Welcome to anybody that is joining us here in our sanctuary for the first time or if you're joining us online for the first time
We are so glad you're here to worship with us here at Hosanna. I
Am pastor Nathan and this morning in our study of Revelation. We are moving past
the Millennial Kingdom of Christ
Past the final great white throne judgment, which is the final judgment of the wicked
into eternity
Into a time that some refer to as the eternal state
Revelation chapter 21 is is where we get into the final phase in the culmination of everything heaven
paradise forever
You know since there has been a God's people. I think there's been a preoccupation with heaven
It's the expected end for all believers. It's our hope. It's what we look forward to
It's what we can't wait for the hope of heaven is is built into the the very fabric and identity of all Christians
And it's such an important truth that it's something that as believers we should think about often
Heaven should be something that occupies our thoughts often
We should be some people that are eagerly looking forward to this, you know
Some of us remember when we were kids and we knew we were going to Disneyland on Saturday
Wow, what kind of week was that right?
Especially the night before oh my goodness
Couldn't even sleep the excitement was so exciting. Well heaven is is is quite a bit more than Disneyland
Okay, and it's quite a bit more to look forward to it should elicit excitement and joy and
anticipation in God's people
But sadly the the culture we live in today
Is is really a culture of self gratification. It's a culture of indulgence and
unfortunately
the culture that we live in
Has such a grip on many Christian believers
such a hold on them
Has such a grip in so many churches that it has made those Christian believers and those churches very worldly
And it has made them so worldly that the concept of heaven has become something that's eh disinteresting
and that's really what a
the influence of the world has on us as
The world will put before us all the things in the trinkets and all the stuff we think is gonna make us happy
We lose sight we lose focus we lose
enthusiasm for heaven and what's to come before us I
Read one guy said it's time to go to heaven
I read one guy said it seems that the less one holds to the things of this world
The greater their anticipation of heaven will be
But the more immersed and gripped by the things of this world the less we tend to think about heaven at all
You know we can find ourselves consumed with passing things
temporary things things that are
But a vapor in the big picture of eternity and and like Mark Twain when he was told about heaven
We could find ourselves saying what he said you take heaven. I'll go to Bermuda
But the question that that a lot of us have is what does heaven like when we start thinking about heaven
What is it like what happens there? What's it gonna be like? What's the experience of heaven gonna be like?
I mean really gonna be like
sometimes it's caricatured as as
people
Sitting on clouds playing harps for eternity, right and they go that's it. That's heaven
Well, that's not the picture of heaven, but we should know
And we should want to know and we should look forward to knowing what heaven is
We should look forward to being there because it is our home. That's what the Bible says about heaven for believers
It is our home Paul the Apostle said our citizenship is in heaven
And heaven is our home because that's where our father is
That's where our Savior is
That's where our Comforter is the father the son and the Holy Spirit
the Godhead three in one God Almighty and so today we're gonna start in Revelation 21 looking at
Heaven and looking at the eternal state and what scripture has to teach us about this that we would be people
excited about what's to come in heaven to
Look at this time when God makes all things new
But first we're gonna spend time in worship as we do and I just encourage all of you today
Forget about everything but God
Focus on him
Focus on the eternity that waits us with him
because it is gonna be glorious and
Everything he's done in our lives is in preparation of this time the word that we have to study
Reveals to us what is to come that we would be people that live for him today
But live in anticipation of the eternity that we're gonna have in his presence and it's gonna be glorious
Father we thank you so much
We're so excited for who you are God. We're so excited for heaven Lord and
Yet God I know many of us and then myself Lord. I would confess Lord. We have times where heaven isn't maybe as exciting as it should be
Lord that we don't think about it enough or look forward to it in a way that that would indicate our
Enthusiasm for what is to come God and Lord we just say forgive us Lord for for being distracted
But Lord today as we enter into Revelation 21 and looking at eternity
Looking at the forever that waits those who know you that have called you their Lord and Savior God in Christ
Lord and Savior God encourage us
inspire us
It just fill us Lord with joy and anticipation for what is to come
That we would be people who live in this world in this time
Knowing it's temporary
Knowing it's but a vapor
knowing its passing
So that Lord we wouldn't invest our everything into this world
But we would invest our everything into the one to come Lord. We love you so much. We thank you be glorified
We love you. It's in Jesus name. We pray amen
We are going to jump into our Bible study today. We are in Revelation chapter 21
And as we said in the intro what this is all about is our home
You see our home
your home
Christian is heaven
It's not here
It's not this earth. It's not this time. It's heaven
Our home is there and that home is
infinitely greater than anything this world will ever have for us
You know, it's why Paul said to live is Christ to die is gain
You know, you might think death is gain
How is that gain because this physical life here on earth is not the end-all of everything
The next life heaven is what awaits those who believe in Jesus Christ
and it is definitely gain
You know heaven is a big topic in Revelation. The book of Revelation mentions heaven 55 times
It's also a big topic throughout scripture
It's mentioned hundreds of times
But the first mention of heaven in Revelation is found in Revelation chapter 3 verses 11 through 12 as
Jesus was writing to the church in Philadelphia. This is what he says
I am coming soon
Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown
The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my god and he will never go out again
I will write on him the name of my god and the name of the city of my god the new Jerusalem
Which comes down out of heaven from my god and my new name
Now the second mention we're not going to go through all 55
I promise but the second mention of heaven in Revelation we then find in chapter 4 after the seven letters to the seven churches are completed
John writes this he goes after this I looked
And there in heaven was an open door
The first voice that I heard speaking to me like a trumpet said come up here and I will show you what must take place after
this
Now we've mentioned this a number of times in our study of Revelation, but what he says after this there
It's referring to after the church age
You see chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are letters to seven real churches of the time
But they're also letters to the church throughout the church age and so after this he says
We see that John was then called up to heaven
From where from the perspective of heaven he then observes and records the events of the seven year tribulation that takes place on the earth
It's one of the reasons why we believe and I believe that the church is raptured prior to the tribulation again
I know there's different interpretations of that and I still love you. Okay, but I believe that we're raptured prior to the tribulation
This is one of the supports for that
But then from heaven John then observes the the the playing out of the seven year tribulation upon the earth
Then he records the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of that tribulation period
Then he records the millennial reign of Christ on earth the thousand year reign of Christ here upon this earth
Then he records at the end of revelation 20 final judgment on the wicked
And now we come to chapter 21
a whole new episode in the story
Of everything a whole new episode in the eschatological timeline
But really we are leaving time as we know it and understand it and entering into what some of us might not
Entering into what some refer to as the eternal state the forever we talk about in heaven
Now what is the eternal state?
Well, revelation chapter one in chapter chapter 21 and 22 kind of get into this and really tells us
That its existence in and on the new heaven and new earth for eternity
with God in his presence
It's a time when all sin and evil and wickedness and suffering and selfishness
And and and the death of the first creation is completely gone
Death that was the result of sin is gone forever
Now some have questions about eternity when we talk about it
And so we're going to answer or try to answer a couple of those today in our study of God's word
And one of the big questions of eternity that comes up is
When we are there are we going to experience time the way we experience it here?
And that's a great question. That's a big question people have about eternity
To answer that I start with our understanding of God. You see on one hand the Bible teaches us that God is timeless
God created time
God is therefore not subject to time
We know that based on based upon physics modern physics
Based upon the theories of relativity by einstein that that time
Is relative time is not fixed right time is something that has physical properties physics has learned
Time is affected by or changes
Is changed by mass
It's changed by acceleration
It's changed by acceleration. It's changed by gravity
Right physics tells us that time as we understand it speeds up
And slows down based upon things that can affect it. And so therefore physics teaches us that time
Exists because matter exists. Okay, that's that's all the physics we're going to get into today. Okay
But God is not matter
Right God is not matter God created all matter
And thus he created time
And thus he exists outside of time and so time
began when God created the universe
Prior to that God just existed. That's the picture scripture gives us. He just existed
What did he exist in where did he exist?
What was it like there? Well, we got finite minds and I tried to ponder that for a couple days this week in studying this and found out
My little itty bitty brain can't really comprehend timelessness very well, right?
It's funny because of our finite minds we could really only grasp the concept of God's timelessness by using
words
In our language that define things based upon our understanding of time
Right. We use words to describe this timelessness of God like time
We use words like he is eternal. He is infinite. He is everlasting
In fact psalms chapter 90 verse 2 says this before the mountains were born
Before you gave birth to the earth and the world from eternity to eternity
You are God
And you'll notice there it says not you were God
You are God
You are presently existing as God from eternity to eternity
Yeah, I don't fully get it either right, but it's just he always was
He always is he always will be
Right somebody put it this way to understand eternity to eternity. It's once upon a time
to happily ever after
Imperfect description, but still
So God is timeless, but God's creation everything God created
Exists under the influence of time exists in a moment by moment linear fashion, right?
We know time exists
And we know how it operates that time exists in a in a linear fashion. We we understand within the concept of time. There is
causality, right?
You do something then something happens, right? That's the concept of time
You have degradation that exists within time
The concept of time allows for the existence of a thing called entropy
If you don't know what entropy is it's just the idea in physics that everything goes from order to chaos
And some of us is like, oh, that's what the inside of my car does
Order to get that's what my house my bedroom, right? We we get it
Our room is our room
Order to get that's what my house my bedroom, right? We we get it our bodies entropy, right?
We go from order to chaos, right? Wouldn't it be great to work out one time and you're permanently in shape?
Doesn't happen. You have to keep going
And you might work out for years and years and years and years and years and then stop and guess what happens?
Order to chaos, right? It exists within this this existence
Now the question then is well, will we experience time?
in eternity
We don't really know definitively
Is is my best answer? Okay?
