A NEW HEAVEN, A NEW EARTH AND A NEW JERUSALEM
REVELATION 21:1-5
Introduction:
One of the great hopes of the Believer is the coming time when the Lord will make everything NEW. Sin has left its mark on the heavens and this earth. The Lord will remove the stain by make new heavens and a new earth.
The NEW MAN shall inhabit this new earth and especially the NEW JERUSALEM. Let us examine what the Lord will do and the results of these new things.
I. THE LORD WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW
Revelation 21:5, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
A. The Lord declares new things, Isaiah 42:9, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
1. God will create NEW heavens and a new earth, Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
2. It will be a place of REJOICING, Isaiah 65:18-19, “But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”
B. These new things will REMAIN before the Lord, Isaiah 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
C. We look with ANTICIPATION for these new things, 2 Peter 3:13, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
1. We HASTEN the coming of the Day of the Lord, 2 Peter 3:12, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
2. We as believers are MOTIVATED to be found diligent in His service, 2 Peter 3:14, “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
II. THE NEW MAN WILL INHABIT THE NEW EARTH AND THE NEW JERUSALM
A. God has made man a “NEW CREATURE,” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
1. God has RECONCILED the world unto Himself, 2 Corinthians 5:19, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
2. God has made Jesus TO BE SIN FOR US, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
B. God has made a “NEW MAN,” Ephesians 2:15, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”
1. This new man is created in the HOLINESS OF TRUTH, Ephesians 4:24, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
2. This new man is to be “PUT ON” or to be SEEN by the world, Colossians 3:10, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
C. This new man will INHABIT the New Jerusalem, Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”
III. THE NEW JERUSALEM
A. The city is foursquare, Revelation 21:16, “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.”
1. It is a BIG city, 1500 miles in radius (twelve thousand furlongs) and 1500 miles high, v. 16.
2. It is a HOLY city, Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
B. The New Jerusalem is of the Glory of God, Revelation 21:11, “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; “
1. It has 12 gates of pearl, Revelation 21:21, “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
2. The streets are paved with pure gold, v. 21b, “and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
3. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of the city, Revelation 21:22, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
4. The light of the city is Jesus Christ, Revelation 21:23, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
5. There is no night there, Revelation 21:25, “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.”
6. The residents of the city are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, Revelation 21:27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
7. The former things are passed away, Revelation 21:4, “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 tears
b. No death
c. No sorrow nor crying
d. No pain