The New Heaven
Sermon Notes
Intro
Well Happy Christmas Eve everybody! My name’s Louis I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. If you’re a first time guest welcome to our church. We’re glad you decided to spend Christmas Eve with us, and we want you to know City Awakening is a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community. We believe that truth and joy is found in Jesus, but we also realize not everybody has the same level of faith. In fact part of my story is I was a skeptic, I was an atheist who came to faith sitting in a church my wife invited me to. So we want this to be a place for both skeptics and believes to seek truth and find joy in community. We believe that truth and joy is found in Jesus, but if you aren’t at that level of faith, you’re still welcome to come back in 2023. If our Christmas Eve service impacts you, if it speaks to you, if you enjoy it, then we’d love for all of you to consider coming back in 2023. But here we are at the end of the year, and it’s the end of a series we’ve been doing called The Story. We’ve been going through the entire biblical narrative this year, and tonight we’re at the end of that narrative, where Jesus returns at the end of history. Christmas is all about the 1st coming of Jesus, the incarnate birth of Jesus, and how he came to give us a gift. He came to give us a gift of eternal joyful life in heaven with him. So tonight we’re taking a look at the 2nd coming of Jesus, to see what that gift of eternal joyful life is like.
Now I did a little google search to see what some people think eternal life in heaven is like, and one girl said, “When I die I’ll be given a tour around heaven. Then I’ll be taken to my mansion, and it’ll have a food court like in a mall. I’ll have a Burger King, McDonalds, Krispy Kreme, Baskin Robbins, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Wendy's. I’ll also have a gym, a library, a movie theatre, a zoo, a candy shop, and an ice cream mountain. Remember heaven’s whatever you want it to be, as long as it isn’t threatening to God.” Okay so my 1st issue is how does Taco Bell make it in, and Chick-Fil-A doesn’t? Everybody knows Taco Bell tastes good going in, but it leads to a cage fight in your stomach after it’s in. So that’s my 1st issue, and my 2nd issue is she says heaven’s whatever you want it to be. But it’s actually whatever God wants it to be, which is better than you want it to be, because he created you and knows what’ll bring the most joy to you!...I found another one from a pastor who said, “When I think of heaven it makes me depressed. I’d rather cease to exist, because I can’t stand the thought of floating in clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp…It’s all so terribly boring...” There’s a lot of people who think this. They think heaven’s a boring place where we sing in an eternal choir, and listen to Morgan Freeman reading scripture all day. But the bible gives a much greater picture of heaven than this, and it’s things both skeptics and believers are seeking in life. So let’s turn to Revelation 21 and check it out. Revelation is the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 21:1-7. Title of tonight’s message is The New Heaven, and here’s the big idea. The hands that came to wipe away our sins, will wipe away our tears...The hands that came to wipe away our sins, will wipe away our tears...
Context:
Here’s your context. The Apostle John is the author of Revelation, and he writes this in the 1st Century during a time when Christians were facing brutal afflictions by the Romans for their faith in Jesus. In ch 1 John says he was a partner in these afflictions, meaning he’s facing these afflictions too, and he gives us 2 reasons for writing this. He says in Revelation 1:1, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave to show his servants what must soon take place.” So he writes this to 1st reveal a few things about Jesus, and 2nd to reveal a few things about what’ll soon take place. It’s in ch 21 that Jesus reveals to John what’ll happen at the end of history, and what heaven is like. He does this so John, 1st Century Christians, and us can have hope, as we live in a current world of afflictions. I’ll breakdown what he reveals into 3 words. It’s renewal, reunion, and relief. We’ll see heaven includes renewal, reunion, and relief. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Revelation 21:1-7 states, “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 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.” What’s happening here is the end of history. It’s the current world as we know it expiring, it’s passing away, and there’s a renewal. It says there’s a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem, and in the original Greek they used two words to describe something that’s new. They used neos for something brand new, and kainos for something remade/renewed. The word used here is kainos, meaning Jesus will renew heaven and earth, into something far better than it is now. The heaven and earth that exist now are separated, but in the future they’ll be renewed together as one. It’ll literally be heaven on earth. We’ll have everything we love and enjoy now that’s good, but far better because all the beauties and pleasures of creation will be enhanced. 1st Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” In other words trying to describe the beauties of heaven is like trying to describe the beauties of a sunset to a blind person. They can’t enjoy it unless their sense of sight is renewed, just like we can’t enjoy the beauties of heaven unless our senses are renewed. I mean right now we’re limited to only 5 senses, but what if our renewed life is enhanced to over 100 senses! In fact many scientists are claiming we have way more than 5 senses! What if we have over 100! In heaven all our beaches, mountains, sights, sounds, senses will be enhanced in ways far exceeding our imaginations! The beaches in Tahiti and mountains in Utah will be renewed in ways far more beautiful than we see it now! Brisket and burnt ends will be renewed in ways far more tasteful than we taste it now! Tim Keller says, “Heaven isn’t pie in the sky, it’s a feast on earth!” C.S. Lewis says it’s a place where “every chapter is better than the one before it!” It's because everything’s being renewed in ways far better than it is now.
