In Isa 65:17-18, speaking of the New Creation, we read
the following in the KJV (emphasis added):
For, behold, I create
new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come
into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create:
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
The underlying Hebrew of the word translated as “create”
is the same Hebrew word used in Gen 1:1, ברא. What is interesting to note in this particular passage is that
the term does not have the subtext “out of nothing,” (ex nihilo) but
instead, “from pre-existing material (ex materia), as the New Creation
will come from a regeneration of this present creation, not one that is
generated/created ex nihilo.