Heaven Is Real!
Revelation 21:1-8
Message #1
God originally created this earth and all of creation, perfect. He created Mankind to live in his perfect creation and to have perfect fellowship with him and with one another. What got in the way? Sin and the devil. Sin separated us from God and from the paradise that God had created for us. It separated us from relationship with God and relationship with one another. BUT GOD… what did Jesus Christ do? Remember Easter morning – Jesus Christ reconciled us to God. (This is the whole story of the Bible.)
Here’s the deal. Sin separated you from God. God loved you enough to give his only Son to reconcile you to God. And Jesus Christ died to reconcile you to a right relationship to God. But not you only. All of creation was separated from the glory of God because of sin and the fall of man. It wasn’t just you and I that were cursed; all of creation was cursed by the fall. And so, since those days in the Garden of Eden when all of creation was perfect and this earth was perfect, creation itself has been groaning wanting to be free from the corruption sin brought.
Look at what it says in Romans 8.
Romans 8:20–21 (NLT)
20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
All of creation is groaning, waiting to join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Guys, let me tell you something, the best is yet to come. This isn’t as good as it gets. The best is yet to come.
God ends the entire Bible, not just Revelation; with two magnificent chapters all about Heaven. Why? Because the best is yet to come. Because Heaven is coming. Heaven is what keeps us pushing forward. Heaven is what keeps us looking for tomorrow. Heaven is what keeps us, as Paul says in Philippians 3, running the race with our eyes set on Jesus Christ. Heaven is what does that.
This past week I had a difficult experience of joining a young, faithful couple in a very traumatic experience in their life, in their family’s life. And I was really, really hurting for them. And when I asked them, “How are you getting through, how are you doing?” this young man who is a very, very faithful man, a young man that I am proud of, he said to me:
“We know God has great things in the future for us, and we’re holding on to that, looking forward to that.” – And then he said – “We’ll get thru this - by looking forward to the good things God has in store for us.”
Ultimately, but he was talking about Heaven. And his comments to me just rang in my mind as I was preparing this message because that is what Heaven is about. It’s about us having the good things to look forward to, the promised things to look forward to. Believers have always used Heaven as a motivation, as a driving force. Because the greatest of all things that God has given us here, listen carefully, they will be glorified and amplified in perfection in Heaven. And they will be without sin.
For two chapters in Revelation, we are going to be looking at what is Heaven? What does it mean? What are we going to do there? What does it look like? And can I really, honestly look forward to it? Can it be that driving force that keeps me focused and moving and running the race?
And so, today we are going to talk about some general information. I am going give you big summary truths today, and then over the next few messages we are going to keep digging in and digging in and digging in. And so, we are going to learn a little bit more about Heaven in each of the next three or four messages.
The chapters about Heaven are the best chapters in the Bible. The best chapters in the Bible are about Heaven. Can I just tell you something that you might not readily accept? The best chapters in your life are about Heaven. And if you can’t fully embrace that now, I promise you the moment you show up there you will embrace it. Heaven is the best of everything that you can imagine here. Our imagination or our thoughts are so affected by our surroundings, that so much of what we imagine Heaven to be like is what we can see now. I am here to tell you right now, and you are going to hear it all through this message, that the best that you can imagine of this earth is all that Heaven is about, only amplified and glorified and without sin. That’s what I want you to hear today and that is what I am going to say over and over and over again.
Listen carefully, it is the best of all the Godly relationships that you have today. The best of the Godly relationships that you have will be amplified and glorified in Heaven without sin. The best love that you can imagine on this earth will be amplified and glorified in Heaven but without sin. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. God is love, so when you feel love here and you think that’s God, true Godly divine love, do you think he is going to take that away in Heaven? Of course not, because that is who God is. And so, the love you experience here is amplified, glorified, perfected, and without sin in Heaven. The relationships too, as long as that person is saved or gets saved.
We need a better view of Heaven. Christians today need a better view of Heaven. Listen, the last thirty or forty years there has been a move in our cultural Christianity to focus more and more on what God can do for us in this life. “God, if you’re really real then please fix my life now.”
I said to a young man sitting on a couch in our office “Do you realize that God doesn’t exist primarily to make this life better for you?” And he throws himself on the couch and lets out this scream. He said, “If God is not here to make this life better for me, then what good is God?”
We need a more accurate view of Heaven. Not a view where we say, “Yeah, I’m glad I’m going there, because it’s better than the alternative.”
But sometimes we say that with a longing that we are going to miss something here. Like we are going to miss relationships, or we are going to miss the things of this life that we love. I want you to know today that Heaven is not taking away anything that is godly about this life. Heaven is going to drastically improve and increase what is godly and divine about this life. What we know about God now, is in part. It’s like looking in a mirror dimly. But then we are going to know as we are known. So, all that you know about God right now is just going to explode in Heaven.
Listen carefully to what CS Lewis says.
CS Lewis
We are now in the “Shadowlands” - we’re looking into a mirror dimly – We see and experience only a shadow of what God has created FOR US – and created us TO BE.
We are seeing something of what God created for us. We are seeing something of what God created us to be, only the fallen something, only that something affected by sin. It is only that love and those relationships and the beauty of this earth that are affected by sin, but still, it is a shadow. Maybe a dim shadow, but a shadow still. And so, Heaven is where all that God has created for us, of which we see a shadow now, and all that God created us to be, of which we see a shadow now, Heaven is where those things explode into the divine reality that is not impacted by sin.
