He Makes Everything New

Revelation 21:1–8 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

God Will Make a New Heaven and a New Earth

The first thing we read from today’s scripture is that God creates a new heaven and a new earth . It goes on to say that the first earth passes away and the sea is no more.

Those of you who have been following this sermon series might recall the timeline leading up to the restoration of heaven and earth if not I encourage you to watch them on our One Light Church YouTube channel.

But briefly for the sake of context we know that the earth grows more sinful to the point where sin even enters into about half the church and there is an apostacy or falling away from the church. It takes but only a moment to realize we are at this point today. Evil abounds, wrong is being called right and right is being called wrong and unfortunately entire denominations claim to be Christians but practice many things the Bible says not to do.

Circumstances will grow worse until the Church is raptured to meet Jesus in the clouds to enter the judgment seat of Christ and the wedding supper of the Lamb while the earth goes through the tribulation which is the wrath of God being poured out on an evil world which rejects His love and instead desires a life of sin.

Just before or just after the Rapture is the Gog and Magog war which is a regional war where several nations attack Israel but God fights on their behalf and gives Israel victory.

This war brings about a seven year peace treaty which is broken in 3 1/2 years by the antichrist who kills the two witnesses and then sits himself in the rebuilt temple claiming to be God. This begins the great tribulation or the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation which is the worst time in human history. Christians will be martyred for not accepting the mark of the beast.

At the end of the tribulation Jesus returns with the armies of heaven to defeat the evil armies of the world and throw the antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire and satan into prison.

It is at this point that Jesus raptures the martyrs killed during the tribulation and establishes His earthly kingdom for 1,000 years where Jesus will rule with a rod of iron.

At the end of the millennium satan is released he then deceives the nations of the earth to attack the people of God. However, the Lord causes fire from heaven to fall killing them and then satan is thrown into the lake of fire with the antichrist and the false prophet to be tormented forever.

Then comes the Great White Throne Judgement where everyone gives an account for how they lived their lives. For Christians our names are automatically written in the Lambs Book of Life and everyone else will be judged on how they lived their lives. Anyone whose name was not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire as well.

It is at this point following the ultimate triumph over evil that God makes all things new including heaven and earth. Verse one tells us that the first earth will pass away and the sea is no more.

Might I declare you today that there comes a time when you must remove the things not of God to receive the full renewal of God! Amen!

God Will Live With His People

Verse 2 describes the New Jerusalem who comes down from heaven and is adorned for her husband. A description of the New Jerusalem is found in Revelation 21:9-23

Revelation 21:9–23 ESV

9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Hallelujah! We can only attempt to imagine how glorious and beautiful the holy city will be. And the best part is that God Himself will be living with us in the city.

And if there was any question about the Lord not only being there but being a loving God who allows us to live with Him we can read Revelation chapter twenty one verse three.

Revelation 21:3 ESV

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

The words of almighty God have the ultimate authority. And He is declaring that His is our God and that we are His people. What the devil tried to destroy in the garden has been restored and so much more. Somebody give Him praise in the house today!

Living in God’s Presence is Paradise

In verse 4 we get a glimpse of what it will be like to live in God’s presence.

Revelation 21:4 ESV

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

You see some of us have cried amen. Some of us have had our hearts broken, torn out, stomped on and left shattered on the ground. Some people have hurt so deeply that they could barely breathe and some people have felt the pain of death from losing a loved one, losing a battle or losing a dream.

But I have some good news for you today which is that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Not only did Jesus pay the price on the cross for your sins. And not only does the power of God’s word and God’s Spirit dwell in us to comfort and empower us but when we get to heaven the all powerful yet tender hand of our Father God will personally wipe away every tear from our eyes! Hallelujah!

So in the presence of the Lord all pain is gone and we are surrounded by complete peace and love. Praise Jesus!

Hear me today when surrender ourselves and worship the Lord we get a glimpse of what heaven will be like non stop. I don’t know about you but when I feel the presence of Jesus Christ there is no better feeling. All my troubles are gone, all my pains are gone, I just feel His energy going up and down my body, I feel His perfect peace and I feel completely loved. And if I can feel all of that in this body in this world I cannot possible imagine how much more glorious it will be in heaven when that feeling is for eternity! Give God praise today! Hallelujah!

It is Finished

Revelation 21:5–8 ESV

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

God is declaring to all His sovereignty and reaffirming His promise by declaring it is done!

The Lord promises again that He is making all things new. Furthermore He instructs John to write His trustworthy and true words.

Aren’t you glad that you can count on the Lord? Aren’t you glad that He is faithful? I know I am!

Jesus declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

This echoes what He said in Revelation 1:8

Revelation 1:8 ESV

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Then Jesus confirms His open invitation to all who will trust and believe on Him that He personally gives living water without payment because He has already paid the price for us. And that not only will He give us eternal life but that we will have the heritage of being His children and He will be our God.

Then in verse 8 the Lord gives another warning that those who practice sin and reject Him will not enter heaven but instead go to the lake of fire.

The choice could not be more clear which is to live in paradise for eternity in the presence of a loving and Holy God or reject His love and blessings and choose hell. I cannot say this enough which is that Jesus wants everyone to trust Him and make heaven their home but unfortunately some people will choose death over life and darkness over light and wrong over right.

However, for those of us who do trust in Jesus there is a place for us in paradise.

Closing

In closing, let us all rejoice today that God promises us a new heaven and a new earth in paradise with Him.

We will have no pain and no tears and be in complete peace and love as a child of God.

So no matter what you are dealing with in this world if you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior then He will prepare a place for you in paradise.

That should give everyone a reason to praise Him today!

And while we are right to rejoice and praise God, He gives us the warning in verse 8 not only to remind us to not be tempted to sin but also to give us have extra motivation to share the Gospel with as many people as possible so that they can be saved.

Since we are called to be Christlike and Jesus doesn’t want anyone to go to hell then we also should not want anyone to go to hell. Amen.

So let the knowledge of the promises of God comfort you and give you hope then share that hope as you can with whom you can so that as many people as possible can be saved.

I believe this hurting world needs to know that Jesus loves them and that He will prepare a place for them in heaven if they trust Him, turn from their sins and make Him Lord of their life. And one of the best ways to reach others is to share the love and peace that Jesus Christ has given you.

Prayer

Thank you for joining me today and remember our joy is in Jesus!