Many of you have asked how life’s been as new parents. Like so many had described our son has brought more change…and more joy than we ever could have imagined. We are blessed with plenty of laughter. One of his constant sources of joy…our dog Trooper… his dog Trooper…Because of what he hears us saying to Trooper most often, he thinks his name is “down” or “no”. He also likes to talk…a preachers son’s…he goes on and on.
As I watch him grapple to comprehend and communicate…I can’t help but think of us trying to imagine the glories of heaven…the reality of eternity. Have you ever tried to think of eternity? Were like children…who find even the concept of tomorrow is a long ways away!
Last week…present heaven…that which awaits all who die before the culmination
of history…or as I posed the question… “What’s Up When I Go Down?”
This week…FUTURE HEAVEN…particularly as foretold in the Book of Revelation. “Heaven” occurs more than fifty times in the Book of Revelation given to John.
It is visionary in nature…and very similar to Ezekiel’s long before.
In each…we find a human given a revelation by God and their use of human language to describe divine glory.
Though wild in nature…the essence of John’s Revelation…is simply an unfolding of that which was revealed through the prophets (especially Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) and Christ…a glimpse into the future which culminates in a glorious new world.
Rev. 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
[5] He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
[6] He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. [7] He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
What a marvelous sight…what a stirring revelation of what lies ahead.
Our worlds can seem so closed in at times, but here in an ultimate sense…the walls that enclose our lives will come down…and our lives expanded by the reality of eternity.
What is God telling us about our future?
1. The future of eternity will be the fulfillment of a CLIMATIC RECREATION.
Verse 1 describes the climatic point at which history as we know it comes to a close…a final judgment comes followed by the emergence of a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth and the first heaven pass away. Some reading this for the first time might wonder if such a vision is really a part of God’s Word as a whole. For the Bible has stood the test of time…and proven prophetically profound.
Jesus himself spoke often of the end…the day of judgment…and of going to prepare a place where he was going. Most pointedly he stated, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
> His word is eternal, but not heaven and earth.
The apostle Paul…
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:22
Paul understood that the entire created realm was suffering from the Fall…from separation from God. All creation is in tension… the heavens and the earth…groaning as in the pains of childbirth waiting to be reborn into a new and eternal existence united with God. For a while many modern minds began to conceive of the world as without change…no need for God and no signs of disruption or change. Yet today it is the most rational of minds that are declaring the impossibility of the earth continuing as it is.
God spoke long before such rational perceptions…
“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure.” Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22 (cf. 34:4;51:6; Daniel 2:44; 7:14; 7:22-26; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Gal. 4:26; Gal. 4:21-31; Heb; 12:22.)
The new heaven and earth will endure before him but the former will not even be remembered or come to mind. Points to how “new” this recreation will be. The Greek word translated “new” (Kainos) reflects more than just “new” as opposed to “old”; it reflects it will also be different…a change in quality…free from fallen ness and “curse”, it will be glorified and eternal. God isn’t going to “try again”. He is going to finish what he began. The very fact that a new earth is created should lead us to neither dismiss creation as meaningless to God…nor to worship it as our ultimate source of hope…(Relate to human bodies…)…Such a re-creation, was foretold by the prophets, but what the prophets could not for see was how this climatic recreation was to occur…They did for see a Messianic age and judgment…but ALL OF THIS IS NOW MADE MORE VIVID TO JOHN AS REVEALED THROUGH CHRIST.
A key word in verse on is “THEN”.
It follows a “millennium” of Christ’s reign on earth (Rev. 20:1-10) and a final judgment (20:11-15.)Word Millennium simply refers to this mention of 1,000 years.
Two primary views regarding the “Millennium reign” of Christ on earth.
· Pre- millenialists, a belief held by many in the first couple of century’s and again today believe this refers to a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ after returning to earth to rule.
· Another view…referred to as Anillenialism…established by Augustine, later by the Reformers, and still today by many. Views this as the reign of Christ which began at his first coming…the victory of the cross and resurrection over death and Satan and hell.
