Media mogul Ted Turner has said, "I'd rather go to hell. Heaven has got to be boring." Mark Twain once stated, "You can have heaven, I'd rather go to Bermuda." For many people, their lives can be summed up much like the old beer commercial, "It doesn't get any better than this." What they have in this life is as good as it gets. From here it is all down hill. But for those who believe on Jesus, it just gets better and better.
Joh 14:2a-3, "… I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
People are curious about heaven. You can find all sorts of books written on what some particular author thinks about heaven or the after-life. But as I have said on numerous occasions, 'If we want to know the truth about anything…we must go to the source." That source is the Word of God! Don't settle for some fictional portrayal of what things will be like after this life is over, instead to the Bible and know for sure! In our study, which we have entitled 'Faith for the Future', we have been looking at several major events of biblical prophecy. The Rapture of the Church, the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, the Millennial Kingdom, and the Great White Throne Judgment.. Tonight we will bring this series to a close with a look at eternity future.
What will our eternity be like?
What will heaven be like?
From Revelation 21, we will discover four truths about heaven...four truths about eternity future for the believer.
I. The Intimacy with our Creator is Restored (v1-3).
A. John saw a New Heaven and a New Earth (v.1).
1. John says, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth…"
a. Throughout the book of Revelation, we see that phrase repeated, "I saw."
b. God allowed John to see far into the future into eternity and write down what he saw so we would know.
c. We don't have to rely on all those stories of Saint Peter standing at the gates.
d. We don't have to rely on the reports of near-death experiences and floating toward a white light.
e. We can know and believe God's Revelation here in the Bible.
2. The word heaven is used some 552 times in Scripture.
a. The word basically means "an elevated place" or "the heights."
b. When a believer dies he goes to "an elevated place" he is promoted.
c. In the OT, we read about Enoch. Gen.5:24 says, "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."
d. He was promoted.
3. John says as we learned last week, "the first earth had passed away."
B. John saw the New Jerusalem (v.2).
1. Onto this "new earth" will come "the holy city, New Jerusalem."
2. John actually saw it "coming down" or descending from heaven.
3. This city is "prepared" as Jesus said in Jn.14:2
4. Note that this city is "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
5. There are many metaphors for God's people in the Bible.
a. We are called His field, His building, His temple, and His assembly or church.
b. One of the most intimate metaphors is that of a bride.
c. I believe when this verse speaks of the "city" as a bride it refers to the citizens, not the city.
d. All the redeemed of all the ages will be present to honor the Lord.
C. John saw God with Man (v.3).
1. John heard a "loud voice" which explained its significance.
2. The voice said "The tabernacle of God is with men."
a. Note two additional statements in this verse.
b. "He will dwell with them"
c. "God Himself will be with them."
3. God will be present.
4. We will have an intimate relationship with Him.
5. God told His people to build a "tabernacle" a tent in which His presence would dwell.
a. God was with them, but there was no real intimacy with Him.
b. His presence was in the Holy of Holies but only the High Priest could go there and he could only go there one day each year.
6. Later when God's glory filled Solomon's temple, again God's presence was there but the people had no intimacy with Him, again they were still separated.
7. But when Jesus came to earth…
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
8. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers…He came to "tabernacle" within us.
9. We can't reach up to God but He comes down to us.
a. We all have a longing for intimacy with God.
b. Moses had seen the great works of God as He delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt yet still he cried out, "Please, show me Your glory" (Ex.33:18).
c. Phillip walked and talked with Jesus, but he longed for more, he said, "Show us the Father" (Jn.14:8).
d. David was a "man after God's own heart", but he longed for greater intimacy with God.
Ps.17:15, "As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."
10. The focus of heaven will be the intimate presence of God.
II. The Misery of the Curse is Removed (v4-5).
We can barely imagine what heaven will be like. We can scarcely comprehend what will be there so God begins by telling us what will not be there… all the misery of this life.
A. There will be no Tears (v.4a).
1. The "loud voice from heaven" says in v.4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
a. If you think about it, we were born in tears.
b. Our mother's struggled in childbirth shedding tears of pain as we came into the world.
c. Our first response in the world was to scream out, cry and shed tears.
2. To walk with God in this life is to walk with tears.
a. We not only suffer what is common to all humanity, we also suffer the sufferings of Christ.
b. Paul prayed that he might know Christ in "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil.3:10).
c. Noah suffered persecution in building the ark.
d. Abraham left home not knowing where he was going.
e. Throughout history Christians have suffered terrible persecution.
f. The life of faith is a life of tears.
3. Tears mark this life because nothing here ultimately satisfies.
Note the story of two teardrops floating down the river. One says, "I'm the tear of a young girl who loved a man and lost him." The other teardrop answers, "I'm a tear from the other woman who found him."
4. I understand that our tear ducts are connected to the emotional centers of our brains, but we won't have them in our glorified bodies because we won't need them…No More Tears!
B. There will be no Death (v.4b).
1. In heaven there will be no funerals.
2. I'll never stand over a casket again!
1Co 15:53-55 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
C. There will be no Sorrow (v.4c).
1. No more depression…no more blue Mondays.
2. Everyday we will live fully in the joy of the Lord.
D. There will be no Pain (v.4d).
1. One source said that Americans consume three billion dollars worth of over-the-counter drugs each year.
2. Most of them are painkillers.
3. That doesn't include all the prescription drugs…
4. We won't need them in heaven!
E. All things will be made New (v.5).
1. In the Garden of Eden there was Paradise...no sin.
2. The Lord walked with Adam and Eve "in the cool of the evening," there was intimacy, face- to-face fellowship with God.
3. We will live in a new heaven and earth, and we will have a new kind of life.
III. The City is Radiant.
A. Description of the City. v9-21
1. John says the city was like a bride adorned on her wedding day…nothing more beautiful! A little girl was taking an evening walk with her father. Wonderingly, she looked up at the stars and exclaimed; "Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be!" Here John describes for us the "right side" of heaven.
2. The city is "as a square" or a cube that is "twelve thousand furlongs" on each side, roughly 1,500 miles square. (That's the distance from Main to Florida).
3. In v.21 that "each individual gate was of one pearl."
4. It is larger than the moon!
B. The Limitations of John.
1. Imagine if you were a remote villager from South America.
2. By some amazing way you are transported to the middle of New York City just for a moment.
3. Then you are transported back to your village, how would you describe what you saw?
4. Your language would limit you wouldn't it?
5. John did the best he could to describe this beautiful city, but these verses are only a shadow of the glory that is to be revealed.
IV. Activities within the City are Recorded. v22-27
A. The saved of the world will "walk" with God and with each other.
B. We will Sing! Rev.5 gives a beautiful description of all creation singing.
C. We will Serve! Note 22:3.
As Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveler of the 13th century, lay dying, he was urged by his detractors to recant--to withdraw the stories he had told about China and the lands of the Far East. But he refused, saying, "I have not told half of what I saw."
When we get to heaven, we will be able to say, "It don't get any better than this!" What joy we will have and what wonders we will know throughout eternity. But…all of this is only accessible through faith in Jesus Christ! May we be challenged tonight with the realization of eternity and accept the call of God to tell others of His glory and grace that can be theirs if they will but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.