Is There a New Creation Without an Old One

Let's suppose for a moment that the earth is billions of years old, then what? Does this satisfy the Christian intellectual who is trying to reconcile Genesis and Evolution?

If the earth is billions of years old what was it like. Genesis says it was very good. Death did not enter the scene until after Adam's sin. The curse was not given till Adam had sinned. Therefore was the earth just a wonderful place for billions of years? Was it the paradise we all long for in the New Creation?

I have yet to hear a Christian, that presupposes Theistic/Evolution, describe the ancient world in this manner. Mostly I hear how God used death and struggle to bring about the earth as we know it today. Is this the "good" that God speaks of in Genesis? Is the what we have to look forward to in the New Creation?

Perhaps salvation is not a new creation at all. Perhaps there is no resurrection. Perhaps we are just looking forward to a new evolutionary period? If you can't believe that God created out of nothing in a short time period the current creation, then why would you believe in a new creation composed of resurrected bodies and a regenerated earth?