Renewal Rev, 21:1-8

Good morning. I put this up here. I thought this would be good to look at. It's a lesser known, basically a Christmas verse out of the Old Testament. And as you read the context, it's very clear this is talking about our Lord being formed by the Lord's own doing. And I think that's a really neat one. Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy that. Oh, just a little reminder here. Did you catch that?

And one other thing, in our elective God's Intent for the Church, we've been covering a number of fascinating subjects. This morning we got so engrossed with it, we didn't get halfway through the questions. Next week we'll be looking at the subject of worship and music and scripture and the local church. Anyway, there's a handout that we produced for that that we thought, even if you're not in that elective, you might be interested in. So there are copies of it that are just outside the door in the lobby on top of the cabinet there. It's about 11 pages, so it's not overwhelming, but interested in music and worship in the local church.

I think you'll find it very insightful. Anyway, I want to make that available to you. The other thing we obviously are directing our attention here to, and it says Revelation 20, it should be 21, first eight verses. And here we're turning an important corner, a very important corner.

And one of the reasons we're turning a corner is not just because we're turning a new chapter here, but because up until now we've seen All kinds of issues, haven't we? There's been, in the first couple of chapters, first few chapters, issues with the churches in 2 and 3 especially of Revelation. We've been dealing with issues, chapters 6 through 19, having to do with the Tribulation period. We've been dealing with issues in terms of dealing with Satan and the Lord having to rule with a rod of iron. Now we're turning a corner new heavens and a new earth. Changing here, not just a new chapter, but an entirely different direction. No longer sin to deal with. No longer dealing with beings that are in rebellion like Satan. No more. The end of it. It's a neat chapter.

Let's take a look at it. One of the things we'll want to be sure to do is to keep oriented here on the timeline. How many of you like the idea of being disoriented? Just thought I'd ask. Anyway, okay, this is first coming, which, you know, the beginning of that we celebrate about this time of year, Christmas time. The church age where we are now, and I've put the rapture here right after the current time that we're in now. The Lord knows how close that is.

And we've talked about the Tribulation period, which took up chapters 6 through 19 of Revelation. And then chapter 20, addressing the Millennium. We last Sunday talked about the White Throne Judgment at the end of chapter 20. And now we're broaching chapter 21, Eternity and the New Heavens and the New Earth.

From here on out, there's no more to deal with in terms of judgments. No more to deal with in terms of the sin issues, no more to deal with in terms of the curse. So, that being the timeline, before we get into the passage, there's a few things to take a look at. One is, I think, just to kind of look at the big picture, one of the things we'll see in Scripture is that there are things that are brought up in Genesis that are answered in Revelation, and particularly the passage that we're entering into now, or have just touched upon. And examples here, heaven and earth were created. So we have the new heavens and the new earth there in the very verse that we'll be getting into momentarily here.

The sun was created in Genesis chapter 1. Now we're going to read later on in this chapter, not this morning, no sun. How about that? No sun. The night was established. There's obviously no night if there's no sun and that rotation to deal with. The seeds were created, we read in Genesis 1, we're going to see here in the very next verse, no seeds. How about that? So some real changes and contrasts here. Things that were begun.

Here for example, death enters history in Genesis 3.19. We find here in this very passage we're looking at this morning, no more death. Substantial contrast. Questions that are brought out in Genesis are answered in Revelation. Okay, next.

The other thing, as we mentioned last week, we're going to be looking at the new heavens and the new earth. It was just sort of touched upon last week where they talked about the old heavens and the old earth just passing away. As a matter of fact, the term used, fleeing away. There was no place found for them. Several passages in Scripture either bring up the passing of the old heavens and earth, or the creation of the new, or both. So we have several of those there. We'll be looking at some more.

We also mentioned last week why the need for a new heavens and a new earth. The bottom line is rebellion. Rebellion in heaven, rebellion on earth, and a need to just simply say those are not adequate for what God wants to do. Isn't that amazing to think about? We think, well, heaven's perfect. Well, no. God needs to replace it. How about that? Amazing.

Now, one of the things we're going to see in this passage is that this word new shows up several times. That's a good thing, isn't it? New. The Greek word for new is going to show up a few times, and that word is kynos. Not too tough. Not so much of a tongue twister, some of them. But one of the things we're going to see, there are different words for new in the Greek, and this one refers not to just new in sequence, but it's new in kind and character.

And that's important. If it's possible to have a new heaven and a new earth, it's no better than the last, right? So this makes the emphatic statement. This is new, not just something different from the old one, but it is new because it's different in kind and different in character. It is not the same. Let's take a look here at verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. Now we mentioned the new heavens and the new earth, and the passages that go along with that.