So, here is the problem we have. We think that everything good about this life is going to be gone in Heaven. Listen, that is a lie of the devil. Because what is in your life today that is of God, God is not going to change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is going to be the same. He is only going to take you from the shadow view of something that is godly and give you the tremendous divine, perfected view.
We need to blow out our incorrect view of Heaven. Heaven is not disembodied. It is not an “only spiritual” place. You are not going to be floating on the clouds, playing the harp, for eternity in Heaven. That is nowhere in the Bible. Here is the truth that the devil doesn’t want you to know. Heaven is going to blow your mind! Heaven is going to take the best of everything you can consider and just amplify it and perfect it. And God is going to be there, personally.
I know I am repeating myself. But I am trying to change something that this culture and (I believe) the devil himself has worked into the Christian mind. The best of the godly relationships you have here are going to exist and be perfected, and be amplified, and be glorified in Heaven. The best of the experiences that you have here are going to be amplified and perfected and glorified in Heaven. The best of what you know about God is only a mere shadow, it’s an inkling, it’s a minute, itty bitty bit. And when you get to Heaven all that you know, all that you feel in relationships, all that you love that is godly is going to explode in front of you. We need to get a little excited about that.
The people that you love that are Christians, you’re going to know them in Heaven. The relationships that you have, you are going to have in Heaven. Only glorified. Only perfected. Only without sin. The love that you feel here is there amplified, perfected, and glorified. The experiences you experience here, will be amplified, perfected, and glorified. The wonders that you see on this earth, you’ll see amplified, perfected and glorified. Heaven is real! The only thing that is missing in Heaven is sin and the effects of sin and things that are tied to sin.
So, listen, if you are under the subtle deception of the devil that the only things that are exciting and fun have to do with sin (I know you thought that at one time), that is a lie. Here’s the truth plainly stated. Sin leads to death. So how in the world can we say, “All my buddies are going to be partying in hell and I’m going to be in a little white toga strumming a harp on a cloud for eternity?”
We’ve got to get that out of our minds. There is no party in hell. There is torment. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity. That’s the truth. And it is just as big a lie for you to say, “I guess it’s alright if I sit on a cloud even though I’m not that big into playing a harp.”
There was this cartoon, I think it was The Far Side cartoon. It shows a guy in a white robe sitting on a cloud in Heaven with a harp. And his harp is sitting next to him and he is just sitting there. And the caption says “I should have brought a magazine.” That’s not true! Have I gotten it across?
Heaven is going to rock. It’s going to blow your mind. It’s going to be the best of anything you can imagine. You’re going to know the people that you love here that are saved. You are going to have relationships with them and relationship with God. And listen carefully, you are going to be productive. We are going to share the dominion of all creation with Jesus Christ. I’m going to show you that. Which means you’ve got some work to do. We are going to look at the parables of Jesus about the different places of service in Heaven. But right now, what I want you to hear is you’re not going to be bored. You’re not going to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs and singing hymns from the 1700’s for eternity.
Listen, we are going to have dominion over all of creation for Christ. That means we are going to have something to do. Most of all we are going to be in a very real, very personal present, tangible relationship with our eternal heavenly Father and with our Savior Jesus Christ. We are going to be with them. He is going to be our God and we are going to be his people. He is going to be there personally, really, tangibly. It’s going to be real.
It’s critical that we get it right in our minds because if we don’t, we will say, “Hey God, I thought it was all about what you could do for me in this life.”
Listen, James says this life is a vapor. It’s a mist. You might not see tomorrow, but Heaven is forever. And Heaven blows this life away. So, I want you to have the passion and the encouragement to press on, looking towards Heaven, setting your sights on Heaven. Do you know that the Book of Revelation was written to encourage saints that were in persecution? I mean it was a heavy time of Roman persecution in the first sixty years of the church, up to 90 A.D. or so.
So, God says how best can we encourage these saints to survive full-on, lions eating you, tearing you limb from limb martyrdom. God says, “I know. Let’s tell them about Heaven.” That is how God chose to encourage the persecuted believers. And somehow the devil has convinced us that Heaven is not really our goal. He has convinced us that our goal is some BMW or whatever it is you want God to give you in this life. And God is saying, “Do you want trash? Do you want kindling for the fire? That’s all you want? Because I’ve got streets of gold and a personal relationship, and sharing the dominion of all creation with you. But if you want a landfill and kindling for the fire, be careful what you ask for. That kindling will burn up really quick.”
The devil has convinced us that this life is good and that Heaven is a better alternative but not that exciting. In Philippians 1:23 the Apostle Paul says listen, I would rather go home to be with Jesus. Because being with Christ is far better than staying here on earth. But then Paul says, listen, for your sake, I will stick around. But I would rather go.
In Philippians 3, beginning in verse 20, Paul says,
Philippians 3:20–21 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
That is good news! It is going to be a glorified body, and that is good news. We need to exchange the lies of the devil for the truth of the scripture about Heaven. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ today, you need to set your mind on a real, tangible, physically resurrected body, as Jesus’ resurrected body is like. And if you say what is Jesus’ body like? Check out his body after the resurrection. We will have a real resurrected body, in the presence of a real, live Jesus. With a real in-person God. On a real, resurrected, restored, perfect, glorified earth. A real earth. God wants you to set your mind on these things.
