Session 6: What Happens Next?
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Background
Background
One day Christ will return to earth for His people and He will engage in a final battle with the enemies of God. Following the Lord’s decisive victory in the end times, His people will live with Him forever in His presence. This will come about a new heaven and new earth—an ideal place where sin is absent and everything is perfect. Those who have a relationship of faith with God through Jesus Christ will fully experience who He created them to be.
Let’s start with
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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 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.
Why do we need a new heaven and earth?
The removal of the first heaven and earth eliminates the fatal infection of evil in the cosmic order and gives way to God’s creation of a new cosmic order where sin and suffering and death are forever banished. The old order was in “bondage to decay” () and “groaning … in pains of childbirth until now” (), awaiting the day when “the heavens … will be dissolved” and “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell” will be established to forever replace the old (). This represents the specific fulfillment of the prophecy given to Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord God … ‘I create new heavens and a new earth …’ ” (, ; cf. 66:22).
By beginning his description that she is coming down out of heaven, John conveys that the final home of the redeemed is earth itself for eternity. God created humanity to dwell on the earth, and his plan is for a new earth to be their place forever. In fact, one striking note about this vision of the New Jerusalem is the reappearance of the Tree of Life—one of the main items found in Eden, the first home of mankind (; ).
that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, my servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
So heaven is just a temporary place?
By beginning his description that she is coming down out of heaven, John conveys that the final home of the redeemed is earth itself for eternity. God created humanity to dwell on the earth, and his plan is for a new earth to be their place forever.
How does this tie in with ?
9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
How does this tie in with ?
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
Why is the “sea no more”? What does this represent? Look at ; ; ;
To the Jews, it represents power that is unpredictable, turbulent, and dangerous.
You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan. (Psalm 74:13-14)[7]
refers to the source of earthly rebellion, chaos, and danger—the sea from which the beast emerged ). This symbolic (or literal) source of rebellion will no longer threaten creation’s perfection.
Throughout history the Lord wages war against the forces of evil that storm against his sovereignty and threaten to engulf his people, whether demonic powers or pagan nations:
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
O LORD God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
with your faithfulness all around you?
You rule the raging of the sea;
But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
when its waves rise, you still them.
You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. (Psalm 89:8-10)
The Lord’s past victories over the dragon and its sea offer hope that he will intervene to redeem his people in one future, final foe-crushing, woe-banishing triumph:
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over? (Isaiah 51:9-10)
By the time John’s visions reach Revelation 21:1, “the sea,” that turbulent realm from which the dragon launched its desperate assault on the offspring of the woman, is the last symbol of evil to be eliminated. The prostitute enthroned on many waters has fallen (14:8; 16:19; 17:16-17; 18:2-3). The beast from the sea, the false prophet, and the dragon have been consigned to the lake of fire (19:20; 20:10). Now, at last, as a new heaven and new earth appear, “the sea” itself is “no more.” Gregory Beale notes that the parallel wording of Revelation 21:1 and 21:4 shows that “the sea is no more” previews the fact that death “will be no more,” and mourning and crying and pain “will be no more” in the consummated new creation. The convergence of allusions to Isaiah 51:10-11 (the Lord’s triumph over the sea) and to Isaiah 65:16-19 (the new heavens and earth, replacing “the former things,” weeping and crying) leads Beale to conclude, “in all likelihood, ‘sea’ is figurative for old-world threats. Therefore, the presence of a literal sea in the new creation would not be inconsistent with the figurative exclusion of the sea in 21:1.”[8]
It is tantalizing to try to imagine what life will be like in the new heavens and the new earth, where every evil, misery, sorrow, and danger “will be no more.” Will there still be waterfalls and waves, puddles and ponds, lakes and even oceans? We infer that the new earth will be material because Jesus’s resurrection body, the “sample” of that coming cosmos that has invaded human experience in this age, could be touched and ingest fish and, presumably, “the fruit of the vine” (Luke 24:36-43; Matt. 26:29).
