4. New Heaven & New Earth
Notes
Transcript
Welcome to the conclusion of Core 52! For the last year we have been looking at core verses throughout the Bible and today we wrap it all up with core verse 52. I’m so glad that you’re here for this exciting conclusion, because it’s a message we all need to be reminded of.
Before we started this Core52 adventure, I went through it with a small group of folks. In our small group study, when we came to this last core verse and talked about it in depth…this discussion of new heavens and a new earth, the resounding feedback was this: Why don’t we talk about this more?
Well, here we are talking about it, and it’s important because there are a lot of confusing ideas about where everything is heading. I think the general idea that most people have is that when we die, we go to Heaven and we wait until Jesus returns to gather the rest of his people and return to heaven for eternity. Here is what we know for certain, that those who have devoted their lives to Jesus, go to be with Jesus when they die. The apostle Paul while in prison is wrestling with life and death, he writes,
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
Whether it’s a paradise like what Jesus said to the thief on the cross or heaven, it’s going to be an amazing place. But what if I told you that there was an even better place? What if I told you that dying and going to be with Jesus wasn’t the end of the story? What if I told you that as amazing as that thought is, it gets even better?
The clearest picture we get of where human history is heading is this phrase, new heaven and a new earth. It’s found throughout the Bible, Isaiah 65:17
and 2 Peter 3:13
And it’s found in the core verse 52 that we will look at in just a moment. Why is this so significant? It’s because out culture when they think of dying and going to heaven, the image they have in their head has probably been shaped more from cartoons then anything else. When I was growing up watching Bugs Bunny and the Loony Tunes, when someone died, they got wings and flew up into a cloud bank and floated around like a spirit. Or if you read the cartoons whenever someone dies they are standing in a line at the pearly gates, with clouds all around. So when we think of heaven or eternity we think of up, clouds, wings and harps and lots of singing. Maybe if you have a lot of harp music on your playlist, you might be up for an eternity like that, but for most people there isn’t a lot of appeal to an image of that.
Maybe it’s been our failure to describe well where human history and eternity is heading that us kept people from trusting God, as well as those who are Christians to dig deep and hang on tight because in the new heaven and the new earth everything is going to be very, very different.
Last Sunday we talked about grit; the ability to get up off the mat one more time then getting knocked down. The ability to persevere. One of the keys to grit is to keep our eyes on the prize. Anyone who has set a goal of life change in front of them understands that you need a picture of what things can be. A picture of what you want to become. So whether it’s a picture of body transformation or you opening your new business, or finally holding that baby you’ve carried around for nine months…it’s the images of those goals that helps us to keep going and not give up. This is the point of core verse 52. It gives us a clear picture of what everything will look like if we just keep holding on. It gives us a goal to focus on. Here’s why that ‘s so important:
When you know what the goal is, you are motivated to remain faithful.
Motivation to remain faithful is the big idea behind the last book of the Bible, Revelation. If you have Bible or device, find Revelation 21. If you have the YouVersion Bible app, look for Events, then search for Iowa City Church and all of the Scriptures and Sermon Notes will be available on your device.
Revelation typically freaks people out. The general thought about Revelation is that it contains a secret code that unlocks how the world is going to end. That’s not the purpose of Revelation. For starters, Revelation was written in a specific genre or style of writing called apocalyptic literature. It was actually a very popular style of writing and the author of Revelation is writing to people who would have been very familiar with this style of writing. So in other words, the people who recieved the Revelation letter understood it much better then we do.
This leads to an important point: Revelation was a letter written to a specific Christians who were under intense duress from persecution because of their faith. The Revelation letter was written to give them comfort and direction as they faced the crises of daily opposition.
The best way to understand Revelation will come not through carefully studying the headlines of CNN or Fox News. Instead, understanding will come from studying other apocalyptic books like Daniel…and by reading the OT. Most everything one needs to understand Revelation has all ready been written and discussed in your Bible.
The reason it’s all been discussed consistently throughout the Bible is because there is one consistent theme throughout the Bible: Remain faith to God, don’t compromise.
That’s why, as one reaches the conclusion of Revelation, there is this amazing picture of the new heavens and the new earth. It provides this motivation to hang on.
Let’s take a look at what John writes.
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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
What we see is this marriage between heaven and earth. It’s an image we saw in the Garden of Eden before the fall. An overlap of Heaven and Earth. We don’t know what exactly has happened with earth or heaven for that matter. Has it been remade or is it something brand new. One of the interesting descriptions is that of no sea. No remember, Revelation is symbolic. In our world, the sea separates people groups. It’s a divider. In this new earth there is no division. All people are united. One last observation. This isn’t a complete step back to Eden…it’s actually a step forward, there is a city, a new Jerusalem type of city. This is a nod towards how God created humans in his image, as creators and builders.
So what does this all mean? It means that picture we are given about future reality is that it isn’t an existence as a disembodied spirit floating around the universe. Instead, it’s very similar to what we already know; a real tangible existence, in a new world with physical, but different resurrected bodied.
