THE NEW EARTH AND NEW HEAVEN
REVELATION 21:1-8
Key verse: v. 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.”
Introduction:
History as we know it will have come to an end and God prepares to purify everything that sin had contaminated. The Devil is in the Lake of Fire with all of his fallen angels as are the Antichrist and the False Prophet. All unbelievers have been judged and sent to their eternal abode in the Lake of Fire.
Now God opens a new chapter in the history of man – that of the eternal bliss in the presence of the God of heaven. Consider what He plans to do:
I. A NEW WORLD IS CREATED, v. 1.
A. The new heaven.
1. The Lord starts with heaven because it was contaminated by Satan rebellion.
2. This is the only reference to the new heaven in the Bible.
B. The new earth.
1. Satan has contaminated the earth with his presence.
2. Satan contaminated the earth as he tried to convince man to rebel against the God of heaven, Genesis 3:1-5
II. A NEW WORLD FOR A NEW MAN, vs.3-8.
A. The changes that God will make regarding the born-again man, vs. 3-7.
1. God will dwell with man, v. 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.”
2. God will do away with some things that have plagued man, v. 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.”
a. No more tears, Revelation 7:17, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
1) No more death, Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” 1 Corinthians 15:26, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
2) No more sorrow, Isaiah 35:10, “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
b. No more pain because there will be no sickness.
3. The beauties of Eden will be restored, Isaiah 55:13, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
B. The description of who will not qualify to live in God’s heaven, v. 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.”
1. The fearful, those too timid to receive Christ as Savior for fear of man, Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”
2. The unbelieving, John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 16:9, “Of sin, because they believe not on me;”
3. The abominable, the Greek word means, “to stink,” perhaps referring to those that pollute their own bodies, Romans 1:26-27.
a. Adoration of Images, Deuteronomy 27:15 “Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.”
b. Cheating the customer, Deuteronomy 25:13-16, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. 15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
c. Incest, Leviticus 18:18 ”Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.”
d. Sodomy, Leviticus 18:22-23, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.”
4. Murderers, and whoremongers, Revelation 22:13, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
5. Sorcerers, =Greek, “pharmakeus” those who use drugs, i.e. spell-giving potion. Deuteronomy 18:10-12, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” [One who claims to know the future through communication with the dead].
6. Idolaters, Greek = a worshipper of false gods, used of anyone even Christian, participant in any way in the worship of the heathen, esp. one who attends their sacrificial feasts and eats of the remains of offered victims. Ephesians 5:5, “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
7. All liars, to deceive one by a untruth, John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
C. Nothing that corrupts will be there.
1. Nothing as it was in Noah’s day, Genesis 6:11-12, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”
2. No sinners will be there, Psalms 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”
3. Our uncorrupted treasures will be there, Matthew 6:20, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”
4. Corrupt communication will be no more, Ephesians 4:29, “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.”
CONCLUSION:
The new heaven and a new earth will be glorious. It will be like nothing we have ever experienced before. It will be heaven.