What Will Our Eternal Home Be Like?
Heaven

Transcript

All right. Good morning. Good morning. There you are. Yeah.

So we're in part five of the "Heaven" series. I don't know how many of you have been here for all five, but it's been quite a journey, and we're glad to be here today as we continue this series entitled,"Heaven, It's Better Than You Ever Imagined." And today we're going to be asking this question of the scriptures, "What will our eternal home be like?"

What will our eternal home be like? And that's the purpose of our message today. Now, we've learned over the past five weeks we've asked these questions. The first question we ask is, "Why focus on heaven?" Why even talk about it?

Why are we doing this series? And we find our answer from the book of Colossians, where the apostle Paul says that we're to set our minds and our hearts on things above and not on things of this earth, and that we're not only to set our minds there, but that we're to seek the things of heaven. And so that's our answer. That's why we're doing this. Then we ask this question, "What's heaven like?"

What's it like? And when we were speaking of that, at that particular message, we were talking about the present heaven, the heaven now, where Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father, where all the heavenly hosts, all the angelic hosts are present, and where the saints who have gone on before us currently dwell in present heaven. And so we talked about that. And we said that in present heaven we will be with Christ and we will be fully conscious. We will be actively engaged and eagerly awaiting.

Eagerly waiting for what? For the future new heaven and new earth. And so we talked about that. We talked about this. We said, will we know one another in heaven?

And the answer from the scripture is a resounding "yes." We will know one another. You will retain your name, although you will be given a new name by Jesus, the scripture says, but you'll retain your name. You know, Simon was given a name Peter by Jesus, and so people still remembered his name was Simon. Others called him Peter.

Some people called him Simon Peter. And so you'll get a new name, but you'll retain your name, and you'll know one another. And then last week, we asked the question, "Should we care about heavenly rewards?" And the answer from the scripture, from the apostle Paul, is he said that we should take care on how we build upon the foundation of our faith in Jesus because it will determine our heavenly reward. And so that's what's brought us to this point today where we're asking this question, what will heaven, the eternal home, be like?

And so when we look at this, we see God's ultimate plan was that He would create a new heaven, a new earth, and a new you, a new you, a new resurrection body for a new you. Now, that's kind of in fashion today, isn't it? A new you. Isn't that kind of the promise of a lot of guru's and self-help books? You can live your best life now.

The new you, you can live your best life now. And this is kind of, you know, plastic surgeons are promising this and diet books. You can live your best life now. That's why we make bucket lists. You know, let's go to visit all these places, do all these things.

We got a paraglide. We got. We got a bungee jump. We got a...

It sounds like that could be the last thing you do in your life on some of these things, right? And so we got the bucket list. And the reason we have bucket lists and the reason we buy these programs and books and schemes is because we think this is it. Even as believers, sometimes we live as if this is it. This is all there is.

And if we don't get it in now, whereas that beer commercial back in the day used to promise that you. You gotta take in all you can in this. You gotta grab all the gusto. I had to look that up. I was like, can I talk about that at church?

I don't even know what "gusto" is. I looked it up. It just means, you know, a great life or, like, something like that. I thought that this beer commercial made that word up. You only go round once in life, so you have to grab all the gusto you can.

Well, that's kind of the lie of Satan, really, because this is not all that there is. There's, oh, oh, so much more. Pastor Colin Smith says this. He says Satan's master strategy is to have people think that life in God's hands is less than life in our hands. The idea that if you hold on to it yourself, your life will be more than if it's in the hand of God.

That's the master life. That's the master strategy of Satan. That's what he pulled on Adam and Eve. He said, you know, God's told you not to eat of this fruit.

He's trying to keep something good from you. Can't you see it looks good? It's pretty. It looks appetizing. And if you'll eat it.

You'll be like God. And so they did. And so mankind fell into sin. And that's still the lie of Satan today - don't give your life to God.

He'll somehow keep happiness from you. You'll do better if you keep your life yourself. You can have your best life by keeping it to yourself rather than surrendering it to God. But the truth of the Bible says this, that the Bible is telling a story. It begins with those first two chapters in Genesis, and it ends with the last two chapters that we're going to be looking at today in the book of Revelation.

In fact, I have a chart. Would you like to see my chart? Fresh off the press. I just made this one this week. And those of you that know me, know that I love charts, right?