But I will say this that the body tells the bible tells us that we will have glorified bodies
that when we've
Left this state of existence that we're going to have glorified bodies and the indication scripturally is that those bodies are
physical that they have mass in some way
But we're also told that those those glorified bodies have no entropy. They don't experience entropy
There's no order of chaos. There's no death. There's no decay
There's no degradation that the bodies are perfect without sickness without disease. They never get old. They're immortal
They're created to exist in the full presence of god in all his glory
All his glory and so therefore some people go well
If we're existing with god in god's presence in all his glory and his glory includes his timelessness
Well, then therefore maybe we're timeless as well
Some will point to uh details in revelation chapter one and chapter 20 or 21 and 22
Where it's indicated that that in this eternal state the cycle of day and night are done away with there is no night
It tells us in chapter 22 because there's no need for the sun and the moon god is the source of light
And he just illuminates everything so there is no cycle of of day and night
And so some people go well that indicates that the progression of time has ceased for us in eternity
And therefore we are timeless
Others however will point to scriptures like revelation chapter 8 verse 1
That says there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour
That's duration
They'll point to revelation chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 when we saw the martyrs the tribulation saints that were under the altar in heaven
It tells us in heaven and they say how long oh lord until you avenge our blood indicates duration
And then in revelation chapter 22 verse 2 which is definitely during this eternity
It says the tree of life was on each side of the river bearing 12 kinds of fruit producing fruit every month
So it seems to be an indication of time
So we know god in in his nature. He is timeless. He is outside the sphere of time
Right, that means he sees eternity past and eternity future in one glance. He sees it all at the same simultaneous
moment
The passage of time is of no consequence to god from his timeless perspective
Meaning one second is no different to god than a billion years
It's no different
But the eternal state when we enter the eternal state
It's not us becoming exact in nature as god
Like we're not becoming god when we get to heaven, right?
Some cults teach that
But biblically we don't so while god would continue in his timeless nature because he is god almighty
That doesn't necessarily mean that we will become timeless. We don't become god
We're not becoming the same as him in nature
And so this new heaven and this new earth that revelation 21 is talking about it could still have time because there is mass
We're going to see as we study through this
It could be similar to what we experience now
It could be different in some way. We may experience time in a completely different way
In a way, we can't comprehend now, so that's my answer about that. Okay
One of the other big questions about eternity people have is well, what is it going to look like?
What's it going to be like?
You know sitting on a cloud playing a harp forever. That sounds kind of boring
Is that really what it is, you know?
Interestingly, we're not going to see that happening
um
Interestingly enough with all that the bible has to say about heaven. Um, there's not a tremendous amount of details
About what it looks like there are specific details in in revelation 21 and 22 get into it. There's a new heaven
Verse one, there's a new earth
Verse one, there's a new jerusalem verse two. Those are the big
Details physical details if you will
We do know that there's no night
We're going to learn in chapter 22 that there's a tree of life and there's a river running down the middle of this city
Right. There's some details
But those details the new heaven the new earth the new jerusalem tell us something interesting about heaven
About the eternal state is that there's going to be a new creation
There's going to be a new creation
Wherein dwells the permanent full and total presence of god among his people
and so
Chapter 21 and 22 really point out seven specific things that are that are notable differences between creation 1.0 and creation 2.0
All right verse 1 tells us that there's no more c
Verse 4 tells us in chapter 21 that there's no more death grief crying or pain
Chapter 22 verse 3 says there's no more curse
Chapter 22 verse 5 so there's no more night
Now that's not an exhaustive description by any means but it's a glimpse it's a glimpse
And you'll notice it's kind of more about what's not there than what is
Paul got to see heaven or at least part of it
And in his writings, he says I was prohibited from even writing it down
I was prohibited from even describing it. In fact, there are no words in the english language to describe what I saw
But we're going to look at revelation chapter 2
But we're going to look at revelation chapter 21 in in two parts actually three parts
But the first eight verses we're going to look at in two parts
So we'll look at some today and some next time verses one through four today verses five through eight next time
which really focuses on
What eternal life looks like in eternity?
It really focuses on that word zoe that we talked about in a previous study that life
That that that peace that bliss that contentment that is being in heaven being in god's presence
really verses one through eight our description of what that looks like in heaven and then later we'll get into the new
Jerusalem which is a major major feature of
heaven which is the new Jerusalem the capital of the redeemed in the attorney eternal state
Which is the bulk of revelation 21 and into 22. So read with me revelation 21 verse 1
Says 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
I also saw the holy city the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared like a bride adorned for her husband
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
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
It's a very hopeful picture it's a beautiful picture
And it opens there with then I saw
Right. How many times have we read that phrase in john's revelation of jesus christ?
Then I saw it's throughout the whole book because john is the ultimate spectator, right?
He is the ultimate spectator. He is the recipient of this amazing vision from jesus christ
And he's the one that's been told to to not only witness it
But to write it down as that has been unfolded in successive parts
And so he's writing down everything he's been witnessing throughout this entire revelation
And as i've mentioned before, um, I think it's it's best to read it
Or I think it's it's best rather than to try and squeeze these verses into some symbolic non-literal interpretation
I personally believe that the proper
Or the best hermeneutic which is the method of biblical interpretation
The best best way to to interpret the bible is to start with a literal interpretation
And so even with this section, I believe it's best to assume that what john says here is literal
That what he writes is what he saw
What he's witnessing here. He's writing down what's going to happen
And so we're gonna deal with it that way now
I do understand that there are some major disagreements on whether this should be read symbolically or literally
You could spend countless hours online reading different points of view on this
Um, some of that comes through the description of jerusalem's size when we get into that in a couple weeks
What we're going to see is that he describes the new jerusalem in very detailed dimensions, right?
