I hope I see you in Heaven
Notes
Transcript
What is Your Idea of Heaven?
What is Your Idea of Heaven?
I typed in the question: What’s your idea of heaven on reddit and found these responces:
Katomatic22 - Playing my video games and being left the heck alone.
Katomatic22 - Playing my video games and being left the heck alone.
Rebuta - No restrictions except the ones I choose
Rebuta - No restrictions except the ones I choose
MustAdult - Not having to worry about anything where you could do whatever you want
MustAdult - Not having to worry about anything where you could do whatever you want
coscous_explodes - I’m not religious personally, but I always imagined heaven in my mind as the stereotypical gold and white city in the clouds with giant gates out the front.
coscous_explodes - I’m not religious personally, but I always imagined heaven in my mind as the stereotypical gold and white city in the clouds with giant gates out the front.
Deree3 - Heaven and hell exists. Everyone goes to heaven. Even non believers! God loves everyone, no matter their race, spiritual belief or nationality. So please, I encourage you to Christian(assuming you’re an atheist, no offence if you’re not) Catholic or any religion and seek your nearest church.
Deree3 - Heaven and hell exists. Everyone goes to heaven. Even non believers! God loves everyone, no matter their race, spiritual belief or nationality. So please, I encourage you to Christian(assuming you’re an atheist, no offence if you’re not) Catholic or any religion and seek your nearest church.
[deleted] - You’re in the presence of God
[deleted] - You’re in the presence of God
What would you’re answer to that question be?
what does the Bible say about heaven?
This is such an important for us to understand what heaven will be like because as Php 3:20-21 encourages us that we are citizens of heaven.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Today we will spend some time looking beyond opinions and guesses on reddit and look to the source of all truth, that includes the source of all truth about heaven.
There are two main questions we need to ask as we approach this topic.
Is Heaven Real?
Is Heaven Real?
While we are described as citizens of heaven, in the reading tonight John describes a new heaven and a new earth. How do we think about our eternal destiny as Christians?
Today we will see that Rev21 shows us how heaven is real and is described as 3 things:
The Kingdom of God
The New Jerusalem
New Eden
Who can go to heaven?
Who can go to heaven?
when we ask the question who is going to heaven we know that even from the reddit responces many people think that if there is a heaven then everyone goes there. Even many Christians think that. But Rev 21 as in the whole of scripture we see that it is only people who have had their sin forgiven by Jesus who go to heaven.
A bit of Background?
A bit of Background?
Before we look at Rev 21 lets look briefly at some of the OT and NT teaching about heaven to give us a bit of a background:
There are 420 references to heaven in the OT, most sky or solar system. 25% heavenly rehlm. It is interesting that the same word is used to describe both the sky and the spiritual heavens. In the ancient near east the meipotanian religion talked about the 3 levels of existance the earth below, earth above, and the heavens.
The Jews did not see God as dwelling in the sky, but his dwelling place was seperate to the dwelling place of humans, for ancient near easrtern people heaven was as inaccessable as if he lived in the sky. Before humans could acieve powered flight and space travel the sky was a very accurate metaphore for heaven.
Even in Gen 11 when the people tryed to build the tower of Babal to reach heaven,God had to come down from heaven to see it.
How does the Ot testament answer our 1st question about what is heaven like?
The OT does not have the same clear vision of heaven that Rev 21 and the rest of the NT has but in it Heaven is real and it is the dwelling place of God and his angeles:
In the book of Job Heaven is described as the dwelling place of God and his Angels. in Job 19:25-27 we read
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
Job hopes that he too will one day go to see God in heaven.
Job shares the hope of King David who writes of his eternal hope in Ps 16
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
While we see Peter applys this verse directly to the ressurection of Jesus in Acts 2 there is a personal tone in this hope of Davids that is in line with Job’s hope. That those who have faith in God will have a hope of eternal life.
While Enoch and Elijah are the only two people to be described as being taken from the earth bodily to heaven, those faithful jews who trusted in God had hope of heaven.
Despite talking about heaven and heaven as a hope of eternal life for the faithful the OT does not have much more to say about it.
So what does the OT say about who may go there?
Again Ps 16 is also helpful in answering our questions. Again the Ps says there is eternal life on offer for Gods faithful people
While v11 celebrates the eternal destiny pf those who trust and put their faith in Yahweh
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
v4 suggests the opposite eternal reality for those follow other gods
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
So first the OT teaches that there is a heaven, it is the dwelling place of God and his Angels second the OT teaches that only those who put their faith in God and not in other gods.