So here's a chart. Here's how things started in Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two, we see that God was with man. Adam and Eve was with God. He walked in the cool of the evening in the garden with them. They were in complete unity and bliss.

The creation was good. God, everything he made, he said, I did good. It's good. Everything was good. And there was no sin or death.

That was the origin. And God's plan for humanity is that we would be in union and fellowship with Him. He would dwell with us. We would dwell with Him in this perfect place. But because of satan, satan's temptation, man fell into sin.

And sin affected not only God's relationship with man, but creation. Look here, Genesis three through eleven. Genesis three through revelation 20 really describes the fallen earth in the heavens. That's where we're living today. And we see that man is separated from God.

So present heaven is apart from present earth, and so God's apart from man. Creation groans it says in Romans chapter eight that even creation has been affected by sin, so that all of the turmoil, all of the disease, all of the tornadoes and hurricanes and all the grief of this world, creation is sort of good, but not as good. It groans and there's sin and  death, but there's coming a future day. And that's the purpose of the sermon this morning, is to talk about the new heaven and the new earth this time when God once again will dwell with man, except better than ever before, that creation will be perfect. So it'll be a perfect place for a perfect, redeemed people, and there'll be no more sin and no more death.

This is what our focus is this morning. The text that we're reading from Revelation chapter one. We're talking about the consummation of all things. God's ultimate plan for His redeemed having life in Christ today. If you believe in Christ today, oh, it's so good.

It's so good to have Christ in your life today. But the apostle Paul says to be with Christ in present heaven is even better. He says,"To live is Christ, but to die is gain."  He says, it's better by far, so it's better. But this future that we're talking about, oh, it's the best.

It's perfect. And that's what we're talking about today. In the last two chapters of the book of Revelation, we see the apostle John describe the eternal home where we will live forever with the Lord. And as we look about it, he reveals several details. I believe there are four significant, four important details about our eternal home and what it'll be like.

So let's dig in. Revelation, chapter 21, starting at verse one, and then we'll unpack it together. This is the apostle John. He's been caught up into the heavens, and the Lord is showing him this new heaven and new earth. He says, 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.”

This is God's word. Amen. We're looking for four important details about what our eternal home will be like.

Here's the first:

1. It will be a new place for a new you.

It will be a new place for a new you. It will be a new place for a new you. John saw a new heaven and a new earth. We read in verse one, he saw our world and the whole universe rejuvenated radically and fundamentally transformed.

The God who first spoke all of creation into existence will now make a new earth and a new heaven. Theologians describe the way God first created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The theologians in the Latin say, (         ). He created it out of nothing.

He spoke it into existence. And once again, God will remake the heavens and the earth. There'll be a new heaven and a new earth. The Greek word here, there are two Greek words for new in the New Testament. One is "neos." 

If you ever watch the movie series, "Matrix," Neo comes from that Greek word. It means new in the sense of chronologically new. It's newer than that which came before. It means new in that sense. But the Greek word here is not "neos."

It's "kainos," which means new in quality and has the idea of it being superior to that which came before. So this new earth and this new heaven is superior. It's perfect. It's better than any that came before. This new atmosphere, this new heaven, there'll be no tornadoes, there'll be no hurricanes, there'll be no tsunamis, there'll be this new atmosphere.

It will be a new heaven and a new earth perfectly made. If you want to know what the new heavens and the new earth will be back, be like, imagine you and your perfection, and they are made for each other, so that this new creation, this new heaven, new earth, are made just for God's redeemed people, perfectly matched for one another, but yet in continuity. It's still called the earth, it's still called the heavens. So it'll be like, but better, it'll be perfect. It's as if John took up the quill of Isaiah and the Holy Spirit reveals more to him than he did.

Isaiah. He keeps writing. Look what Isaiah says about this. This is 700 years before Jesus. Isaiah says, Isaiah 65:17 (ESV) “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind."

So this is not new. God's always been planning to do this. He told Isaiah about it. He told him. Isaiah wrote it again in Isaiah 66:22 (ESV) “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain."

And so Isaiah saw this, and John sees it. With greater detail. And so we're talking about what God's always meant to do with us. This is the consummation of His story.

The present heaven that we have right now is not the end. Many call it the "intermediate state." It's in between. But this future is the new heavens and the new earth that we will be dwelling with the Lord. He says that this new heavens and new earth has to come because the first heaven, in verse one, the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Passed away. That's how you talk. If someone you know dies, you say, well, she passed away. We say, he passed away. Except we're not talking about a person here.

