Will The New Earth Have The Sun Moom Oceans And Weather 9-20-2020

 HEAVEN - SEEING THE UNSEEN WILL THE NEW EARTH HAVE THE SUN, MOON, OCEANS AND WEATHER? Sunday September 20, 2020 Scripture Reference: Various passages Intro. A. Last week I told you that we are entering a new and final stage of our understanding of Heaven. There is something I want to stress to you before we move on. While I believe that we have many scriptures that give us a very good picture of what life will be like in Heaven. I do not stand before you today with the final word on Heaven. I am doing the best I can to present to you the most biblical picture I can, but I have no doubt that there will be many things I have talked about that will be different in some way from what I have and continue to try and describe. B. Last week I addressed the issue of time and space in Heaven. I am fully convinced that these two things will be a part of our lives in Heaven. Today I want to address another one of those pragmatic questions I think many of us have about Heaven. Trans. The question we will consider today is this, "Will the New Earth have the Sun, Moon, Ocean, and Weather?" I can briefly answer that question for you right now with another question. "Will there be continuity between this earth and the New Earth?" How we answer this question will answer the prior question. Back in July I shared several messages dealing with the continuity between this earth and the New Earth. I believe the continuity between the two is clear, at least in my mind. So today let's address this question. I. WILL THE NEW EARTH HAVE THE SUN, MOON, OCEANS AND WEATHER? Let's begin by exploring the first part of that question. A. Will The New Earth Have The Sun And Moon? 1. For many the answer to that question is a definite "No" and that is because of these verses. "And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light." Revelation 21:23 (NLT2) Revelation 22:5 says, "And there will be no night there-no need for lamps or sun-for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:5 (NLT2) Even Isiah seem prophesied about this, "No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the LORD your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory." Isaiah 60:19 (NLT2) Now just a reading of these verses would seem to conclude that the Sun and Moon will not exist in Heaven, but the truth is that is not what these verses are telling us and we talked a little bit about this when we were exploring the New Jerusalem. In fact, if we were to take the time to carefully read these verses again you will discover that they DO NOT say there will be no sun or moon. What they do say is that these two bodies will not be "needed". The Isaiah passage tells us that when we posses the land (referring to Heaven) the sun and moon will not dominate the skies because God's light is brighter. That does not tell us they will be eliminated. 2. Let me ask you, do you need a reading lamp when you are standing out in the sun? Of course, not so you will not need the sun when you are standing in the full glory of God that lights this city. Here is what we need to understand about this. The sun as we know it today is local and limited. By that I mean that they sun is shining for us right now but on the other side of the planet it is dark. So, the sun shines locally. But if we were to have cloud cover today the sun could be obscured. God's light will not be limited or local, but I want to you to remember what I told you before and that is that these verses are specifically referring to the city of the New Jerusalem. 3. Now let me show you something I have never seen before. What we seen in the New Jerusalem is actually a restoration of what happened in Genesis 1:3. Let's look at that verse. "Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light." Genesis 1:3 (NLT2) Here is what I had never noticed before. Genesis 1:3 says that God created the light before He created the light holders, meaning the sun, moon and stars. Let's look at Genesis 1:14-18 now. "Then God said, "Let great lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth." And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights, the sun and the moon-the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:14-18 (NLT2) Here is what excites me in these verses. What we are told in Rev. 21 & 22 is that what God created in Genesis is restored in Heaven!! This is exactly what I have been saying in this series. That the old world will not be destroyed because what God created was good. What He will do is restore these things to what they were intended in creation without the curse! Trans. Now the way those verses read it would almost seem that we will never witness another sunrise or sunset in Heaven so let's explore that. B. Will There Be No More Sunrises Or Sunsets In Heaven? 1. If the earth is full of light as these verses in Revelation seem to indicate then the answer would seem to be clear, but I have just explained that I do not believe this will be the case. For me and I am sure for many of you the idea that we would have no more sunrises or sunsets is not appealing. We have all witnessed a sunrise and sunset that was inspiring to us and made us worship or amazing Creator. So why would these things be gone in Heaven? 2. I told you a few weeks ago that the idea of no more darkness in Heaven is because darkness usually refers to sin and evil. If you have noticed most all of these riots and lootings that we see going on in these cities are happening after dark. But here is a question I had to confront. Is darkness bad? After all the verses I read from Genesis tell me that God created the dark and He said it was good. So, my conclusion is that darkness is not intrinsically bad, but like so much else that God created, Satan has taken the good God created and twisted it. Darkness allows us to see the amazing celestial bodies that God created. Listen to what Psalm 19:4 says, "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun." Psalm 19:1-4 (NLT2) When God restores the Heavens, we will certainly be able to see them, and they will be even more glorious than they are now. 3. I said this before but most of these passages that refer to no sun or moon are referring to the New Jerusalem. I fully believe that outside the city we will still have day and night and we will see these incredible celestial bodies. I said earlier in this series and I still believe it to be true. That with our new bodies we may even be able to travel to these distant planets and the issue of oxygen will not be an issue. In fact, it could be that the reason all the planets that we know of now are uninhabitable is because of the curse. Who knows but that maybe other planets will be inhabitable when God brings Heaven and earth together? 