What's interesting here is the Lord has created a new heavens and a new earth and it must be new, not just in sequence, but in kind. It must be new to be sufficient for what God has in mind to do. It must be sufficient for the purposes that God wants to carry out in this new heaven and new earth. We've looked at this word new here, and it's shown up. It's new and kind in character. So we have a new and kind in character earth, a new and kind in character heaven. And then John tells us something that may be a little surprising, but there's a reason for it.

There's no longer any sea. Now a few of you, that possibly may sound disappointing on the surface, but No longer any sea. If you live in Colorado, you can't be too much in love with the sea. But anyway, no longer any sea in this new earth. This is a world that has a different appearance. It's a world that has a different ecology. A very different character. But we're going to see in a minute why these large bodies of water are not only no longer needed, but no longer appropriate.

Let's take a look at verse 2. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. It's real interesting as we turn to this verse. The structure of this verse comes off like this. It says in the Greek, and the new city, the holy one, new Jerusalem, I saw it descending out of heaven from God. At first you might say, well, why would you see it quite like that?

Well, think about Jerusalem before. What has Jerusalem been during the tribulation period? Jerusalem has been a place where the Antichrist has come in and violated the temple. Jerusalem has been a place where the Lord has ruled, yes, but he's had to rule with a rod of iron.

Why? Because human beings still have the sin nature. Jerusalem has been a place that, earlier in Revelation, we saw described as Sodom and Egypt. Not good comparisons, right? Not good. So now we see this, and I saw the city, the Holy One, in contrast to the one before. And something else, we've also read about another city, haven't we?

Babylon. That one, for centuries, has led the nations astray." So the Lord is making a sharp contrast here. This is the city, Jerusalem, and it's the Holy One. It's unlike the cities before, and it's unlike Jerusalem before. This is very different. Different in kind, not just in sequence. Now, He describes this new Jerusalem, did you notice that?

As coming down out of heaven. What's fascinating is he doesn't say where it lands. You see that? Coming down out of heaven, he doesn't say down to the earth situated here. He doesn't quite make that clear. But what is clear is the distinction, the contrast, the separation between heaven and earth that we know now will be done away with. Right now, access is something that we uniquely have as believers, but it's not common to all mankind, is it? The earth knows separation from heaven, because we know God as being a holy God, the character of the earth, the character of man, keeps heaven and earth from having intimate contact.

Then John's description is interesting, fascinating, He makes this comparison of this new Jerusalem as being like a new bride, ready for her husband. Adorned, is the way he puts it. And just so we have it in the picture, this is a traditional Jewish bridal outfit in biblical times. I've never had this stuff on, but they say that's what they wear. Now, there are three aspects, if you think about this, there are three aspects of a bride in preparation for her husband that we ought to take a look at. First thing, a bride adorned for her husband brings out this point.

A marriage is designed by God to be permanent. So, this pictures this as our eternal home. Always, forever, eternal, fixed, permanent. The next thing is that it figures this New Jerusalem as being beautiful and glorious. It's the same picture that Paul brings up in Ephesians 5, verse 27. The beauty and glory of the bride are reflected. That's how John describes the New Jerusalem as he sees it.

I recall at our own wedding, let me see now, 29 years and 17 days ago. At her own wedding, I was standing up front, you know, kind of situated something like this. And I remember as Nancy's dad first walked her through the doors, I just was amazed. Frankly, I nearly fainted. Most of the people were looking at Nancy, but there were a few that were looking at me and watching me just turn sheet white, you know.

And I, oh man, you know. Marvelous! Beautiful! I like it! And that's the image that John is describing here. He looks at it and he says, Wow! Marvelous! Beautiful! Glorious! I like it! That's the picture he's describing for us here. No intentionally faint though.

The next thing that comes across, the bride is to be pure. Paul brings that point up also in Ephesians 5. And that pictures the purity of the Holy City. So we see these three aspects brought forth as he compares this New Jerusalem, this Holy City that is coming down out of heaven. He pictures those aspects as a bride adorned for her husband.

There's something else about that too. Just some excitement. This is a very special time. It's a special moment, isn't it? In all eternity, the Lord has said, this is the place. This is what I had in mind. All those centuries passed when different things were happening and the Lord says, yeah, but I have this in mind. We'll be taking a look at that in a minute here. Now, let's take a look at verse 3 and read on through verse 4 as well. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them.