And some people go well if you put those dimensions on the earth, that's impossible. Therefore it has to be symbolic
To which I say did you miss
new earth
Right, you're making assumptions anyways, we'll deal with that when we get there
But people fight over this it must be one or the other it must be symbolic or it must be literal
And I simply say why can't it be both?
Why can't it be both? Why can't it be a literal event a literal place a literal object that also has symbolic meaning, right?
Is that something so unnatural to our understanding?
How many of you are wearing a wedding ring
It's a literal thing, right
Does it also carry great symbolic meaning
absolutely
What about the flag every country flies?
Is it a literal thing?
Yes, does it also carry great symbolic meaning?
absolutely
And so I believe that what we're seeing here is both literal and it carries great symbolic meaning
So he starts out he goes then I saw a new heaven
a new heaven
Now that word new means what you think new means right? It's new. It's different. It's it's it's it's different than what was previous
Right, it's brand new but that word heaven in the greek is this word
Oranos oranos and the word in the greek simply means the heights or the elevated place
That's what this word in the greek means
This word in the greek however is used to describe heaven in various meanings throughout scripture
Now we've mentioned this before but biblically
And in jewish thought the concept of the word heaven
Heaven referred to three major things right three major places if you will
Biblically and this word oranos and and in jewish thought as well
The first heaven or what was called the terrestrial heaven referred to the sky in the atmosphere around the earth, right?
They would refer to that as a heaven
For example in matthew chapter 6 verse 26
Jesus says observe the birds in the sky
The word sky is oranos
That's the word that is translated heaven. Okay
In isaiah 55 10
He says for just as rain and snow fall from heaven
Now does rain and snow come from outer space?
I mean, I guess if like there's a big icy comet that crashes into us
But the idea there is it's referring to the sky right the first terrestrial heaven in the understanding
Then there was this idea that everything outside of our atmosphere that we would call space
Where the moon and the stars and the heavenly bodies resided that was considered the second heaven or the celestial
Heaven and so for example in psalm chapter 19 verse 1. It says the heavens declare the glory of god
It's not talking about the sky the atmosphere of the earth
It's talking about space the the firmament if you will is one of the other ways to put it
But then in second corinthians chapter 12 verses 2 through 4 paul the apostle speaking of himself says this
I know a man in christ who was caught up to the third heaven 14 years ago
Whether he was in the body or out of the body. I don't know god knows
I know that this man whether in the body or out of the body. I don't know god knows was caught up into paradise
And heard inexpressible words, which human being is not allowed to speak and we've referenced this already, right?
This third heaven or this idea of what he's referring to as a third heaven was was under the
Heaven was was understood to be the the spiritual realm the the transcendent realm
Beyond this creation where god lived is also the place where angels dwelt
Is also the place where dead believers go at this time in the chronology of history, right?
The bible tells us to be absent from the body to be present with the lord, right?
Well in our understanding of time prior to the end of all things when a believer dies today
There in this heaven with god is the idea scripturally
Now this greek word oranos
Then refers to the sky the atmosphere refers to outer space and it refers to this spiritual transcendent realm
The word was also used in plural ways to just refer to everything above the planet earth, right?
So it was it was used to say everything above the actual physical planet
And this is how it's used here in revelation 21 one
It's used specifically when it says new heaven. It's referring to the sky the atmosphere space
It's the idea of terrestrial and celestial heaven altogether
And then he goes on to say I saw a new earth
And earth in the greek was referring to the physical planet that we're on in contrast to sky or space
As the habitation of humanity and so there's a new
heaven
and a new earth
In verse 1 in revelation 21 it says for the first heaven and the first earth
passed away
Now that word passed away literally means to cease to exist
To cease to exist biblically
This is supported in first corinthian 731. It tells us for this world in its current form is passing away
And then in second peter chapter 3 verses 10 through 13 it says but the day of the lord will come like a thief
And on that day and that day word day is referring to epoch era time frame
The heavens will pass away with a loud noise
The elements will burn and be dissolved in the earth and the works on it will be disclosed
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way
It's clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness
As you wait for the day of god in haste and it's coming
Because of that day the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat
But based on this his promise we wait for a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells
So when we put all that together
Well, we see in verse 1 of revelation chapter 21 when he says then I saw a new heaven and new earth this glimpse of eternity
Is giving us the picture that eternity
Is going to have a recreated universe
And a recreated physical earth
There's going to be a physical recreation of some some kind here
A new heaven being everything that is not the planet earth, right?
