All Things New
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
We have been going through a series that I’ve entitled “Longing for Heaven”…
We have talked about why heaven should matter to us.
We have talked about the danger of building our beliefs about heaven on human stories and experiences.
We have talked about why our hearts should be looking toward home.
And last time, from Ezekiel 1, we were given “A Glimpse of Glory.”
We saw brightness.
Fire.
Crystal.
Color.
Heavenly beings.
And above all of it, shines the overwhelming glory of God.
Today, I want us to turn to Revelation 21… I mentioned this passage briefly in an earlier sermon, but for the next week or two, I want to dive deeper into what John saw and describes for us…
We are told that one day God is going to bring His plan of redemption to its complete fulfillment.
Sin will be gone.
Death will be gone.
The curse will be gone.
This present creation will give way to something new.
And Revelation 21 gives us one of the clearest pictures in all of Scripture of what God has planned.
(Read Revelation 21:1-8)
Meat:
I used the words that John wrote in v.5 as today’s title…
Revelation 21:5 “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”…”
This is one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture…
God does not say:
“I am going to patch a few things up.”
He does not say:
“I am going to make the old world a little better.”
He says:
“I make all things new.”
Everything sin has touched…
Everything death has damaged…
Everything the curse has scarred…
God is going to deal with it once and for all.
So today, I want us to look at this promise of all things new.
And John starts this chapter by very plainly letting us know that…
1. The Old Will Pass Away
1. The Old Will Pass Away
Revelation 21:1 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…”
Before God brings in the new, the old must pass away.
And when we say “the old,” we are talking about this present world as we know it.
That is a difficult fact to wrap our minds around, because this is all we know…
We wake up every morning in this world.
We go to work in this world.
We raise our families in this world.
We build homes in this world.
We make plans in this world.
And if we are not careful, we begin to live as though this world is permanent.
But it is not…
1.1 All of Creation is Temporary
1.1 All of Creation is Temporary
Look at what Peter says in…
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Peter is telling us that this present creation is not permanent.
Everything we see around us is temporary.
You go out at night and look up at the stars…
they’re temporary.
Peter says…
“…the heavens will pass away…”
Which is exactly what John said in verse 1 of our main passage:
“…the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”
When God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis tells us that He looked at everything He had made and declared it “very good.”
This world was prepared for Adam and Eve.
He gave them a beautiful garden.
He gave them everything they needed.
There was no death.
No decay.
No disease.
No curse.
But then sin entered the world.
And when sin entered the world, it did not just affect Adam and Eve.
The consequences of sin spread throughout all of creation.
Romans 8 tells us that creation itself was subjected to futility and is now groaning under the bondage of corruption.
In other words, creation in its entirety has been touched by the fall.
We see beauty…
but we also see decay.
We see life…
but we also see death.
We see joy…
but we also see sorrow.
Even the most beautiful parts of this world still exist in a creation that is groaning because of the effects of sin.
In Noah’s day, God judged the world with water, but creation continued.
Peter says the next judgment will be different.
The heavens will pass away.
The elements will melt.
The earth and its works will be burned up.
Every molecule.
Every atom.
Every particle.
This present creation will give way to something entirely new.
And Peter says, that truth… ought to affect the way we live right now.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
In other words:
If this world is temporary…
why are we living as though it is permanent?
If everything here is going to pass away…
why are we giving our best energy to things that cannot last?
Please don’t misunderstand me…
There is nothing wrong with having a home.
Nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings God has given you.
Nothing wrong with planning for tomorrow.
But there is something wrong when temporary things become more important to us than eternal things.
Because everything here is passing away… …
But it doesn’t all end in fiery crash… …
God is not finished.
2. Regeneration is Coming
2. Regeneration is Coming
Remember, John said…
Revelation 21:1 “Now, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”
Let me mention this real quick… When John says that there will be “no more sea,” that does not mean there will be no water in the new creation.
In fact, Revelation 22 tells us about the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God… which we will talk about in another week or two…
But what it does tell us is that the new earth will be arranged differently than the one we live on today.
Right now, the majority of our planet is covered by oceans.
But apparently, that will not be the case in the eternal state.
God is not simply recreating this world exactly as it is now.
He is making all things new.
