“All Things New"
Revelation 21:1-8
January 6, 2008
by C.W. Powell
“1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Re 21:1-8)
Introduction:
Because we are Christians we walk by faith. Because we walk by faith, we are more future oriented than we are past oriented. This is because of hope. We are saved by hope, as Paul says, because we walk by faith. We put more credence in the promises of the Bible than we do to the promises of science, or psychology, or men’s social theories. It was the Lord Jesus who said “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
This makes the true orientation of the Christian toward the future and not toward the past. We recognize the truth of events in the past, especially those that are recorded in the Bible, but we realize that every event of the Bible is pointed to the future: let me illustrate.
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A. God created the heavens and the earth because of what He planned for the future. He had plans eternal in his mind that were certainly come to pass; for God does not engage in wishful thinking. In the world that He made every sparrow and every hair on your head would have a part to play in His eternal, loving, and righteous plan.
B. Jesus came into the world, not only because of the sins of man, but because God intended to save a people for His name, to being to pass his eternal redemption in Christ Jesus our Lord. In this way, Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, because God sees the future as already accomplished
C. There is a sense in which faith does this: sees the future as already accomplished, as certain as if we could see it with our natural eyes. Faith is therefore the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In this way, Abraham could see that city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God, even while dwelling in tents with Isaac, the heir of the Promise. In the same way Moses “by faith … forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Heb 11:27)
D. There are spiritual reality that can only be seen by faith because they are future; but these spiritual realities impact the present, because of our faith, or because of our lack of faith. God holds us accountable to live in terms of these promises which can only be seen by faith. You are responsible to believe and live in terms of the things that you cannot see.
E. The Book of Revelation records many of these promises, bringing into sharp focus many things spoken by Christ and the rest of the Bible.
F. Because we are created in the image of God, we cannot help but think in terms of the future, and everyone’s life is moved in terms of the future as they see it. Those who have no hope live without hope and die without hope, bitter , disillusioned, and lonely. Those who have a false hope live and work and play in terms of that false hope, but they die like those who have no hope and bitter will be their end in eternity.
G. Peter sums all of this up in the following: “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1Pe 1:3-5 av)
I. There is an inheritance for the people of God, and it is described here in Rev. 21:1-8.
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A. There will be a New Heaven and the New Earth. Not new in the sense of a reset of Genesis 1, but a renovation of all things. Renewed by fire and purged from all impurities. There was no more sea: the ocean is necessary now for it removed impurities so that the earth can sustain itself. The Bible is not written for our curiosity, so many details are omitted, but this one is an important one: Where there are no impurities, no curse of sin and death because of Adam’s sin, there will be no need for the oceans. The earth becomes the City of God.
B. There will be a manifestation of the Kingdom of God, which comes from Heaven. Our city is not on this earth, but is in heaven, as the Bible so clearly states. This is the pointed reality of John’s words in John 1: “The word became flesh and [tabernacled] among us….” And as the Angel of the Lord said to Joseph, “They shall call his name Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’” But what is now hidden will be manifest in that great day, but God dwells with us now by His word and spirit if we believe the promises.
C. In that day every sorrow and every pain will be taken away. All tears will be wiped away. There are many pains that the people of God feel in this life; they sorrow and weep; as your Pastor over these past twenty two years I have seen and be present at many of your sorrows. By faith we know that the sorrows of the people of God are temporary; the joys of God’s people are forever. “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Ps 30:5 av) There will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
D. This is the decree of Him who sits on the throne: vs. 5. This is the “great voice” from heaven. This is the Mediator, the Lord Jesus who is sitting on the throne of His glory even now, according to Phil. 2 and Ephesians 1. He makes all things new: a new relationship with God because of His blood; blessing instead of cursing; a new hope that is on eternal things not on earthly things; new affections on heavenly things where Christ sits at the right hand of God; a new nature implanted within us that seeks to be conformed to Jesus Christ and contends with the old nature derived from Adam; new hope that is in eternal things, not on things on the earth.
E. The words of the Lord Jesus are faithful and true. “It is done” It is finished, the same thing He said on the cross. At the cross all things were finished as far as the justification of the elect was concerned; this speaks of all things finished as far as our sanctification is concerned. He is Alpha and Omega, and this clearly identifies the speaker and the One who sits on the throne: this is the Son of God in Glory as we see in Revelation 1.
F. The invitation: to those who are thirsty. He is the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and this speaks of the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who come to Him, as we read in John “37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (Joh 7:37-39) And again: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Lu 11:13 av)
G. But this inheritance is only for those of faith: There is a solemn warning to those who are unbelievers: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” The character of unbelief and fear is described here, and the manner of life of those who have no hope: fearful; unbelieving; abominable; murderers; whoremongers; sorcerers; idolaters. These are the works of Adam’s seed, not the works of the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ.
H. The character of the godly is described: “He that overcometh….” John leaves us without any doubt in 1John: “4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1Jo 5:4-5 av)
A. Peter tells us:- “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” (2Pe 3:10-14 av)
B. All holy conversation and godliness. In peace, without spot, and blameless. This means that we must put off the old man and put on the new. We are not to make life miserable for one another. The yoke of Christ is light and easy, and is of grace and mercy, not bondage and fear. Our bands are love and our gospel is peace. We are to have peace in our hearts; our hearts should be quiet pools of peace, not raging storms of filth and foam. Such are destroyers and wasters and not builders of the kingdom of God. “Conversation” means the way of our lives. The new life that we live now in terms of the promises is described by Paul in Ephesians 4:
“22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph 4:22-32 av)
C. If you are to live in that new heaven and earth, you must begin to live there now, by faith and by the Spirit of God, for only by faith will we overcome the world.- “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Amen and Amen
May God bless you.