So referring to sky and referring to the space and all of that the universe
And a new earth referring to a physical planet that will exist in that new universe
And as we're going to see later that new earth is inhabited by a redeemed humanity
Headquartered in the universe
And a new earth is being headquartered in a physical capital city called new jerusalem
Which exists as part of this new earth in this new heaven
And you go what about the third heaven, right? The spiritual transcendent realm
Well, it doesn't specifically talk about that, but it still exists
I believe it's gonna still exist and it will exist but the idea is when we get to eternity
Heaven
One term all of it is is heaven it's paradise. It's
Perfection meaning the new earth the new sky the new space the existence spiritual realm. It's all existing together in perfection
But the picture is that there's no separation between them anymore
There's no separation and we're going to get to that in a moment here
But heaven is not some
Disembodied existence sitting on clouds playing harps floating in nothingness
Heaven is everything being perfect. None of it stained by sin in any possible way as god originally intended everything to be
We saw a glimpse of this and we see a glimpse of this in the book of genesis before the fall in the garden of eden, right?
a perfect paradise
Where god dwelt in his full presence with man and they walked together and they had perfect unbroken fellowship
But that perfect existence
Was broken
Now the perfect existence is what was intended right we see that in genesis we see that in the garden of eden
It's a perfect existence in a perfect paradise created by god
Obviously
Adam and eve were able to dwell in the presence of god and so they had
Glorified bodies to some degree that were able to dwell in the presence of god
They were free from the curse. They were free from sin and death. They were free from all of that
And they were in perfect fellowship with him in his presence at all times
But as we spoke about in a previous study if you'll remember biblically death the concept of death
Biblically is always more than just physically ceasing right death is more than just this physical body dying
It's not the expiration death biblically is the idea of separation
Right. We looked at that sin entered the world and it's separating
Sin entered the world and it separated man from god
God said the day you eat of that fruit you will die now. They ate the fruit. Did they drop dead right there in that moment?
No
now
degradation entered in
I believe that that was when entropy was introduced to the universe because at that point the body then started to decay
So did creation
So did the world so did everything god created it started to decay the result of sin was death
But what he meant more than just physical death is that we are we are separated spiritually now
Right, we know that when sin entered the world god's total perfect
Holy and righteous presence was no longer able to be there with them in the garden
He had to kick him out
And then everybody born from them forward was born with this cursed corrupted sin nature
And we've seen god tell moses even right like my total perfect presence
I it'll burn you up. It'll destroy you. I I can't be with you in the way. I was in the garden anymore
There was a veil a separation introduced by sin
And so those bodies those perfect bodies that I believe they had in the garden then began to decay and physically die
and you know again that was passed on to everybody born since and
And then we talked about under previous studies so that when the physical body dies
That's not the end that just means that your soul is separated from the physical body and your soul goes on
Your soul continues to live it continues to have consciousness
The question is where does the body go?
It's going to be in the lake of fire forever and we talked about that
That when the bible talks about the second death it's referring to death in the context of eternal separation from god
eternal separation from life
Interview
And contentment and peace and joy eternal separation from that instead cast into suffering in the lake of fire revelation 20 talks about and so
about. And so you have to understand this idea that the
very notion of separation from God in any way, the very notion
of any type of veil between us and him, the very notion of
being disconnected on any level is done away with in eternity
completely. It's completely done away with. Heaven is presented
repeatedly throughout Scripture, not as going to heaven. As a
matter of fact, if you do a search for that, you'll find out
that nowhere in Scripture does it ever talk about going to
heaven. It refers to heaven in the context of being with
Christ. That's heaven. That's ultimately what heaven is and
what it means. Heaven is a complete dissolution of
division. It's a complete destruction of separation between
us and our Creator in every single way. Now we're going to
get and talk about that in a little bit of what that means
because the idea here is that the first heaven and the second
heaven and the third heaven, those are just ways for people
to understand sky and all of that. But in the new earth, in
the new heaven, and the transcendent realm, it's all
going to be together at the same time. It's all heaven. And we
and our glorified bodies are going to be able to interact
with all of it in the same time. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Okay, let's deal with this idea of separation because I believe
it's hinted at in verse one. It says, in the sea was no more.
There's a new heaven. There's a new earth. In the sea was no
more. And you go, doesn't that seem like an out of place
detail a little bit? That we're talking about a new universe.
We're talking about a new earth. Later on, we're going to see
where God comes to dwell with us, his people, his redeemed
who have new glorified bodies. And then, oh, by the way,
there's no ocean. What's the idea here? It's a weird detail.
But again, reading literally in view of the fact that there's
literally a new universe and literally a new earth, that it
is simply saying that this new physical earth will have no
ocean upon it anymore. No sea. The new earth will be quite
different from this one. Right? We understand that this world
that we live in now is quite a watery world, right? And so much
about this earth depends on water, right? Two-thirds of this
earth is water. Most of our current bodies are water. Most
of plant and animal life is water. And this earth is the
only planet that we're aware of that has enough water needed to
sustain life. Right? Everybody always gets excited. We found
something that might be a molecule of water on Mars.