And even the geography of the new earth will reflect that.
And the reason that I say “Regeneration is Coming” is because that is exactly the word Jesus used…
He was speaking to His disciples when He said…
… “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
Jesus calls it “the regeneration.”
That word carries the idea of renewal.
A new beginning.
There is coming a day when Christ will set everything right.
And God’s redeemed people will enter into the eternal life He has promised.
John says in v.5 of Revelation 21…
Revelation 21:5 “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”…”
What a great promise…
It’s not just some things
It’s not even most things…
He will make ALL things new…
Specifically…
2.1 A New Heaven
2.1 A New Heaven
John said that he saw a new heaven… and that word “heaven” is used in different ways throughout Scripture…
Sometimes “heaven” refers to the atmosphere above us.
Sometimes it refers to the stars and the universe.
Sometimes it refers to the dwelling place of God.
Here John is describing the final renewal of all creation.
He is letting us know that God is bringing in something new…
And its not just the newer upgraded model… He is building something completely different…
renewed,
glorified,
free from the curse,
and eternal.
This is…
Creation without corruption.
Beauty without decay.
Everything renewed.
Everything glorified.
Everything made to reflect and accommodate the eternal glory of God.
John also says… we will get…
2.2 A New Earth
2.2 A New Earth
We are not just floating around in the clouds somewhere for all eternity…
God made us to be functional, purposeful human beings…
Look at Adam and Eve…
They walked.
They talked.
They worked.
They enjoyed creation.
And God’s final plan includes a real renewed creation.
A new earth.
A world untouched by sin.
A world where righteousness dwells.
A world where the curse is gone.
A world that perfectly displays the goodness of its Creator.
God says… “I will make all things new”
Think about how often we try to make old things new.
We repaint.
We repair.
We remodel.
We replace parts.
We cover cracks.
We fix what we can.
We’ve got a project going on here at church right now…
But everything we repair eventually wears out again.
You can buy a brand-new car, but eventually it gets old.
You can build a new house, but eventually something breaks.
You can get a new phone, and before you get it home it’s outdated.
Nothing stays new here…
But what God makes new will never grow old.
It will never decay.
It will never wear down.
It will never be corrupted.
It will never be cursed.
Because when God makes all things new, they will remain new forever.
And as amazingly wonderful as that sounds… its not even the greatest promise of the passage…
The new heaven and new earth, become…
3. God’s New Dwelling Place
3. God’s New Dwelling Place
John says in v.3…
Revelation 21:3 “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.”
3.1 He Will Be With US!
3.1 He Will Be With US!
Notice how many different ways John said it… you can almost hear the excitement in his voice…
“God is with men.”
“He will dwell with them.”
“They shall be His people.”
“God Himself will be with them.”
The greatest blessing of the new heaven and new earth is not the new creation.
It is the presence of God.
We have talked about this before in this series, but Scripture keeps bringing us back to it.
Heaven is heaven because God is there.
The beauty is wonderful.
The glory is wonderful.
The absence of death is wonderful.
But the greatest promise is:
God Himself will be with us.
3.2 No Separation
3.2 No Separation
Not through a veil.
Not from a distance.
Not by faith alone.
Just perfect, unhindered… fellowship.
No sin interfering with our communion with Him.
We will belong to Him completely.
And He will be our God forever.
Think about how different that will be from what we know now…
Right now, sin can hinder our fellowship.
Right now, distractions can pull our hearts away.
Right now, our understanding is limited.
Right now, we walk by faith and not by sight.
But one day, all of those barriers will be gone.
Nothing between us and the God who redeemed us.
There is an old hymn entitled “Face to Face with Christ, My Savior”
1
Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me?
2
Only faintly now, I see Him,
With the darkling veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
3
What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
When the crooked ways are straightened,
And the dark things shall be plain.
4
Face to face! O blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so.
Chorus:
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
And here is the most wonderful part…
3.3 His Presence is Permanent
3.3 His Presence is Permanent
John says that “… He will dwell with them…”
Not visit.
Not appear occasionally.
Not come and go.
Dwell…
Permanent presence.
Permanent fellowship.
Permanent communion.
In the Garden of Eden, God walked with man, until sin caused a separation…
But through Christ, God has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to Himself.
