What About Eternity?
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How many of you ever think about eternity?
Get answers (hands raised).
I think about it too… what will it be like? Who will be there? How do you get in? Will we be happy there? Will there be pain or suffering in heaven?
God gives us in the Bible different teaching on heaven. We don’t have a total picture yet because we haven’t reached heaven yet! But we do get glimpses in Scripture. And these glimpses give us hope for a future that, for anyone who has given their life to Jesus Christ, is bright and beyond our wildest dreams! Let’s talk about one of those glimpses today. Rev 21:1-8.
Big Idea:
Jesus invites us all to eternity with Him.
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.”
This is John’s vision of the new heavens and new earth. Keep in mind we’re right at the end of the book of Revelation. We’ve just come through 20 chapters that tell us about the world, the rebellion in the world, and God’s final plan to deal with that rebellion. Revelation makes it clear that this world is in rebellion to God, but God is still in control. Revelation calls people to be faithful to Jesus Christ, and not give in to this world and its temptations. Directly before our passage we see the vision of the great white throne judgement. The books are opened, and people are called to account for what they have done. Yet the threshold for entering heaven is not what they have done, but who they have placed their faith in: Jesus Christ!
So we come to Rev 21. John 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.
God is making all things news! In fact he says this Himself in verse 5, and elsewhere in Scripture! There is coming a time soon when this world and the evil in it will be remade. No more sin, no more evil, no more suffering. No more broken creation. Instead, Jesus says no, I am making a new heaven and new earth. The former - with all it’s evil - will passed away. But then John say something interesting:
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
What could this be? We get a picture later on of the new Jerusalem. We don’t have time to deep-dive into, but there’s debate surrounding this city and what exactly it is. Is it an actually city, or the people of God, - the bride of Christ? I think this is the people of God, coming to be on the new creation, forever with our God. This leads us well to this hope-filled verse:
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.
Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man! Did you know in the Old Testament, in Leviticus, God said mainly the same thing?
I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.
Way back at the beginning, there was no separation from God. But humanity sinned, and fell, and there became a separate between sinful humanity and the Holy God. Yet throughout history God in His mercy has drawn near. Through His presence in the tabernacle in the OT, to Jesus Himself coming to earth, to the Holy Spirit now dwelling inside His people. But what Revelation tells us is there’s a day coming soon when God’s presence and dwelling will be with His people. No more separation of any kind. He will physically be present with His people. This verse signals a time when our longing to see God face-to-face, to dwell with Him, will be realized.
What will happen when this happens?
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.”
Jesus will wipe away all tears from our eyes. I get this picture of a mom, who somehow has the ability above all others to comfort her child. Her child can be screaming and very upset. But a couple moments with mom not only stops the child’s crying, but sends him on his way ready to play! God will wipe away the tears from our eyes eternally. No longer will death and mourning be reality. Crying, pain and suffering will be gone forever. Many of us suffer in one way or another. We experience pain, our bodies suffer. Friends, if we place our hope in Jesus Christ, this does not have to be the end, but only a momentary time. You can have hope for Christ to wipe the tears from your eyes, to cease your pain forever, and to join Him in eternity full of joy, never again to see evil, suffering, or death. Why? Because they are the former things, part of this former broken creation. But when Jesus restores, when He makes new what was broken, those things will all be gone forever. He is making all things new. This is trustworthy - this is the truth - the hope in Jesus is a sure reality! He really will do all he said he would!
Jesus continues:
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.
What does he mean here? He is the One who rules and reigns. To all who thirst he will give the water of life. We read about the water of life in John. As Jesus talks to the samaritan woman at the well, he offers her something better than even the nicest tasting water. He offers her living water: the water that leads to eternal life. Eternal life in Jesus Christ - salvation - is a free gift that is available to everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done, God loves you and gave himself up on the cross for you. God will give you this, free of charge, if you will choose to believe and confess Jesus Christ as your saviour and Lord.
Likewise to the one who conquers, that person will be in the new heavens and earth. Who is this? It is all those who stand strong for Jesus, no matter the cost.
On Sunday we sang the song “Dare to be a Daniel.” It’s chorus goes like this:
Dare to be a Daniel!
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known!
This is a favourite song of Hubert’s. He’s experienced what it means to stand up for Jesus even when it’s hard. It’s not easy, but those who remain faithful to Jesus will receive this eternal life!
But then Jesus gives us a warning:
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.”
All of these things in this list are part of the “former things.” Those who reject Jesus, those who instead practices these and do not repent will find themselves in the lake of fire forever. Tormented for eternity. When we read this and understand that the only way to avoid this punishment is through Jesus Christ, it gives us new eyes!
Revelation 21 1-8 gives us this picture of heaven. Here there will be no more suffering, crying, pain, or death. All who trust in Jesus are welcomed in! The requirement for having peace with God and this hope for eternity is a relationship with Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. This means you have given your life to Him, repenting of sin and confessing it. You have claimed Jesus as your Lord, believing in His death and resurrection for you. For all of you here who have taken that step, let me encourage you. Sometimes what we go through in this life is hard. I can’t deny that. But hold on to the hope you have in Jesus! Soon He will return and bring you to be with Him forever.
Maybe you don’t know Jesus as Lord here today. The free gift of eternal life is yours if you will accept it. Jesus longs to have a personal relationship with you. To save you from your sin and give you hope for this future in the new heavens and earth. Don’t wait and resist Him! It can be hard to give your trust to someone else, even to give up control and allow Jesus to have your life. But each of us are sinners, the Bible tells us this, and that we are desperately in need of a Saviour. Jesus is that Saviour, and He longs to save you too.
Give invitation to be saved.
Close in prayer.