An atheist will tell you to enjoy the beauties of a sunset now, because it’s all coming to an end when you die. But what we’re learning here is the beauties of life won’t die, they’ll be renewed and enhanced! I try pointing this out to my kids whenever we see a beautiful sunset. I point out how the Lord displays his creativity and beauties to us every day, if only we take time to look at. But even the creativity and beauties we see in our sunsets now, are just glimpses of the infinite creativity and beauties we’ll see in heaven. It’s because everything we love and enjoy now that’s good will be renewed and enhanced! I know some people draw a line saying our pets won’t go to heaven, But I’m not sure we can draw that line, because didn’t animals exist in Eden before sin and death existed? Didn’t Jesus say he cares even when a sparrow hits the ground? If he’s renewing the oceans, can’t he renew our pets? If we’re talking spiders, they’re most likely in hell. If they aren’t, then my heart will be renewed to like them. Until then I exterminate them, by calling my wife...My point is this isn’t just a renewal of our lives, it’s a renewal of all creation! So it’s impossible to get bored in heaven, because it’ll be a feast where every chapter is better than the one before it! It’ll be a feast where we enjoy all the renewed, enhanced, beauties and pleasures of creation as it was intended, before the curse of sin and death started decaying it.
Again vs. 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... 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:, ‘Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his people,, and God himself will be with them...” What’s happening here is a reunion. There’s renewal, but also reunion. It’s reunion with Jesus and all who put their faith in Jesus. It says the sea was no more, which doesn’t mean there isn’t water in heaven. It means the oceanic waters won’t divide nations anymore. People won’t be divided by nations, race, wealth, politics, relational conflicts anymore. We’ll still have diversity in heaven, but it won’t divide us anymore. John says in Revelation 7:9, “I looked and there was a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language...” It’ll be a big family reunion where we’ll get to enjoy peace with Jesus and others, including those we love. We’ll be reunited with those we love, see and hug those we love, without sin and death dividing us. When we die our spirit immediately goes to heaven, but when Jesus returns he’ll reunite our spirit with renewed, imperishable, resurrected bodies like his. Those of us who are older than 40 can’t wait to have renewed imperishable bodies! I felt like everything started going downhill as soon as I hit 40. I used to get injured playing sports, now I get injured rolling out of bed! I wake up feeling sore like I did a triathlon, when all I did was sleep! But when Jesus returns, we’ll have renewed, imperishable, resurrected bodies like his! We’ll have physical bodies to physically see and touch those we love. We’ll feel the warm clasp of their hands, the warm embrace of their hugs, be reunited with those we love again. The greatest reunion will be our reunion with Jesus, because without him this renewal and reunion wouldn’t exist. The text repeatedly says all this is because God will be with us. Jesus is often called Emmanuel, which means God with us. He's our Emmanuel, our God with us, and all the miracles he did in his 1st coming were samples of the renewal and reunion we’ll have in his 2ndcoming. What makes heaven great is we’ll be reunited with Jesus, we’ll enjoy a face to face friendship with Jesus, and he’ll wipe away all the painful tears of life forever. The painful tears of life won’t have place, when Jesus is with us face to face.
Vs. 4 states, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.” You know what that’s called?...Relief...It’s called relief...Heaven includes renewal, reunion, and relief from all our afflictions! In his 1st coming Jesus used his hands to be pierced for our sins, but in his 2nd coming he’ll use his hands to wipe away our tears. It’ll be relief from all our afflictions forever! No more tears from marital, family, relational conflicts...No more tears from mental health issues like anxiety or depression...No more tears from physical health issues like chronic illness or cancer...No more chemo, counseling, or coroners...No more urgent cares, hospitals, tears shed at funerals...No more pains from sin, sickness, suffering, sadness, or death...When Jesus wipes away our tears in heaven, it’ll be relief from all our afflictions forever! Does this mean we’ll forget all the painful tears we had in this life? It’s possible we’ll forget. But from what we’re learning it’s more likely we’ll be filled with so much joy, we won’t even think about those pains. It’s like when you’re doing something you enjoy that’s so much fun, it takes you away from all your pains. In those moments you’re filled with so much joy, you don’t even think about your pains. In heaven we’ll be filled with so much joy, we’ll either not think about our past tears, or we’ll think about them in a renewed way understanding the reasons and good that came from those tears.
