Eternal Life Series

Location, location, location. If you’ve ever had to search for a new home, you have probably heard the real estate agent use those words. It’s all about location, location, location. The internet is flooded with lists to help us decide the best places to live, the most affordable places to live, the best places to live for clean air and water, and the best places to raise kids.

And people have a number of reasons for choosing where they live. Some have said in reality, they didn’t choose where to live, the place chose them. For instance, many live where they do because it’s close to family or it’s where their jobs are. Many here in Texas who work for the oil industry can definitely relate to that.

Regardless of the circumstances of where we live, we all have our ideas of what makes a place ideal. But here’s the real story. No matter how idyllic, no place is perfect. No matter where you live, problems still arise. And you can’t escape sin in any neighborhood.

Now, that won’t always be the case but God has promised His children a perfect home with Him that will last for eternity. And we are fortunate enough to have the writings of the Apostle John which was dictated to him by Jesus Christ Himself. In his writings, John gives us a brief glimpse into the eternal life that awaits those who follow Christ. These particular writings that show us a little bit of heaven are found in the Bible in a book we call the Book of Revelation. We’ll be using portions of chapters 21 & 22 this morning.

PRAYER

Do we even realize how great we have it when it comes to what God provides us? God has promised all who have accepted His Son Jesus Christ an eternal home that is magnificently far better than any of the finest neighborhoods here on earth in the most elite zip codes. We can’t even compare what we know and see here to what God had prepared for us.

And the greatest feature of our home in heaven is that we will be in the presence of Almighty God. Revelation 21 paints this beautiful picture of God’s perfect home. And, get this, that perfection is made real by the fact that God Himself will live with us in that place for ETERNITY. Can you believe it? The God who spoke the universe into existence has promised to spend eternity with you and me.

Revelation 21 begins with a wonderful picture. It offers us a glimpse into what eternity spent with God will look like—when we’re in His presence forever.

Let’s read Rev. 21: 1-5 (from the ChristianStandardBible) If you want to get a vivid mental picture of what John was seeing, close your eyes while I read this. – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

Let’s look at this in general before we get specific.

The new heaven and earth will not merely be “new” as in a time sense. It will be new in quality. This new heaven and earth will be far superior to the earth we know now: this new heaven and earth will transcend anything we’re ever experienced.

John refers to the new Jerusalem as “the holy city. (v.2). It is holy because everyone and everything inside it is holy and righteous. This is the city of God’s redeemed people, and living in a city means we will live together—and together we will be in perfect harmony. That means we will ALL finally get along with each other. Isn’t that great?

No longer will we have to juggle with the tension of pleasing God or pleasing people because sin and death have been defeated. We’ll be forever surrounded by God’s holiness. WE WILL BE WITH GOD!

Now, let’s get some specifics:

- No DEATH – Our new home in heaven will be a place of total victory. In Rev. 20, John had just written about death being thrown in the lake of fire. So, in that, as Paul declared, “death has been swallowed up in victory.”