All Things New

Intro

In 2012 Billy Graham wrote an article on the dangers of tolerance tht still rings true today:

One of the pet words of this age is tolerance. It is a good word, but we have tried to stretch it over too great an area. We have applied it, too often, where it does not belong. The word tolerant means liberal and broad-minded. In one sense, it implies the compromise of one’s convictions, a yielding of ground upon important issues.

We have become tolerant about divorce, the use of alcohol, delinquency, wickedness in high places, immorality, crime and godlessness. We have been sapped of conviction, drained of our beliefs, and we are bereft of our faith.

The sciences, however, are narrow-minded. There is no room for careless broad-mindedness in the laboratory. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level; it is never 100 degrees nor 189 degrees, nor 211. Fresh water freezes at 32 degrees; it is never 23 degrees nor 31.

Mathematics is also narrow-minded. The sum of two plus two is four, never three-and-a-half. Geometry is narrow-minded. It says that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points on a plane.  A compass is narrow-minded; it always points to the magnetic north. If it were broad-minded, ships at sea and planes in the air would be in danger.

If you should ask a man the directions to New York City and he said, “Oh, just take any road you wish, they all lead to New York,” you would question both his sanity and his truthfulness.  Nevertheless, we have somehow gotten it into our minds that “all roads lead to Heaven.”

But Jesus Christ, who journeyed from Heaven to Earth and back to Heaven again, who knew the way better than anyone who ever lived, said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

When it comes to North Americas culture of tolerance and believe whatever you want ot believe, the talk of eternity especially an eternal judgement is frowned upon. Often eliciting anger. We talk rather of love and tolerance when we do not really even remember what love means sometimes.

What we have been learning is that we must choose this day whom we will follow. Either we will follow the world and recieve the consequences of that or we will follow Jesus and receive the hope of eternal life.

Do we choose to follow Jesus, then our lives must reflect that. For even our actions, the works that we do will be looked at and judged by the Lord God.

But the great hope that we have, the great hope we are going to go through today is a kingdom beyond compare, a future living in the glory of God. The promsie of a life in the city of God that is magnificent beyond compare. Those who thirst for God, who strive for Him will be given life glorious and eternal.

HBI - Choose this day which master you will serve for we cannot follow Jesus yet deny Him in How we live. Choosing Jesus means an eternal hope, a future Glory where all sin and evil will be cast aside as we live in the glory of God.

The Final Judgement

20:11-15

No one likes to be judged. We often misquote scripture to tell people “judge no lest you be judged”. Yet we forget to read the rest of the passage that deals with holding each other accountable as we deal with our own sin. But God will judge us, that we can not get around or get away from. So we start with the judgement at the end of chapter 20. We will overview it quickly as chapter 21 contrasts the judgement of what is called Babylon, or the unrepentant world, and the bride of Christ, the new Jerusalem.

Revelation 20:11 CSB

11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.

Everything will have passed away. The idea behind this is that the only reality during this time will be God on His judgement throne.

Revelation 20:12 CSB

12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

The dead are those mentioned in 20:5 over whom the second death has no power. Those that are going to be rised up to be judged, based on what they have done that is recorded by God. There seems to be two books. The record of peoples deeds. God knows what you have done in this life. And the book of life. All will give an account of their actions.

Even followers of Jesus will have there works judged in a sense. We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Him, but how we live for Him while we are alive will be held in account when we go to see Jesus again. Works is the evidence of our faith after all. If there is no good works then there may not be any faith. Though Good works can hide no faith, at least for a short while.

Revelation 20:15 CSB

15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

The unrepentant will be cast down into the lake of fire, to die spiritually and face the wrath of God.

The New Creation

21:1-8

The thing thing about the gospel of Jesus is that it is a gospel of love and grave and forgiveness. But it is not a gospel of tolerance of evil. Jesus calls us to change. To change our lives, to turn from Sin and turn to Him. He calls out sin and says in love follow me and forsake the ways of the world. We do not tolerate false teaching, there are things as followers of Jesus that we are not to tolerate in other followers of Jesus.

The reason for this is because of what is at stake, eternity is at stake. We need to strive to live holy lives when eternity is at stake. That is what we get into next is eternity.

Revelation 21:1 CSB

1 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.

Creation is going to be rebuilt to be what it was supposed to be in the first place. Isaiah talks about this, the passage that we read last week. What we are going to see is essentially a reconstruction of the garden of Eden. What it was meant to be in the first place.