There’s a woman named Joni Eareckson Tada who broke her neck in a diving accident as a teenager, and she became a quadriplegic. She’s currently in her 70’s, and after reflecting back on her life, she now claims there’s good that came from her accident. Tada says, “I hope I can take my wheelchair to heaven. With my new glorified body, I’ll stand up on resurrected legs and say, ‘Jesus do you see that wheelchair? When you put me in it, it was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. The harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. I don’t think I would’ve ever known the glory of your grace, were it not for the weakness of that wheelchair. So thank you for that Jesus...Now if you like, you can send that thing to hell.’” If you notice she doesn’t ignore her pains, she admits her accident caused a lot of pain! She even admits she hates her wheelchair and wants it to go to hell. But she also admits she now sees the good in it, because it led her to faith in Jesus. Christianity doesn’t teach us to ignore our pains, or that we’ll get to understand all the reasons and good that comes from our pains this side of eternity. It teaches us to admit our pains, but also to find hope for our pains. It teaches us to find hope and relief, in knowing Jesus will one day wipe away all our painful tears forever.
Again vs. 4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new.’ He also said, ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true...6 I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God.’” Jesus tells John to write these things down to give 1st Century Christians and us hope, while living in our current world of afflictions. But he also says the only way to enjoy the renewal, reunion, relief of heaven is to put our faith in him. He says it’s a gift he came to freely offer, but just like any gift you have to receive it. The way to receive it is by receiving Jesus as your Emmanuel. You have to believe he’s your Emmanuel who used his hands to be pierced for your sins on the cross. He says if you believe in him you’ll inherit these things, which is the gift of eternal joyful life in heaven with him. It’s the joyful life we’re all seeking, but can’t find in created things. It’s because this world isn’t our heaven, it’s a lesser distorted view of heaven! It’s like watching a 3D movie without the glasses. It’s all distorted! But if you put the glasses on everything comes into focus, and you see things the way the creator of the movie intended. In a similar way human sinfulness prevents us from seeing the world clearly as our Creator intended. We’re seeing a distorted view of the world leaving us asking “Why is marriage so hard? Why is parenting so hard? Why is school and work so hard? Why does life have to be so hard?” Those questions are clues telling us something isn’t right with our world. The biggest clue is the death of somebody we love! At a funeral we cling to their life saying “This isn’t right! Death isn’t right! It feels so distorted!” That’s because it is distorted, and Jesus came to bring clarity back into our lives again. He came to give us the gift of eternal life in heaven with him, where we’ll get to love our spouses, kids, family, friends, without sin distorting those relationships. We’ll get to love Jesus without distractions, feeling rushed for time, having a divided distorted heart that loves other things more than him. We’ll get to see all the enhanced beauties and pleasures of creation, without sin and deaths distorted decay.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that the hands that wiped away our sins, will wipe away our tears...The hands that wiped away our sins, will wipe away our tears...The Christmas season is a time where we celebrate Jesus as our Emmanuel, our God who came into this world to die for our sins on the cross, and turn our tears into dancing again. If you’re a skeptic, if you walk away from here without putting your faith in him, you’ll keep going through life in 2023 like you did this year. You’ll keep trying to find joy in a decaying world that can’t ever satisfy. Solomon said the Lord put eternity in the hearts of humanity, and nothing in this world can ever satisfy us except him! Blaise Pascal called it the great abyss inside every human heart! You can keep trying new diets, new clothes, new jobs, new gadgets, new drinks, new dispensaries, new relationships, but none of it will ever give you the joyful new life you’re seeking. So will you go through 2023 trying to fill the joy void in your heart, or ask Jesus to fill your heart? Will you go through 2023 living the same decaying life, or ask Jesus to change your life, to give you a new life tonight?
If you’re already a believer, this text teaches you don’t have to ignore your pains. You don’t have to suck it up, put on a fake happy face, and act like everything’s okay in life. Instead it teaches to admit your pains, express your pains, and find hope in knowing Jesus will one day wipe away all your painful tears forever. So admit whatever pains you’re facing in life, express it to Jesus, and find hope in knowing those pains have an expiration date. Is it hard? Yes. Does it hurt? Yes. But always remember this place isn’t your paradise, and your pains won’t last forever. Jesus is taking you to a better paradise, and that’s how your story will end. It’ll end with a new eternal joyful life, filled with enhanced beauties and pleasures in heaven, with Jesus...Let’s Pray.
In response to the joyful gift Jesus came to give us, we’re going to pass out some candles and worship Jesus. When you receive your candles go ahead and turn them on, and let that light be a symbol of the light Jesus wants to shine, into the darkest parts of your life. So let’s stand, turn our lights on, and worship Jesus for who he is and what he’s done for us. He’s our Emmanuel whose hands wiped away all our sins, and who’s hands will one day wipe away all our tears.