But if we are saying, “All I see is me floating around, kind of like a ghost, and it doesn’t look that exciting,” then we may have a perspective problem. The Bible doesn’t say that. What you see here that is godly is only a shadow of who God is and a shadow of where we will live. God wants you to set your sights on the realities of Heaven. The devil wants to keep you from doing that.
Look at Colossians 3.
Colossians 3:1–2 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Set your sights, focus your mind, be consumed with the realities of Heaven. And I would say first you have to know what they are, so you can set your mind on them.
When was the last time in prayer you said, “I can’t wait to be in your presence, Lord? Show me Heaven. Teach me about Heaven. I don’t care about the things of this world Lord. I want to think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.”
When was the last time your prayer time was consumed with the things of Heaven? It might be because you’re too busy asking for God about the things that are going to be kindling for the fire; things that the devil has convinced you are important – things you think you need.
It’s the accurate realities of Heaven that will keep you going. It is the accurate realities of Heaven that help you face illness, terminal disease, and valleys that don’t look like there is any way out. That is when you need to know about Heaven. Listen, if the devil can’t convince you that Heaven doesn’t exist, he wants to convince you it’s not that fun. Why? It’s so you don’t try to get anybody else to go with you. It’s like saying, “Yeah, I’m going to Heaven but you guys will probably have a pretty good time there in hell.” Or something like, “Yeah, I’m going. But if you don’t want to go it’s okay.”
It’s because you don’t know the realities of Heaven. You don’t know how intense it is, how incredible it is. And if you knew you would be saying, “You’ve got to go with me. I can’t go alone! You have to go with me!” The more you know about Heaven, the more passionate you’ll be to get others to go with you. Heaven is where your REAL LIFE is.
Continuing in Colossians 3.
Colossians 3:3-4 (NLT)
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
If you think this is your real life and that eternal life is your float-around-on-clouds spiritual life, you have it backward. This is your soon-to-vaporize life. Your real life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ who is your life is revealed to the whole world you will share in all his glory.
You may say, yeah but Heaven is so far away. And I would say it takes as long as a puff of smoke for this life to disappear. That’s how long away Heaven is. Listen, this isn’t your real life. If you’re a Christian today, this isn’t it. Your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Where you are at today is a shadow of your real life. It’s a dim shadow.
But we’ve put so much into this life; we care so much about it. We want God to do so much for us in this life. And God is just saying “You don’t get it. I’ve done everything for you and it is a vapor away. It’s one breath away.”
This is a shadow of your real life. One day as Colossians 3:4 says, you will share in all his glory. The things you experience in this life that are most like God will not go away, they will be amplified, glorified, and perfected without sin. That’s good news.
Yes, we are getting to Revelation 21. But before we get there, I need to recommend a book to you. I’ve heard about this book for so long, I’ve heard other writers make reference to this book. I’ve read quotes out of this book. Well, recently, I decided to read it. The name of the book is “Heaven” It is by Randy Alcorn. It’s 450 pages about Heaven. If you are a Christian, you are going to spend eternity there, so you should get to know about it. Look into it. Get excited about it. Read the book and get excited about Heaven. It will inspire you to think deeply. I got really excited about Heaven, and it inspired these messages on Heaven.
So, we start with the new Heaven and the new earth. Maybe you’ve heard this, and you’ve thought of an ethereal, spiritual something. But think about these words, “the New Earth.”
Revelation 21:1 (ESV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
The New Earth, which is part of Heaven, will not be a spirit-only, ethereal, Casper-like place. It will be earth like we know it. That might be a revelation to you. It will have dirt and rocks and mountains and huge mountain ranges. It will have people. It will have animals. It will have cities. It will have travel. All that we know of this world, that is of God, will be in the New Earth, only amplified, and perfected, and glorified, and without sin.
That word for “New Earth” is the Greek word “GE.” We get our word “geology” from that word. It means the actual tangible dirt. It’s real. Heaven is real. It involves a real earth from which we get the word geology.
And then look at this word “first” at the end of verse 1. The “first” earth. This is so cool. The word “first” there is the Greek word “PROTOS.” It’s the word we get our word “Proto” from, as in prototype. Like “first type.” This earth is the prototype of the New Earth. The first earth, the prototype, has gone and the New Earth has come. The restored, the glorified, the perfected earth has come.
“Yeah, but what will it look like?”
It will look like a prototype. Just like your body will look like your glorified body in some way because Jesus’ body did. Your body is the prototype for your glorified body. This earth is a prototype for the glorified earth. So, you can look around and say “Whoa, God. I love this. This is going to be amplified and glorified in Heaven? Okay, I’m in, because this is cool. I like to be part of this.”
Far too often, guys, we don’t see Heaven as real as this earth. But this earth is the prototype of Heaven. Your body is the prototype of your glorified body. If you’ll grasp that, you’ll have more of a passion as you imagine what it will look like when God removes sin and removes the effect of the fall and amplifies it and glorifies it, and perfects what we see today as a shadow. You’ll be living on a new actual earth. You’ll actually live there with each other, and God will actually be there as real as you can touch him.