The OT does not give a lot of detail but it does answer our 2 questions and sets up the NT to give us some more detail.
The New Testament has the same teaching in regard to What is heaven like and who will go there and Rev 21 in particular gives us a lot more detail of our eternal rest.
Rev 21
Rev 21
John’s teaching on heaven is a good example of the New testaments teaching on Heaven. In Jesus we see so many teachings of the OT come in to sharp clarity. And so it is with heaven. John shows us that the teaching on heaven becomes clearer in light of the person and work of Jesus whom John calls the lamb in Rev 21.
The New Heaven and the New Earth
The New Heaven and the New Earth
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
John sees a new heaven and a new earth. This is a description of a completely renovated creation. Remember in Rom1 Paul teaches that sin has scared the whole of creation.
When Jesus returns again from heaven, Acts 1:11 the time will come where God will restore everything as is described in acts 3:21. This is summeriesed here as a new heaven and a new earth.
This is symbolised by there not being any sea. this is a metaphore for peace and safety.
So a question is what happens to Christians who die before the second coming oof Jesus. Well Jesus promised the theif on the cross that today you will be with me in paridise. Also when he spoke to his disicples in John 14 he promised he would come back for them. We can be sure that when we die we will go to be with God in heaven and one day not only will we experience the paridise in heaven but we will also look forward to the regeneration of the new heaven and the new earth.
When Jesus promises to return to take us to the place he has prepared for us. This is heaven.
What will that look like when Jesus restores the whole of creation and there is no more sin. Well there are three images here that can help us:
The Kingdom of Heaven
The Kingdom of Heaven
The Kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven in matthew is the key focus of the teaching of jesus. It is also the key concept in the apostles. fullfillment of ot hopes and promises.
Here in Rev 21
V3 This is God’s dwelling place
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
V5 we see God seated on the throne
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
In Rev 22:4-5 we again have another view of God and the Lamb on the Throne
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
But this kingdom is not simply a future reality
In mk 1:15 Jesus said he had come to bring the kingdom to earth
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
We understand this as a now not yet tension
prestent and a future dimension. The kingdom has arrived in jesus but not in full consermation until jesus returns again.
jesus has started it on earth but it is not manefest in all its fullness. for that we must wait fir the day of the lord.We cannot fully expreiemce it until the future when there will be the answer to jesus prayer your kingdom come on earth as in heaven.
We now live in a Jesus shaped community with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We have victiry over sin but we do not expect heaven on earth. For that we have to wait.
Only in heaven will all suffering and sickness and eath and sin cease. Look at
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
The second metaphore in Rev 21 to help us understand heaven is the New Jerusalem
The New Jerusalem
The New Jerusalem
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
Beuatiful image of the new jerusalem. It is a people in a place
Bride and groom image see in Ephesians
31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
again in Rev 21
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
v11 This city is precious. also in V19 and on there is a description of the precious jewls in the foundations and walls
19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
v12 12 high gates angles at the gates, symbol of security no more danger people protected, the gates never shut no night no danger. no dangerous people inthe y are outside 22/:15
on the gates the 12 tribes of Israel
V14 12 foundations of the apostles. Sympol of the total number of faithful Jews before Jesus and the Christians after Jesus who are sacvd.
no need for a temple
V15 and onwards it is a perfect cube of pure gold expanded form of holy of holies, God’s dwelling place
once temple, then hearts of the believer combined these images. wonderful precsence of God
No need for Sun
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
no temple
So this comes to my second question who are these people in the new Jerusalem
27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
just those 21:27 book of life.
We have already talked about how Jesus says in John 14 that he will prepare a place for his followers. Faith in him is the only true faith
Jesus said
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus eat and drink with people as citzens we will live in perfect submission to our God and king. not all mat 8:12. mat 7:21-23 not even all prfessed disciples.paul lists people excluded
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
In The previous Chapter John saw the destination of all who do not accept Jesus in faith.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
God is grieved at death of sinner. promt prayer and evangelism.
wants all to be saved by the cross
New Eden
New Eden
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 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. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
the garden city located. life giving river, tree and prescence of God like the origional edan. the Jewish longing to go back to the garden is realised. ez 47 river leaves for the healing of the nation. fullness of salvation, sin, adultery, only serve God, no more curse zech 14:11 . eden perfected . we will be there forever.
how will we spend our time. not clear, no boardem,
How effect us now