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.”
This city looks like a bride on her wedding day.
Fresh, clean, spotless, dressed in pure white……..
Revelation 21:3-4
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
The city (New Jerusalem) is blessed and we are blessed in that city.
Because God, Himself will be there (in a place He prepared for US).
The Psalmist said to the Lord in Psalm 16:11,
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness
of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures evermore.”
Heaven, New Jerusalem, is going to be so beautiful! –
No tears, no death, no sorrow, no crying, and no more pain.
Amen?? !!
Revelation 21:5
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
Our God, Our Savior – makes all things new.
“NEW” –fresh (not in respect to old).
God will populate His new Heaven and Earth with new creatures.
The old, sinful creatures was/is sinful and will continue to be so.
If you want to be in God’s new creation, you must be a new creature:
II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature; old thigs are passed away, behold all things are become new.”
Revelation 21:6
“ And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
God gives new life to the thirsty.
God gives new life to those who long for something better.
God gives new life to those who are tired of their sin
and long for a better way of life.
Does that describe you?
Then you are a prime candidate for Heaven.
All you need to do is ask.
It’s yours for free!
God gives new life to the thirsty, and they are triumphant.
They are overcomers.
But, let’s go back to verse 5.
I want to key on the phrase, “Behold! I make all things new”
BEHOLD – Hey, wake up, listen, pay attention, heads up, this is important,
don’t miss this, Triple-Bold-Exclamation Points!!!
Synchronized flashing strobe lights!!
What is getting ready to be said is SUPER IMPORTANT!!
I – “I”, God, Himself. Not some angel, not some process of “evolution”,
not a representative of the Human Race.
But, actual, literal, Jehovah, YHWH, I AM, LORD –
is doing this work, personally, hands on, singularly involved.
MAKE – to be the author of, the cause of, to prepare, to produce, to provide
ALL – Each, every, any, all, the whole, everything
THINGS – Any and every - thing that is in itself something
NEW – Fresh, uncommon, unused
There was nothing rebuilt, cleaned up, remodeled,
or revamped of the present heaven and earth.
GOD MADE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING!
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
There was no molecules, no atoms, no protons, no gravity,
No laws of physics, no ecological system, NOTHING.
And God made (not by evolution – but created from NOTHING
in a moment – in an instant – by the power of His word.
Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good…..”
All that God created, was perfect, good, very good.
GOD MADE SOMETHING NEW OUT OF WHAT IS PUTRID
Galatians 6: 15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”
ONLY a new creature is IN Christ Jesus (spiritually alive)
II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.”
GOD MAKES EVERYTHING PERFECT
Revelation 21 gives us a stunning portrayal of what heaven will be like,
and we read in Revelation 21:3-5:
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
Let’s notice - Revelation says this is a NEW heaven and a NEW earth.
God is gonna give us something that was never available before.
It will all be new!!! It will all be perfect!!!
And what I find interesting about our text this morning
is that it tells us what IS going to be IN heaven…
and it tells us what is NOT going to be IN heaven.
First, I want to focus on what is NOT going to be IN heaven.
Revelation 21 tell us He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning,
nor crying, nor pain anymore.
There’s an Old Gospel hymn:
“This world is not my HOME, I’m just passing through,
my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door.
And I don’t feel at HOME in this world anymore.”
There are times when we think to ourselves – I think I want to go home now.
We may like this world well enough…
but there’s a lot of terrible things going on here.
But Heaven will be a place where there’s no more tears
or death or mourning or crying or pain.
Someone began keeping a list of things that won’t be in Heaven.
In heaven “there’ll be no more cancer. No more divorce.
No more rejection or loneliness.
No more depression.
No more wheelchairs or pacemakers.
No more radiation or chemotherapy.
No more crosses along the side of the road.
No more child abuse.
No more rape.
No more drugs.
No more abortions.
No more funeral homes or orphanages or nursing homes.
No more treatment centers.
No more Pink slips from work or foreclosures from the Bank.
No more quarantines or face masks and no more social distancing.”
No more lying politicians.
No more charlatans preaching a false gospel on TV.
And the list goes on and on and on…… feel free to add…….
This world is NOT our home, we’re just passing through.
There’s gonna be times when we yearn for our real eternal HOME
because this world has too many bumps/bruises
and it hurts to live here sometimes.
That’s why Jesus told His disciples “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
Why would they be troubled?
Because this is a hard world…and it hurts to live here.
But then Jesus goes on to say:
“Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Yes, this world is hard. But there is a place waiting for us.
Someone noted: “We’re not in the land of the living
going to the land of the dying.
We’re in the land of the dying
going to the land of the living.”
So our passage this morning tells us what’s NOT going to be in heaven.
But what I find interesting is that it also tells us
about one thing that WILL be in heaven.
Do you know what that one thing is?
Or rather – what that SOMEONE is?
(That’s right!!!) that SOMEONE is God.
Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will
dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
God’s going to be THE ONLY THING that will make heaven worth dwelling in.
In Romans 8, the Bible tells us that “if God is FOR us…
who can be against us.”
In Christ – we have total victory.
Psalms 116:5 tells us that “God is gracious and merciful”
We’ll have all of eternity to dwell on that and be thankful.
I Corinthians 1 reminds us that “God is faithful”
When He makes a promise, we can count on it.
I Corinthians 14 tell us that “God is a God of peace”
I can rest securely in heaven because nothing will disturb me.
I John 1 informs us that “God is light”
Heaven will be a place that’s bright and cheerful,
because God will be its light.
I John 1 also tells us that “God is love”
He loved us so much He gave His only begotten Son.
Heaven will be a place where I’ll be accepted and cared for.
CONCLUSION
Everything else in Heaven is just window dressing.
Everything else in Heaven will be just decorations and accessories.
Because WITHOUT GOD… Heaven won’t be Heaven.
And you’ve got to belong to God to get INTO heaven!
If you belong to God… you’ll go where HE goes.
If you don’t belong to God, you won’t be with God.
So, how do you belong to God?
You BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
You REPENT of your sins and ask Jesus to save you (He will).
You CONFESS that Jesus is Lord
.
That’s it. No fancy classes or long rituals,
just giving yourself completely to Jesus – submit to Him
and allow Him to change your life (He will).