And one day, that reconciliation will reach its final fulfillment.
God permanently dwelling with His people.
And when God is permanently with His people… John says in v.4… that…
Revelation 21:4 “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.””
Everything that sin brought into this world is finally gone.
No more tears.
No more death.
No more sorrow.
No more crying.
No more pain.
Why?
Because the separation is over.
The curse is gone.
The effects of sin are gone.
And God is with His people forever.
Now, you may remember from our study through 1,2, &3 John, that John is…
very bold in his writings
he does not mince his words
he tells it like it is
and he does the same thing here…
As he is talking about the new heaven and new earth… under the direction of the Holy Spirit… He makes…
4. A Very Clear Distinction
4. A Very Clear Distinction
Really this distinction is made by God Himself… as we can see in verse 6…
Revelation 21:6 “And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End…
So we know this is God talking… and He says…
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
Distinction #1…
4.1 Those Who Thirst
4.1 Those Who Thirst
“…I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
I love that word… freely… Manice Dillon has a motto…
He says “If its free, its for me”
And I’m here to tell you that…
The offer of eternal life is not something you earn.
It is not something you purchase.
It is not something you work your way into.
The price has already been paid through Jesus Christ.
But notice who responds to that invitation…
“…him who thirsts.”
This speaks of someone who recognizes their need of a Savior.
Someone who understands that this world cannot satisfy the deepest need of their soul.
Someone who knows that sin has left them empty and broken.
And when faced with that reality, they come to Jesus for life…
Jesus said in…
John 7:37 “… “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
The invitation is open.
The water is available.
And God says…
“… I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
v.7…
Revelation 21:7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
Distinction #2…
4.2 Those Who Overcome
4.2 Those Who Overcome
Now when John uses the word “overcomes,” he is not talking about some special class of super-Christian.
He is talking about those who truly belong to Christ.
1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
So the overcomer is the believer.
The one who has been born again.
The one who has trusted Christ.
And look at the promise.
“…He shall inherit all things.”
Everything God has prepared for His people becomes part of their inheritance.
The new heaven.
The new earth.
The eternal city.
The presence of God.
All of it!
And why is that inheritance ours?
Because God says:
“I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
We inherit it because we belong to Him… …
But then verse 8 gives us the other side of the distinction.
4.3 Those Who Reject
4.3 Those Who Reject
God says…
Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.””
God’s standards are very clear… and we need to make sure that we understand them properly…
This is not saying that if you have ever lied, or ever sinned sexually, or ever acted cowardly, then there is no hope for you.
If that were true… then none of us would have any hope at all.
The key word in that list is “unbelieving.”
This is describing people who remain outside of Christ.
People who remain unrepentant.
People whose lives are still characterized by rebellion against God.
There are people who think they can simply confess their sins every week…
or even every day…
and everything will be fine.
But confession without repentance is not genuine…
Repentance is not just admitting that something is wrong.
Repentance means turning away from sin and turning toward God.
It does not mean that a Christian will never stumble.
We will still fail.
We will still need to confess our sins.
But there needs to be a desire to leave that sin behind.
There needs to be a change of direction.
There needs to be a growing hatred for the sin that once controlled us…
and a growing love for the God who saved us.
A person cannot continue living in rebellion and simply use confession as a way to feel better about it.
The issue is not whether we have sinned.
Because we all have…
The issue is whether we have truly repented.
Have we turned from our sin?
Have we trusted in Christ?
Have we been made new?
Because the distinction is not between people who have sinned and people who have never sinned.
The distinction is between those who have been forgiven through Christ…
and those who reject Him, by remaining in their sin…
Closing:
There is a new heaven and a new earth coming.
There is an eternal home prepared for the redeemed.
There is a day coming when sorrow, pain, and death will be gone.
But the question is…
Will you be there?
Not because you were a good person.
Not because you went to church.
Not because your family believed.
Not because you tried your best.
But because you came to Christ.
Because you recognized your thirst.
Because you received the water of life freely.
Because you trusted in the One who died and rose again to save you.
That is the distinction.
And today, the invitation is still open.
“I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
So, Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace…
Prayer:
Personal self examination of truly belonging to Christ
Respond to His invitation while it is still open