When the world was created there was no death until man sinned. Even the very nature of animals was different as we read in Genesis that what all creation was given to eat is fruit and seed and vegetables. Now this part does not sound to exciting to me, but I suppose being in the very presence of My God will change that.

Romans 8:20–21 CSB

20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

The creation will be refreshed we are told, back to the glorious thing it originally was meant to be.

Revelation 21:3–4 CSB

3 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. 4 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.

God will be with us face to face. The scriptures tell us that no one can see the face of God and live. Moses was in the presence of God, not face to face and He was literally glowing from the experience. To the point where it freaked people out a bit so He wore a veil to hide it.

But those who are followers of Jesus will be literally dwelling with God.

Revelation 21:6 CSB

6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

This gift is a free gift given to all those who thirst for God. That is all those who have a desire to seek God, they will find Him. Those who give their lives to Jesus will go to be with Him.

Revelation 21:8 CSB

8 But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

This is by no means a conclusive list, but the idea is that no sin and no evil will be there. No more trace of evil only the people of God.

I want to go back to the contrast between the two cities. The temple/Jerusalem and the great Babylon. One will have eternal life one eternal wrath.

We can not say that we follow Jesus yet deny Him in the way that we live our lives. That is not possible. We have a choice to make. We must choose to follow Jesus for these are the consequences. We must choose to live our lives for Jesus for we are destined for eternity either way. But only one way will get you in to the presence of the lamb. Choose this day which master you will serve.

The New Jerusalem

21:9-27

The new heaven and the new earth also contains a new city, where all the people of God will dwell, the place prepared for us. Remember the imagery of the bride and groom? This is what it is pointing towards, the place prepared for us. The earth will be made new, back to what it was supposed to be and there will be a new city to dwell in.

Revelation 21:9 CSB

9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

We all have a choice to make. Either to dwell with God for eternity or the wrath of God. each has a destiny.

Revelation 21:10 CSB

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Whether this is literal or or no in how the city comes down is not the point of what we see here. To see the great city coming down from heaven is to show the entrance of God into our existance. It is a symbol of God’s gift to us not anything we can earn or achieve.

That being said, our actions, our works are what we are called to do because of the change God has made in us. They dont save us but they are the evidence of our salvation and we will be rewarded for them.

Revelation 21:12–13 CSB

12 The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

High walls and 12 gates.

There is symbolism behind this. Again is it literal? I want to look into the meaning why. The greatness of the city, the gold, the jewels, the pearls all symbolic a magnificent city beyond compare.

the 12 gates are representative of abundant entrances. We all have the chance to make it, we all are given the way. The angels show us that this is God’s city. It also links it to the 12 tribes of Israel which links the OT and the NT together.

So the city of God, given to the people of God which we are all given a chance to dwell in based on the decisions we make.

The city is built on the foundation of the apostles, the foundation of the gospel they spread, the message of the blood of Jesus.

I am going to skip a few verses. They talk of the magnificence of the city.

Revelation 21:22–23 CSB

22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 21:26–27 CSB

26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

God will be presently, He will be our light there will be no sin or evil there.

We will know the consequences of sin, what happened and they will know the glory of the Lord God and what it is like to be in His presence. I do not believe that we will want to go back, after being perfected. We will then be able to walk with God beyond time.

So What?

This is our hope. Just imagine what it will be l;ike when we will forever dwell with the Lord God in the new creation, the perfected Garden of Eden no more evil, no more sin, no more death. What a day that will be. The possibility of a future without darkness and hardships. But it starts with a choice.

Choose this day whom you will serve?

God calls us to Him, He sent His son to die for our sin so that we could be with Him but we also must call out to Him and give our lives to Him.

God demands faithfulness above although. We can not deny Him with our lives and then in the next breath say that we love Him. We can not have a tolerance of sin in the people of God and in the church and say we are the body of Christ.

The other option is the eternal wrath of God. God has shown His love for us, He has left the 99 to find the one already. It is your choice, whom will you serve.

Eternal Hope

True wealth, true love is not tolerance of all things but turning your life to Jesus. Imagine this future place with no more pain no more evil and think “I could be there some day”

What a place that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace”. focus on how much greater is God’s city than what this world offers, to remind us to live for God’s promises and not for present satisfaction.