What Will The Resurrected Earth Be Like Pt.2 7-12-2020

HEAVEN - SEEING THE UNSEEN WHAT WILL THE RESURRECTED EARTH BE LIKE? Pt.2 Sunday July 12, 2020 Scripture Reference: Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT2) "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." Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT2) Intro, A. Welcome back to week two of my message on "What will the Resurrected earth be like?" Last week I spoke to the fact that for a lot of Christians there is fear and apprehension about Heaven and the reason behind those fears and apprehensions is because we either do not know or we have accepted false information about what Heaven will truly be like. I addressed some of this in one of my earliest messages in this series and I want to share a few of those things with you now. 1. Here was a pastor's perspective of Heaven. "Whenever I think about Heaven, it makes me depressed. I'd rather just cease to exist when I die." "I can't stand the thought of that endless tedium. To float around in the clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp... it's all so terribly boring. Heaven doesn't sound much better than Hell. I'd rather be annihilated than spend eternity in a place like that." A writer named John Eldredge said this, "Nearly every Christian I have spoken with has some idea that eternity is an unending church service. We have settled on an image of the never-ending sing-along in the sky, one great hymn after another, forever and ever, amen. And our heart sinks. Forever and ever? That's it? That's the good news? And then we sigh and feel guilty that we are not more 'spiritual.' We lose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can." 2. Now where to these false concepts and misrepresentations of Heaven come from? Well I think it is The Devil! Listen to what the scripture tells us. "He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven." Revelation 13:6 (NIV) Consider this, if Satan can get us thinking wrongly about Heaven and making this a place, we would not wish to go to then why live for God at all? If Heaven is going to be more of a nightmare than a dream come true, then why do this whole Christian thing at all? And if we buy that argument then guess who wins? Randy Alcorn said this, "Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence." Randy Alcorn B. Now before I get back into this subject of what the resurrected earth will be like I feel compelled to speak to one other important issue. I sincerely believe that the timing of this series is crucial. Listen to these words of Jesus. "One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. 2 He replied, "You know the saying, 'Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.' You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don't know how to interpret the signs of the times!" Matthew 16:1-3 (NLT2) 1. If there is one thing, we are seeing a lot more of these days it's signs. (slide with various signs) In fact for us to be able to reopen our church we had to get signs made. We have the big tall one outside to tell you to social distance. We have signs on the doors talking about social distancing, face coverings and hand washing. I had to put signs in all the bathrooms to wash your hands. Jesus tells us there will be signs of his second coming, but we must be able to read those signs. 2. There are many who feel this and so do I that the whole coronavirus pandemic is another one of the signs of the coming of Jesus. Yes, it is true that there have been plagues or pandemics through-out history. We see several of them in bible times. The reason I feel that this pandemic is another sign of the second of Christ is because these plagues or pandemics are increasing and are in greater frequency. Just over the past 30 years we have had the swine flu, SARS, AIDS, and the H1N1. All these plus other things Jesus mentioned in Luke 21 like earthquakes and famines should be signs to us that the rapture of God's people is drawing nigh. I heard pastor Greg Laurie illustrate it this way. We see signs of Christmas as early as August when stores start putting out Christmas decorations, but consider this. The signs that say Christmas is just around the corner also mean that Thanksgiving is even closer. If we are seeing signs that indicate the coming of the Anti-Christ, then these signs also mean that the rapture is even closer. 3. If in fact the second coming of Christ is drawing near then this series is vital for us. I don't know about you but because I have been making preparations for these messages it has also caused me to think about the people in my life, my Oikos who will perish in a Devils hell for all of eternity if I don't try to do what I can to point them to Jesus now! C. Now I do not expect any of you to admit this, but I wonder how many of us have had this thought? "If Jesus returns today, I am going to miss out on some things I still wanted to do here on earth." We might even feel that if Jesus returns soon, we might get "jipped out" on some things as it were. Now please understand these feelings are not sinful. They do not represent a fall from grace. They represent what I have already stated and that is that we have false or misleading ideas about what Heaven is really like and I am trying to dispel those ideas as best I can. 1. Remember I told you last week that this earth will not be destroyed, and God will start all over. This earth will be redeemed and restored to what God originally intended. We will not lose anything when we get to Heaven, but everything we know now will be enhanced to a degree we can't even imagine right now. [] Let me tell you a story I also heard from Greg Laurie. I hope I can tell it as good as he does. It is the story about a husband and wife who both died at the same time and went to Heaven. They were 85 years old and had lived a very healthy lifestyle due to the wife's insistence. 2. As funny as that story is the part I like the most is how the home is so incredible, and the golf course changes every day and the food has no negative effects. This is precisely what I have been talking about as we think about what life on the New Earth will be like. We won't lose anything but will gain even more than we can imagine. Trans. Today we continue to think about our lives on the New earth I want us to consider two questions. The first one is this. A. How Does Eden Help Us Anticipate The New Earth? 