Revelation 20:11-21:8 The Final Judgment

Intro

Here comes the end.

Christ has come. He has suffered and died for our sins and rose again three days later to give us eternal life.

The gospel has gone out into all the world and Christ has put every enemy, including Satan, that ancient serpent, under His feet.

And now we’ve come to the Final Judgment. The Day where every person, great and small, will stand before Christ and give an account for their life.

The Last Day. The Day all of human history and every single second of every single one of our lives has been driving to for this moment.

Heaven or Hell. Salvation or Damnation. The Great White Throne of Judgment will decide every person’s fate.

The question is, will you be ready? How can you be ready? How can you be sure you’re ready to stand before Christ and give an account for your life?

Here’s the BIG IDEA. Maybe one of the most important truths you and I could ever know and stake our life on.

Jesus Christ will return to judge the world and repay everyone according to what they have done.

Will you be ready?

We are going to have three points to this sermon.

Number 1: Christ will return to Judge the World.

Number 2: Unrepentant sinners will suffer in Hell.

And Number 3: Forgiven Saints will glory in Heaven.

Here’s how this is going to work. We are going to look at the Day of Judgment and all that that entails including how you can be saved.

Then we are going to look at the two possible destinations for your eternity and by God’s grace hopefully prepare you to be ready.

So let’s start with point number 1...

I. Christ Will Return to Judge the World

Revelation 20:11-13 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

Who is this that John sees on the throne?

Its none other than Jesus Christ.

Now throughout Revelation, God is the One who has been sitting on the throne.

But Judgment has been given to the Son.

Acts 17:31 [God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

The fact that John says its a great white throne, is another clue.

Elsewhere in Revelation Jesus sits on a white horse and a white cloud (Rev. 6:2, 19:11, 14:14).

It makes sense that John sees Him sitting on a white throne.

As Jesus said, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left (Matthew 25:31-32).

This is the Final Judgment. The Day where all men who have ever lived will give an account of themselves before God and receive what is their due for their life. Either Judgment or Everlasting Life.

That’s why John calls it a great white throne.

Its great because it represents Christ’s sovereignty. His dominion and authority over heaven and earth and every single person’s life.

And its white because it represents Christ’s holiness and perfect justice. Nothing is hidden from Him.

He judges with perfect judgment. There is no partiality. There is no skating free. This is a holy throne that upholds the perfect standard of God’s Law and judges in perfect righteousness.

When you put those two together, great and white, that’s why His throne is so glorious.

It is a perfect reflection of His majesty, power, holiness, righteousness, wrath, love, grace, and mercy.

And His judgment throne is so glorious that From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

Earth and Sky

Now what is going on here? Let me give you a few possible options that I think ultimately all get at one main idea.

We are going to look at it a little bit later, but in Revelation 21:1, John says And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

But the funny thing is, he uses the same words here. So literally this could say From his presence earth and heaven fled away.

So I think when Christ sits to judge the world on His throne, earth and sky fly away to make room for the fully renewed and glorified new heavens and earth. The new creation in which righteousness dwells perfectly.

Where every trace and stain of sin is removed.

You see, Eternity or what we call Heaven is not a place for disembodied spirits. We are raised with physical bodies like Christ’s own body.

And we will live in a renewed heavens and earth. A completely restored creation. The one God created in Genesis 1 when everything was very good.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep (Gen. 1:1-2).

On the first day, God created light. Then on the second and third day he created the sky, which He called Heaven, and the Earth.

So earth and sky fleeing away takes creation back to be born again a new heavens and new earth where sin, death, and curse are no more.

That’s why it says no place was found for them.

A very similar phrase is used in Daniel 2 to talk about the sinful kingdoms of this world being shattered and blown away by the wind never to be seen again.

Now here’s why that’s interesting this is about more than just God removing every trace and stain of sin.

Earth and sky fleeing away is also a promise that God will redeem His people once and for all forever and ever.

Psalm 102:25-28 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.

The Psalmist contrasts God’s permanence and sovereignty over creation with the impermanence of this world.

They will perish, but you will remain. They will pass away but you are the same.

And as surely as God will remain, His people shall dwell secure.

The promise of a New Heavens and New Earth is a promise, not just of a world free from sin, but also a promise of eternal rest, life, blessing, and peace for the people of God.

So in the context of Revelation, the Judgment of Christ brings terror, fear, and dread to God’s enemies. But for the people of God it will be their deliverance and ultimate salvation.