Therefore, aliens. Is it a molecule of water? We don't know,
but it might be. Therefore, aliens. Right? They get all
excited about that. But it's because water. Water is
essential to life here in this creation. You know, we know if
you don't drink water, you could physically die. Some of us are
like, so does water, right? No. Water is water. Okay? Here, I'm
not here to get on that soapbox. Okay. So. But then in eternity,
it says, it gives us this detail. There's no sea. Right? We know
there's water because in Revelation 22, 1, it tells us
that there's the river of the water of life flowing through
the center of the city. Right? So we know there's water in the
new thing, but there's no sea. There's no sea. And it's like,
why bring this up? What is the detail? I mean, I believe one,
yes, it's to illustrate that the new earth, right? The biosphere,
the how the ecologies work together, it's gonna be radically
different, profoundly different from this first earth, very
similar in the way of how Paul demonstrates in 1 Corinthians
15, how radically different our glorified physical body will be
different from our current physical body. But again, it
doesn't mean it can't also have symbolic meaning. Now and in
John's time, the physical sea, in a lot of ways, provides
natural barriers between peoples and between nations and between
just so much, you know, and in the sea in John's time,
symbolically represented this type of division between the
peoples, you know, it was seen as this place of just just
tumultuous, unpredictable, just chaos in danger. But it was this
thing that like, you know, separated out the peoples. And
so it could be symbolic of this, the reality on the new earth is
that there's no separation. There's no separation anymore.
There's no separation between peoples, there's no separation
between people and God, right? Verse three, in Revelation 21,
it says, God's dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with
them. That's the point. There's no separation anymore, just as it
was in the garden. A relationship that was made
possible in the garden because they had uncursed bodies, a
situation that will be possible again for us because we will
have uncursed bodies, we will be in our glorified bodies. Now
what's an interesting note here is when we think of these
existing physical bodies, right, one of the physical limitations
of this body in this creation is we are limited to this earth,
aren't we? Right, can we fly? Not on our own. We need
technology to fly, right? We're separated from the terrestrial
heaven, if you will. And if we go too high into that terrestrial
heaven without heaven, without protection, we suffocate. What
about the celestial heaven? We're separated from that,
aren't we? Like you just watch some like space horror movie to
get an idea of what happens, right? Oh, when people are
unprotected in space, you die. You turn into an ice cube, right?
So you have to have astronaut suits and spaceships and stuff.
But we've been able to, through technology, make it that far.
But we can't get to the third heaven, can we? Not physically,
not on our own. And then like I mentioned earlier, God told
Moses, right, even if you could, you'd all burn up. This body
that you currently have, a part of this creation, it cannot be
in the full presence of God. You can only be in the afterglow
of God. You can only be in God's presence spiritually, but not
in the totality of His presence. But our new glorified bodies,
man, they're gonna have different capabilities, scripture
seems to indicate. Remember Jesus after His resurrection? He's
the first fruit, the Bible tells us, of all who will be
resurrected. What do we know about Jesus after His
resurrection? He was able to appear and disappear at will.
You know what we call that? Teleportation. I'm like, that's
kinda cool. I could just with a thought be anywhere. Jesus'
glorified body was able to do that. He was able to pass
through walls, it says, pass through doors. Meaning that He
had a physical body, but that physical body also existed on a
dimension that we don't physically or don't currently have
the ability to interact with. What exactly that means? I'm not
sure, but we see it. He was still able to interact with the
physical, he was still able to eat and drink and sit, but he
had this other abledness in his resurrected body. I think our
resurrected bodies are gonna be similar. Philippians 3.21 says
this, He will transform the body of our humble condition into
the likeness of His glorious body, but the power that
enables Him to subject everything to Himself. Then in
Matthew 22.30, we read Jesus telling the Pharisees, or the
Sadducees, I mean, for in the resurrection, they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Now, the primary context of that section is that the angels
don't worry about themselves and who they're married to, and
that they just serve God. That's the primary context of the
section there, that people are asking this difficult question
about marriage, and he's going, look, in heaven, there's gonna
be no marriage, right? There's gonna be this perfect,
beautiful preoccupation with God. I don't have time to get
into all the other nuances. Are we gonna know our loved ones in
heaven? I believe so, but it's gonna be different. But if you
put Philippians 3 and Matthew 22 together, it bears asking the
question, will we be no longer limited the way we are in these
physical bodies, limited in our ability to travel, to move
through creation? Will we be able to just kind of freely move
through the first and second and the third heaven, since they're
all together, one in eternity, right? They're just one together.
God's presence is with us. Are we gonna be able to, like the
angels who dwell in the transcendent heaven, also be
able to appear on the physical realm and move seamlessly
between? Possible. Pretty beautiful. There's no more
separation in that sense. And so, like I said, the physical
sea was also symbolic of this unpredictable, dangerous things.
And the sea is often used biblically, symbolically to
represent wickedness and changeability and all of that.
And so, the idea is that the new earth will not be a place of
separation. There'll be perfect unity, perfect fellowship with
God and His presence at all times. We won't be limited the
same way we are now. It'll be a perfect paradise, a place for us
to enjoy, just as Adam and Eve were called to in the garden.
Enjoy this place. There will be no sin, no temptation of sin,
right? It's just gonna be this beautiful, beautiful existence
and it won't be a place of fear. There'll be no unrest, no
turmoil, no chaos. Basically, it's everything that was messed
up by sin is restored by God in the end. Everything that was
messed up is restored. And we call it the end, but it really
is a beginning of eternity. Beautiful. Now, we're gonna deal
with verse two when we get to verse nine and deal with the
New Jerusalem. But verse three, he says, then I heard a loud
voice from the throne. He said, look, this voice said, 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. 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. That
is really what heaven is all about. As cool as
teleporting is gonna be, that's not what heaven's about. As
interesting it is to ponder, you know, the realities of what
is the glorified body gonna be? That's not what it's about.