And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away." Now, for those with sensitive hearing or weak hearts, you'll be happy, you'll be delighted to know that this is the last place where the word pair LOUD VOICE comes up in Revelation. Aren't you glad to hear that? It's this last spot here. So you can rejoice over that one. Now, I'll have to think of another reason to bring up my voice level in the middle of a message, but oh well.

This loud voice, however, comes directly from the throne And one of the things we've seen about the loud voice in the past, all the way through Revelation, the loud voice always comes from heaven or a heavenly being. No exceptions. And this is the last one, and it's not an exception either. But this voice isn't just loud. This loud voice has a loudly proclaimed comforting message. And that's neat. That's a good thing.

As we look at this next verse, one of the things we'll notice is the word among appears three times in this one verse. It communicates an end to all separation from God. He will be with, among, that is, in the midst of, us. Our already permanent position with Him will also be our eternally permanent condition with Him.

Do you get that? Right now we talk about position and condition, and there's potentially a contrast between those two, a tension. That will be done. You won't have to learn about your position and condition separately anymore. Something else to take a look at. Let's examine this verse. Not only do we have the word among showing up three times, But it keeps driving a message home.

There's a tabernacle, and that is an abiding place. He says he is to dwell, and that's an abiding action. Okay? It's an abiding action. He says he's to be, we're to be his people, and that's an abiding possession. And he says he will be among, that's an abiding presence. Look at something else in here. Do you notice all the places where it says God, or God Himself, or Him, or He?

It keeps reinforcing the personal relationship that the Lord intends. The Lord intends intimacy. He specifically wants fellowship with us to be continuous and intimate. The Lord has, from before the foundation of the world, sought for us to have fellowship with Him. And this verse communicates that this is the fulfillment of God's eternal design and desire. He has wanted it profoundly and profusely, and this is the moment He says, this is what it's all about. Isn't it amazing, we who deserve no better than the lake of fire, the Lord says instead, I want the New Jerusalem for you and for us. I want fellowship and relationship, intimate, continuous contact with you. That's what he has in mind. That is amazing, considering what we deserve. John then tells us in verse 4 that the Lord will wipe away every tear. Now notice something. The word tear is given in the singular.

He's not coming at this statistically. He's not saying, I'll wipe away some of them. I'll wipe away most of them. A significant majority. How about that? No. Every, down to the last one. You see, this isn't just a substantial improvement. Ever feel better about a substantial improvement? He says, I'm going beyond that. Down to the last tier. No lingering doubts. No more doubts. No more mourning or crying or pain. Think of what this means to you. Think of the thing that pains you the most. Maybe in your body. Maybe in your mind. Maybe in your past. Something done to you. Something you did to another.

We know that the Lord has purpose in these things. And that He has purpose in pain now. It's not without use and sense. But there will come a time, and he's saying it very explicitly, the Lord is going to put it all away. Wipe every tear gone. No more. He says, it will have fulfilled its purpose. I'm done with that. On to eternity. We've got something else to do. And we'll see what that something else is in a minute.

Verse 5, He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he said, Write, for these words are faithful and true. Then we have it that the Lord Himself is making all things new. You see that? This is the One who made all things initially by the word of His mouth.

Now it's interesting to me, and I discovered this since I was majoring in geology at one point, the world has difficulty believing that God could make the whole universe in six days. He has a tough time with that. So instead they come up with this other idea that it took four and a half billion years. That somehow makes it easier to believe.

But the Lord here, just as boldly as he said in Genesis 1, says, no, I'm going to wipe it all away, heaven and earth is all going to flee away, and I'm going to make it all new. and apparently just as quickly, if not more so. It doesn't even seem to stretch it out.

Now, the Lord tells John next, write these things down. I want you to write this down, John. These words are faithful and true. Now, the Lord isn't just telling John, write these down because it's some sort of religious thing. If you say these words, that makes it good. No, no, no. These faithful and true words were words that in John's day were accepted as those are legally valid, real statements acceptable in a court of law. They are objectively verifiable and demonstrable and can be supported by witnesses. That's the kind of statement he's making. He isn't saying write down these words because I think people ought to hear them, it's nice stuff to hear. He's saying write down these words because these are certifiably, verifiably, objectively true statements. That's what he's saying. We've seen this phrase before, faithful and true, and we're going to see it once more where, interestingly enough, in chapter 22 he says, again, these words are faithful and true. He says it again in that next chapter. Now, let's take a look here in verse 6. Then he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

Now this is the second time in Revelation that we have read the words, it is done. In Revelation 16, 17, we saw it before, that's when the Lord finished pronouncing the last judgments against the earth during the tribulation period. At that point he said, it is done. Now he says, it is done with everything of the old heavens and the old earth. It's all finished. It's completed. There is nothing left to deal with in terms of evil personalities, a cursed earth, a heaven in which there was rebellion. Nothing left. Then he says that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

And that brings us back to a study. Believe it or not, we looked at this in September of last year, so I'm sure you remember it well, right? The flip side of your handout will give some indication here. It says, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. And the reason we saw this is really important is this little chart, and fortunately you have something more readable in your hand there, hopefully.

