The day of judgment is marked by the advent of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2).1 This will be the day when there is a public division between those who belong to God (sheep) and those who do not (goats) (Matthew 24:31–46). The ungodly will be destroyed but the godly will be spared (see 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 2:9). The judgment that takes place will not be a judgment of creation but ungodly men; creation will be cleansed of the human evil that has polluted it.2 Creation itself will thus not be destroyed, instead it will be changed in a similar way to how it was changed by the flood.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.