I think we would all agree that there are very few guarantees in this crazy world. Yet, we have all at one time been offered a "written guarantee" that we will be satisfied with the product/service or our money will be refunded ( usually within 4-6 weeks). We would also agree that 2020 has been a challenging year in so many ways to say the least. COVID, quarantine, isolation, economic depression, protests, and a presidential election have caused extreme amounts of stress, fear and wonder about what is going to happen next?
Because of this, I thought it would be encouraging to fast forward in our study of Revelation to chapter 21 in which God offers a written guarantee of a glorious, victorious and eternal future to those who believe that His Son, Jesus, died for our sins, was buried and raised again on the third day. In the following passage, John, to whom the Revelation was given, is told by God the Father (the one sitting on the throne), to "write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true". This a written guarantee that the believers' future includes everything that is declared in the first 5 verses of this passage.
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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He 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.”5 He 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.” (Revelation 21 1-5)
All of the following assertions in the verses above are true and guaranteed to the citizens of the God's eternal Kingdom. Today we will focus on the first two: A New Heaven and Earth because the First Heaven and Earth have passed away.
A New Heaven and Earth
The First Heaven and Earth have passed away
No longer any sea
The Holy City, Jerusalem will come down out of heaven, as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
God will dwell with his people
He will wipe every tear from their eyes
There will be no more death
There will be no mourning
There will be no crying
There will be no pain
The old order of things has passed away
I am making everything new
As a believer, no matter how crazy, ugly or evil this current age becomes, we have these guarantees from the Lord who remains enthroned above all the universe for all time. The point of today's study is that all believers are guaranteed to be citizens of the New Heaven and Earth where He will wipe every tear from our eyes as there will be no more death, mourning or crying.
This New Kingdom will be manifest after the current and old order of things has passed away and He makes everything new and dwells with His people in the Holy City, Jerusalem.
As much as I enjoy the creation that God has made and the people that I love in it, it is temporary and, according to God's plan and promise, it will pass away and a New Heaven and Earth will be created by the Lord who created the first Heaven and Earth. This new creation will be very different than what we have ever known in the current fallen creation. While in this world, Jesus declared that His kingdom was not of this world and those that believe in Him are called out of this world into His kingdom. Believers still live in this world until we die or Jesus comes again and the new world begins. The apostle John recorded the prayer of Jesus to the Father before he was arrested, falsely accused, died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day by the power of the Father who will create the New Heaven and Earth.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.18 As you sent me into the world,I have sent them into the world.19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:13-19)
In this prayer, Jesus acknowledges that He will leave His disciples in the world after His resurrection and asks that they be protected from the evil one and they be set aside by His word of truth. Accordingly, every believer still living in the world that is passing away needs and has been given two important resources: Protection from the evil one who is the prince of this world; The Word of Truth which will empower believers to live in the world into which we are sent to share the good news of the kingdom until the new age appears.
Following His false arrest and prosecution by the Jewish Sanhedrin, Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, who asked Jesus if He was the King of Jews who had turned Him over to Pilate for judgement. Jesus confirms in His answer that the Kingdom of Heaven is not of this world and is greater than the world that will pass away.
Jesus said,“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)
Indeed the challenge for believers is to live in this world though we are not of this world. Let us remember that becoming a Christian is more than giving intellectual assent to a series of doctrines, it is a new spiritual birth into a kingdom that is not of this world. At the moment of baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in the life of the believer. Jesus explains this to the Pharisee, Nicodemus ,when he asks what Jesus means by a new birth.
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John:3:4-6)
When we are born into the family of God through the new birth, we also become a citizen of the Kingdom of God which is perfect, pure and perpetual. As such, we continue to live in this world, but we are no longer of the world. Our eternal home is located in the eternal Kingdom of God which John is describing in the verses above. So what is the evidence of our guarantee that we are citizens of the eternal kingdom? The Apostle Paul explains this in his second letter to the Corinthian church
5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5: 5-6)
At the moment of the new birth, the believer receives the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit as a deposit who is the guarantee of the future and our part in it. The evidence of the new birth, is more than a change of mind, it is a transaction whereby, because we have believed in the Son, the Father gives us the Spirit whose presence gives us confidence we are indeed and in fact a citizen of the Kingdom that is to come. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
All of the gifts and fruit of the Spirit that are described in the New Testament are evidence of this guarantee. When the Holy Spirit convicts, encourages, leads, empowers, and produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control in the life of the Christian, it is evidence that He is present and that we are a citizen of the God's eternal Kingdom that is yet, but certain to come.
So then, as we face all the challenges of living in this present, temporary world system that seems to get increasingly evil every day and more antagonistic to the principles of the New Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, let us remember and be encouraged by the truth that ultimately this world will pass away and God will create a New Heaven and Earth in which we will live gloriously as citizens of the eternal Kingdom of God. WE HAVE A WRITTEN GUARANTEE!
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