Sunday, December 28, 2008
All Things New
Rev. 21:1-7
19th century politician Benjamin Disraeli once said, "What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens.". At every new year the experts try to determine what will happen in the forthcoming months: politically, economically, and socially. The tabloids take it a step further. They consult astrologers and psychics who predict the future for the new year. Christians know that the future is not seen in the stars, or in the subconscious minds of so-called psychics. Even the brightest and best minds can not predict what the New Year 2009 holds for us.
A lot of people have been reading the book, "Heaven," by Randy Alcorn. It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it. Randy wrote the book because there were so many people with questions about heaven, and there were very few books that addressed what heaven will be like. Some of the misconceptions are that we will be floating around on a cloud all the time playing harps, or laying around idly being bored from the tedium of doing the same thing all the time. You know even a bass fisherman will get bored if he always catches his limit, or always catches 10 pounders. I think my mom might even get bored sitting by the creek bank eating banana pudding as a steady diet, although she would argue with you on that. Randy argues that the thought of being bored, and living forever in a place where nothing changes and is always perfect is the reason some folks aren’t in any rush to go there. Thus he directs his efforts toward explaining that heaven is going to be a place of activity, and excitement, and interaction with other believers and the Lord Himself. By careful study of the Scriptures we can determine a lot of things that the future holds much better than the psychics and astrologers can.
I. Christ Will Make All Things New
V5. The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
And in John 1:1-3 we read, "In the beginning was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And all things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist, the most intelligent of the lot, to go tell Him that they were done with Him. The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point with scientific discovery that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost. "God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this, let's say we have a man making contest." To which the scientist replied, "OK, great! But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just the way I did when I created Adam from the dust of the ground. "The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt. God just looked at him and said, "Oh no, You make your own dirt!
Jesus tells us in V5 that He is going to once again make all things new
We talk about New Year’s resolutions, most of which we break within a day or two, but our finite minds can’t even conceive of a totally new place created by Jesus Christ for us to dwell with Him. Oh how He loves you, oh how He loves me, oh how He loves you and me.
II. Sorrows Associated With Sin Will be Eliminated
V4. In Revelation 7:15-17 we see that the saints who have been martyred during the Great Tribulation will enjoy the blessings of God’s kingdom. "For this reason, they are before the throne of God and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eye.
Here in Revelation 21 we see the same promise given to all God’s people. All those things that are associated with sin, i.e., sorrow, crying, death, pain, etc. Will be done away with. In the new heaven and the new earth where God dwells with His people they will be no more.
Heaven will be so dramatically different from the present world that to describe it requires the use of negatives, as well as the positives addressed in VV1-3. To describe what is totally beyond human understanding also requires pointing out how it differs from our present human experience.
The first change from their earthly life believers in heaven will experience is that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (cf. Rev. 7:17; Isa. 25:8). That doesn’t mean that people who arrive in heaven will be crying and God will comfort them. They will not, as some imagine, be weeping as they face the record of their sins. There is no such record, because "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1), since Christ "bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Pet. 2:24). What it expresses is the absence of anything to be sorry about—no sadness, no disappointment, no pain. There will be no tears for things gone wrong, tears over lost love, tears of remorse, tears of regret, tears over the death of loved ones, or tears for any other reason.
Another dramatic difference from the present world will be that in heaven there will no longer be any death (cf.Isa. 25:8). The greatest curse of human existence will be no more. "Death," as Paul promised, "is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor. 15:54). Both Satan, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and death itself will have been cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14).
Nor will there be any mourning, or crying in heaven. The grief, sorrow, and distress that produce mourning and its outward manifestation, crying, will not exist in heaven. This glorious reality will be the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:3-4: "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." When Christ bore believers’ sins on the cross, He also bore their sorrows, since sin is the cause of sorrow.
The perfect holiness and absence of sin that will characterize heaven will also mean that there will be no more pain. On the cross, Jesus was "pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed"(Isa. 53:5). While the healing in view in this verse is primarily spiritual healing, it also includes physical healing. Commenting on Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, Matthew 8:17 says, "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.’" The healing ministry of Jesus where he healed all manner of diseases associated with mankind, was but a preview of the well-being that will characterize the millennial kingdom and the eternal state. The glorified, sin free bodies believers will possess in heaven will not be subject to pain of any kind.
When Jesus says behold I make all things new, he includes our experiences as human beings living in a fallen, sinful world. All things will be new, all things will be different in the new heaven and new earth where we live in victory having overcome sin, death and the grave.
III. We Will Enjoy a New Intimacy With God
V3, 6-7, This will be the most exciting part of the new heaven and new earth. God will be able to express His love for us as never before. In the original story of creation, we find God creating man (male and female) in His image, and having intimate fellowship with them. He walked with them in the garden, and had sweet communion with them. But, since the fall of man into sin, there is a break in communion to the extent that man cannot look on God face to face.
In the new heaven and new earth, God will dwell among believers in heaven. Christ, the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end will give freely from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes (and you may only overcome through faith in Jesus Christ) will be His Son and He will be our God.
God has always loved mankind, the crowing glory of His creation. He has shown that love throughout history. He did not destroy Adam and Eve when they sinned, but cast them out of the garden of Eden, He spared righteous Noah and His family when He destroyed the rest of humanity due to their sin and rebellion, He chose Abraham out of all the people of the earth through whom to start a new nation and bless the rest of the world, He protected His people, the descendants of Abraham, through Joseph who had gone as a forerunner into Egypt and through Joseph brought this small, insignificant nation into Egypt where they grew into a mighty nation, He then used Moses to lead His chosen people out of Egypt toward the promised land, He replaced Moses with Joshua who led them into the promised land, He made Israel a mighty nation under the leadership of Kings David and Solomon, He raised up great prophets who challenged the people to remain true to God, and prophesied about a coming Messiah, finally, He sent His only begotten Son into the World, to show the world in human form His character, and to be the means of grace and salvation. So we see that the thread of God’s love runs throughout human history, and it has not changed. God still loves you today, even if you choose not to love Him in return.
In spite of all the many ways God has shown His love toward mankind, we still have people who question whether God loves them or not. Folks one of the greatest expression of God’s love toward all humanity is addressed by Peter in his second letter to the churches. "The Lord is not slow about His promise (to destroy the world), as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
God has always loved mankind.
Have you believed in Jesus Christ for salvation? Do you know for sure you will spend eternity with God in heaven? What a wonderful time to accept the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. What a wonder ful time to begin a new life in Jesus Christ. Instead of making New Years resolutions why not come to the One who can make all things new?
He has always desired a personal, intimate relationship with His creation, but, as they say, it takes two to tango, and man has not always returned the love God has shown toward them. Someday, in the new heaven and new earth, the world and our relationship with God will be entirely different. We will love God as He loves us. All those who have refused the offer of His free gift of salvation will be separated from Him in the lake of fire, and all that will remain is those who have accepted God’s love gift to them. The intimacy believers will have with God, will be as new as the new heaven and new earth, and it will be eternal... . Not only will He create a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and first earth will have passed away, He also will create everything that we will need to live in the new heaven and new earth.
I am making all things new. You know we get excited about a new car or a new home or a new job, I wonder how we will react when we enter the new heaven and new earth were everything is new, where God chooses to dwell among the people, and God Himself will be among us. You talk about indescribable, uncontainable as Chris Tomlin describes in his song "You are Amazing God." All who have believed in Jesus Christ unto salvation, have an unimaginable future ahead of them in a place where all things are new, perfect and complete. .
