Accordingly, while it may be important for an individual believer to explore what God is doing within his or her personal life (e.g. within an individual believer's personal justification and sanctification), it is equally important for a Christian to explore what God is doing without, in re-creating heaven and earth (Mt 28:18; Col 1:20; Eph 1:10). Otherwise, a believer may become inadvertently stuck in a reductionistic model of Christianity that eventually proves lacking. And, unfortunately, such a believer's growth in future hope, a critical impetus in Biblical sanctification (1 Jn 3:2-3; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Pet 1:13-17), will remain anemic and underdeveloped.
Finally, the "regeneration" that the Scriptures refer to involves both created/re-created believers (Tit 3:5) and the created/re-created cosmos (Mt 19:28). The same Greek word, "paliggenesia" ("regeneration"), is used in both of these passages (note: it is translated "new world" in the latter). And, essentially, it describes a spiritual rebirth or renovation, a Messianic restoration. In other words, individual believers, as a resurrected and glorified people, in a "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1-3).
Link: Heaven and Earth