We're talking about creation. So whatever the earth was, whatever the heavens were, they aren't that anymore. That version passed away. There'll be continuity. There'll be continuity with your body.

You will, you know, people knew Jesus when they saw the resurrected Jesus, and He's the firstborn from among the dead. He's the prototype. What kind of body are we getting? We're getting a body like Jesus. So they didn't recognize Him at first sometimes, but then they would when they'd hear Him speak, or they'd see Him break bread like the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

So there's continuity. It's still Jesus, but yet better. And that's how we'll be, and that's how the new heavens and the new earth will be. They must first pass away, however. But now, even now, creation groans for this new future.

This is what Paul talks about in Romans chapter eight. He says this, Romans 8:22-23 (ESV) "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

So it's not just us. The Holy Spirit within us is groaning for that future, when we have bodies that are fit for the new heavens and the new earth.

But creation is groaning like a woman in her ninth month laboring to give birth. The creation wants what God has in store for it. Paul says, it groans, but first it must pass away. The apostle Peter describes this in greater detail in his second epistle. Let me take a minute.

Just read some of this. 2 Peter 3:4-7 (ESV) 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

He says, you know what? They conveniently overlook the fact that God's done this before, that the former earth passed away under the flood during the time of Noah, and the whole earth was deluged. It was all the peoples on the earth were judged and died, that old form of the earth. And many look at that, and they say, well, that earth, many just look at the continents and how they've separated. We can kind of see evidence of that geologically.

Maybe there was one continent, some call it Pangaea, but there was this one continent, and everybody was together there. And maybe there was an atmosphere that allowed people to have greater longevity. So that we see those great ages that we see Methuselah and others live to. And because this came canopy was like this, filled with this water, and so that there was water underneath and water above, and so it protected from the sun's rays in such a way, so there was greater plant life so that dinosaurs could live and all this. And so this pre-Noah season, that earth perished.

It passed away. And it says he broke up waters from the deep and also from above. Many suggest, looking at this, that maybe they had never seen rain before, but that the, the earth was actually watered by dew prior to that. But when the canopy broke loose, they saw rain. And so then when Noah comes out of his ark, he sees a rainbow for the first time ever, because such things wouldn't have happened until there was a new atmosphere, that there was a blue sky now, rather than this cloud, this canopy of water that stayed gaseous in the air, but now there's a rainbow.

And so God says, the reason I put that rainbow in the air is to remind you I'll never destroy the earth again by water. That's what Peter's talking about. And so he says, but that doesn't mean he won't destroy it by fire. And then Peter goes into detail about that, continuing in chapter three,
2 Peter 3:10-13 (NKJV) 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. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

So Peter goes into greater detail, doesn't he?

Reminds us that God's done it before with Noah. Right. And what He's getting ready to do again is new and better, and this new heavens and new earth will come. Now, John points out one more detail of all the things he could have seen in the new heavens and new earth. This is what struck him.

And the sea was no more. Now, I love the beach and I love the ocean, and so that troubles me a little bit. Like the sea was no more. The sea is no more. And so, Lord, help me work this out.

So one way to look at it is what do you take literally, and what do you take metaphorically? Figuratively. Does he mean there really was no sea, or does he mean that the sea as a symbol of chaos? Because throughout the book of Revelation, it is a symbol of chaos, human rebellion and danger. It's out of the sea that God's enemies rise up out of the sea.

That are all these things. The wicked nations ply their trade and rule the earth and the sea. All the effects of human sin and treachery and God hating seem to come up out of the sea. So perhaps he means that. But because I tend to be more of a literal person when I read things, and it doesn't seem like he doesn't really say as the sea as this is, and the sea was no more, perhaps it just means there is no more sea.

This is some kind of new reality where this new earth is not completely 75%, at least covered by ocean. I'm not sure what John's telling us here. That's all he says, so I'm not going to worry about it. I've talked to the Lord about it. Lord, you know, I love the beach.

I love the beach, I love the ocean. But you've told me that this perfect world will be perfect for me. It's going to be better. So whether I look at it symbolically or if I look at it literally in my heart. I know it's going to be okay after all.

Later he says, there's a river in the new Jerusalem, so maybe we can go tubing. I don't know. So this is what you know. So as I'm reading it, I know it'll be best. It'll be best.