The implications of this are extraordinary. Imagine it: living with perfected bodies in a restored Eden. There’ll be agriculture and architecture, culture and art, plants, animals, and entertainment—and all without sin. This is something defiantly worth dreaming about. But it gets even better. John continues by writing this description.
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. ‘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.”
Notice all the things that won’t be in this new heaven and earth marriage. No churches or no temples…because God is there. God is literally dwelling among his people…again a look back to the Garden of Eden relationship. Notice what else won’t be there? There’ll be no more tears or death, no crying or pain. No funerals, divorces, murders, thefts, gossip, broken dreams, unresolved anger, haunting memories or lifelong regrets. Most importantly, Satan and his cronies don’t get guest passes, because the old order, the way of this world is gone…thank God!
Think of it this way, the things that you watch on TV or read about that make you angry, they will be gone. The injustices, gone. The overlooked and forgotten, provided for. If it’s wrong here, it will be made right there, in the new heaven and the new earth.
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.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
These words are a promise…and remember, God always keeps his promises. This is an image, a picture that we are to hold on to, a prize we can put our eyes on. So who is this new heaven and new earth for? Look again at verse 7
Those who are victorious will inherit all this. Some of your translations may say, He who overcomes will inherit all this. It’s this idea of not giving up and outlasting one’s opponents. It’s the one who finishes the marathon, they are victorious. Do you know what’s interesting? You know the Greek word for victorious. It’s this: Show Picture of Nike Swoosh.
The correct pronunciation is knee-k. The word that is used here in this case is the word knee-cow. The next time you see someone where a pair of shoes with this swoosh on it say, “Nice knee-k’s!” So this word, overcome or victorious is used here in Revelation more then any other place in the Bible. It’s used 17 times. In fact, remember this letter is written to seven churches and they are specifically addressed at the beginning of the letter. At the end of each section it uses this same phrase. Look at the church in Ephesus.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
That phrase, “the one who is victorious” it shows up for each church. Remember, these churches were suffering persecution, being tempted to give up their faith and walk away. The challenge in this letter is to be victorious. Victorious over what? Jesus has defeated sin and death for us, we are saved by grace…what is our part to play? We are victorious by not letting go of Jesus. We are victorious by not giving up. The one who overcomes is the one who doesn’t give up on Jesus. No matter how hard or how difficult it is, don’t every give up!
This reminds me of a story my dad told just a few weeks ago, a story I didn’t even know. When I was just a baby, my dad was a minister at a small church in Abbeyville, Kansas. Every year the town has a big rodeo. So the rodeo was coming to town in a few weeks and my dad wanted to boost attendance in this little church so he told the congregation that if they could get over 100 people in the building for church he would ride a bucking bronco in the rodeo. He really didn’t think it would happen…but sure enough the next Sunday they had over 100 people in the service. Keep in mind, my dad had ridden horses but never in a rodeo. let alone on a horse that wants to buck him off. This is where the story gets interesting, my dad claims that the horse was a legit bronco, my mom says that the rodeo folks gave him something less jumpy. Regardless, my dad got on the horse in the chute, grabbed hold of the rope and held on…for 8 seconds. For those of you familiar with rodeos, the magic number is 8 seconds…until the horn goes off. 8 seconds of crazy and then its over. So dad goes 8 seconds in the Abbeyville Rodeo and he’s an official bronco rider, he went the distance.
The ones who inherit the new heaven and the new earth are those who go 8 seconds holding on to Jesus. Those who are victorious go through chaos trying to drag them away, but they hold on because they know what the goal is, they know what the destination is and they are not about ready to let go of Jesus. They will remain faithful, no matter what.
To those of you who are struggling with you marriage, kids, or your hurts…don’t give up....hold on to Jesus. To those of you with doubts or confusion, don’t give up, hold on to Jesus. To those struggling is temptations, habits or recurring bad choices…hold on to Jesus and keep your eyes on the inheritance!
However, there are those who don’t want to hold on. In fact there are those who do not want to declare their loyalty to Jesus at all, they want to go their own way and declare their loyalty to something or someone else. Here is what John writes about those folks.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
There is a saying really resonant with and I believe the Bible teaches this: God doesn’t send people to hell, he simply honors their wishes.
Life on this planet is about faith, loyalty to what we believe to be the way the truth and the life. So either you going to give your loyalty to Jesus be rewarded with an inheritance or you are going to give your loyalty to yourself and be cowardly, or give your loyalty to another god and not believe in the truth God. You going to give your loyalty sexuality or pleasure…and God will honor your devotion…which will lead to a second death. You know what’s interesting is that the name or title Hell is not used in Revelation. Instead there is this imagery of the worst possible place on can imagine. So here’s the bottom line, God honors our loyalties. He honors the things we are faithful to. To be loyal to Jesus leads to an amazing place, a new heaven and a new earth. However, to be loyal to anything else…leads to death.
I guess the question we all have to answer is these: Where do my loyalties lie?
If your loyalties lie with Jesus we understand very clearly that things will not always easy:
These images of the new heaven and new earth are given to motivate us to remain faith until King Jesus returns.