Sermon Tone Analysis

HEAVEN - SEEING THE UNSEEN

THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME...OR IS IT?

Sunday February 2, 2020

Scripture Reference: Revelation 21:1-7

Intro.

A. In the last two messages as we talked about the Present Heaven I said that I am going to spend most of the time in this series talking about the Future Heaven or what we commonly call "Our Eternal Home".

If Jesus tarries and we die before the rapture and the final resurrection when we will receive new bodies but they will not be the bodies we have for eternity when we enter our Eternal home.

Here is what Paul said of in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said "51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.

We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.

For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.

And we who are living will also be transformed.

53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NLT)

1.

I also said numerous times in the last two messages that this Eternal Home is called the New Heaven and the New Earth and this is where we will live for eternity in these new resurrected and redeemed bodies.

Today we will begin to talk about this New Heaven and New Earth and we will spend the rest of our time in this series talking about what these redeemed bodies will be like and what our lives will be like in our Eternal Home.

2. Our scripture for today is found in Revelation 21:1-7 so if you have a bible please turn to those verses if not I will put them up on the screen.

"1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.

And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people!

He will live with them, and they will be his people.

God himself will be with them.

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.

All these things are gone forever." 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!"

And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." 6 And he also said, "It is finished!

I am the Alpha and the Omega-the Beginning and the End.

To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children."

Revelation 21:1-7 (NLT)

1.

What we are going to talk about today is so very important for laying a solid foundation which will allow us to gain that true, accurate and most of all biblical picture of what Heaven will be like.

Trans.

I have been asking and endeavoring to answers questions through-out this series so let's consider another one of those questions.

I. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FORWARD TO?

I would say that this is a very important question because probably all of us have these ideas about Heaven that we have developed over the years, but as many of us are finding out these ideas are not necessarily accurate.

So when I ask "What are you looking forward to" we are going to answer that question based on what we have come to believe.

So let's see if these ideas are have are true.

A man named Paul Marshall wrote, "Our destiny is an earthly one: a new earth, an earth redeemed and transfigured.

An earth reunited with heaven, but an earth, nevertheless."

Whether we realize it or not there is within each of us a longing for Eden.

A. Our Longing For Eden.

1.

When we think of the Garden of Eden we think of a place where things were perfect where things were as they were supposed to be.

Our relationships with each other were right, our relationship with the world God created was right.

Do you think that Adam and Eve had to worry about being attacked and eaten by wild animals?

Did they have to worry about the right SPF level on their sun screen?

Remember they were naked so there was a lot of area to get sun burned.

Even the so called environmental movement of today is an attempt to regain what we lost in Eden.

Our ancestors came from Eden and we are headed back there in what we now call the New Earth.

Right now we are having to live in a sin corrupted world.

A world that is filled with sin, suffering, strife, war, famine, poverty and the list goes on and on, but this was not our natural state.

All these things we are dealing with now that make life so hard and complicated were not a part of the natural order God created.

These are the things that have come because of sin.

What we now desire is a home that is incorruptible.

We desire a place, and a physical place I might add where we can walk and talk with God as Adam and Eve once did in the Garden of Eden and I am so excited to tell you today that this is exactly what God is preparing for us.

Here is how Peter put it, "3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:3-7 (NIV)

B. What Will This New Earth Be Like?

1.

I have been emphasizing through-out this series that I believe Heaven is a physical place and we will be physical beings there and while I will concede that I don't think we can fully imagine what Heaven will be like I also know the Bible gives us a lot of clues for us to draw from.

Let me offer a few.

a) Heaven is described as a city.

"For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Hebrews 11:10 (NIV) When you think of a city what are some of the things that come to you mind?

Roads, homes, commerce, art, culture, and of course people.

b) Heaven is also described as a country.

"Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one."

Hebrews 11:16 (NIV) What do you think of when you think about countries like the USA?

You think about governments, states or territories, and we probably think about a diverse group of people.

2. Can you imagine this earth we now live in without mountains, oceans, rivers, lakes, forests, flowers, or animals?

Then why would we try to imagine a new earth without these things?

God did not promise us a non-earth He promised us a New Earth with many of the things we know about earth today.

Revelation 21-22 mentions many of these.

As I have said repeatedly we will have resurrected bodies, but some might say "I can't imagine what my resurrected body would look like".

Well yes maybe not in every measure, but you now have a body don't you and can't you imagine what that body would look like without all the impairments we deal with because of sin? Did you know we will work in Heaven?

I bet you thought it was going to be eternal retirement but Revelation 22:3 says "No longer will there be any curse.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him."

Revelation 22:3 (NIV) Some translations use the word "worship" here but the Greek means "to be hired to work."

It would not be inaccurate for us to say that when we work we worship because even in our secular jobs we can lift up the name of God.

[] My conversation with Ray McGuire the other day.

He was talking about how important my job is as a pastor, but I told him your jobs are very important as well.

You, far more than me enter into the mission field each week.

Each day of the week you have far more opportunities to share Christ than I do.

I consider your jobs extremely important and I hope that what I do makes you better equipped to not just work, but worship at work as you serve our Lord.

3. In Hebrews 11 we read over and over of those who died in their faith looking forward to their eternal reward.

We can only look forward to what we can imagine.

I often look forward to going fishing and what makes this so appealing to me is that I am imagining all the fish I am going to catch and how big they will be.

Now granted I don't always catch all the fish I imagined but I will chalk that up to the curse of sin, but how excited would it be to be going fishing not being able to imagine what it would be like?

Yes we cannot fully grasp all that God has in store for us in Heaven, but He has certainly given us a lot to think about and imagine as we keep moving towards that place.

C. Are We Just "Passing Through"?

1.

How many times have we said that, how many times have I said that?

We sing songs that say "This world is not my home I am just passing through" but is that correct?

If you are like me and like most Christians we have believed that there is something wrong with this world that God created and therefore this world needs to be utterly destroyed that's why it is a New Earth right?

What if I told you that concept did not line up with the bibles teaching about Heaven?

Once again the reason we think this way is because all we know is this sin corrupted world.

All we know is about the pain and suffering sin has caused and as I said earlier we have been on this constant quest since Adan and Eve fell to try and restore what was lost.

What I want to do to conclude this message is speak to you about God's Redemption Plan for Earth.

II.

GOD'S REDEMPTION PLAN FOR EARTH.

Here is the key phrase in understanding why we don't believe that this earth will be destroyed and God will start all over again.

A. God Said It Was "Very Good".

1. Genesis 1:31 says "Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!" Genesis 1:31 (NLT) God never once said that there was something wrong with what He has made and that it needed to be destroyed and start all over again.