Do you realize that just as Colossians 3 says this isn’t your real life, your real life is hidden with Christ, that also this earth isn’t the real earth? It’s a prototype. If someone hands you the prototype, you’re like okay, that’s cool, where’s the real one. When you reach down and touch this earth, you are touching something that is going to soon be gone. When you reach down and touch the New Earth, it’s permanent. It’s there for eternity. Not with you floating above it. Instead, with you living on it, in a dwelling place, with God, and with others that you love. Working, moving, serving, having dominion over all creation.
The earth has a capital city. (I am skimming through this because we are going to come back to it.) Revelation 21 verse 2. Every country has a capital city, right? The New Earth has a real city, a perfect city. The City of God.
Revelation 21:2 (ESV)
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Now listen, we are going to get into the fact that so many people say “That’s not really a city.” Why is it not really a city? If the earth is really the earth, why not a real, New Jerusalem? Why not a glorified, amplified, perfected Jerusalem? It’s real. And it comes down from Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. We are going to get into it in the next message.
So, we have this real New Earth, with a real New Heaven, and we have a real new city coming down from Heaven to the New Earth. Here’s the best part of all, in verse 3.
Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Now listen, we read that and we think yeah somehow a bright light on a throne, but I can’t really get close. It’s inexpressible glory. But God is going to really be there and you are going to really be with him and it is tangible. It’s real. You can touch it. It’s not ethereal and spiritual.
My only point today is to tell you that Heaven is real! And what makes Heaven, Heaven, most of all, is that God is really going to be there. So, connect this real earth with a real Jerusalem coming down, and a real God with you really living there and you start saying “Okay, it’s starting to sound a lot better than floating around in a toga.”
Heaven involves a real earth, a real holy city with a real relationship with God. And notice that God’s dwelling comes to man. Do you see it in verse 3 there? the dwelling place of God is with man. It doesn’t say that man is taken up to be with God. But the concept is God coming down to the New Earth in the holy city to dwell with man. It’s the real deal. God comes down with man. He, himself, will really, tangibly be with us.
Right now, sometimes we pray, “God right now I just need to know that you are with me, I just need to feel your arms around me.” At that point he will say, “Well, come here, son,” and he will take you in his arms.
Look at Revelation 21 verse 4.
Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The Father will personally wipe away the tears. Death has been done away with. There is no more mourning, there’s no more crying, there is no more pain because the former things have passed away. All of the fallenness of the world has passed away. The effects of sin have passed away.
Listen carefully to the great commentator H.A. Ironside about this verse.
H.A. Ironside says here:
This passage is beautiful in its simplicity, and comment would only seem like an attempt to paint the rose. How longingly must every believing heart look forward to that glorious day!
God, I can’t wait, because I know it is real. I know Lord; I’m going to be there with you. I know that you’re going to be my God and we are going to be your people. And it’s going to be real and tangible and glorified and perfected and amplified and without the effects of sin. I can’t wait.
Continuing in Revelation 21,
Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Guys, God is restoring this earth. He is restoring all things. Listen, this word “new” that is used here does not mean “new” as in something that has never been in existence before, newly created. It means “returning to its original state.” It is the word used for restoring, as you would restore something. Behold, I am restoring all things to perfection, like what we know as the Garden of Eden. I am restoring all things, I’m making all things new, I’m restoring our relationship, your relationship, all things without sin.
Then he says to John “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Don’t be duped by the devil or the love of this world. Hold on to this, take it to the eternal bank.
Revelation 21:6–7 (ESV)
6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
What does that make you want to do? Conquer, right? I definitely want to conquer, God. I want to conquer because I want that heritage! I want that to be my heritage. I want to make sure I am there. I want to make sure you are my God and I am your people. I want to be on your New Earth. I want to experience all that you have for me, Lord. I’m going to just keep following you. I’m going to run the race; I’m going to set my eyes on Jesus. I am going to keep on it because I am going to get there!”
Those who conquer will have this heritage. It’s already done. It is the most thrilling, most fulfilling, most passionately driving thing you can focus your mind, your thoughts, and your life on. And it is way more real than you think. We will get into more next message.
Why, though, is verse 8 there? Is there a chance that God would want to make sure if an unbeliever is reading this that he would be shocked into reconsidering his position?
Revelation 21:8 (ESV)
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
The Holy Spirit wants Heaven contrasted with the only other choice. Let me tell you really firmly. This is a graphic list of unbelievers. There is not one believer in this list. This is a list of those whose lives have been characterized by these sins without the cleansing or the life of Christ in them. There is no believer that has slipped into sin in this list because Jesus Christ, when he saved you, wrote your name in the Book of Life in his own blood. This is a list of unbelievers. Consider Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world . . .
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Listen, when you were part of Revelation 21:8, God made you alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. By grace. You can look back at Revelation 21:8 and you can remove every one of those things from your life and still go to hell for eternity. You are saved by grace. When you were dead God made you alive with Christ. How? By his grace and through your faith and through your faith alone. Ask and you’ll receive God’s grace for salvation. Repent of your sins and turn to Christ, and he will save you and he will wash you and cleanse you of your sin, and you’ll get to go to Heaven with us!
Here’s how Randy Alcorn closes his book – Heaven:
We were all made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is the place. If you know Jesus, I’ll be with you in that resurrected world. With the Lord we love and with the friends we cherish, we’ll embark together on the ultimate adventure, in a spectacular universe awaiting our exploration and dominion. Jesus will be the center of all things, and joy will be the air we breathe. And right when we think “it doesn’t get any better than this” – it will.
