New Heavens & New Earth
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Annecdote
Recap
History is going somewhere!
Plan of Salvation
Jesus returns
Last Battle
Resurrection
Judgement Day
and now...
The World Destroyed and Remade - First Attempt
The World Destroyed and Remade - First Attempt
The desctruction and renewing of the world has been attempted before. (not throwing shade)
The World was made good, very good!
God desired to dwell there with his people. Garden Temple. Walked among them.
Sin was introduced, and the fruit of sin - death. Satan was at work deceiving and leading people into rebellion.
Sin spread fast...
And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Why does the world need to be remade? Sin, death, cursed.
God washed the world clean of human sin. Wrathful judgment.
Yet, what do we have today? Is all sin and injustice and sadness gone? No.
Even if you clean off almost all the sinners, unless you deal with the underlying issues it will all come back.
Sometimes it’s tempting to think that if we could just reset everything, it would be better.
If we could just get rid of all the politicians and put in good people, it would be great.
If we could just leave modern society and start a new community it would be grand.
If I could just move to a new town, where we can start over, new job, new schools, new community....
If I could just leave behind the problems of this church, this job, this marriage, this friendship, ...
The Flood shows us that even if you wipe the slate clean, and put the most righteous family on earth into the position of kicking things off again, its not long before there’s drunkeness, disrespect, sexual immorality, murder, rebellion against heaven...
Sometimes the reset is the right thing to do, but do not be so naive as to think it will fix the underlying problems. Unless we deal with sin, any reset we might have is only a temporary escape. Sin affects everthing, sin taints everything, sin corrupts everything.
I used to be part of a “dream church.” It was planted to be a faithful church in the midst of so many unfaithful ones. On mission, great vibe, serving each other, theologically robust, good music. That church closed it’s doors a couple months ago. Why? Because of the insidious nature of sin that destroyed a church.
We can look at the big picture of Christ’s providence and the way that our trust is not in particular institutional manifestations of the Body of Christ, but at the end of the day the reason it is closed is because of sin.
Unless sin is dealt with, the path is entropy.
So we do need a new world, but one where sin cannot abide. So God who desires to live with his people, has started dealing with sin.
The Beginning of the New Creation
The Beginning of the New Creation
God’s plan of redemption.
Began in the garden with promise.
Unfolding promises down through the ages.
Promises through the prophets to deal with sin and undo the suffering and corruption of the world.
Culminating in Jesus, God came to walk among us
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
The World Destroyed
The World Destroyed
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
The World Remade
The World Remade
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Fresh, abundant, productive - no “thorns”
No weeping, no sadness
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.”
No Death
New Jerusalem, Temple &
New Jerusalem, Temple &
God will live with his people
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.
Mind boggolingly big
The new Jerusalem is in heaven - so the city in modern Israel is not the focus of our attention.
So What?
So What?
