Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (maybe?)

Text: Revelation 21:1-8 (NKJV)

Primary Audience: Believers

CIT: John saw the establishment of a new heaven and earth where God’s people will spend eternity with him.

Proposition: The new heaven and earth will be established where God’s people will spend eternity with him.

Purpose: To help the congregation see the hope that is ahead

Title: Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (maybe?)

Outline

1) 1. There will be a new heaven and earth where believers will live in an intimate relationship with God. (vv.1-3)

2) Two Truths and a Guarantee (5-7)

3) A Warning to Heed (v.8)

Read Revelation 21:1-8

Prayer

Introduction: I want you to take just a minute and think back over your entire life. For some of you that might be quite some time! For those who are younger that might only be a few years. What I want you to think about is all of the hurts and trying situations you’ve found yourself in. Maybe someone very close to you passed away, or maybe something happen to you that was really traumatic; something like a job layoff or possibly a cancer diagnosis for yourself or a loved one. ---- When we stop and think about those sorts of things it hurts doesn’t it. ---- It hurts because it brings back memories of a stressful situation. ---- I think if we’re all honest about it, those are the situations we’d rather not relive, if at all possible. I know for me there’s been several stressful situations I’d rather not relive. The first thing that comes to mind is the loss of my grandparents, and the way I felt when I received the news of their passing. I honestly don’t think a single day has gone by that I haven’t thought about them in some way, but in that sadness there also exists the hope I have of one day seeing them all again. Why(?) because all of them were strong believers in Christ. That’s certainly a hope worth hanging on to isn’t it. ---- As awesome as that is, the even greater hope I have is that of seeing my Savior. What does he look like? Are the pictures I’ve been shown really accurate? What does his voice sound like? I know for some of you questions like that might seem childish, but they’re things I’ve always wondered about and one day I’ll find out. Revelation 21:1-8 gives a brief picture of what that’s going to be like, and it does so by telling us that one day a new heaven and earth will be established where God’s people will spend eternity with him. This morning I would like to spend just a few minutes taking a look at these verses and wondering at what’s to come.

1. There will be a new heaven and earth where believers will live in an intimate relationship with God. (vv.1-3)

-First (vv.1-3), there will be a new heaven and earth where believers will live in an intimate relationship with God. Notice that the very first thing John says in v.1 is that he “1 … saw a new heaven and a new earth, for (because) the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” The point here is that there’s going to be a major change or shift that takes place someday, but the obvious question is what(?). I would argue that John gives us a little hint at the end of v.1 when he says “1 … Also there was no more sea.” If you read the 13th chapter of Revelation, you’re told that the sea is the place from which the beast rises. That, in and of itself, should alert us to the symbolic nature of what John is describing. This isn’t some kind of sea monster you see on the movie screen with a long tail and big teeth! No, to a first century audience, especially one with a Jewish mindset (John was a Jew), referring to the sea was a symbolic way of talking about the place where evil came from. The Jews were not a sea faring people, and so the ocean carried with it an air of mystery and suspicion. So, I think John is trying to tell us here is that when the new heaven and earth finally arrive evil is going to be totally eradicated! Now, with that in mind, he then moves into v.2 saying, “2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, (how?) prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Now, there’s a lot of argument about who or what exactly this city is and without going into a vast amount of detail I’ll tell you what I think. I would say there’s more going on here than just a mega metropolis floating around up in the sky somewhere. You see the people of God, believers, are often described in close relationship to city-like terminology in places like the Psalms, throughout the NT, and also here in Revelation. I think the point is that in the new heaven and earth there’s going to be culture, and people are involved in culture. In other words, those who have followed Jesus as Lord and Savior are going to live life to its fullest, in a way we’ve never lived before. On that note, some take the view that nobody’s going to be working in the new heaven and new earth. The problem I have with that is in the beginning God instituted work before Adam and Eve fell in Eden. So, there’s nothing bad about work. You see, the fact that v.2 mentions a “city” should, I believe, alert us to all of this. Why(?), because from the perspective of an ancient person where do you think work and culture most often happened? ­­­---- In a city! That said, to me what John says next in v.3 is the most amazing thing he’s said yet, he writes, “3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” The most amazing thing about this is that in all of what’s said, in all of the culture and bustle of the new heaven and earth, God will be directly with his people, just as it was meant to be way back at the very beginning. By the way, did you notice that the text here says that God will tabernacle with man? You know, that happened once before. Do you remember what John said in his Gospel account about Jesus and his first coming? “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us …” (John 1:14a). The author of Hebrews tells us that “3 He (that is Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature …” (Hebrews 1:3a, ESV). Listen, when the new heaven and earth finally comes, we will live in the direct presence of God and guess what(?), v.4 tells us exactly what he’s going to do when that happens, (and if this doesn’t excite you I don’t know what will!), “4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Appeal: Listen, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, this is an amazing promise you have to look forward to, but if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior this promise does not belong to you, but God is willing and it’s certainly available if you will only take hold of it today! All you’ve got to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved! Let’s look at vv.5-7.

