Heaven. We all like to talk about Heaven. Believers and unbelievers alike talk about Heaven. All nations and races talk about Heaven. All religions talk about Heaven, no matter what they might refer to it as. Even Hollywood and its movies likes to talk about Heaven. In fact, see if you remember some of these movies that deal with Heaven and its concept. It’s a Wonderful Life, Heaven Can Wait, Oh God!, City of Angels, What Dreams May Come, The Shack, The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, and Heaven is for Real. In fact, if I had to guess, there would have to be hundreds of movies about Heaven and I’m not even counting all the movies about angels! We as humans indeed have a fascination with the concept of Heaven.
I think the fascination with Heaven is because we know so little about it. Where is it, how do you get there, what does it look like, who goes, what happens there, and who will you see there? But if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have these answers provided for you. You merely need to read. Read God’s Word that is. It continually amazes me how little most Christians know about God’s Word. Now I will jump right in here and take the blame too. If you go back 5 years, I was pretty clueless about the depths of God’s Holy Word. I thought somehow that the preacher’s job was to supernaturally put the knowledge of all of God’s Word into my brain in just 35 minutes every Sunday. (If I went every Sunday!) But I still see people like that every Sunday. They want all that God’s Word has to promise, but they never crack it open. I guess you could say that if they were in college, they would be failing the class of God's Word. In my business law class at UTA, I tried just this. That is, sitting through the lectures but not reading and studying the book. It didn’t go well. We have Christians all over the world today that are sitting through the class but not cracking the text book open. As a result, they are failing the class of life and it shows in their walk with Christ and their lack of a full, abundant life. (John 10:10)
So, if we want to know about Heaven, guess what we read? Yep, we read God’s Word. I’ll never forget the day I stumbled upon Revelation chapter 21. My jaw dropped. Here is an amazingly detailed view and description of Heaven buried in the very back of the Bible. And in one of the hardest books to grasp! It’s almost like God is challenging us to dig deep to find it. But here we are, Revelation chapter 21 and the most descriptive picture we get of Heaven in all of God’s Word. Go figure, if you want to know about the subject, you crack open the book. I’m going to break our study of chapter 21 into three parts as there’s so much to process. Let’s get to it.
21:1 – “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.”
Don’t lose sight that the book of Revelation is a chronological book. Recall all of the seals, bowls, judgements, and then of course the final battle of Armageddon and the banishment of the two antichrists and satan into the pit of fire. As a result of all that God will destroy the physical world as we know it. Therefore, He will need to create a new one. That is what we see here. John saw a new heaven and a new earth for the old one had been destroyed in the last judgements. The new earth is very different as it has no sea. Seas and oceans today cover 71% of the planet so one of the biggest differences will be obvious, there will be alot more land! This will also change the world’s climate very much. Of course, with no ocean there will be no fish, sharks, whales, coral, sea weed, or boats. Too bad for fans of sushi, scuba, and sailing!
21:2 - “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The "New Jerusalem" is Heaven, we will see much more about it later in the chapter. It’s not new in its age, but it’s new to this scene. God did not just create Heaven in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 2, it has been around since the beginning with God, we are just now being introduced to it here. Coming down out of Heaven means it is descending from above.
It’s interesting to note that there are three Heavens mentioned throughout God’s Word. The first is our immediate atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere is comprised of 5 main parts, the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. All together they stretch from the surface of the Earth 6200 miles up. That is one Heaven. Another of the three heavens in God’s Word is outer space. The moon, the stars, the sun, and the countless galaxies that God has created. The last of the Heavens will be the one we see here, the Home of God Himself. The Heaven where all believers in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in the presence of God.
The exciting thing about this verse is the description. It is prepared as a bride for her husband. There is no example that gives me more goosebumps than this. I will never forget my personal experience with my bride. On September 30, 1995, I was standing on the stage at Mimosa Lane Baptist church in Mesquite, Texas. My heart was beating like a hummingbird as those rear double doors swung wide open and I saw my sweet Margie for the first time that day. She was prepared as a bride. She radiated. She glowed with love. I cried. Overwhelming emotion flooded over my soul and to this day I cannot explain why. The bride gives herself to her husband in total love, absolute surrender, and dedicates her life to him. The husband pledges to love his wife as Christ loves the church and laid down His life for it. (Eph 5:25) The two leave their previous families and become one flesh, two lives become one in the presence of God. (Gen 2:24) Folks, I sit here with tears in my eyes once again. I cannot think of a more beautiful picture of Heaven. A beautiful bride that is walking down the aisle to her future husband and the two will soon become one in the presence of God.
As we walk this Earth, it is not our home. We are citizens of Heaven and that is where we belong. But you cannot get there by being good. You do not simply get a spot in Heaven because you were born. Your good deeds don’t earn you a ticket. Money, wealth or fame won’t get you anywhere close to Heaven. There is one way to get to Heaven. One way and one way only. Friends, no matter what the world tells you or what your friends or family might tell you, there is only one way to Heaven. And God's Word is beyond crystal clear on the subject:
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
“I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” John 8:24
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” 1 Tim 2:5
If you want a home in Heaven you can have it. It’s free to you, but a great price was paid for you to have the ability. It’s simple, but it was not simple to secure. It’s easy for you, but it was not easy for Jesus. Simply do this. Admit that you have sinned against God. Sin is anything that you say, think or do that displeases God. We have all sinned. Every human that has ever walked this Earth has sinned. (Rom 3:23) Your sin separates you from a perfect God. And to repair this separation from God you need a lawyer, a mediator, you need someone to make it right between you and God. Jesus did all that on the cross. He was a perfect sacrifice for all and for all time. Admit your need for Him and He is faithful to save you. You can secure a home today in this very Heaven that we will be studying over the next three days. Life is short and we are not promised a glimpse of tomorrow, secure your home in Heaven today through Jesus.
