All Things New
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Tonight we are going to focus in on Revelation 21.1-8. The focus for this passage is God making all things new, bringing about the new creation. There is much debate to be had through the book of Revelation but there are a few things that we can be certain of from this book; first Jesus is coming back, second there will be judgment for those that do not know him, and lastly a new creation will be ushered in. This passage we are in is right after the defeat of Satan and the final judgment and we see this new creation coming.
We only see the language of the new heavens and new earth in 3 locations in the Bible; Isaiah 65-66, 2 Peter 3.13, and here in Revelation. Though it is discussed few times it is what we get to look forward to, a perfect dwelling with the perfect savior.
Many of us have gone through some difficult things in life, I am going through a few right now. Through all of these things we wonder why God is doing them. Through my own storms lately I have been saying I don’t know why God but you do and I trust you. I trust that after all of these difficult times I will see the fruits of my labor as I enter into this new creation with God.
Right now we are on the first earth and those that have been forgiven and passed away from the beginning of time are in the first heaven. Though the current heaven is far more glorious than anything we can ever imagine it to will be made new. Here in a moment I am going to read the passage and I want you to notice how it says new. It does not say that God is going to come and remodel the earth, it does not say that he is going to come and sanctify the earth. This earth will pass away and God will make a new one from scratch where there is no possible stain of sin on it.
Let’s read this passage in Revelation tonight and then begin to bask in eager expectation of the new creation.
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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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. 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, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
What an exciting sight to behold! The book of Revelation gives us some striking images, a lot of which bring out fear about the end times. This picture is only fearful for those that do not know Christ, for those of us that do it is a beautiful sight to behold.
The approach I want to take to this passage tonight is by asking the classic questions of who, what, when, where, and why. Well at least a few of those. I’ll answer a few of these right here really quick to get them out of the way; first off is when and to that I say this is the end times and only the Father knows when, second is where and that is the unknown to us also but it is also not relevant. What is useful is asking the questions who, what, and why in regards to the new creation.
Let’s start tonight with prayer then we can begin by asking the question of who.
pray
Who
Who
So we see the beauty of the new creation and must ask who it is for. Who gets to be a part of the New Heavens and New Earth? Also who does not get to go there and has to rather go to the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.
We must think about what group we are in as we go through this. Are we in the group that goes to the new creation or are you in the group that goes to the other option that is hell.
The Bride
The Bride
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The group that does get to enjoy the new creation is the bride of Christ. The New Jerusalem is described here as a bride which is the same description that is used for the people of God. This is in contrast of the description of the world as a prostitute.
The bride of Christ is the people of God and it is the people of God that the New Creation is meant for. Throughout redemptive history we have seen the development of the people of God and it all accumulates to the coming of Jesus where we see the people of God can be part of all peoples. Every tribe tongue and nation. This doesn’t mean everyone is the people of God but it means that it is available for everyone.
To be a part of the people of God and the bride of Christ, to get to enjoy the beauty described in this passage, you must put your faith in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. We will discuss this more in the what section but this new creation is similar to the original Eden where things were perfect and we had a right relationship with God, this was until the introduction of sin where man disobeyed God. Sin leads us down a path that goes away from God but because of the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. Through this all that is required for forgiveness is faith in Jesus and repentance for your sins. This brings things full circle as God makes all things new and we are brought back to that perfect garden like state.
What happens if you continue down the path of sin that leads away from God. That means you are not a part of the Bride of Christ that inherits the new creation. that means you are a part of the others.
The Others
The Others
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
What awaits those who do not put their faith in Jesus is the second death, the lake of fire. This is not the path that we want to be on but sadly in our world today so many are just like this. It is the responsibility of the Bride of Christ, the church, to show them the love of Jesus and share with them the gospel. This does not mean that they will change but it isn’t our job to save people, it is our job to share the gospel.
The others do not have the same grandeur to look forward to that the Bride of Christ has.
What
What
Now we know who this new creation is for, it is for the bride of Christ which is the church. Now we turn to what is the New Heavens and New Earth? We are not given a lot of information about it but what we are given lets us know without a doubt that it is something to look forward to.
The other parts of scripture that I mentioned earlier give us some information about it and we will look at those passages here. We must remember that God revealed exactly as much as he wanted to about this glorious future as he wanted to, so we get exactly as big of a picture of it as he intends.
Lets start by looking in 2 Peter 3.13
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Here in Peter we are given two details; first we are waiting for this, second it is where righteousness dwells.
When waiting we typically only wait for two things; something that we have to wait on, and something that we desire to wait on. An example of something that you have to do sometimes is waiting in line at the DMV, you do not want to but it is often a requirement. Something that is an example of you desiring to wait on was my sister waiting to meet her favorite Disney princess at Disney world. One form of waiting is reluctant and the other is eager. Our waiting on the new creation is an eager waiting because it is something that is so good and we should desire much.
The second thing that we see in 2 Peter is that it is where righteousness dwells. Righteousness is right, it is just, it is fair. This is something that is lacking in our world today. There is not to many things that are just now days, there are not to many things that are right for that matter. Most of our complaining about the world that we live in is because of the lack of righteousness. The corruption we see is a result of a lack of righteousness, the hatred we see is a result of a lack of righteousness, and the list could go on. What we see here in 2 Peter though is that perfect righteousness dwells in this new creation. It is not something that we will ever long for again because we will be dwelling there with it.
This place we long for is the eternal abode of righteousness. The eternal abode of Christ.
The next passage I want to visit is Isaiah 65.17-25. This passage is built up to through the entire book of Isaiah and I could probably bore you for hours about it but I will try not to do that this evening.
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Though this passage is sometimes debated whether it’s entirety is about the new creation but it is safe to say that it is at least predominately about the new creation. We see that it has language that resembles that found in Genesis describing the garden. Things will be taken back to how they were before the fall, the way that they were intended to be.
What an amazing picture of the beauty that is to come. This will be a place of perfection, a place where they will be no more pain and destruction. A place of blessing where the Lord reigns.
The new creation will be a place like the place that God originally intended where we dwell with him and his righteousness.
Why
Why
Why would God do this? Why would he create a perfect place for sinners that he has forgiven to dwell? It sounds crazy to think that the holy God would do all this for us imperfect beings. Well honestly it is a bit crazy if you don’t have the context of the whole Bible. In God’s perfection there is perfect love. We all know the verse John 3.16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It is out of the love that God has for us that he gave us his son and it is out of the love that he has for us that he creates this perfect dwelling for us.
We can all admit that we do not deserve all of this goodness but God grants us grace and demonstrates his love to us. At times it may seem difficult to see the love that God has for you but think through all the things that he has given you that you do not deserve and also think through all of the things that he is going to do for you when he returns.
Conclusion
Conclusion
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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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. 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, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Oh the beauty of the New Heavens and New Earth that God creates for his Bride the church out of the love that he has for us. How marvelous, how wonderful is my saviors love for me.
pray