4. Now before we talk about whether or not we will have oceans in Heaven let me say one more thing about this light. Whenever I have read about this light in the New Jerusalem it reminds me of when we see light that is like this we would term "blinding". What do you do when you see a light like this? You cover your eyes, or you put on sunglasses. So, will we be doing this in Heaven? To me that does not sound very pleasant. So here is what I believe. I am convinced that all the limitations we know in these earthly bodies will be gone when we reach Heaven. I believe that our new bodies will perfectly fit the new environment we will be living in. This means I can look directly into this brilliant glory of God and not be blinded. Rather than turning away from this light as we do now, in Heaven we will be drawn to this light. Trans. OK I want to talk to you now about something that for me is very important when I think about life in Heaven. C. Will There Be Oceans In Heaven? 1. I love the ocean and spend a lot of time on it these days, so this topic is very important for me to understand. Look at what the Bible says in Rev. 21:1 "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." Revelation 21:1 (NLT2) I have to honest and say that that last sentence sadden me until I explore it. 2. Most commentators agree that this does not mean the oceans will be eliminated in Heaven. Instead it refers to the fear and destruction that was associated with the ocean for people in biblical times. To these people the ocean was something frightening that swallowed up those who dared to enter its domain. Remember these people did not have the technology we have today. They had no way to predict the weather except to go by past experiences but think about what it is like for us today. We do have this technology and still the ocean claims ships and lives. 3. Let me remind you again of what God said in Genesis. "Then God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear." And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground "land" and the waters "seas." And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:9-10 (NLT2) Once again I want to point out that God said the oceans were good. Now consider this possibility. What if when God first created the ocean it was not salty as it is today? Is it possible that the evils we associate with the ocean today, things like tsunamis, hurricanes and even the corrosive nature of the ocean is just another thing the curse did for us? Here is something else to think about. The absence of the oceans would not necessarily mean the absence of large bodies of water. Remember that in the New Jerusalem there is the river of life and I believe many of the rivers we know now will still exist in Heaven. If this is so, then rivers flow somewhere and many into the ocean. What if the oceans now become huge freshwater bodies? Now you might think, "Well won't all the fish and mammals die?" Is God not able to make these creatures fully alive in freshwater just as they were in saltwater? 4. Another reason I do not see the oceans being eliminated in Heaven is because of this issue of continuity we have talked about. If the animals that we now have on earth will still be with us in Heaven, then it makes sense that the oceans will still exist because most of the animals live in the oceans. I believe that the New Earth will have oceans or large bodies of water and just like the heavens we will be able to freely explore them without encumbrance. By that I mean imagine diving in the ocean without scuba gear and imagine being able to dive without fear of being eaten by a Great White Shark? Trans. OK let's explore the last question for today and that is: D. Will We Have Seasons In Heaven? 1. Once again we are confronted with the issue that because so many Christians view Heaven as a spiritual not a physical place, they idea of weather and seasons seems strange, but it really isn't. The prophet Ezekiel spoke of this. "I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. 27 The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD." Ezekiel 34:26-27 (NLT2) 2. Now is rain bad? Well in excessive amounts it might be, but rain itself is not bad in fact it is necessary. Will rain turn to snow at higher elevations like it does now? I do not see why not. The fact is I am not sure I want a heaven without seasons and weather. I love the Eastern Sierras, especially in the fall. The color of the leaves on the trees is specular and causes me to worship God. Will we have lightening in Heaven? I do not see why not, except that no one will ever be struck by lightning and no forests will ever be set on fire by lightning. 3. Here is a good question to consider. "Must the earth be tamed and stripped of its high mountains, deserts, waterfalls, thunderstorms and more because they sometimes caused pain in this world?" I believe that nature in all its variations will be a source of joy and pleasure and even worship for us in Heaven, not destruction as they sometimes are now. 4. Now will we have season in Heaven? I contend that if we have weather as I have described then seasons will go along with it. Here is what Genesis says, "As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." Genesis 8:22 (NLT2) I know that sometimes seasons are associated with death, as in leaves that die for the winter, but could not God allow the seasons without the negative affects? Conclusion A. I want to consider today by going back to something I talked about early on in this series. The question I asked then was "Will we miss things from this earth when we are in Heaven?" Will we look back and say, "Boy you know I sure wish we had this or wish we could still do that?" 1. Well let me answer that question with a question. LOL. Have you ever booked a plane flight and you booked a coach seat but when you went to check they told you that you were being bumped up to First Class at no extra charge? [] Possibly tell story of Ron Unger. If this actually happened to you or even it was just something you dreamed might happen let me ask you this. If you were sitting in that first-class seat would you spend any time whatsoever thinking about what you were missing out on by not being in coach? Somehow, I doubt it. I have a feel that this change would feel even more like you were bumped from the baggage compartment to first class. 2. I believe our translation from this old earth to the new earth will be much the same. I am convinced that God fashions us precisely for His purpose for us. In fact, this is why a void exists in every human heart that does not know Christ. We feel that void until we finally come to faith in him. So, in Heaven I think we can rest assured that God will fashion us perfectly for the life we will be living for eternity. That is why I said a few weeks ago that there will not be any spirit of competition in us when people rule or have authority over us. We will see them as perfectly fitted for God's purpose for them and for us. 3. For me at least the possibilities of Heavenly bodies, the oceans and weather in Heaven are exciting and make all the more anxious to see them as they were really meant to be. 2