That part's a little confusing to me. Maybe it is to you. But now, what about this new Jerusalem, verse two? "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." This is the bride of Christ.

This new Jerusalem, it's the prepared place that Jesus went when he ascended to the Father. He says, "I go there to prepare a place for you." The new Jerusalem is the place. And it's coming from where? It's coming down out of heaven, from God to the earth.

And who's in it? The bride of Christ. That's who's in it. That's all the saints who've gone on before, all those who are with the Jesus. This is a prepared place for us in the Father's house.

As he says in John 14:1-3 (NKJV) 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

This a prepared place. And I believe this new Jerusalem that's coming down out of heaven is that prepared place that Jesus has built for his church. And it's us.

And now heaven is coming to earth. The new Jerusalem is coming down, and it's for a new you. Only those who have these resurrection bodies can live in such a place. First Corinthians talks about these resurrection bodies. In fact, some people must have been asking Pastor Paul about it.

1 Corinthians 15:35, 42-53 (NLT) "But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” … Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory… But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies."

It's a new heaven, it's a new earth, and it's a new Jerusalem come down, which represents us in our new bodies. It's a new you. Can you imagine that? Think about the Garden of Eden, what little we know about it.

In chapters one and two of Genesis, we know that God, before the fall, before sin, God gave Adam a couple of jobs. One is, I want you to rule over things. I want you to be a sovereign over this planet that I've given you charge of. And I want you to work in the garden. So work was not out of sin.

Work was a thing given to us before sin. Work is good. And so I want you to work in the garden. And by the way, I've got an admin job for you. I want you to name all the animals.

That probably took a minute, you know, to go and look at all the animals and maybe organize them. Maybe he wrote it down. I don't know. He gave several. These are all before the fall.

And so it's this beautiful place, and perhaps, you know, I don't know if they made. I don't know if they made apple pie and eat, you know, apples are good, right? But, you know, apple pie is really good, too.

Whatever God gives us, He gives us, then the creativity to use that which He's given us so that we add to it. And I think that's a glorious thing. When you think about this new place and the new, you don't think of an angel soft toilet tissue commercial. We're not floating on clouds of toilet tissue playing harps with little naked angels flying around us.

That's a toilet tissue commercial. That's not the new heavens and the new earth. The new heavens and the new earth is built for you in your resurrected body. It's a real place with a real redeemed people, and it is not boring and some weird thing.

No, it's this real place. It's wonderful. Believer. What will our eternal home be like? It will be perfect.

Not only good, not only far better. It'll be the best. And here's the second detail. The first detail is that it's a new place with a new you. The second is:

2. It will be a new family where God dwells with us.

Where God dwells with us. Let's look a little closer at this new Jerusalem, and then we'll look at the next verse, verse three, to see what God says about dwelling with us. This new Jerusalem is not only, like I say, a new place, but it's a new people, a new redeemed people. And the description of this place, he gets very detailed about this. In fact, most of what we.

All the hymns we sing and a lot of stuff we sing about streets of gold, gates of pearl. It's all right here in the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven onto earth.

Revelation, chapter 21. Starting at verse nine, one of the seven angels comes to John and says, Revelation 21:9-21 (ESV) “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 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, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 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— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 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. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 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, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 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."

Commentary on Revelation 21:9-21 (ESV: "I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb."  Who's that? That's us. That's the church. "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, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 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."

So you got all the twelve tribes. You got Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah, and all the way down to little Benjamin. Each one got a gate that represents the Old Testament saints. They got their names on the gates, and at the gates, twelve angels, the names of those.

And on the east, there were three gates, and on the north there are three gates, and on the south there were three gates, and on the west, so there's three gates on each side of the square. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles.

"-on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." So here we have Peter, James and John and all the rest, right? Their names are on the foundation of the city. So that represents the New Testament saints.

"And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold." That's pretty cool. He's got like a gold tape measure or something here. This angel does.

It's like gold is as common as anything in this heavenly city to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And so when we say four square, we're kind of talking like a cube. And he says, and he measured the city with his rod, and it was 12,000 stadia and a stadia. If 12,000 stadia, that's like 1380 miles.

Someone after the first service told me that they had heard that's the distance from the coast to the Mississippi river. So that's how wide, how long and how tall the city is, this new Jerusalem. Just imagine how amazing this city is that's coming down out of heaven to earth. Its length and width and height are equal.