Verse 12...

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

John says he saw the dead great and small, standing before the throne.

So the resurrection has happened. That’s why the dead are standing. In John 5:28-29 Jesus says Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

That’s what’s going on here.

Everyone, great and small, everyone that has ever lived will comb out of their tomb whether its the sea, death, or Hades, no one will escape the Day of Judgment. All will stand before Christ.

Paul says 2 Corinthians 5:10 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

That’s exactly what John says here. They were judged according to what they had done, by what was written in the books.

What are these books? They are books about every person’s life.

I want you to imagine that in Heaven, right now, there is a book with your name on it.

And in that book someone is writing down the story of your life.

And when you stand before the throne the book of your life will be opened and everything you have ever done will be read.

All of your works, all of your words, all of your thoughts, even the secret things you have been able to hide from others will come to light (2 Cor. 5:10, Matthew 12:36-37, 1 Cor 4:5, Rom. 2:16).

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

And Christ will judge all men according to God’s Law. The 10 commandments.

Well what about those that have never heard of Christ? They will be judged by the same holy standard because Romans 2 tells us that the work of God’s Law is written on the hearts of unbelievers because their conscience bears them witness (Rom 2:15).

Now here’s why that’s bad news. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All of us were created for God. Created to glorify His Name by loving and doing what He commands.

But all of us have fallen short. All of us have disobeyed God’s Law.

10 Commandments

GOD FIRST/NO IDOLS: Who can say that they have worshiped God alone or never given their love to an idol?

NAME IN VAIN: Who can say that they have never taken God’s name in vain. Never blasphemed Him or mocked His holiness by using religion to manipulate Him to bless us?

SABBATH: Who has found all of their rest, comfort, life, joy, and peace in Him and remembered to honor Him as holy?

PARENTS: Who has never disrespected their Father and Mother?

MURDER: Who’s never hated someone else and murdered them in their heart?

ADULTERY: Speaking of the heart, who can say they’ve never lusted after someone else and committed adultery in their heart?

STEALING: Have you ever stolen or taken what doesn’t rightfully belong to you?

LIE: Have you ever lied? Even just a white lie that you didn’t think would hurt anybody else?

COVET: Have you ever coveted? Have you ever wanted what somebody else had and grumbled about your life believing the lie that God is not as kind to you as he is to everybody else?

Have you loved the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and have you loved your neighbor as yourself?

If you have not done so perfectly, then you have sinned. All of us have.

And the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

Wages are your due. What you are owed. And God says what you deserve to be paid for all of your sin, even if its just one sin, is death.

The eternal wrath of God.

When the books are opened, every single person’s book will reveal their sin and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they deserve to die. That they deserve to suffer the wrath and judgment of God.

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one...There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-12; 18).

Now that is bad news. And that is bad news for every single one of us.

Because as Nahum 1:6 says Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

But here is good news. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.

Every person’s book will be opened but there will be another book opened. The book of life.

In Revelation 13:8 its also called the book of life of the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 13:8).

This is the book of salvation. The book of forgiveness. The book whose pages were written before the foundation of the world and contains the names of every person forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ (Revelation 17:8).

He is the Lamb who was slain. Behold the Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

All of us are guilty of our sin. All of us deserve to die. All of us have an infinite debt that no amount of religion, good works, or being a good person can ever repay.

The wages of sin is death. Someone has to pay for our sins. And that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23-25 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

We are justified by God’s grace.

Now justified is a big word that is crucial to understand all that Christ did on our behalf.

To be justified is to be declared righteous.

Now most people think of righteousness just as holiness. But its really so much more than that.

To be declared righteous before God’s law two things need to happen.

First God’s Law demands perfect obedience.

And two, any sin, any transgression of that Law needs to be punished.

Well how is that possible? How can we sinners who have already broken God’s Law and not obeyed it with perfect obedience, be justified and declared righteous before God?

Only Christ. In His life, death and resurrection Christ accomplished everything to justify us before God. He is our righteousness.

By His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

First, Jesus obeyed God’s Law. He lived a perfect and sinless life.

As the Last Adam, he perfectly obeyed God’s Law on our behalf, where the First Adam failed.

You see, all of Jesus’ life was a work of redemption.

He didn’t just show up on Good Friday to die on the cross. He lived as a man, to fulfill all righteousness.

He was tempted every way as we are yet without sin (Heb. 4:15).