These statements, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, come right out of Isaiah. Chapters 41-48. And right there it says, the Lord is the beginning and the end. The Lord is the first and the last. And now what do we see? Christ is saying these things. Christ claims to be these things. Christ is not claiming to be something less than God. He is laying out his divinity clearly in making these kinds of statements.

The other thing is, you wonder about this Alpha and Omega, that's Greek. Where does that come from? We mentioned this better than a year ago when we looked at it, but just to remind ourselves here, the rabbis, who of course use Hebrew rather than Greek initially, the rabbis would say not that God was the Alpha and the Omega, they say God was the and they would use the first letter and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So what did John do when he wrote, since he was writing in Greek, he just used the first and the last Greek letters.

To say, it's a way of saying, the first and the last. So even the saying, I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and the alpha and the omega, the alpha and the omega is just another way of repeating the statement. I am the first and the last. It's a claim to deity, nothing less.

Now your chart of course has all sorts of arrows and things of that sort. The main thing is to bring the reference back to the founding verses. Something I want to point out, what you see on the overhead is kind of a light yellow. I noticed on your handout it didn't come out too well. So you might want to take a pen and circle here and here and here and here and down here so that when you look at it a week or a day or something like that from now you'll be able to read it. I'll let you take a look at that more on your own time.

One of the other things that shows up here is this water of life that he brings out. Our Lord tells us that He will give to those who thirst from the spring of the water of life without cost, freely, He says. Now, another thing, remember He said there's no longer any seed.

Remember, the sea here on planet Earth has what? Salt. If someone gets lost out in the ocean on a raft, it's not good to drink that salt water, is it? First of all, it's not going to satisfy any thirst that you have, but secondly, it doesn't really solve the problem because of all the salt in it, in terms of what the body needs. No longer any sea.

Guess where the water comes from? The Lord supplies directly, as needed. What do you need? They'll supply it. And it's not just water. This is the waters of life. This is the living stuff. The Lord's the provider of it. That's why you don't need the sea. Now, one other thing. Did you notice the end of verse 6? Did you notice that? The end of verse 6.

Without cost. Freely. And I think that's just something marvelous to see. There's no way that we can gain what He has bought already at His own expense. There's no earning this. Not even a little bit, not even a part. Our Lord tells it straight out, it comes without cost. Flat out. It is given. Given entirely at His expense. We call that grace. Grace. freely, without cost. And that's the way the Lord provides it. Verse 7, he who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Here we have a return to the frequent he who overcomes theme that John brings out in Revelation. As a matter of fact, as you look up those words here and look at the way it's used, John is just about uniquely the way the one who uses the word overcome, or overcame, or overcomers. The other New Testament books use the word, but not in the same way. John uniquely uses it this way, which is fascinating.

But one of the things we want to take a look at here, we looked some months back at a chart here, who are the overcomers? And one of the things that we found is at the end of each one of the messages to the seven churches, There was a statement of, he who overcomes, and then we gave a reference. Well, it's a little bit more than we're going to be able to handle or address entirely this morning, but we did address it before. In case you want to get a hold of that or somehow didn't get it in the first place, copies additional, again, out in the little cabin out in the hallway, so you can grab those, where this is summarized in much greater detail. To give you a for instance of what I'm talking about though, let's take a look. Here's the one for the church at Ephesus.

Revelation 2.7, the second half of the verse says, To him who overcomes, which is kind of the preface phrase to each one of the overcome statements at the messages to the churches. To him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. And what we're going to see as we get into the next chapter in Revelation 22, Here is the fulfillment of that promise. He who overcomes.

Each one of the messages to the seven churches has a statement like that, and there is at least one verse, sometimes as many as four or five, that show the fulfillment to those who overcome. So anyway, if you didn't catch up on that when we covered it some months ago, you may want to pick up on it with the printout in the hallway there. Look at it here. If we look carefully, we'll see that the references to the believer in this verse are singular and individual.

He who overcomes. His God. My Son. Do you see the personal relationship in that? The Lord is telling us in this verse that our personal relationship with Him, in a way that seems impossible in this world, but our personal relationship with Him, is what the Lord is aiming at here. It is the Lord Himself telling you that He Himself wants to have ongoing, uninterrupted, intimate and personal fellowship with you. Explicitly you. How about that? Not just the bunch. Yes, that's true. But explicitly you. He individually addresses you.

