“I Make All Things New” -- Revelation 21:1-8

“So, what’s heaven like?”

Maybe someone has asked you that question. Maybe you’ve asked the question, to someone or to yourself. I know I’ve often speculated on it. And my answer has come to be a very simple one.

“I don’t know.”

You might think that the Bible is very clear on what heaven is like, but you’d be surprised at how little the Bible does talk about heaven. Yes, it is the place where God resides, where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. It is a place with angels and it is generally assumed that heaven is “up there” somewhere. But that’s really all we can surmise from the Bible. Jesus refers to the “kingdom of heaven” a lot regarding the new hope He brought into our world with His crucifixion and resurrection, but it really relates to more about living under Jesus’ Lordship while living in this world.

I believe one of the reasons the Bible is so ambiguous about what heaven is like is because the Bible’s aim is primarily to speak to us about God and our relationship with Him while we live here on earth. We are given the promise of eternity with Him, but there is really no detailed account of what it will be like to be in heaven.

The closest we have to that is found in the vision that John had that became the book of the Revelation at the end of the Bible.

Background

John had been exiled to an island off the coast of Turkey called Patmos. While there, he had a vision from God that unfolded the future, revealing how the world would end and how Jesus would return and reign victorious for eternity.

There are numerous things John sees that take place in heaven, and it does appear that martyrs and the saved live in heaven while awaiting Jesus’ second coming. The primary function that takes place in heaven is worship and praise.

At the end of the revelation, when Jesus has prevailed and Satan, his minions and the lost have been cast into the lake of fire after judgment, John is shown a vision of what will happen to the heavens and the earth. That’s what we’ll be looking at for the next three weeks. Part Two will speak to the New Jerusalem, and Part Three will address the eternal reign of Jesus.

In today’s passage, we want to look at the emphasis of Jesus’ promise of making all things new. He creates a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem. And He includes a promise of what we can expect in this new world.

Central Truth: When Christ comes again, everything will be new.

New places (1-3)

“New” has a lot of meanings in our world. If someone says they have a new car, they may be driving a used car, but it’s new to them. We speak of a new life when something changes in our world, but we’re still living the same life we were living before the change. It can also mean a new car, as in the first owner of a vehicle, or a new house being built specifically for us. New can mean many things in our world. The “new” world and heaven that John begins to describe can be given many meanings, as well.

John has just seen the final judgment, the white throne of judgment and the final verdict for those whose names were not written in the Book of Life. Having witnessed the tragedy of the condemnation of those who were thrown into the lake of fire, John now sees a very different vision.

“Then 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” (v.1). With God, all things are possible, and it is not beyond imagination that John is literally seeing a new creation being brought into existence before his very eyes. But it’s also possible that John is speaking metaphorically, and that he’s using the word “new” in the sense of a cleansed heaven and earth.

According to one of my commentaries, the Bible always stressed that God’s creation is good. There was never a suggestion that the world in which we live is bad; other philosophers have come up with that idea, but the Bible teaches that God’s creation is good. The Bible teaches that the evil that is in the world is the result of sin, and because we are all sinners, no one is righteous. Paul writes in Romans, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). The idea present is that, just as we suffer because of sin, so, too, has the world and all creation suffered. Sin has brought decay and a less-than-eternal element to creation.

That may be what John is referring to when he refers to the “new” heavens and earth. The “newness” comes because it has been restored to its original condition before Adam and Eve chose to sin. No more pollution or erosion or marring of God’s creation. Imagine what our world would look like if it was fresh, pristine and new. The skies would be so clear, the rivers and streams crystal clear.

But, wait. John says there is no longer a sea. What’s up with that? At the time when John wrote his revelation down, the sea was a scary place. Navigation was primitive and boats were not as seaworthy as they are today. A person was taking their life into their hands every time they got into a boat. Add to that the way the sea could separate us from one another. And there are things lurking in the deep, things that are unseen by most people.

For these reasons, many of the Bible’s writers understood the sea to be a source of evil, and it would only be reasonable that a new world rid of all evil would no longer have a sea. Rivers, yes, as we shall see in a couple of weeks, but seas, no. Assuming that John’s vision is literal in that sense. It’s beyond my imagination, and I would miss not seeing the sea, but I suspect eternity with Christ will far exceed our wildest dreams.

John also sees a new Jerusalem, and we’ll get into that more next week. There is symbolism in that as well.