But “the sea was no more” in Revelation 21:1 is not intended to answer our questions about opportunities to surf or snorkel or sail on the new earth. Instead, it conveys good news: our divine Champion will come to destroy our every enemy, to wipe away our every tear, and to eliminate every realm of restless rebellion, securing for all eternity our joyful, holy communion with God, who will make his dwelling with us forever (Rev. 21:3).
The absence of a sea indicates safety from enemies (; ; ).
Avoiding Speculation
Avoiding Speculation
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
How does relate to Eden?
3 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.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Compare verse 3 to
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The goal of God’s covenant, “God with us” (, ESV footnote; ), foreshadowed in the OT tabernacle and temple, will be achieved. his people … their God. See ; .
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
One striking note here is that the word translated “people,” while often singular in Revelation (for example, 18:4), here is plural, literally “peoples.” This points to the great ethnic diversity of those in heaven.
Let’s go to
4 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.”
5 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.”
The comforting words of verse 4 can also be seen elsewhere: where God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes” ( and )
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
By wiping away every tear and eliminating death, mourning, and pain (; ), God will reverse the curse that entered the world through human sin.
By wiping away every tear and eliminating death, mourning, and pain (; ), God will reverse the curse that entered the world through human sin.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
Let’s go to
6 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. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 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.”
Why Alpha and Omega? What is the significance? Look at ; ;
The Lord stands beyond the universe’s beginning and its end as Sovereign Creator and Consummator, the first and the last (; ; ). The spring of the water of life is the throne of God and the Lamb (), a throne of grace () because here the thirsty drink without payment, by God’s free gift ().
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
12 “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why Alpha and Omega? What is the significance?
This time the letters are explained as the Beginning and the End. All things are created by Christ (source) and all things will end in him (goal). The apostle Paul declared the same truth in : “all things were created by him and for him.”
The Water of Life - and
The Water of Life - and
Two images describe those who receive eternal life. First is the figure of drinking without cost from the spring of the water of life. This immediately brings to mind God’s invitation to salvation through Isaiah:
).
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat ().
Even greater was Jesus’ declaration at the Feast of Tabernacles: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (. Later on, John will see this same picture further developed as an everlasting river flowing through New Jerusalem (, ).
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
The one who conquers...
The one who conquers...
The seven churches were pressured to compromise their allegiance to Christ. Here, in the midst of describing the wonders of God’s new creation, John reminds them of the consequences of compromising with the present order.
What are the promises to those who conquer and how do the letters to the seven churches figure into this?
21:7 . The promises to conquerors (2:7, 11, 17; etc.) are summed up in this assurance that the new heaven and earth are their heritage as God’s children. he will be my son. This promise to David’s descendants (), fulfilled preeminently in Jesus (), also includes those who belong to him (). On “son,” see note on .
21:7 Refers to those who remained faithful to Christ (compare 12:11; 15:2).
The contrast to eternal life is the fiery lake of burning sulfur, that is, the second death, already described as the destination of the wicked at the end of the final judgment (). The passage about the final judgment had stated only that the books will be opened and the dead will be judged for their works ().
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
The seven churches were pressured to compromise their allegiance to Christ. Here, in the midst of describing the wonders of God’s new creation, John reminds them of the consequences of compromising with the present order.
What are the promises to those who conquer and how do the letters to the seven churches figure into this?
21:7 . The promises to conquerors (2:7, 11, 17; etc.) are summed up in this assurance that the new heaven and earth are their heritage as God’s children. he will be my son. This promise to David’s descendants (), fulfilled preeminently in Jesus (), also includes those who belong to him (). On “son,” see note on .
21:7 Refers to those who remained faithful to Christ (compare 12:11; 15:2).
Takeaways
Takeaways
The Lord has prepared a place for the redeemed where they will live in complete fellowship with Him
The place God has prepared for the redeemed will be free from all the pains and sorrows of life on earth.
Unbelievers have no place in God’s heavenly city.