To be there (in Heaven) you must begin the adventure here (on this earth). Turn from your sin. Put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and begin this eternal adventure with him, today.
Here’s the deal. Sin separated you from God. God loved you enough to give his only Son to reconcile you to God. And Jesus Christ died to reconcile you to a right relationship to God. But not you only. All of creation was separated from the glory of God because of sin and the fall of man. It wasn’t just you and I that were cursed; all of creation was cursed by the fall. And so, since those days in the Garden of Eden when all of creation was perfect and this earth was perfect, creation itself has been groaning wanting to be free from the corruption sin brought.
Look at what it says in Romans 8.
Romans 8:20–21 (NLT)
20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
All of creation is groaning, waiting to join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Guys, let me tell you something, the best is yet to come. This isn’t as good as it gets. The best is yet to come.
God ends the entire Bible, not just Revelation; with two magnificent chapters all about Heaven. Why? Because the best is yet to come. Because Heaven is coming. Heaven is what keeps us pushing forward. Heaven is what keeps us looking for tomorrow. Heaven is what keeps us, as Paul says in Philippians 3, running the race with our eyes set on Jesus Christ. Heaven is what does that.
This past week I had a difficult experience of joining a young, faithful couple in a very traumatic experience in their life, in their family’s life. And I was really, really hurting for them. And when I asked them, “How are you getting through, how are you doing?” this young man who is a very, very faithful man, a young man that I am proud of, he said to me:
“We know God has great things in the future for us, and we’re holding on to that, looking forward to that.” – And then he said – “We’ll get thru this - by looking forward to the good things God has in store for us.”
Ultimately, but he was talking about Heaven. And his comments to me just rang in my mind as I was preparing this message because that is what Heaven is about. It’s about us having the good things to look forward to, the promised things to look forward to. Believers have always used Heaven as a motivation, as a driving force. Because the greatest of all things that God has given us here, listen carefully, they will be glorified and amplified in perfection in Heaven. And they will be without sin.
For two chapters in Revelation, we are going to be looking at what is Heaven? What does it mean? What are we going to do there? What does it look like? And can I really, honestly look forward to it? Can it be that driving force that keeps me focused and moving and running the race?
And so, today we are going to talk about some general information. I am going give you big summary truths today, and then over the next few messages we are going to keep digging in and digging in and digging in. And so, we are going to learn a little bit more about Heaven in each of the next three or four messages.
The chapters about Heaven are the best chapters in the Bible. The best chapters in the Bible are about Heaven. Can I just tell you something that you might not readily accept? The best chapters in your life are about Heaven. And if you can’t fully embrace that now, I promise you the moment you show up there you will embrace it. Heaven is the best of everything that you can imagine here. Our imagination or our thoughts are so affected by our surroundings, that so much of what we imagine Heaven to be like is what we can see now. I am here to tell you right now, and you are going to hear it all through this message, that the best that you can imagine of this earth is all that Heaven is about, only amplified and glorified and without sin. That’s what I want you to hear today and that is what I am going to say over and over and over again.
Listen carefully, it is the best of all the Godly relationships that you have today. The best of the Godly relationships that you have will be amplified and glorified in Heaven without sin. The best love that you can imagine on this earth will be amplified and glorified in Heaven but without sin. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. God is love, so when you feel love here and you think that’s God, true Godly divine love, do you think he is going to take that away in Heaven? Of course not, because that is who God is. And so, the love you experience here is amplified, glorified, perfected, and without sin in Heaven. The relationships too, as long as that person is saved or gets saved.
We need a better view of Heaven. Christians today need a better view of Heaven. Listen, the last thirty or forty years there has been a move in our cultural Christianity to focus more and more on what God can do for us in this life. “God, if you’re really real then please fix my life now.”
I said to a young man sitting on a couch in our office “Do you realize that God doesn’t exist primarily to make this life better for you?” And he throws himself on the couch and lets out this scream. He said, “If God is not here to make this life better for me, then what good is God?”
We need a more accurate view of Heaven. Not a view where we say, “Yeah, I’m glad I’m going there, because it’s better than the alternative.”
But sometimes we say that with a longing that we are going to miss something here. Like we are going to miss relationships, or we are going to miss the things of this life that we love. I want you to know today that Heaven is not taking away anything that is godly about this life. Heaven is going to drastically improve and increase what is godly and divine about this life. What we know about God now, is in part. It’s like looking in a mirror dimly. But then we are going to know as we are known. So, all that you know about God right now is just going to explode in Heaven.
Listen carefully to what CS Lewis says.
CS Lewis
We are now in the “Shadowlands” - we’re looking into a mirror dimly – We see and experience only a shadow of what God has created FOR US – and created us TO BE.
We are seeing something of what God created for us. We are seeing something of what God created us to be, only the fallen something, only that something affected by sin. It is only that love and those relationships and the beauty of this earth that are affected by sin, but still, it is a shadow. Maybe a dim shadow, but a shadow still. And so, Heaven is where all that God has created for us, of which we see a shadow now, and all that God created us to be, of which we see a shadow now, Heaven is where those things explode into the divine reality that is not impacted by sin.