Two Truths and a Guarantee (5-7)

-Looking these verses, we’re given two truths in vv.5 and 6 and a guarantee in v.7, all of which are based on who God is (vv.5b-6a). The first promise is found in v.5 when God says “5 Behold, I make all things new.” Now, what I really want you to see is what this verse doesn’t say. God does not say here that he’s going to make all new things. In other words, the world we live in now is apparently not going to be completely destroyed but instead it’s going to be revamped or reconditioned in some major way. When you stop and think about what it says way back at the beginning of your Bible, in Genesis, that makes a lot of sense. Here’s what I mean, even after sinner entered the picture in Genesis 3 God never once said that his world was bad. In fact, Paul, in Romans, describes the change that’s going to take place like this, “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Rom. 8:18–22, NKJV). Concerning that same truth and what’s going to happen when all things come to a head, 2 Peter 3:10 says, “10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” That last phrase there, “burned up” is a reference to the judgement that will take place and is better translated as laid bare which is what the oldest manuscripts we have contain and is more consistent with the entire witness of Scripture. That said, when you consider everything Scripture says the Bible seems to teach that although there’s going to be some things that are going to utterly destroyed, there’s going to be others that will remain. Now, exactly what that’s going to look like, I don’t think Scripture is crystal clear. However, I think we might get a little hint by considering what happened during the time of the great flood in Genesis. While the ark was floating safely on the waters above with Noah and his family under God’s watchful care, a major change in the landscape was happening underneath the waters. So too, this seems to be what’s going to happen at the end, except this time God won’t accomplish it through water as the promise of the rainbow always reminds us. What we can say with complete certainty is that when God is finished the creation is in some way going to return to the glory it had in the beginning, and probably even better!

-The second truth is found in v.6. when God says, 6 … I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” What does that mean? ---- I think what you’re seeing here is the fulfillment of a theme that’s consistently seen in Scriptures, one that particularly manifests itself in the ministry of Jesus. Do you recall the story of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, and what he said to her? ---- Jesus asked the woman for a drink, and she was taken aback by his request, but to her surprise he responded by saying, “10 … If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (Jn. 4:10, NKJV). Or what about the conversation with Nicodemus when Jesus told this highly educated teacher that he needed to be “5 … born of water and the Spirit” (Jn. 3:5) in order to enter the kingdom. Friends, that reference to water is not talking about natural birth. There’s no definite article before the word “Spirit” in the Greek text. The Greek reads “born of water and Spirit”. That means Jesus is referring to one event not two! Jesus was giving Nicodemus a reference to Ezek. 36:25-27 and the promise of God’s giving his children a new heart in order that they might believe! Lastly, what about the time when Jesus went up to the festival at Jerusalem, and standing up he said, “37 … If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:37b-38). What you’re seeing here in Rev. 21:6 is the ultimate fulfillment of all of those texts and many, many more dealing with the same theme. The point is this, if you want Jesus, and you thirst after him, the day will come when you’ll drink him totally. Your cup will as David said in the 23rd Psalm run over, but in a way you can only now imagine!

-Look at v.7. It’s here that you’re given a guarantee assuring you that the two truths you’ve just read about in vv.5 and 6 will ultimately come to fruition. Verse seven says, “7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” The guarantee comes at the beginning of v.7 in the phrase, “7 He who overcomes …” That word overcomes carries with it the sense of overwhelming success that’s demonstrated ultimately by the overthrow of an opposing force, and it’s done in such a manner so that all will see.[1] Now, something I find interesting about the word overcomes is that it’s a present active participle in Greek. Here’s what that means. It means you could translate it like this, “He who is overcoming”. That’s interesting because I think it should point us to what Paul said to the Philippians, “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” Philippians 2:12–13 (NKJV). The point isn’t that you work for your salvation, no, it’s that in your perseverance you prove yourself to be who and what you say you are, a true follower of Jesus Christ. That’s the human side of things, but there’s also the other side of the coin, the one from God’s perspective, the part where he “works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”. In Revelation 21 the guarantee of overcoming and the promise of being a child of God finds its basis back in v.6 when the one sitting on the throne says, “6 … It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” I hope you realize that this guarantee and promise is backed by the God who created the universe and you! The God who never ever backs down on his good promises! The God who sent his Son to die for you! But to take hold of this guarantee and promise you’ve got to believe in his Son, and my question for you is, do you? Because if you don’t, there’s a warning in v.8 that I would like to conclude with, a warning we should all heed.

A Warning to Heed (v.8)

-Listen to what v.8 says, “8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

-Notice, if you will, that v.8 begins with what’s known as a contrastive conjunction. When John uses the word “But” at the beginning of v.8 he’s doing it to show you that what’s being said in v.8 is in contrast to what’s just been said in vv.5, 6, and 7. Now, I’m going to be really straight-forward with you in what I’m about to say because I want you to think long and hard about what John says here in v.8. Friend, you might hide your sin from those around you, but I will assure that God sees! ---- In v.8 John gives a list, which I certainly don’t think is meant to be totally exhaustive, but instead, as one commentator put it, a list that’s “representative of all sin and rebellion against God.”[2] With that in mind, let me ask you a question, what is the contrast (the difference) between the people John is talking about in v.8 and those in vv.5, 6, and 7? ---- The answer is that those people in vv.5, 6, and 7 are believers, they have placed their faith in Christ and those in v.8 have not, ---- it really is that simple.

Appeal / Invitation: Now, as we pray and close this service down, I want you to do some soul searching and ask yourself, “Which of these verses is a description of me? Is it vv.5, 6, and 7, or is it v.8? ---- Were it not for the grace of God we would all be found in v.8. If you’re there in v.8, look to the cross.

Closing Prayer

[1] Theological Dictionary of the NT.

[2] Bruce B. Barton, Revelation, ed. Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2000), 258.