Revelation 21:1-3
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.
I like new things. I don’t like things that are old and broken. (That doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of old and broken things…but, if I had my choice…I would like for them to be new.)
I like that new car smell…(you can buy it in an air freshener), but it doesn’t change an old and broken car.
I like a new book…I like the sound the binding makes as it creases when you open it.
New is usually better…it works…it’s not broken!
This old earth we live in is not new. It is broken.
It is broken with the curse of sin, and death.
The Bible says that our Heavenly Father is going to change all that!
He is going to change it, because He promised!
He is going to change it, because He loves us!
He is going to change it, because He has new for us!
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.
Everything the Christian has lived for and been promised will one day be revealed as God creates a new heaven and a new earth.
Isaiah 65:17
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Believer, You will live in a new heaven and new earth! You will forget about this old and broken world!
God can’t wait for you and I to see it! He gives us a glimpse of what it will be like!
The Bible tells us that there will be no more sea. The earth is presently covered by 3/4th’s water. That is going to change one day.
In our present world, the seas and oceans serve as borders, and barriers. There will be water in heaven. There will be a river of life there. But, the land surface will not be separated by water.
Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
What a beautiful picture John gives us here.
How great will it be? It will be like a bride all dressed up for her groom.
I remember the day I married my beautiful wife. I stood up on that platform and looked down that long aisle with flower petals thrown in the way.
The back doors of the church opened and my bride, there in her white wedding gown, her hair all fixed up, started walking down that aisle…and the best part was she was walking toward me!
Followed by the second best part when she said “I do”!
Revelation 21:3
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.
Right, now God the Father dwells in Heaven. When we are saved we are filled with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit…God resides within us.
Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry dwelt among us.
But, on that day when God creates a new heaven/new earth…we, in glorified bodies…will experience things which have never been experienced before by anyone! We will meet with God face to face and dwell with Him!
Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
What’s gone? Everything! Everything that you now know…will no longer be remembered…as you know it.
This old broken world…with its curse of sin and death will be no more!
There will be no more disease. There will be no more pain, no more fear, no more discomfort…no more sorrow, nor anguish! These things will not exist!
Some may laugh at Christians for believing what seems to be unbelievable.
John 14:2
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.
Just as a bride takes time to prepare for her groom…so the Lord has been preparing for those that believe!
Revelation 21:5
5 And the One sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”
It isn’t only Heaven and earth that are made new…so will you and I…
1 Corinthians 15:35-54
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first.
37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.
38 Then God gives it the new body He wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.
39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
You will be a new You! You will have a glorified body! You will be transformed in a new body, that isn’t broken, nor will ever die!
Revelation 21:6-8
6 And He also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.
7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children.
8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
How are you “victorious”? By believing upon Jesus Christ unto salvation!
Let the world laugh at what we believe! They laughed, and mocked Noah!
God changed the whole landscape of this world, and those that didn’t believe, who didn’t want to be saved by entering the Ark, they didn’t live to see the hand of God and what He did!
And, so will it be in the new heaven and the new earth!
John describes Heaven…
Revelation 21:9-27
9 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal.
12 The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.
13 There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.
17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel).
18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.
24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory.
25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there.
26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city.
27 Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Life Application:
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Are you looking forward to it? Are you watching, preparing, living for it?
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22