The main thing we want to focus on is the promise found in v. 3: “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. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

For years, we have yearned for the time when we shall see Jesus face-to-face. We have walked in the faith and the hope that we shall one day walk with Him and talk with Him. I’m guessing I’m not the only person in this room who hasn’t said at one time or another, “One of the first things I’m going to do when I get to heaven is ask Jesus about . . .”

John’s vision tells us that day will come. There will be a time when God will intentionally dwell with us, not in spirit only, but in person. God would not let Moses see His face because no one who sins can stand in God’s presence and live, but for His grace. God’s holiness would destroy any and all sin. But, the day will come, in our new heaven and earth, when sin will be no more, and God will dwell with us as He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden so long ago.

New order (4-5)

We live in staggering times. Read or listen to the news, and we learn that Great Britain is about to enter into a new world apart from a common bond with Europe. Those who seem to know the most about these things are predicting doom and gloom for the British people if they exit the European Union without an agreement. Our president seems intent on rewriting every aspect of our government, tearing up treaties and agreements signed by his predecessors, insisting that he can make a better deal they they did. Whether that’s good or bad, time and history will tell. But we know right now that we are going in a very different direction than we have seen, at least within our lifetimes.

A new order seems to be taking place in our world politically, economically, socially—every aspect of life. The one constant has been the truth of Jesus, because He was, is and shall always be the Way, the Truth and the Life. And yet, John hears a voice from God’s throne that there will be a new order when Jesus brings the new heaven and earth.

The voice says, “He [God] 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” (v.4). The “old order” is a world under the strain of sin, but Jesus’ ultimate victory gives us freedom from the consequences of sin—no death, no fear, no hurt. We will see our loved ones, we will fellowship with friends long gone and we will all be a family of God in the presence of God through His Son Jesus Christ.

To emphasize the significance of the voice’s declaration, the One seated on the throne confirmed these words. “I am making everything new. Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (v.5).

What are the words He’s speaking of—the making everything new, or the promise of healing and comfort? I believe it’s both. The new order is made up of the new heaven and the new earth, along with the promise of His personal presence and eternal comfort. The world in which we currently live—a world of sin and loss, of decay and sorrow—will be forever gone, replaced with something we can only imagine, and live in the promise that it is to come.

These last few verses speak to those who are reading about John’s revelation. Everything about this revelation was to give assurance to God’s people during a time of persecution and uncertainty. By the time John sees his vision, many of the Church’s early leaders have been martyred or sent into exile. The Empire has declared Christianity to be illegal, and it is a capital offense to worship Christ. So the words we read in vs. 6-8 are designed to encourage the Church, to remind us to remain faithful and to stand strong in our obedience to Him. There are two parts to these verses. There is assurance to the faithful, and there is warning to those who do not remain faithful.

To the faithful, Jesus promises, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (vs. 6-7).

When the people of Israel were traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land, one of the constant issues was the need for water. The complaints were constant, to the point that Moses got so fed up that he lost his temper with them. A people living in a dry land are concerned about having enough good water to drink and use for living. Jesus makes that promise here—water without cost from the spring of life. Not only will it be available, but it will be a part of our inheritance, part of our heritage, because we are the sons of God.

The use of “son” is important because only a son could inherit under both Roman and Jewish law. To call us His sons is to let us know that all of us who are faithful will enjoy the benefits of being the sons of God.

On the flip side, though, is a warning to those who, during times of persecution, turn away from God, as well as those who never received Him. “But 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” (v.8).

“Cowardly” is a reference to those who were afraid of facing the persecution that awaited Christians. Think of Peter as Jesus was on trial. The fear then present in Peter was also present in others. In Peter’s defense, he was without the presence of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus did take the steps to restore him. The danger is that some will assume that God’s grace will extend to them—“He’ll understand if I secretly love Him but tell everyone I don’t.” To presume on God’s grace is a dangerous presumption, and to turn our backs on Him is not consistent with His expectations. The cowardly in this instance are those who never repented, but walked away from the faith.

Conclusion

Almost everyone likes new things. We like new clothes, new friends, new cars, new houses, new places to see and things to do.

The greatest new we will ever know is the new heaven and the new earth that awaits us when Jesus returns. He is coming, and I believe He is coming within the next 50 years, though I believe it will be sooner than that.

When He comes, will we be the ones who drink of the waters of the spring of life? Or will we be the ones cast into the second death? The choice is ours. The choice is yours.