Us – New creation language: the old has passed.
- Heaven and Earth – They will pass; His words will not.
- Generations – People fade like grass; the Word of the Lord remains.
- This Age – Wisdom and rulers of this age are doomed to pass away.
- What Remains – The will of God, the Word, the one who does that will.
- What Comes – New heavens, new earth, righteousness at home.
- 1 John 2:17 – “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
- 1 John 2:8 – “…because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
- Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- Mark 13:31 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- Luke 21:33 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- 2 Peter 3:10-13 – “But 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… But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
- Isaiah 51:6 – “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”
- Isaiah 40:6-8 – “All flesh is grass… The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
- Psalm 102:25-27 – “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment… but you are the same, and your years have no end.”
- Hebrews 1:10-12 – The Son quoted in the same psalm: they will perish, but You remain.
- 1 Corinthians 7:31 – “…and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 – The rulers of this age are doomed to pass away.
- Revelation 21:1, 4 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more… death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
- Matthew 5:18 – “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
- James 1:10-11 – The rich man fades away in the midst of his pursuits; the flower falls.
- 1 Peter 1:24-25 – “All flesh is like grass… but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
- Psalm 90:10 – The years of our life are seventy, or eighty; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 – The things that are seen are transient; the things that are unseen are eternal.
The world is passing away along with its desires.
Whoever does the will of God abides forever.
If anyone is in Christ, the old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
Heaven and earth will pass away. His words will not.
We are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Do not love what is leaving. Deal with the world as those who know its present form is passing.
The former things will pass away. Death, mourning, crying, and pain will be among them. The Word remains. Do the will of God.
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