Now, this is true of our position now as believers, isn't it? It's true of our position. That's true of our condition now as we place our faith in the Lord. But then it will not be by faith. How about that? There will be a time when faith will be superseded. It will be a time when we won't be by faith fellowshipping with the Lord. It will be face to face. One of the things that's amazing is there will be no variability between our condition and our position. Our condition will continuously forever be consistent with our position. How about that? Isn't that neat? That's neat.

Verse 8. And for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the light that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. It's funny, after all this really good positive verses, now we've got this mention of all this negative stuff. Why did that come up? Well, let's take a look at it here. The Lord is not mentioning these things to hang something over our heads. The truth is, many of the people who will be with the Lord in the New Jerusalem will have this kind of background.

Wasn't Peter a coward? as he denied Christ, right in front of other people who could hear him and see him? Wasn't Thomas unbelieving as he refused to believe? He says, unless I see the prince. Wasn't he unbelieving? Wasn't the thief on the cross abominable? Wasn't Paul a murderer? Didn't Paul write to Corinthians about these very kinds of things?

We see up here on the overhead. He writes to him in 1 Corinthians 6, 9-11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." These people that Paul is describing here are those who make up the church at Corinth. It's not so much that he's speaking badly about the people of Corinth. That's not his point, particularly. Instead, Paul is speaking powerfully about the washing and justification and sanctification of everyone who believes. That's his point.

One of the things I mentioned in times past is my grandmother was a missionary to Fiji Islands. And in the Fiji Islands at the time there were cannibals. So she was a missionary to these cannibals. And these cannibals were of a kind and of a type where they would sneak up on people, they would attack them, whatever, and you could go to the marketplace, my grandmother would tell us, you could go to the marketplace and there would be chicken meat and pig meat and people meat. And you'd just see it all laid out there. Anyway, one of the missionaries that was there was a lady, single lady, and she was getting ready for bed one night and she She looked down and saw these feet at the end of her bed underneath. And the Teteans, by the way, she tells me, are pretty tall people.

So that's why he didn't stick completely under the bed. Anyway, rather than panicking or running out, she just made her preparations to go to bed. And she did as she usually did. She opened her Bible before going to bed, and she began reading some verses out loud. And as she began reading these verses out loud, she would read from one verse to the next. And then she prayed, as she usually did before she went to bed. And she prayed for various things, as she commonly did. And then at the end of her prayer, she says, Lord, I pray for the man who is underneath my bed and wants to eat me. And he came out from underneath that bed. And put his trust in Jesus Christ that day. We'll see him here. But the thing is, he's one of these two. And it's not what he was.

By putting his faith in Christ, he doesn't need to worry about, oh, I was a cannibal. No. Because it's Christ's righteousness, and not his. I might as well have been a cannibal. Because it's the righteousness of Christ by faith that counts, not the listening. So when we look at this list, there's no intent here to say, okay, these people aren't going to do that, and I'm going to hang it over you Christians. No. If we don't rely upon Christ's righteousness, then all we've got is our own, and it doesn't measure up. It doesn't. We must have Christ's righteousness by faith and nothing less.

Now, what we've been reading about this morning, is how we who have placed our faith in Christ will spend eternity. That's really what it's about, isn't it? It's giving us some insight, some glimpse of how we who believe here this morning are going to spend eternity. I hope it's about you.

But here's an amazing thing, and we're just going to get a very tiny sliver of it as we read about Revelation over the next few weeks. Ephesians 2, 4-7 says this, But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, and by grace we have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. In the ages to come, He's going to show us. In the ages to come, and to come, and to come, and to come, and to come, He's going to show us.

So in the next couple of chapters, we're not going to read it all, folks. There is much, much more that John could even have begun to write. No, the Lord says, I'm going to show you a couple of things in chapters 21 and 22, but the rest, you're just going to have to wait ages for me to show all the things that I have. It's going to be marvelous. It's going to be fantastic. It's so new. Not just new in sequence, but new in kind. I can just begin to lift the curtain on what's going to happen next. Isn't that neat?

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your marvelous grace so freely provided for us. And your righteousness has given us this to look forward to. And in our position, by faith, we're there already. And we thank you for that. Thank you that we can count upon that. And Lord, in that special relationship that we have with you, in that special relationship that you have designed for us to have with you, we can look forward to that and growing in intimacy as the ages roll on and seeing from one age to the next what that grace means. How marvelous. We give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.