Behold I Make All Things New

INTRODUCTION

I heard a story related about a Sunday school teacher

who wanted to explain to the 6-year-olds in his class

what someone had to do in order to go to heaven.

However, he wanted to know what the kids already knew about the subject,

so he asked a few questions.

He asked, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale,

and gave all my money to the church, would that get me to heaven?”

“No!” the children answered, and the teacher was encouraged.

Then he asked, “If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the church yard,

and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me to heaven?”

Again the answer was, “No!” He was smiling a bit now.

“Well then,” he said, “If I was kind to animals

and gave candy to all the children and loved my wife & kids,

would that get me into heaven?”

Again they all shouted, “No!” Now he was grinning huge!

“Well then,” the teacher asked, looking out over his class,

“Then how can I get to heaven?”

A boy in the back row stood up and shouted, “You gotta be dead!”

I’m not sure that was the answer the teacher was looking for,

but it does make you think.

What is beyond the grave?

How can I be certain that Heaven awaits me there?

These are important questions;

because when we are certain of our destiny, the trip is a lot more fun.

Christian author and philosopher, Peter Kreeft, put it this way:

“Suppose God took you on a crystal ball trip into your future

and you saw with indisputable certainty that despite everything

– your sin, your pride, your stupidity, your rebellion –

All That! But you could still have - free for the asking,

your heart's deepest desire: Heaven & Eternal joy.

Would you not return to your current life, fearless, singing & rejoicing?

What can earth do to you, if you are guaranteed heaven?

To fear the worst earthly loss

would be like a billionaire fearing the loss of a penny.

Well, the fact is, God HAS shown every believer

that kind of a future in the last book of the Bible.

So, let’s turn, in our Bibles, to Revelation 21,

In processing through the book of Revelation,

We remember that after the introduction by John,

Jesus gave him 7 letters – written to 7 churches,

(which correspond with 7 church ages)

Then comes the “rapture” of the born-again believers (v4:1).

After the “rapture”, then and only then is the Antichrist revealed.

The antichrist, the Beast and the False Prophet

form a kind of antigod trinity

and consolidate humanity into a one-world economic,

financial, governmental, military & religious system.

Thru this one-world system, Satan forces

and coerces mankind into a system

which worships Satan alone.

At just the right moment, Jesus physically returns to earth,

He casts the Beast & False Prophet into the Lake of Fire,

He bounds Satan in the bottomless pit,

and sets up His 1,000 year reign on this earth.

After 1,000 years, Satan is loosed from the pit for “a little season”.

Satan proceeds to gather the armies of the world

to come against Jesus, the Saints and Jerusalem.

But Satan and his armies are defeated by fire from Heaven.

Satan is then cast, alive, into the Lake of Fire.

Then all unbelievers, from all ages,

appear before the Great White Throne

and are judged and cast into the Lake of Fire.

That brings us to Revelation 21.

Revelation 21:1

”And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:

for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;

and there was no more sea.”

This earth and heaven that we are living in – will be GONE.

This earth and heaven are to be passed away (and all that’s in them).

This “first heaven and the first earth”

has been polluted by our sin and must to be removed.

This is not the first mention of a new heaven and a new earth.

We find in II Peter 3:13,

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise,

look for new heavens and a new earth,

wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

We anticipate a place of unspoiled beauty,

where everything is fresh & perfect,

unspoiled by our sins.

Revelation 21:2

”And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from

God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Our eternal home is this beautiful city – “coming down from God”

John 14:1-3

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in

me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”