It's about being with God. It has always been God's desire
to spend time in close fellowship with His people. That
has always been God's desire but sin has been in the way since
the fall. So, throughout God's word, what we see is in the Old
Testament, God set up a dwelling, right? The word is here
in the Greek when it says God's dwelling is with humanity. That
word literally means in the Greek, tabernacled. It's
referring to a temporary dwelling place, a tent, right? We
see that in the Old Testament. God set up a dwelling. God set
up a tabernacle wherein His presence dwelt there with His
people. However, it was behind the veil. It was in the Holy of
Holies there with the Ark of the Covenant. It tells us that
He appeared in the form of a pillar of fire and smoke to guide
His people day and night. Then eventually, there was a temple
and we know God's glory dwelt in the temple again behind the
veil in the place where where God's glory was and it was a
place. It was a resistance of separation. God wanted to be
with His people but He couldn't be there in His full glory so
there was the veil. And then to remind everybody of why the veil
was there, once a year the high priest would get to go behind
that veil into the presence of God to make the sacrifice, the
atonement to cover the sins of the people. But man, if He
wasn't prayed up and ready, right? You remember they tied
the the bale, the bale, bell. So they're like listening, okay,
He's still moving around. Jingle, jingle, jingle. Thump.
No more jingle. They had a rope around his ankle. Pull him
out. We need a new high priest, right? Who wanted to sign up
for that job? That guy just got struck down dead. Anyways,
because God's presence was so holy but God had such great
desire to be with His people. And so that separation that
existed, it required sacrifices and ritual and cleansing and
all of this and and there was always this separation. And then
to finally bridge that gap, God sent His own son into the
world. The Bible says His name is Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus
Christ. The word of God, the word that was God, the word that
is God came and and clothed Himself in flesh, came and
dwelt among us, it says, tabernacled, same word, where He
lived a perfect life, veiled by flesh, but then He died as the
atonement, the permanent atonement for sin. We read in
that story as the veil in the temple was then torn top to
bottom, right? Symbolizing that spiritual access is available
to everybody now. Not yet a physical presence, but a
spiritual access to God available to everybody. And
then it tells us that God Himself through those who put
their faith in Him comes to dwell inside us spiritually,
the Holy Spirit who dwells within His people, right? We
have glimpses of this relationship with God now, but
they're just glimpses of what's to come in heaven.
Eternity, in eternity, God's dwelling is in an entirely
different sense. No more veil, no more ritual, no more
separation, no more cloth tent, no more structure, not even
God being clothed or veiled in flesh in a sense, His entire
presence, His full glory, His total existence dwells with us.
His entire presence, and again, that's something hard to wrap
our minds around because we can't fully understand the three
in one, and Christ has a physical body, and yet He's God
at the same time, but we're gonna get it when we get there.
I know we are. The Bible says we see so many things now, like
through a smoked glass. We see things like, ugh, I can kind of
make it out, but I can't really fully understand. Why? Because
there's still separation, but in eternity, it'll be gone. It's
God in His pure and full presence, dwelling with and
dealing directly with His people. Yes, today, it's a
little bit different, but then it'll be one-to-one, face-to-face,
visible, a tangible relationship, as verse three says.
God will be with us, and this is an experience I think every
believer longs for. We all long for that. We all look forward
to that. I mean, that's that life, that eternal life, that
zoe we've talked about. That's the thing we're looking forward
to, and it's difficult at times now to walk in and to reconcile
the relationship we have today with what is effectively an
invisible God. Sometimes it's hard to deal with that. That
happens to be incidentally one of the big critiques and
slanders that non-believers have about Christians. Oh, you
believe in your big, invisible God in the sky. And I think in
this life, we'll never be completely satisfied. Completely
satisfied. I don't think that'll happen until we see the face of
God, and that's why we long for heaven. That's why we look
forward to this time. Knowing that a new heaven and a new
earth and the eternal state that awaits us, a state without
tears, a state without death, without separation, without
grief, without pain, in perfect peace, in perfect joy, in
perfect contented bliss, it should cause us to yearn for
home, to yearn for home, for it is truly an existence where
all that former stuff has passed away. Same phrase, ceased to
exist. So, you know, all the faith experience that we can
experience here now as Christians, all the different
stuff we go through, we have times of worship, right? We're
like, oh, so wonderful, right? We have times of fellowship and
gathering together, you know, here at church and our community
groups. We have these moments, right, where, you know, we've
all had them, right? You all say, wow, I feel so close to
God, right? Like things seem to be clicking spiritually,
right? And everything is just, you know, that wonderful, you
know, awesome. Those are great, but those moments are not meant
to fully satisfy us. They're meant to give us a taste.