God created Man to obey Him and keep His Law. And as a man Christ did just that.

Second Jesus also died in our place for our sin. Paul says he became a curse for us (Gal 3:13).

On the cross, Jesus made propitiation by his blood.

A propitiation is a substitutionary sacrifice that satisfies God’s wrath.

So with His blood, the Lamb of God paid for our sins. Every single way we broke God’s Law.

Because when Jesus died, He had no sin of His own to die for. The eternal Son of God became a man, and lived a perfect and sinless life.

So when He hung on the cross, God took all of our sin and and laid it on Him.

Isaiah 53:5-6, 11 He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Jesus died in our place for our sins. He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

God poured out the wrath He had for us onto His holy Son so that by his blood, by His sacrificial death, all the wages of our sin would be paid for and we would be forgiven.

Christ died for your sin and He lived for your righteousness.

That’s why on the cross, with His last breath, Jesus cried out “It is finished.”

Did you know in Greek that word can mean to complete or fulfill something or it can even mean to pay in full something that is due?

So when Christ said it is finished, He was saying He had made full atonement for our sins and paid our debt in full.

And how we know is that God raised Him from the dead.

God accepted His sacrifice on our behalf as a great High Priest and forgave our sins once and for all by His blood.

That is the good news of the gospel.

And because of Christ and His work, our names are written in the book of life if we have faith in Him.

Repent and believe. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.

If you believe in Christ, all of your sins will be forgiven and on the Day of Judgment you will hear your name read from the book of life.

Every page from your book will be stained read with the blood of Christ, page after page, after page declaring “Paid in Full. Forgiven. Justified. Righteous before God” because we will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

In dazzling white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.

And we know we will be saved because our judge is the very same one that died for our sin.

When our own lives will threaten to condemn us will he not say My blood has paid for that sin. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

But what about everyone else? What about everyone who doesn’t repent and trust in Christ?

Where the Saints will stand before the throne ready to receive the fullness of their salvation clothed in the righteousness of Christ, everyone still dead in their sins will stand before that great white throne naked and ashamed.

All of their works, thoughts, words, and hidden sins will expose them to the wrath of God and they will be thrown into the lake of fire for the wages of sin is death.

That takes us to point number two...

II. Unrepentant Sinners will Suffer in Hell

Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The Day of Judgment has eternal consequences. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The lake of fire is Hell.

When Jesus talked about Hell, He used the word Gehenna.

And Gehenna was a valley.

It was southwest of Jerusalem and it was where idolators in Israel’s history had sacrificed their children to Moloch by burning them alive.

Because of that, that valley was absolutely desolate. It was unclean.

In Jesus’ day, Israel had turned it into the place to burn all of their trash and waste.

The flames. The smoke. The odor. The cursed wretchedness. All of that is why Jesus pointed to Gehenna and said that’s Hell.

It was a cursed place good for absolutely nothing except to burn the waste and refuse of the world.

And that’s what Hell is.

Its a place of eternal conscious torment, torture, and pain.

Here, John calls it the second death where God punishes the wicked for all eternity in His burning fiery wrath.

It is a place of absolute anguish and a complete loss of hope or deliverance.

It is the wrath of God poured out in perfect justice.

Look at how Revelation 14:10-11 describes the lake of fire.

Revelation 14:10-11 He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.

Torment. No rest day or night forever and ever.

But here’s what I want to draw your attention to.

John describes Hell as the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.

Back in John’s day, it was normal for people to do one of two things with wine.

One would be to cut it with water. Dilute it to make it go further, instead of one glass, you might get two, just watered down.

The other thing people would do would be to mix their wine with spices to increase the flavor and give it a kick. To make sure that watered down wine still packed a nice punch.

Here’s why that is significant.

Literally in Greek you could translate this as He will drink the wine of God’s wrath, mixed, unmixed into the cup of His anger.

Meaning in Hell, the wicked will drink the wine of God’s wrath, mixed with spices to pack a punch and then poured out unmixed or undiluted with water so that you would fill the full force of that punch.

So literally in Hell, the wine of God’s wrath is mixed to full strength and then poured out undiluted on the wicked to drink every last drop.

Like Psalm 75:8 says For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

That’s Hell. The full flood of God’s righteous wrath poured out forever and ever and ever in the lake of fire.

Hell and Love

Now talking about Hell always brings up the question, why would a loving God do this?

