Reddit User Supporter Let the corpus of my replies speak for my beliefs

I'm going to reasonably assume that you meant to reference Revelation 21:1 and not the previous chapter. 

That being said, in the first overthrowing of the world, the ancient world, it was then with water.

2 Peter 3:5-7 with particular attention to vs. 6:

"5 For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; 6 by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men."

By this standard, we are already living in the second Earth. There were clearly, through Scripture, a vast change in the surface of the world. 
Some might describe this as "terraforming". The earth literally took on a different shape. What with tectonic plates colliding, mountain ranges were formed, "High places were made low, and low places made high" in a literal sense. Great gorges were formed and deep chasms. Rivers and lakes and whole oceans were newly formed. Some speculate that during this time, what secular historians speculate as the unified landmass called "Pangaea" existed if at no other time, but in the antediluvian era. 

All that being said, changing the destruction and remaking of the Earth, G-d's Creation, as being more figurative than a total destruction and replacement--I lean more toward the literal fulfillment. 

So what is different than the flood conditions, which I made the case for low-key terraforming in nature? 

Well, for one, we're told that the very elements (the metallic and rock substructure of the planet) will melt with the intense heat.

2 Peter 3:10,12 goes on to say: 
"10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"

How do we know that this is the view of Scripture we should lean towards? 
13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

This verse including the phrase new heavens and new earth, it stands to reason that just as the old world was overthrown for its sinfulness and underwent G-d's Wrath and Judgement, so too are these verses describing wrath, judgement, and a remaking of the world more into the image of a place whose builder and maker is the Lord, for this is what Abraham and every person of faith is truly seeking. G-d will be king over all the earth in that day, and His Name One. He will rule and reign from Jerusalem. There will be no need for sun or moon for the light will emanate from the Light of the World, and the gates to the Holy City will not be shut day or night.

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