Heaven : Part 6 - New Creation

Part 6 - HEAVEN

The New Creation

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

INTRODUCTION

Coming now to Revelation chapters 21 & 22, as eternity begins, we see seven new things.

At the end of “time” which God created in the beginning when He made the heavens and the earth, and set them in motion, we will see the beginning of God’s eternity, ALL things will be made new: there will be;

1. a new heaven

2. a new earth

3. a new peoples

4. a new Jerusalem (the pearly white city)

5. the new temple

6. the new light

7. the new paradise

At this point in time, (the climax of time and the beginning of eternity) the Church Age (which we are currently in) will have run its course as the dispensations before it have, and the Rapture will have already taken place (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The Great Tribulation will also have run its appointed course of approximately seven years (Matthew 24:15-26).

The Revelation will have taken place-the time when every eye shall see Jesus and all the people of earth will wail because of him (Matthew 24:27-31; Revelation 1:7).

The Millennial Reign of Jesus on earth will have finished its thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6; Isaiah 11).

Satan will have been loosed from his prison for a little season to try those born during the thousand years when he was chained in the pit, those who had never known temptation; and the battle of Gog and Magog will have been fought (Revelation 20:7-9).

Remember...

Isaiah 65:20

²⁰ "Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere youth;
the sinner who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.

During the thousand year reign there will be Jesus, and the Redeemed with new bodies, and those who will still be born during this time.

Isaiah speaks of the thousand year reign, and says;

There will be no more infant deaths.

Even old men will live out years!

If one dies at 100, they will consider him a youth!

If a sinner reaches 100, he will be considered cursed, which means, if he hasn’t accepted Jesus by the time he is 100, chances are, he won’t.

In the millennial age, there will be no death, unless you are a sinner without Jesus.

People will still be able to make a choice, which should be easy, considering there is no devil to tempt at this time.

BUT, Satan must be loosed at the end of the thousand year reign, and he will tempt those who are not already in their redeemed bodies.

SCRIPTURE READING

All which we are about to discuss is revealed in the Bible in Revelation 21 & 22

I. A NEW HEAVEN

a. Revelation 21:1, 2 “1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

i. Remember, scripture tells us that Satan is “the prince of the power of the air.”So his kingdom must pass away, and be replaced with the new.

ii. Isaiah 64:17 speaks prophecy of the new heaven and new earth coming as well.

iii. This was God’s plan since the beginning of sin.

II. A NEW EARTH

a. Week before last we talked about the new earth, and how the old must pass away because it was filled with sin.

i. The scriptures say in Revelation 21:1 that when God recreates the earth, there will be no sea, which means, oceans that separate bodies of land will not exist.

1. There will still be lakes, and rivers, because scripture speaks of them, but no oceans.

III. A NEW PEOPLES

a. On that new earth will be a new people.

i. Revelation 21:3-8 ^“3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

⁵He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." ⁶He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. ⁸But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Verse 8 lists the “Fruits of the flesh” found in Galatians 5:19-21. These fruits can still be produced by those who were born during the thousand year reign of Christ. Those who behave in this manner during the thousand year reign of Christ will be judged along with all others who opposed God at the end of the thousand year reign during the Great White Throne Judgment.

IV. A NEW JERUSALEM (THE PEARLY WHITE CITY)

a. The pearly white city, New Jerusalem, will be our new home. This is where Jesus went to prepare a place for us. For in His Father’s house are many mansions! Each of us will have one there!

Revelation 21:9-21 “⁹One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." ¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹²It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁶The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. ¹⁸The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.”

V. THE NEW TEMPLE

a. The new temple is not of stone. Revelation 21:22 “And I saw no temple inside: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

VI. THE NEW LIGHT

a. Revelation 21:23-26 “²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.”

i. There will still be a moon and a sun, for the rest of the earth will have need for it. But in the Pearly City, there is no need for it, because Jesus is there.

ii. There will be no night THERE (in the city)

iii. The Gates will NEVER be shut, because this is AFTER the thousand year reign...there is no more evil or disobedience found ANYWHERE!

b. Revelation 21:27 “²⁷Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.”

i. As it states earlier in this very chapter, Revelation 21:8 those type of people will face the second death and the great White Throne judgment. So they will not be on the New earth.

Next week we will talk about;

The New Paradise

The River of the Water of life

The Tree of Life

Government in the New Paradise

Heaven : Part 5 - New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem

Part 5 - HEAVEN

New heaven, New Earth & New Jerusalem

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

INTRODUCTION

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

¹Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, ²not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. ³Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

This is the sign that the rapture is near!

The rebellion in the Greek (great falling away) means the departure of people from God.

1. THE RAPTURE

a. first resurrection (all saved)

i. Luke 17:34-36 "³⁴I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."

ii. I Thessalonians 4:15-17 “...¹⁵According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

b. Judgment Seat of Christ

c. Rewards

2. TRIBULATION

3. THE SECOND COMING

a. Evil locked up until Judgment Day

b. We rule with Christ for 1000 years (millennial age)

i. Revelation 20:4-6 ⁴I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

c. At the end of the 1000 years, evil released for judgment

d. The second resurrection takes place (all unsaved)

e. The Great White throne Judgment with the Books Opened

Revelation 20:11-12

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

It is during this Great White Throne judgment when God will judge not only man for having sin...but heaven, earth and Jerusalem.

In the end, NOTHING which contains sin will be allowed to exist outside of Gehenna, the lake of fire...the second death, eternal damnation.

I. NEW HEAVEN

a. Heaven has had sin

i. Isaiah 14:12-14 ¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

ii. Ezekiel 29:12-19 (Account of Satan’s beginning and end) ¹² "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³ You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.

¹⁴ You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.

¹⁶ Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.

¹⁷ Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.

¹⁸ By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.

¹⁹ All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.' "

b. Heaven was redeemed

i. Heaven was redeemed from the presence of sin by Satan and his followers being cast out.

ii. Revelation 12:7-9 ⁷And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

iii. What did Satan do after being cast from heaven to earth?

1. Genesis 3:1-6 where he is referred to as the serpent...

2. Because he couldn’t take over heaven and be God, he decided to destroy man.

3. Satan now lays claim to the earth and everything in it as his kingdom...still trying to be a god. Luke 4:5-6 ⁵The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.

c. Heaven will be made new

i. So God will create a New Heaven at the time of the great White Throne Judgment of the wicked. A heaven which has never been touched by sin.

II. NEW EARTH

a. Earth has sin

i. Because of Satan’s coming here and trying to establish his kingdom and become a god.

b. Earth has been redeemed

i. Redemption comes through Jesus Christ as His sacrifice reclaims the earth (not just man).

c. Earth will be made new

i. So God will create a new earth, for this one is going to pass away at the great White Throne Judgment.

III. NEW JERUSALEM

a. Jerusalem will see sin

i. When the anti-Christ comes and is revealed just before the rapture, where he will stand in the holy place and declare that he is god.

b. Jerusalem will be redeemed

i. During tribulation God will redeem 144,000 Jews, 12,000 virgin males from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and they will go to Petra, where God will miraculously sustain them until the second coming of Christ, where they will look upon the one whom they have pierced, and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord.

c. Jerusalem will be made new

i. At the Great White Throne Judgment, and the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, and set upon the New earth which resides in the New heaven.

CONCLUSION

Do you see a pattern?

1. YOU TO HAVE SINNED

a. Romans 3:22-23 ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

2. YOU CAN BE REDEEMED

a. Romans 3:24 ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

3. YOU WILL BE MADE NEW

a. I Corinthians 15:53-54 ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.