So, here is the problem we have. We think that everything good about this life is going to be gone in Heaven. Listen, that is a lie of the devil. Because what is in your life today that is of God, God is not going to change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is going to be the same. He is only going to take you from the shadow view of something that is godly and give you the tremendous divine, perfected view.
We need to blow out our incorrect view of Heaven. Heaven is not disembodied. It is not an “only spiritual” place. You are not going to be floating on the clouds, playing the harp, for eternity in Heaven. That is nowhere in the Bible. Here is the truth that the devil doesn’t want you to know. Heaven is going to blow your mind! Heaven is going to take the best of everything you can consider and just amplify it and perfect it. And God is going to be there, personally.
I know I am repeating myself. But I am trying to change something that this culture and (I believe) the devil himself has worked into the Christian mind. The best of the godly relationships you have here are going to exist and be perfected, and be amplified, and be glorified in Heaven. The best of the experiences that you have here are going to be amplified and perfected and glorified in Heaven. The best of what you know about God is only a mere shadow, it’s an inkling, it’s a minute, itty bitty bit. And when you get to Heaven all that you know, all that you feel in relationships, all that you love that is godly is going to explode in front of you. We need to get a little excited about that.
The people that you love that are Christians, you’re going to know them in Heaven. The relationships that you have, you are going to have in Heaven. Only glorified. Only perfected. Only without sin. The love that you feel here is there amplified, perfected, and glorified. The experiences you experience here, will be amplified, perfected, and glorified. The wonders that you see on this earth, you’ll see amplified, perfected and glorified. Heaven is real! The only thing that is missing in Heaven is sin and the effects of sin and things that are tied to sin.
So, listen, if you are under the subtle deception of the devil that the only things that are exciting and fun have to do with sin (I know you thought that at one time), that is a lie. Here’s the truth plainly stated. Sin leads to death. So how in the world can we say, “All my buddies are going to be partying in hell and I’m going to be in a little white toga strumming a harp on a cloud for eternity?”
We’ve got to get that out of our minds. There is no party in hell. There is torment. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity. That’s the truth. And it is just as big a lie for you to say, “I guess it’s alright if I sit on a cloud even though I’m not that big into playing a harp.”
There was this cartoon, I think it was The Far Side cartoon. It shows a guy in a white robe sitting on a cloud in Heaven with a harp. And his harp is sitting next to him and he is just sitting there. And the caption says “I should have brought a magazine.” That’s not true! Have I gotten it across?
Heaven is going to rock. It’s going to blow your mind. It’s going to be the best of anything you can imagine. You’re going to know the people that you love here that are saved. You are going to have relationships with them and relationship with God. And listen carefully, you are going to be productive. We are going to share the dominion of all creation with Jesus Christ. I’m going to show you that. Which means you’ve got some work to do. We are going to look at the parables of Jesus about the different places of service in Heaven. But right now, what I want you to hear is you’re not going to be bored. You’re not going to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs and singing hymns from the 1700’s for eternity.
Listen, we are going to have dominion over all of creation for Christ. That means we are going to have something to do. Most of all we are going to be in a very real, very personal present, tangible relationship with our eternal heavenly Father and with our Savior Jesus Christ. We are going to be with them. He is going to be our God and we are going to be his people. He is going to be there personally, really, tangibly. It’s going to be real.
It’s critical that we get it right in our minds because if we don’t, we will say, “Hey God, I thought it was all about what you could do for me in this life.”
Listen, James says this life is a vapor. It’s a mist. You might not see tomorrow, but Heaven is forever. And Heaven blows this life away. So, I want you to have the passion and the encouragement to press on, looking towards Heaven, setting your sights on Heaven. Do you know that the Book of Revelation was written to encourage saints that were in persecution? I mean it was a heavy time of Roman persecution in the first sixty years of the church, up to 90 A.D. or so.
So, God says how best can we encourage these saints to survive full-on, lions eating you, tearing you limb from limb martyrdom. God says, “I know. Let’s tell them about Heaven.” That is how God chose to encourage the persecuted believers. And somehow the devil has convinced us that Heaven is not really our goal. He has convinced us that our goal is some BMW or whatever it is you want God to give you in this life. And God is saying, “Do you want trash? Do you want kindling for the fire? That’s all you want? Because I’ve got streets of gold and a personal relationship, and sharing the dominion of all creation with you. But if you want a landfill and kindling for the fire, be careful what you ask for. That kindling will burn up really quick.”
The devil has convinced us that this life is good and that Heaven is a better alternative but not that exciting. In Philippians 1:23 the Apostle Paul says listen, I would rather go home to be with Jesus. Because being with Christ is far better than staying here on earth. But then Paul says, listen, for your sake, I will stick around. But I would rather go.
In Philippians 3, beginning in verse 20, Paul says,
Philippians 3:20–21 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
That is good news! It is going to be a glorified body, and that is good news. We need to exchange the lies of the devil for the truth of the scripture about Heaven. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ today, you need to set your mind on a real, tangible, physically resurrected body, as Jesus’ resurrected body is like. And if you say what is Jesus’ body like? Check out his body after the resurrection. We will have a real resurrected body, in the presence of a real, live Jesus. With a real in-person God. On a real, resurrected, restored, perfect, glorified earth. A real earth. God wants you to set your mind on these things.
