A Glimpse of Heaven

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today with hearts full of gratitude and awe for the promise of the New Heaven and New Earth. As we gather to open your Word, we ask for Your Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to the glorious hope You have prepared for those you have given new birth. Guide us in understanding the depth of Your love and the magnificence of the eternal home You have promised.

May this message fill us with renewed faith, hope, and joy as we look forward to dwelling with You forever. Strengthen us to live each day with eternal values and a heart set on Your kingdom. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen.

Sermon Series: Eternal Destinies: Understanding Heaven and Hell

Good morning, church family and guests. Today, we continue our journey through the afterlife series. Today we are in part two, focusing on the New Heaven and New Earth as described in Revelation 21

Last week, we explored the realities of life after death and the eternal destiny that awaits each soul.

We looked at what the Bible says about heaven, hell, and the final judgment.

This week, we turn our attention to the glorious promise that God has made to His people: the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

This passage in Revelation gives us a vivid and hope-filled glimpse of our eternal home.

It paints a picture of a place where there is no more pain, sorrow, or death—a place where God Himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

May this message strengthen our faith and fill us with a renewed sense of purpose and anticipation for the glorious future that awaits us.

The Promise of Heaven

The Nature of Heaven

Living with Heaven in Mind

Lets begin by looking at the Promise of Heaven

The Promise of Heaven

What is heaven exactly

It is a place being prepared by the greatest carpenter of all time

Its a place where we will live in physical existence in our new resurrected bodies

It is a New Heaven and Earth - We will live on a new earth in a new city: New Jerusalem

(A Place Prepared)

John 14:2–3 NKJV

2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Phil. 3.20

Philippians 3:20–21 NKJV

20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

(A Place lived in a new physical reality)

Here he is talking about the future resurrection of our bodies

1 Corinthians 15:41–49 NKJV

41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

(A Place that is New - A New Heaven and Earth)

A new heavens and earth is coming but the first one, this present one, must pass away and the Lord tells us how it will pass away.

2 Peter 3:7 ESV

7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Revelation 21:10–11 NKJV

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Revelation 21:12–17 NKJV

12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

So how big is that exactly?

Revelation 21:18–27 NKJV

18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 22:1–2 NKJV

1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Now that we looked at the promise of Heaven let us not look closer at the Nature of Heaven.

The Nature of Heaven

One of the most comforting aspects of heaven is the complete absence of suffering.

Revelation 21:4

Revelation 21:4 NKJV

4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Isaiah 25:8

Isaiah 25:8 NKJV

8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.

The most significant aspect of heaven is being in the presence of God, which brings ultimate joy and fulfillment.

Psalm 16:11

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Revelation 21:3 NKJV

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

There is much more the Bible speaks about in regards to this side of the afterlife for those who have placed faith and truth in the LORD Jesus ALONE, but for the sake the time let me conclude with this final through, which is Living with Heaven in Mind.

Living with Heaven in Mind

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 NKJV

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Colossians 3:1-2

Colossians 3:1–2 NKJV

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

We are called to prioritize eternal values over temporal pursuits, focusing on what truly matters in light of eternity.

Matthew 6:19-20

Matthew 6:19–20 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

1 Timothy 6:18-19

1 Timothy 6:18–19 NKJV

18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

As believers, we must cling to the hope of heaven, letting it inspire and strengthen us in our daily walk.

Hebrews 10:23

Hebrews 10:23 NKJV

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Again Jesus is the way, truth and life

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Put your trust in Him

Romans 10:9 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Believe that leads to repentance and repentance that leads life

2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV

10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the incredible promise of heaven, where we will dwell with You forever, free from all pain and sorrow. Help us to live with the hope of heaven in our hearts, guiding our actions and decisions. For those seeking assurance of their eternal destiny, may they find it in Your Son, Jesus Christ. In His name, we pray, Amen.