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
