New Heaven and New Earth
Notes
Transcript
Intro and Scripture
Intro and Scripture
Intro…Binge reading the bible and the bookends.
1 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, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell 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.”
Pray.
Caricature
Heaven Caricature
What we believe about the beginning and the end matters.
Heaven and Earth
So I want to spend the next several moments trying to reclaim the story:
The arc of biblical narrative tells a story of redemption, redeeming what was in the beginning
Heaven and Earth Created by God
Heaven and Earth Created by God
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
From Joshua Butler: “Introductions are important. God’s story for the world is no different; heaven and earth are the setting, the context, the stage, in which the ensuing drama of human history is about to unfold.”
Two things from the beginning:
1. Heaven is a part of creation. God made it. Heaven is not only a future reality but already here today, not absent from the world.
2. Heaven is created in relationship with the earth. Counterparts created with each other and for each other.
Side note.... right here in the beginning and throughout scripture the image is for Heaven and Earth, not hell. We all think of the end as heaven and hell.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.
14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
We often think of Heaven and hell as counterparts....
· Hell is mentioned no where. It is not part of God’s creation
Heaven and Earth torn apart
Heaven and Earth torn apart
“The second movement in the biblical story’s plotline is this: heaven and earth are torn by sin. When Adam and Eve rebel, it impacts everything under their authority. Everything is jacked up. Where there was once flourishing beneath their feet, now lay thorns and thistles come up from the cursed ground. The human community spirals….Adam blames Eve, Cain murders Abel, Lamech is a dangerous killer, and by the days of Noah the earth is filled with Violence.
The relationship with heaven and earth is splintered. God’s intimacy with earth and humanity if in some huge ways, lost.
Show heaven and earth picture 1
We are given the earth and God casts us outside of Eden. God makes his home in heaven to rule
2 scriptures of many that show this...
“Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. 1 Samuel 2:10
The Lord established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. Psalm 103:19
Heaven and earth still exist in relationship but this relationship has been torn by sin. Earth rebels against heaven, while God’s kingdom continues to reign from heaven.
Jesus: Heaven comes to Earth
Jesus: Heaven comes to Earth
In the OT and before the time of Jesus there was the precursor to this… the temple and the place of the ark of the covenant is the location of God’s presence with God’s people. When Jesus arrives on the scene, this image is taken up but now in human form.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
From Colossians
“God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Heaven and Earth picture 2
Jesus is the bridge. He is the savior that reunites heaven and earth.
Jesus begins to establish God-kingdom authority on earth….the end of Matthew, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me!
Pockets of heaven where he goes…then the same for the church, “You will accomplish these and greater things”
Heaven and Earth Reconciled
Heaven and Earth Reconciled
The final movement of the plot line: reconciliation
Our text today tells of a new heaven and a new earth coming together. The author of Revelation is given a vision of what will be. He is alone on an island in exile. The churches of the apostles are struggling, forgetting their way, persecuted and suffering. God gives the author a vision that is almost too great for words. A vision of the future.
Today we have prayed, on earth as it is in heaven.
Show Heaven and earth picture 3
1 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, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell 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.”
Hear this friends: God’s purpose and goal is not to get us out of earth….it is to reconcile heaven and earth. To bring back the intimacy of the relationship with him and the way things were intended to be.
Future Healing and Healing Today
Future Healing and Healing Today
There is two realities that we must contend with today.
The final vision changes our perspective
Heaven is already breaking in
The final vision changes our perspective
Knowing how the story ends changes our perspective as we encounter trials.
National championship… a few years back we were watching the national championship with some friends. Tell the story....
The highs were that much more enjoyable and you could see how things were developing towards that ending.
The lows were different, instead of desperation, they were colored with anticipation.
In the face of suffering, in the face of hardship, in the face of church division.... we know that the gates of hell will not prevail, that evil will not win, that God will work together for good, that our God brings life where there is death....and some day none of that which we grind against and suffer through will be allowed in the new city.
It changes how we live. You have seen it before with people of great suffering that also have confidence in God that is tangible. They walk around like they have the cheat codes. You know what I am talking about?
2. Heaven is already breaking in...
With the dawning of Christ, heaven is already here. Here for those in Christ, there is freedom from sin, healing with God, reconciliation possible with those that we might call our enemies.
Church since I arrived here we have been dealing with denominational strife. And the last several weeks have been really hard. We need healing and we need to refocus. Some may be overjoyed in the conclusion of our vote, some may not come back here. Some dont know what to think. We need healing. And that begins right here by turning our eyes to Jesus. I am not just talking about hearing a good sermon that makes you feel good or a good song during your one hour a week with Jesus, I am saying if we will find ourselves individually and collectively with and in Christ then the future reality becomes a present one. Healing, deliverance, freedom,
The first step of that is repentance....
Revelation 21 also has a lake of fire. Hell is not simply a reality in the way that heaven and earth are… hell is the biproduct of God pushing out of the garden/of the city, that which does not belong. In the end, God drives hell out of the city and leaves it outside the city walls.
We have been told that repentance is a promise to God that we are bad and we are sorry that we did something. that is remorse, not repentance.
Repentance, according to Paul, is a gift. It is the gifted ability to say “God, I can’t. You can. I trust you.”
Yielding to sanctifying grace.
I believe we have two moves here this morning:
pray for the hope of heaven to capture your imagination and the imagination of our church
praying for repentance
Leave time today to pray, when I conclude, we are just going to let it breathe this morning. kneelers are open, pray where you are, walk around the room.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.