Why would a loving God send people to Hell?

That question is ultimately why Hell is one of the most unpopular doctrines we believe. People will reject God because they think that Hell is unfair and undermines any claims about God’s love and grace.

But here’s whats so ironic. God’s wrath and Hell don’t diminish God’s love. It actually magnifies it.

Without Hell, how would we be able to see all of God’s love, grace, and mercy in all of its glory?

Remember what we saw last week when God cast Satan into the Lake of Fire.

Jesus said in Matthew 25:41, Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels.

Hell was not created for people.

It was made for sinners.

That’s why it was prepared for the devil and his angels because they were the first sinners.

But when the Serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, we, as God’s image bearers created to live for and glorify Him, rejected God and threw our lot in with Satan.

Through the Fall, we became sinners too.

And as sinners we were destined to suffer God’s eternal wrath with Satan, and we had no one to deliver us from God’s hand.

But what did God do?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

God could have left us to die in our sin and suffer His wrath for all eternity, and he would have been perfectly good, righteous, and just to do so.

But God so loved the world, that when we were lost and dead in our sins, utterly hopeless with no chance of salvation, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to satisfy the wrath of God on our behalf.

Do you remember earlier how we talked about how Hell is like the cup of God’s wrath poured out in full strength?

What did Jesus say in the Garden?

Luke 22:42 Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.

What cup was Jesus talking about? The cup of God’s wrath that he drained down to the dregs when He offered Himself on the cross.

Do you remember what He said?

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45-46).

Jesus was forsaken under the wrath of God so that you and I never would be.

So a true theology of Hell and the wrath of God, does not diminish the Love of God. It magnifies it.

You mean God saved me from that?

You mean Jesus went through that? He drank the cup of Hell I deserved to save me from my sins?

And that God loved me so much that He sent His own Son to die for me, a sinner?

Amazing grace,. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. But now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see.

When we truly see the wrath we deserved and the wrath that Christ endured on our behalf, that when we start to see the love God has for us in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This is why the gospel is good news. When we deserved wrath, God gave us grace.

And because of that grace when we stand before Christ seated on His glorious throne we will not hear Him say I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. You cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 7:23, Matthew 25:41).

Instead, He will read our names from the book of life and say Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your master. Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:23, Matthew 25:34).

Well what is that joy? What is that Kingdom?

That takes us to point number 3...

III. Forgiven Saints will Glory in Heaven

Revelation 21:1-2 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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Alright. So we’ve already talked about the New heaven and New earth a little bit earlier. About how John is looking forward to a completely restored New Covenant Gospel world where sin, death and the curse are no more.

When Christians die today, Jesus says we go to be with Him in Paradise. That to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

But that’s not where we will spend eternity. Heaven will be a renewed New Heavens and New Earth. Where we will live with new glorified bodies in a perfect creation with God forever and ever.

And we know that John is talking about Heaven because he says the sea was no more.

I don’t think that this says there will be no ocean in Heaven, but if there’s not its because God knows better.

Throughout Revelation and the Bible the sea represents: chaos, evil, unbelief; Gentile unbelieving nations.

So when John says the sea was no more, he’s saying in heaven there will be no chaos, evil, or unbelief. No sin. No death. No pain.

Only the people of God worshiping and glorifying God in holiness, love, life, joy, and peace.

Now this is different from how Isaiah talked about the New Heavens and New Earth.

Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

And then in verses 18-19 he talks about the new heavens and new earth are filled with joy and gladness instead of weeping, crying, and sorrow. All the unhappy “former things” that shall not be remembered or come to mind.

But then comes verse 20. Isaiah 65:20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

So for Isaiah, the New Heavens and New Earth had Joy and gladness. So far so good. But they also had infants. People dying. And sinners who are accursed.

Isaiah is not talking about the eternal state. For Isaiah, the New Heavens and New Earth refers to the blessings of the gospel and the New Covenant Age that Jesus started in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

So biblically speaking we are in the New Heavens and New Earth now though its just a seed.

That’s why Paul says 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

This is language from Isaiah, and Paul is saying in Christ we are new creations. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are part of the New Heavens and New Earth now.

But what John is doing, is looking forward to when that seed comes to fruition. He’s looking forward to the fullness of the New Heavens and New Earth.

The fullness of gospel blessings and where every trace or stain of sin is washed away once and for all in a fully redeemed, glorified, and restored new heavens and new earth gospel world.