He also measured its wall, 144 cubits, which is 200ft thick, by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. I find that an interesting tidbit, that angels and humans use the same measurement. That's just an interesting tidbit by John. There. The wall was built of Jasper.

While the city was pure gold, like clear glass, the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. Then he begins to list the twelve jewels that each gate is unique. The first was Jasper. The second, sapphire. The third, agate, the fourth, emerald.

The fifth, onyx. The 6th, cornelian, the 7th, chrysolite. The 8th, beryl. The 9th, topaz. The 10th, chrysaphrase, the 11th, jacinth.

And the 12th, amethyst, which is my wife's birthstone. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the city and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. John sounds like he took a walk in the city.

There's not that kind of detail of any other city in the entire Bible. Isn't that amazing? This is the new Jerusalem. This is the bride of Christ coming down. And Christ is the bridegroom.

This is us in that place that he went to prepare for us coming down to the new earth. Can you believe this? This is where we're headed. This is the city that Abraham and the Old Testament saints were looking forward to. In the Book of Hebrews, it says, Hebrews 11:10, 16 (ESV) "For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. …they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

 He's preparing a city for us, where we will live forever. And then, in verse three, it says, there's a loud voice. It's that Greek phrase again,
"phōnēs megalēs."

It's where we get the word, "megaphone." And this is not the Lord, because it speaks in the third person about the Lord. It says,"I heard a voice from the throne saying," so he's beside the throne. If it's Jesus, he's speaking about God in the third person. But we don't know who this is.

It's somebody with a loud voice. 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."

That's the singular, most important reality about this new place is we have a new family where God dwells with us. And this is the declaration from the throne of God.

In fact, this is God's desire that  He would dwell with us. It says in Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."

That's always been God's desire, that we would be one with Him, that He would dwell with us, and we would dwell with Him.

I would repeat to you what Jesus promised in John 14:3 (NKJV) "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

One big family, with the Lord as our Father and the Lord Jesus as our elder Brother, all living in perfect unity. I carry this carnation, this white carnation today to remind myself of the gift of my sweet mother. And I think of her often. I guess I rarely go through an entire 24 hours without her not passing through my memory.

You only get one mom, right? But when I think about the reality of this new destination, I haven't lost her. In fact, I would never ask her to come back. She's in a place that is far better, and she's waiting for that new reality, just as we are. When Jesus comes again and when He prepares this new heavens and new earth and our new reality, our new bodies, with our new family, the new Jerusalem, and this will not have the meaning it does now.

It will be changed. That reality will be changed, and I will be with her, and she will be with me, and it will be great reunion. But both of us will be in line to talk to Jesus, because I know she loved Him more than she loved me now. She loved me, and I loved her. But the love we had came from always came from the love we have shed upon us through Jesus.

That'll be a good line to be in, believer. We have a new family made up of the redeemed of God, who will live forever with the Lord Himself. Here's the third detail. It's a new place with a new you, a new family dwelling with the Lord forever.

And then, number three:

3. It will be a new existence without pain and death.

We're at verse four. A new existence without pain and death. A third detail, verse four. That "megaphone"  voice had more to say. Not only are we going to dwell with God, but he says, He, speaking of God, speaking of the Lord, 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.”

This new reality with the Lord, there'll be no more death. The former things have passed away, no pain. Do you feel any pain today?

I heard a couple "Amens" on that one. I got up this morning. I made a little sound as I got up.

My wife said, "Did you say something? I said, "Ugh." She goes, "Oh, that's what you say every morning." I didn't used to. I just been doing it more lately.

But it's not just physical pain, isn't it? Isn't it also relational pain from a broken relationship? Isn't it also emotional pain? Because we struggle with all kind of things today with depression and discouragement.

In some ways, emotional pain is worse than physical pain.

There's all kind of pain, but it all comes from sin. Because of sin, the wages of sin is death. And because there's death, and even these bodies are even now dying, and death faces every one of us. And these bodies must pass away, just as the heaven and the earth must pass away, so that the new heaven, the new earth and the new you can be raised. And when that day comes, He's going to wipe away the tears, and there'll be no reason to cry anymore.

Oh, it's hard to imagine, isn't it? It's hard to imagine. The Book of Isaiah talks about this new place where the former things have passed away. You know, this time that we're in this new heavens and new earth, let's just remember when it is, the rapture has already happened. The tribulation has already taken place.