21:3-4 - “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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 is one of the most powerful, most comforting passages in all scripture and in all history. If you want comfort in any language, in any situation, in any trial, it is right here. King Jesus sits on the throne today and He sits on the throne in this prophetic passage. He calls out this message and John writes it down. “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.”
Does this make you fall on your knees in gratitude? It should. If you have called upon the name of Jesus, when your physical earthly body expires, you will go to live with the God of the universe. You will abide with your creator. You will be able to gaze upon the face of God. The God that created everything that has ever existed. When I read this, I cannot fathom. I cannot fathom God’s love for us. We are an evil, wicked, arrogant, stiff-necked people, but God still loves us. I cannot fathom what He did to make this possible. He sent His Son. His precious son Jesus to die for us. We don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve God’s Love. But He gives it, He gives it through His boundless and endless mercy and grace.
He will wipe our tears permanently away. We will no longer experience the emotions that hurt us and cause us to cry. The emotional pain and trauma of life wiped away by our creator. There will be no more death. The single biggest obstacle to man will be gone. Never to be faced again. Because there is no longer death there will be none of the pain associated with it. No deep mourning for a lost spouse. No crying over the loss of your dear mother or father. No car crashes, no heart attacks, no cancer. There will be no death and we will no longer experience the sting that death brings. That day sometimes seems so far away as we see our love ones stricken down today, but my friends do not lose the power of this verse today. Death may seem imminent and looming today, but this life is fleeting. We have eternity laid out before us. And it will be an eternity in the loving arms of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a glorious day we have been provided by the work of Jesus Christ upon that cross. Thank you Jesus for your work on the cross. Because of that we have a home in Heaven with you!
21:5-7 – “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.”
Jesus continues to declare this from His throne. He is making all things new. We will experience a newness of life that we cannot imagine in this bodily equipment we have been given. These bodies have limitations. These little-bitty brains we have are limited. Our emotional capacity to worship God is limited. We will have no limits in Heaven. We will have glorified bodies and they will allow us to live like never before. We will be able to worship Jesus like never before. It will all be new.
It’s interesting to note here that in the midst of this bold, beautiful promise, Jesus clarifies who will live this new life and be here in heaven. Not good people, not nice people, not well-intending people, not religious people. Jesus specifies who will be here in Heaven to live and dwell with God: “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” This signifies those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” in Matthew 5:6. Those who will be redeemed and enter Heaven are those who are dissatisfied with their hopeless, lost condition, and deeply crave God’s righteousness instead. Those who long for the water of life will be given it freely. Those in Heaven will have recognized their sinful, lost state and will have cried out to Jesus to save them from the death of sin.
“The one who conquers (overcomes) will have this heritage.” Heaven belongs to the one who conquers and overcomes. One who overcomes according to John 5:4-5 is:
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” No Jesus, no Heaven.
Even from the throne of Heaven, Jesus is very careful to proclaim that He is the only way to Heaven. Folks, popular opinion today is that good people go to Heaven. That if somebody dies in a car crash unexpectedly that they are somehow allowed into heaven becaue it was a surprise. That if they die of a sudden heart attack, they are somehow able to get into Heaven beause they didn't have time to prepare with Jesus. Popular opinion in our world today has a hard time with this message that Jesus is clearly proclaiming right here from the throne of Heaven. If you have accepted Jesus as you Lord and Savior, you go to Heaven. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you do not go to Heaven. I’m not making this up, being cruel or harsh, or preaching "fire and brimstone", I’m just telling you what God’s Holy Word says. Some people think they will have a tomorrow to get right with God and it will never come. The message here on how you get to heaven is crystal clear.
21:8 - “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.”
Folks, the eternal destination for those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ is laid out right here. Have you ever noticed how God has made things very simple for us? We are the ones that make things complicated. We overthink, we rationalize, we argue, we debate to stress what we want or what we think is "fair." But it’s really very, very simple. I love that God kept it simple.
Admit you’re a sinner, believe that Jesus died for your sins, and that He rose three days later. Call out to Him as Lord and ask Him to save you from the eternal lake of fire mentioned right here in Revelation 21:8. Do that and it is finished. You have an eternal home in Heaven that we discussed today. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It’s easy for us, but it was not easy for Jesus. If you think there is an easier way, there’s not. If you think there’s an alternate way, there’s not. There is only one way and even from the throne of Heaven Jesus clarifies that. Folks, don’t gamble with your eternity. The way is clear, the way is simple...all that matters today is what you do with Jesus Christ.
Tomorrow we will continue on in Revelation chapter 21 and we will start our look at the amazing, awe-inspiring home of God.
Blessings to you all ~ Dan
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