Revelation 21:1-8 is continuing John’s third quote unquote “In the Spirit” vision that started back in Revelation 17.

And what he’s doing is writing about the Church Triumphant.

He says Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The Bride, the holy city, the New Jerusalem is the Church. And this is the church glorified. Fully redeemed. prepared in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27).

A little bit later in verse 10, John sees the New Jerusalem, the bride, the wife of the Lamb coming down out of heaven again.

Now that is still the Church. But from verse 9 through the end of Revelation, John is not talking about the Church Triumphant. The fully glorified and redeemed people of God in Heaven.

He’s talking about the Church Militant.

The Church in history carrying out the mission of God. Because verse 10 starts a new “In the Spirit” vision.

Its a hard reset where John is moving on to talk about something else.

So Revelation 21:1-8 is answering what happens to those whose name’s are written in the book of Life. We know the wicked go to the Lake of fire. What about the righteous? Those forgiven in Christ?

They go to the New Heaven and New Earth.

Revelation 20:3-4 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. 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.”

So Heaven, really equals two things.

God will dwell with us, and we will be His people and He will be our God.

And number 2, all the former things all unhappiness, everything that’s part of sin, death, and the curse will pass away.

When God says He will be with us and we will be His people and He will be our God, this is the ultimate fulfillment of every Covenant that God made with man.

This is what the whole history of Redemption has been driving to.

We were created to have communion with God. To know Him and glorify Him and find in Him the fullness of life.

We had it in Eden and it was lost in the Fall.

And with every covenant, God was bringing Christ to reconcile us to God and forgive all our sin so that God could give us the Life He created us for and we would give Him glory in return.

And don’t miss it. Heaven is the ultimate fulfillment of what Jesus came to do.

When it says God will dwell with them the only other place outside of Revelation that Word is used is John 1:14.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus took on Human flesh and dwelled among us, suffered, died, and rose again to make it possible for God to dwell with us in the New Heavens and New Earth.

To bring us back to Eden and restore paradise to the world.

Heaven is only possible because of Christ.

Then John says He will wipe every tear, no more death, morning, crying or pain anymore.

The Old Testament background for all these promises are talking about the fullness of gospel blessings.

This new world will be a world of life, joy, blessing, rest and peace.

I think the reason why the Bible tells us more about Hell than it does about heaven is because we can actually imagine Hell. Because of sin, we understand pain, suffering, and death.

But I think we are so fallen, we can’t even imagine Heaven.

The best we have is shadowy pictures.

The book of Hebrews compares salvation in Christ and all the blessings of the gospel to Israel entering God’s rest in the Promise Land.

So if you want a picture of Heaven the best thing to do is to look at all of God’s promises and blessings about the Promise Land like in Deuteronomy 28, and then take those promises out to infinity.

The best way to think about heaven is heavenly rest.

Like in the Days of Solomon rest on every side and every man under his own fig tree (1 Kings 4:25).

Rest, life, blessing, peace, everlasting joy with God our Savior. That’s heaven. That’s what we are looking forward to if our names are written the in the Lamb’s book of life.

Conclusion

And finally, in conclusion, will you be ready?

Hear the call of Christ.

Revelation 21:5-8 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.” 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.

When Christ says I am making all things new that is a present active continuous verb.

In other words, Christ is already making the new heavens and new earth through the preaching of the Gospel and raising up New Creations from death to life.

And what Christ has already started He will finish. The word new is the same Greek word used for the New Heavens and New Earth.

The fullness of redemption where God will dwell with us and all the former things will pass away is guaranteed.

There is no doubt that God will save us once and for all.

That’s why Jesus says...

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 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.

Conquering is a major theme in Revelation.

And Revelation 12:11 says we conquer, we overcome when we love not our lives even to death and follow Christ no matter what.

And Christ says if we do, if we follow Him we will inherit the New Heavens and New Earth.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, detestable, murders, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolators and all liars, their inheritance will be the Lake of fire.

The cowardly are those who are not faithful to Christ even unto death.

Eternity is coming, and the Final judgment, the great white throne will decide what eternity you will inherit.

Will you stand before Christ clothed in His righteousness, with dazzling white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Or will you face that day naked and ashamed with no hope of salvation?

The only way is faith in Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Repent and believe. Turn to Christ and follow Him all the days of your life. Love not your life even to death, and Christ, the Righteous Judge, promises to save you on the Last Day.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.