Such a view notes:
1) The idea of 1,000 year reign on earth is spoken of no where else but in Rev. 20
2) #’s used in Revelation, and in apocalyptic literature in general are symbolic…1,000 = long period of time
3) Much is said of the Kingdom already at hand in Christ, of his “first blow” defeat of Satan and evil…reign…binding. (as noted by dotted line which begins “the age to come”)
I share these two viewpoints because they both offer valid viewpoints of what lies ahead…but as others have said, “WE’RE NOT ON THE PLANNING COMMITTEE, WE’RE ON THE WELCOMING COMMITTEE”…which leads to our second point.
2. The future of eternity will bring forth the JOY of being united with God…as a bride finally presented to her bridegroom.
Verses 2-3 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Central to this vision of a recreated heaven and earth is that of a holy city…the new Jerusalem…the dwelling of God.”
Must understand what Jerusalem had represented in the old covenant…holiness…a people set apart …dedicated to God…a place of encounter…as close as any could come to his presence.
I don’t believe John is describing a literal remake of the ancient city but rather the greater reality of the arch type of all such uniting of God’s glory coming down in the midst of his creation. Word for dwelling (skene) carries sound of a similar word (shekinah) = the glory of God.
How will God’s presence and glory come to us?
Like a bride prepared for her husband.
Just when we might be intimidated, the first image God gives us is the most relational and intimate of all. “There is a tenderness and joyousness in the marriage image. This symbolic description is to be our first impression of God’s new order!
The first image is not the splendor of wealth. (Although that is given later in this chapter), but rather that of a bride beautifully prepared…the beauty that captures and culminates the longing of ones soul.
It’s the grand moment of every wedding…when all rise…the doors open…there she is… (I’ll never forget that moment when I looked up and saw Leah my bride.)
Rev. 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” Let us rejoice and be glad!!
…When we come together and worship God and honor his presence in our lives by His Spirit…it is merely and engagement party…the wedding awaits us!
3. The future of eternity will usher an ultimate and eternal PEACE…for all the pain and fear of life apart from God will be gone.
V.4. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Those are words that fill my soul with life.
For one of the most captivating truths about eternity is WHAT’S NOT THERE…
“No more death…sorrow…crying…pain”
We all know the pain that’s a part of this temporal life. Jesus a man of sorrows...acquainted with grief. Perhaps that is why God wrote this into John’s heart.
For Jesus we are told, bore the cross for the joy set before him.
That’s not all… go back to v. 1… refers to no more “sea.”
Might at fist seem a depressing thought…but this is clearly symbolic…and refers only to the end of the original sea…just as it did the heavens and earth. The ancient hearer clearly understood the meaning of the old sea being seen no more…for not only was the old earth a source of toil, but the sea was a source of danger…fear. Common to ancient myths…the depths of the sea…also no compasses. Then in vv .23-25…no darkness.
Rev. 21:22-27 “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
Darkness is far more than the absence of light…it’s loneliness…fear. And notice what else is told to us… it’s “gates are always open”…There’s no security system.
The future of eternity is ultimate peace…safeness.
Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holly mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Could anything capture the peace of eternity more!!
…As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
The glorious new world to come is a world of peace. And peace, not power, will reign because all power struggles are settled by the ultimate source of all power…God himself. And finally…
4. The future of eternity will bring the ultimate SATISFACTION OF BEING ETERNALLY UNITED WITH THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF OUR DESIRES.
vv 5-7
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”
“I am the Alpha and Omega…the beginning and the last.” This is the very description declared by the risen Christ at the out set of John’s vision. It is echoing the voice the prophets had heard, “I am the first and I am the last, besides me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6).
Alpha and Omega- first and last letters of Greek alphabet.
All life begins in God and ends in God.
Paul spoke perhaps a little more philosophically… Romans 11:36
“For from him and through him and to him are all things…”
But just when we might consider this a bit philosophical we are told this satisfaction to be as basic as thirst being satisfied.
All the greatness of God is at the disposal of timeless eternity.
“For God so loved…that he gave…everlasting life.”
Illustration - Palm Springs desert…a desert filled with water… now with life. So with us.
Even more personally…v.7 “My son…” Not excluding women as daughters but simply drawing upon the cultures high privilege of sons…setting forth our high privilege.
God says …“Son…Daughter…Child…THIS GLORIOUS NEW WORLD IS HOME.”