1. When you think about Eden what is the first word that comes to your mind? Some of you might say "paradise" but if I asked you to use the word in a sentence you would probably speak of the "Garden of Eden". I would bet that for most of you as it was for me to think about the Garden of Eden is to think about a relatively small area. The actual Garden of Eden might have been somewhat small, but the area of Eden was actually quite large. Look at the bible's description. "A river watered the garden and then flowed out of Eden and divided into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. Genesis 2:10-14 (NLT2) Now these verses show us that there seemed to be a specific area called the Garden of Eden but it was not all that Eden was. A river flowed from this area into four other areas. I found a map that tries to show what the area of Eden probably encompassed at this time. (Show map) 2. Here is why these verses are significant. In V.12 it mentions some of the precious minerals found in this area. One of them is the onyx stone. This stone is significant to us because in Exodus 28 it is mentioned again as part of the priestly garments that Moses instructed Aaron to make and to use in their priestly duties. The onyx stone was significant because on it were inscribed the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. a) The stones were a reminder of Eden. They would be a reminder of this perfect place God had made for His people. b) Secondly because the priest would wear this garment when he entered the most holy place to plead for the people and God's forgiveness of their sins. These stones would serve as a reminder that God desired to be reconciled with His children. That He wanted to bring them back to the place of communion that He once enjoyed with them in Eden. The only time this stone is mentioned in the New Testament is in Revelation 21 where we see them as part of the wall of the New Jerusalem. I believe this reminds us that even though Eden was a place of great splendor the New Earth will only be better. Let me share just two prophecies that relate to this. "The LORD will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air." Isaiah 51:3 (NLT2) Then in Ezekiel. "And when I bring you back, people will say, 'This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!'" Ezekiel 36:35 (NLT2) Both of these passages use Eden to help the people know what Heaven will be like. Trans. Now let me very briefly address this question. C. What Will Nature Be Like On The New Earth? 1. Consider this, we have never seen men or women as they were meant to be. For all of us there are things about ourselves that we don't like, things we wish we could change that we think would make us better. 2. Just as this is true of us as people it is also true of nature. None of us have ever seen nature as it was intended to be. We have never seen flowers as they were meant to be. We have never seen mountains or deserts as they were meant to be. We have never seen animals as they were meant to be. All that you and I have seen to this point is a nature that is cursed and is decaying. Now you would probably say, "Well pastor I have seen some pretty amazing things in this world." I would say, "Yes you have and so have it." During the time of quarantine Sue and I tried to get out at least once a week for a drive. I remember several of those drives after we had all the rains in March. We saw hillsides that were bright orange with poppies. We saw fields of yellow and purple flowers that covered the ground like a beautiful blanket. So, here is what I say to you. If the wrong side of Heaven can be so stunning and beautiful, can we possibly imagine what the right side of Heaven will be like? What I believe is very important for us to grasp as we think about Heaven is this. The beauty of this earth will not be lost, instead we will gain an even greater beauty than the one we know now. I love this quote by C.S. Lewis, "In the truest sense, Christian pilgrims have the best of both worlds. We have joy whenever this world reminds us of the next, and we take solace whenever it does not." Trans. I want us to consider one more question as we conclude today. Here it is. C. Will The New Earth Have Some Of The Same Places Earth Has Now? 1. To answer this in a nutshell I would say, "Yes, the New Earth will be still be as much as this earth as the new us will still be us." As I have been trying to stress in both of these messages, I believe that cities, streets, mountains, people and everything else will be on the New Earth, just redeemed. 2. Doesn't it make sense that we could travel to a place on the New Earth that we had been to in this life and say, "This is the very spot where..."? Just like we would say, "These are the very hands I used to..." 3. In C.S. Lewis's books The Chronicles of Narnia" the last book is "The Last Battle". At the end of this book Lucy is mourning the loss of Narnia. Narnia was the world created by Aslan the lion who represents Christ. She calls Narnia "The only world I've ever known." Sounds a little familiar doesn't it? Lucy and the others are about to step into Aslan's country, which is Heaven, but Lucy looks back at Narnia feeling a profound loss. I want you to see here that this idea that be going to Heaven we will lose something precious to us is not a new thought. Then as they enter into Heaven things change. Let me share a quote from Lewis's book that says this much better than I can. "Those hills," said Lucy, "the nice woody ones and the blue ones behind-aren't they very like the southern border of Narnia." "Like!" cried Edmund after a moment's silence. "Why they're exactly like. Look, there's Mount Pire with his forked head, and there's the pass into Archenland and everything!" "And yet they're not like," said Lucy. "They're different. They have more colours on them and they look further away than I remembered and they're more . . . more . . . oh, I don't know. . . ." "More like the real thing," said the Lord Digory softly. What incredible insight God gave to Lewis! "More like the real thing." Conclusion A. We will we miss this old earth when we finally arrive in Heaven? Let me use another quote from "The Last Battle". "It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and neighed and then cried: "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this." 1. I will close with this quote from Randy Alcorn. "Everything changes when we grasp that all we love about the old Earth will be ours on the New Earth-either in the same form or another. Once we understand this, we won't regret leaving all the wonders of the world we've seen or mourn not having seen its countless other wonders. Why? Because we will yet be able to see them. God is no more done with the earth than he's done with us." 2. If you have had those fears or apprehensions about Heaven that I have spoken about several times in these messages. I hope that what I have been able to share with you these past two weeks has made those fears disappear and be replaced with hope and anticipation. We will be like that unicorn in Narnia and say, "I have come home at last!" 3. I hope you are ready for home, but let's not forget that we have many people in our lives who are not ready for this home and if they do not turn to Christ they will be lost for eternity in a Devils' hell. Let's pray for God to give us the courage and wisdom to share His saving truth with those who need it. 2