But if we are saying, “All I see is me floating around, kind of like a ghost, and it doesn’t look that exciting,” then we may have a perspective problem. The Bible doesn’t say that. What you see here that is godly is only a shadow of who God is and a shadow of where we will live. God wants you to set your sights on the realities of Heaven. The devil wants to keep you from doing that.
Look at Colossians 3.
Colossians 3:1–2 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Set your sights, focus your mind, be consumed with the realities of Heaven. And I would say first you have to know what they are, so you can set your mind on them.
When was the last time in prayer you said, “I can’t wait to be in your presence, Lord? Show me Heaven. Teach me about Heaven. I don’t care about the things of this world Lord. I want to think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.”
When was the last time your prayer time was consumed with the things of Heaven? It might be because you’re too busy asking for God about the things that are going to be kindling for the fire; things that the devil has convinced you are important – things you think you need.
It’s the accurate realities of Heaven that will keep you going. It is the accurate realities of Heaven that help you face illness, terminal disease, and valleys that don’t look like there is any way out. That is when you need to know about Heaven. Listen, if the devil can’t convince you that Heaven doesn’t exist, he wants to convince you it’s not that fun. Why? It’s so you don’t try to get anybody else to go with you. It’s like saying, “Yeah, I’m going to Heaven but you guys will probably have a pretty good time there in hell.” Or something like, “Yeah, I’m going. But if you don’t want to go it’s okay.”
It’s because you don’t know the realities of Heaven. You don’t know how intense it is, how incredible it is. And if you knew you would be saying, “You’ve got to go with me. I can’t go alone! You have to go with me!” The more you know about Heaven, the more passionate you’ll be to get others to go with you. Heaven is where your REAL LIFE is.
Continuing in Colossians 3.
Colossians 3:3-4 (NLT)
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
If you think this is your real life and that eternal life is your float-around-on-clouds spiritual life, you have it backward. This is your soon-to-vaporize life. Your real life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ who is your life is revealed to the whole world you will share in all his glory.
You may say, yeah but Heaven is so far away. And I would say it takes as long as a puff of smoke for this life to disappear. That’s how long away Heaven is. Listen, this isn’t your real life. If you’re a Christian today, this isn’t it. Your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Where you are at today is a shadow of your real life. It’s a dim shadow.
But we’ve put so much into this life; we care so much about it. We want God to do so much for us in this life. And God is just saying “You don’t get it. I’ve done everything for you and it is a vapor away. It’s one breath away.”
This is a shadow of your real life. One day as Colossians 3:4 says, you will share in all his glory. The things you experience in this life that are most like God will not go away, they will be amplified, glorified, and perfected without sin. That’s good news.
Yes, we are getting to Revelation 21. But before we get there, I need to recommend a book to you. I’ve heard about this book for so long, I’ve heard other writers make reference to this book. I’ve read quotes out of this book. Well, recently, I decided to read it. The name of the book is “Heaven” It is by Randy Alcorn. It’s 450 pages about Heaven. If you are a Christian, you are going to spend eternity there, so you should get to know about it. Look into it. Get excited about it. Read the book and get excited about Heaven. It will inspire you to think deeply. I got really excited about Heaven, and it inspired these messages on Heaven.
So, we start with the new Heaven and the new earth. Maybe you’ve heard this, and you’ve thought of an ethereal, spiritual something. But think about these words, “the New Earth.”
Revelation 21:1 (ESV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
The New Earth, which is part of Heaven, will not be a spirit-only, ethereal, Casper-like place. It will be earth like we know it. That might be a revelation to you. It will have dirt and rocks and mountains and huge mountain ranges. It will have people. It will have animals. It will have cities. It will have travel. All that we know of this world, that is of God, will be in the New Earth, only amplified, and perfected, and glorified, and without sin.
That word for “New Earth” is the Greek word “GE.” We get our word “geology” from that word. It means the actual tangible dirt. It’s real. Heaven is real. It involves a real earth from which we get the word geology.
And then look at this word “first” at the end of verse 1. The “first” earth. This is so cool. The word “first” there is the Greek word “PROTOS.” It’s the word we get our word “Proto” from, as in prototype. Like “first type.” This earth is the prototype of the New Earth. The first earth, the prototype, has gone and the New Earth has come. The restored, the glorified, the perfected earth has come.
“Yeah, but what will it look like?”
It will look like a prototype. Just like your body will look like your glorified body in some way because Jesus’ body did. Your body is the prototype for your glorified body. This earth is a prototype for the glorified earth. So, you can look around and say “Whoa, God. I love this. This is going to be amplified and glorified in Heaven? Okay, I’m in, because this is cool. I like to be part of this.”
Far too often, guys, we don’t see Heaven as real as this earth. But this earth is the prototype of Heaven. Your body is the prototype of your glorified body. If you’ll grasp that, you’ll have more of a passion as you imagine what it will look like when God removes sin and removes the effect of the fall and amplifies it and glorifies it, and perfects what we see today as a shadow. You’ll be living on a new actual earth. You’ll actually live there with each other, and God will actually be there as real as you can touch him.
Do you realize that just as Colossians 3 says this isn’t your real life, your real life is hidden with Christ, that also this earth isn’t the real earth? It’s a prototype. If someone hands you the prototype, you’re like okay, that’s cool, where’s the real one. When you reach down and touch this earth, you are touching something that is going to soon be gone. When you reach down and touch the New Earth, it’s permanent. It’s there for eternity. Not with you floating above it. Instead, with you living on it, in a dwelling place, with God, and with others that you love. Working, moving, serving, having dominion over all creation.