After the rapture, those that are dead in Christ have been raised. Those who are alive have been changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they've appeared before the Bema seat of Jesus. They've received their commendation and their reward. All this has already happened.

Not only has that already happened, but God has already set up His great white throne judgment, and He's judged the unbelievers. And so that he's cast sin, death, hades, and the devil and all unbelievers into the lake of fire. This has already happened. And now here we are in the new heavens and the new earth, with the new Jerusalem coming down. Those former things have all passed away.

It's happened before. We get to Revelation 21, and Isaiah talks about, in Isaiah 25, he actually sees some of this. He says, Isaiah 25:6-8 (ESV) "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken."

So Isaiah saw this 700 years before Jesus. Isaiah saw this, and then John sees it. And so we see a great meal taking place here. I had somebody in my small group ask me this week, "Is there going to be eating in heaven." And I was kind of thinking like, well, if there's not, I'm not sure it'll be all that great. But, you know, I'm thinking from an earthly point of view.

But I think there is eating in heaven. Isaiah talks about eating in heaven. John says there's a feast. Jesus talks about the feast of the bridegroom.

I think there's eating in heaven. And so the person that asked me this at my small group this week, now, this is the person, mind you, that's been asking a lot of questions that I've been trying to share with you. "Well, if there's eating in heaven," he asked, "does that mean there'll be brussels sprouts in heaven?" That's what he wanted to know. "Will there be brussels sprouts in heaven?"

Now, some of you are like, I hope so. Won't be heaven without Brussels sprouts. And some of you like, I feel kind of like it'd be the other place if there was brussels sprouts. Now, my wife made brussels sprouts last night for my dinner, and they were awesome. Do you know why?

She mixed bacon with them. And bacon makes everything good. I don't know if there'll be bacon in heaven. I don't know about that. I don't know.

There's no death in heaven. I think a pig has to die, so I'm not sure. Maybe there'll be some sort of vegetarian version of bacon. I hope there is. Well, I'm not sure.

We're having a little fun here. But I will say this. I do see evidence of eating,  this new reality Isaiah prophesied of this new earth and this new existence. And this answers another question that some people ask is, "Will there be animals in heaven?" And then when I speak of heaven, I'm speaking of this new heaven and new earth, which it's heaven and earth together.

Do you understand? God is with man. Man is with God. The new heaven, the new Jerusalem has come down out of heaven, and it's right there with earth. So there's no separation between heaven and earth now.

It's a new place. Will there be animals? Here's what Isaiah says in Isaiah eleven, he says, Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV) "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." So, yes, there'll be animals in the new heaven and the new earth.

And a little child can put a lion on a leash and lead him down the streets of gold. I don't know. This is a crazy place. This is a wonderful place. It's the best place.

It's the most perfect place. I don't know if you've ever been to Disney World, but this makes Disney world look like a slum. This is the new Jerusalem. Come down. This is the new heavens and the new earth believer.

We'll have a new existence where there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more tears. And then finally, this final reality:

4. It will be a new reality for only the redeemed.

We're in verses five through eight. We're going to go quickly on these final verses now. The Lord speaks from the throne of God. This is the Lord Jesus speaking from the throne of God about this new reality for the redeemed.

Verse five says, And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

 Not just a few things, making all things new. I'm making all things of a superior, perfect quality. I'm making all things new. And then he says to John, write this down. 5 Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I think John was already writing everything down, but He says to  really write this down. Like, really write this down. 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. "

Remember on the cross when He said, "It is finished?" This is the same Jesus talking.

That was Him. I've paid for salvation. I've paid for your redemption. But now he's saying, I've done it. I've done all that I meant to do.

This is the consummation, the perfection, the new heavens, the new earth, the new you, the new Jerusalem. All things. I've made all things new. And now we're together. It's done.

And who is this speaking? Just to be clear, He said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. Alpha and Omega. The first and last letters in the Greek alphabet.

The beginning and the end. I'm Jesus. He goes, I'm the one who to the thirsty,  I give them the spring of water, of life without payment, because I paid for it. That's what he told the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.

In John chapter four, he said, John 4:14 (ESV) "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

This is that Jesus, He's talking to John. He says to write this down. You're going to live forever and I tell you who's going to inherit all this. It's those who conquer.