They're meant to give us a glimpse of what's to come. And I
pray for all of us this morning that if the world has a grip on
you in any way, a grip that has maybe led you to not be so
excited about heaven, because while there's something here
that's temporary, that's, oh, it's exciting, the new shiny
thing, but it's sinful. It doesn't glorify God. I pray that
if the world has a grip on you like that, that it would be
loosened this morning, that God, to the power of his Holy
Spirit, would break that hold on your life, that you would
again be exuberant about the hope of heaven, about the
paradise to come, that you would see all of this, everything
in this life around us is just temporary, but a vapor. That
doesn't mean we don't be diligent and we don't be wise
and we don't, you know, do what we gotta do and take care of
our business, but it is not the end all. That new shiny thing,
that new car, that new house, those better clothes, that new
purse, that new video game, that new computer, those things
that we find ourselves enslaving ourselves to debt to
get and enslaving ourselves to just, we're just so consumed
with these things and they're all temporary. They're all
temporary. And all they do is occupy us so that we lose sight
of what is ahead.
Now, yeah, there's nothing wrong with saying I would like a car
that starts. Awesome. There's nothing wrong with having a new
vehicle. That's not what I'm saying. A new house, and none of
those things are wrong in and of themselves, but if they
occupy your heart and your mind and they're the point of your
living, you're missing out. You're missing out big time on
what God has for you. And if you don't know Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior this morning, whether you're in our
room or watching online, I pray, I pray that the picture of
what is to come for those who have embraced salvation,
embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior by faith, the
hope of a future without pain, without tears, without grief,
without sorrow of any kind, but instead, embrace the hope of
a forever, an eternity with perfect joy and happiness and
contentment and perfect fellowship with your Creator who
loves you in a way you'll never fully understand, I don't think
until we get there. But a love which you can get a taste of in
this life by your God. I pray that all of that would lead you
to repentance for the sin that you've committed in your life.
It would lead you to cry out for your Creator, your Creator,
God Almighty, Jesus Christ for salvation, for forgiveness.
Because without that forgiveness, without that
mercy, without that grace, without that salvation,
judgment is coming. And we've studied that already in
Revelation that that judgment will be severe and that
judgment will be eternal. But it's not an eternal death, it's
not an eternal suffering, it's not an eternal separation from
God that He wants. He would rather have a perfect fellowship,
joining, being united with you forever. And as a matter of fact,
in His mind, in His, He's preparing the place. And He
can't wait for you to get there. But if you hold on to your sin,
you're holding on to that separation. And if you die
holding on to that sin, you will be forever, permanently
separated. And that is not what God wants.
God's desire is for you to be saved from this body of sin and
death, to be saved from the judgment to come and to be part
of the new heavens and the new earth, the paradise that awaits
those who call Him Lord and Savior.
What could be better? Amen? Let's pray.
Father, we love you so much.
God, we so often get distracted by the things of this world.
And Lord, I know you know, it's balancing the reality of
taking care of the business that you've put before us, to be
wise stewards of what you've given us in this earth, our time,
our talents, our resources, the life you've called us to live
after getting saved and becoming your children. And you
said while you are going, while you are living, while you are
working, while you are doing whatever it is this life has
put in front of us, you said, preach the gospel.
Tell others about the hope of heaven. Tell others about the
salvation available to them. Share with them what it's like
to live handling your business but not consumed by these
things. Share with them what it's like to know that there's a
future promise, there's a future heaven that transcends in every
possible way anything good that we think the things of this
world will give us. Tell people about that. Lord, help us to be
those people. Help us to live our lives looking forward to
heaven with great eagerness and great excitement and great
enthusiasm. Help us to be people, God, that are looking
forward to the paradise that awaits. Always knowing, God, in
humility that we didn't earn it. We don't deserve it. But
through faith in Jesus Christ, it has been granted to us. And
that God, while we're in this journey towards that perfection,
that we would be people who live lives of gratitude. Living
lives that say, God, I just want to be who you're calling me to
be and live how you're calling me to live. And that's what
Jesus Christ is calling me to be. He's calling me to be how
you're calling me to live. And that includes our priorities and
that includes our stuff and that includes our money and that
includes our time. Because, God, we believe you. We believe
your word. We believe eternity is coming. Help us to live like
you. Give us peace. Give us joy. Give us now what we have
access to through the life that is in you. But let us not
forget, Lord, it is a glimpse of what is to come. We love you
so much. God, I pray for those that may have heard this
message and don't know you. That in the quietness of their
own heart, they would just cry out to you and say, God, I need
you. But they would say, God, save me. God, forgive me. Be my
God. Be my Savior. I believe in you. I believe in who you are.
I believe in Jesus. And then, God, may they be full of the
Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance, the promise
given, the seal put upon their heart that they are yours now
and forever. May they learn of you every single day, God, and
grow in this walk in relationship and how to be in this life
people who are citizens of the next. And as a church, God,
that we would grow together in support of one another, support
of your work and your kingdom, God, that we would be people
who hold one another up and hold one another accountable in
God, that we would together collectively endeavor to glorify
you in this time because we know we're going to live in your
glory forever. Thank you, Jesus. We love you so much. It's in
your name we pray. Amen. Let's worship, guys.