The earth has a capital city. (I am skimming through this because we are going to come back to it.) Revelation 21 verse 2. Every country has a capital city, right? The New Earth has a real city, a perfect city. The City of God.
Revelation 21:2 (ESV)
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Now listen, we are going to get into the fact that so many people say “That’s not really a city.” Why is it not really a city? If the earth is really the earth, why not a real, New Jerusalem? Why not a glorified, amplified, perfected Jerusalem? It’s real. And it comes down from Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. We are going to get into it in the next message.
So, we have this real New Earth, with a real New Heaven, and we have a real new city coming down from Heaven to the New Earth. Here’s the best part of all, in verse 3.
Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Now listen, we read that and we think yeah somehow a bright light on a throne, but I can’t really get close. It’s inexpressible glory. But God is going to really be there and you are going to really be with him and it is tangible. It’s real. You can touch it. It’s not ethereal and spiritual.
My only point today is to tell you that Heaven is real! And what makes Heaven, Heaven, most of all, is that God is really going to be there. So, connect this real earth with a real Jerusalem coming down, and a real God with you really living there and you start saying “Okay, it’s starting to sound a lot better than floating around in a toga.”
Heaven involves a real earth, a real holy city with a real relationship with God. And notice that God’s dwelling comes to man. Do you see it in verse 3 there? the dwelling place of God is with man. It doesn’t say that man is taken up to be with God. But the concept is God coming down to the New Earth in the holy city to dwell with man. It’s the real deal. God comes down with man. He, himself, will really, tangibly be with us.
Right now, sometimes we pray, “God right now I just need to know that you are with me, I just need to feel your arms around me.” At that point he will say, “Well, come here, son,” and he will take you in his arms.
Look at Revelation 21 verse 4.
Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The Father will personally wipe away the tears. Death has been done away with. There is no more mourning, there’s no more crying, there is no more pain because the former things have passed away. All of the fallenness of the world has passed away. The effects of sin have passed away.
Listen carefully to the great commentator H.A. Ironside about this verse.
H.A. Ironside says here:
This passage is beautiful in its simplicity, and comment would only seem like an attempt to paint the rose. How longingly must every believing heart look forward to that glorious day!
God, I can’t wait, because I know it is real. I know Lord; I’m going to be there with you. I know that you’re going to be my God and we are going to be your people. And it’s going to be real and tangible and glorified and perfected and amplified and without the effects of sin. I can’t wait.
Continuing in Revelation 21,
Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Guys, God is restoring this earth. He is restoring all things. Listen, this word “new” that is used here does not mean “new” as in something that has never been in existence before, newly created. It means “returning to its original state.” It is the word used for restoring, as you would restore something. Behold, I am restoring all things to perfection, like what we know as the Garden of Eden. I am restoring all things, I’m making all things new, I’m restoring our relationship, your relationship, all things without sin.
Then he says to John “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Don’t be duped by the devil or the love of this world. Hold on to this, take it to the eternal bank.
Revelation 21:6–7 (ESV)
6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
What does that make you want to do? Conquer, right? I definitely want to conquer, God. I want to conquer because I want that heritage! I want that to be my heritage. I want to make sure I am there. I want to make sure you are my God and I am your people. I want to be on your New Earth. I want to experience all that you have for me, Lord. I’m going to just keep following you. I’m going to run the race; I’m going to set my eyes on Jesus. I am going to keep on it because I am going to get there!”
Those who conquer will have this heritage. It’s already done. It is the most thrilling, most fulfilling, most passionately driving thing you can focus your mind, your thoughts, and your life on. And it is way more real than you think. We will get into more next message.
Why, though, is verse 8 there? Is there a chance that God would want to make sure if an unbeliever is reading this that he would be shocked into reconsidering his position?
Revelation 21:8 (ESV)
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
The Holy Spirit wants Heaven contrasted with the only other choice. Let me tell you really firmly. This is a graphic list of unbelievers. There is not one believer in this list. This is a list of those whose lives have been characterized by these sins without the cleansing or the life of Christ in them. There is no believer that has slipped into sin in this list because Jesus Christ, when he saved you, wrote your name in the Book of Life in his own blood. This is a list of unbelievers. Consider Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world . . .
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Listen, when you were part of Revelation 21:8, God made you alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. By grace. You can look back at Revelation 21:8 and you can remove every one of those things from your life and still go to hell for eternity. You are saved by grace. When you were dead God made you alive with Christ. How? By his grace and through your faith and through your faith alone. Ask and you’ll receive God’s grace for salvation. Repent of your sins and turn to Christ, and he will save you and he will wash you and cleanse you of your sin, and you’ll get to go to Heaven with us!
Here’s how Randy Alcorn closes his book – Heaven:
We were all made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is the place. If you know Jesus, I’ll be with you in that resurrected world. With the Lord we love and with the friends we cherish, we’ll embark together on the ultimate adventure, in a spectacular universe awaiting our exploration and dominion. Jesus will be the center of all things, and joy will be the air we breathe. And right when we think “it doesn’t get any better than this” – it will.
To be there (in Heaven) you must begin the adventure here (on this earth). Turn from your sin. Put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and begin this eternal adventure with him, today.