And He says, 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Who's the one who conquers? Well, that's everyone who believes in Jesus. Remember what John wrote in his first Epistle? He says, 1 John 5:4-5 (ESV) 4 "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Now, that word, "overcomes," is the same as the word, "conquer,"  in the Greek, it's "nikaō."  I wore some "nikaō"s last week. Remember that? Nikes.

I wore some "nikaō"s last week. And that's the Greek word right here. The one who "nikaō"s will inherit all this. But John is writing here in first John, he says, "For everyone who has been born of God." "nikaō"s; overcomes the world.

And this is the "nikaō,"  the victory that has "nikaō"ed the world. Overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? Who is the conqueror? Who is the overcomer, who's the victor?

Jesus in us. So everyone who believes in Jesus will inherit all this new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, new body. But then in verse eight, he says, "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.”

The faithless, the sexually immoral, the sorcerer, the idolater. That's not their portion.

They'll be cast into the lake of fire. They won't be there now. When I see that, at first it hurts my heart because I've been an idolater. I've been a coward, I've been a liar, I've had sexual immoral thoughts, I've lusted.

I guess I've been a murderer, because Jesus said, "If you call your brother "empty head"... guess I've been a murderer. I think I broke all that stuff. Does that mean I don't get this? I'm not an overcomer?

How do I work this out? Well, Paul helps us with this. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) 9 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

So who's going to heaven? Nobody's going to heaven. But then he says, in verse eleven, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." So these people that won't be in heaven are the ones who weren't washed, weren't sanctified, weren't justified.

They rejected Jesus. They decided to take their life in their own hands and to have their best life now. And they will appear before the Great White Throne Judgment, and they will be cast into the lake of fire. "Depart from me. I never knew you," Jesus, will say to them, but to those who have been washed, those who are overcomers, through Jesus, they've been sanctified, they've been justified.

To those He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your master's happiness."

Of course, He can't allow the unrighteous into this new reality. Of course He can't. Do you not read the scripture? Do you not know what happened the last time that He destroyed the earth and He didn't clean up the people first? Noah. I'm just going to start over.

I'm going to do a "do over"  with you and your family. Just you, your wife, your three sons and their wives. Let's do a "do over."  And He judged the whole earth. And then finally the floods recede and the ark is sitting on Mount Ararat.

And then Noah goes out and plants a vineyard, and he makes some wine. And what happens he gets drunk. Noah, the righteous man, he gets drunk and he lays naked in his tent, and his son goes to check on him. Ham, the son, goes to check on him, and he sees his nude father lying there drunk. And instead of helping his father, he goes and gossips to his two other brothers.

Hey, come check dad out. He's drunk and lying naked. It didn't take long.

You're gonna have a new heaven and a new earth. You gotta have a new people. There better be a new you. And of course, he can't. Of course he can't bring them in, because it would just be the same old story over again, believer.

We will have a new reality. There'll be a new heaven, a new earth, a new you, a new Jerusalem, a new place where there's no more death, no more crying, no more pain, and no more unreconciled relationships, no more war, no more not getting along with each other, no more lying, no more sin.

It's pretty good right now being in Jesus, isn't it? To be with Him in present heaven would be better by far. But, oh, this new place is the best. Oh, this place where God's taking us. This place in Revelation 21 and 22, at the end of the book, I would join with John, the writer, "Even so, Lord, come quickly."

Let's pray. Lord, thank You for Your word. Thank You for Jesus. I pray for that person first of all today that's never made their reservation for heaven.

You've never given your life to Jesus. You're still controlling your own life. You've taken your own life into your own hands, but you've never given it to him. Would you surrender your life to Jesus today? You can do it right now.

You can do it through prayer right now. Just pray like this. Dear Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I'm a liar, I'm a cheat. I've broken Your Ten Commandments.

I'm a sinner. But I believe You died on the cross for my sin, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. I believe that. Come into my life, wash me, sanctify me, justify me, make me a child of God. I want to follow You all the days of my life, and I want to dwell in the house of the Lord with You forever.

If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, He'll save you,He'll make you a child of God.

Others are here today, and you know this. You're a follower of Jesus. You love the Lord, but you've lost your focus. You've not been living for Him as you should. You know Him.

You've got a reservation in heaven, but you've taken your eyes off the prize. Would you repent right now and say, Lord, I rededicate my life to You today. Oh, it's coming. And I know You're coming soon. Lord, help me to realign the rest of my days so that I do everything for You.

We pray it now, in Jesus name for His sake. Amen.