If I told you that, of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are 318 references to one particular and specific theme, that’s 1 in every 30 verses, and that only 4 of the 27 New Testament books never mention it, I think you’d have to agree with me that it must be an event of considerable, if not central, importance. The theme is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
It’s an event that should deeply interest every Christian – unfortunately it only seems to attract cranks, oddballs and eccentrics.
For example, after 14 years of intense and serious Bible study a Baptist preacher from Pennsylvania called William Miller published some convoluted charts which showed, he said, that Christ would return on October 22nd 1844. He was a very persuasive speaker and he gathered a large number of followers. On the allotted day, some waited in graveyards, planning to ascend hand in hand with their departed loved ones. Others went to the mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. There was even a group Philadelphia society ladies who met up outside town to avoid any possibility of being seen entering God's kingdom with the riffraff! Thousands of followers, some of whom had given away all of their possessions, waited expectantly – but, obviously, Jesus did not appear as had been hoped. As a result, October 22nd 1844 became known as the Great Disappointment.
I’ll tell you what, when Jesus comes again there will be no disappointment for those who eagerly await his return. There will be no sense of let-down or unhappiness. The mood will be one of joyous relief. Because he will come at the end of a period of history called that the Bible calls the great tribulation. It will be a short time of unprecedented discrimination against and persecution of, Christians. And Jesus will come to put an end to it all by judging the living and the dead. He will redress all travesties of justice. He will avenge all cruel spilling of innocent blood. He will right every wrong.
Then what? What will Jesus do when the books are all closed and the eternal destinies of all are decided and sealed? Then, his kingdom, or his rule, will have no end. To the fanfare of trumpets and the acclaim of millions, he is coming back with a crown of glory, robes of royalty and a sceptre of government – he is coming to reign.
Kevin Keegan’s underwhelming second coming lasted 230 days. Jesus’ second coming will be overwhelming and will last forever.
Be honest with me now. Do you find all this a bit obscure? A bit inaccessible? Do you switch off a bit? Is this just Pie in the sky when you die? Is it easier to look back to Jesus’ first coming in frailty than look forward to his second coming in glory?
I think most of us do. But, actually, God puts much more emphasis on Christ’s return than he does on his arrival in Bethlehem. Consider this statistic; for every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which announce his second. So we have to take this seriously because God does.
So let’s look at Revelation 21. The Bible is a library; and like any library you’ve got biographies, history books, philosophy, legal documents, collections of letters, tomes of poetry and so on. Revelation is in the section of picture books. It’s a series of visions where we get to glimpse behind the curtain of life as we know it.
And we find that in a world of famine, disaster, earthquake, environmental catastrophe and war – there are satanic forces at work, there are angels and demons and we find that God’s throne is above them all. And, most of all, we can flip to the end and see that the perpetrators of evil will get what they fully deserve, and those who resist in faith will triumph and be vindicated. Because we see who wins the war – it’s Jesus.
But it’s when we get to chapter 21 that everything changes. Something new is happening.
“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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 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.”
1) What Is This “New Heavens and New Earth”?
What is this “new heavens and new earth”? Could it be that this is just symbolic about something? Or does it actually mean that the earth and space that we know are going to be scrapped and rebuilt?
The fact is that this isn't just a weird vision from an unfamiliar corner of the strangest book in the Bible. God first mentioned this over 700 years before Christ when the prophet Isaiah announced, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. The new heavens and the new earth that I will make will endure forever before me.”
What's wrong with the old earth? Why is it going to be replaced with a new one? The Bible says that the world that God created has become fragile and brittle and unstable because of sin. Because of sin the planet we live on is under a curse which is why we have flooding, mudslides, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, desertisation, drought and famines.
Romans 8.18-22 puts it this way: “The creation waits in eager expectation... The creation was subjected to frustration... The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay... The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
In other words this whole created order; heavens, earth, everything is decaying, crumbling, falling apart at the seams. It's unravelling before our eyes.
The writer to the Hebrews says that God is going to shake the earth and the heavens so hard that only the kingdom of God will be left.
Peter adds more detail. 2 Peter 3.7-13 says this: “The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire… The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare...”
So Revelation 21 is not a prophecy we can dismiss as obscure and symbolic because God has given us clear, unambiguous Scriptures which say the same thing.
The New Jerusalem, God's chosen city, is the focal point of the New Heavens and New Earth. It's where the action is. It is where God most abundantly pours out his blessings and reveals his glory in the renewed creation.
The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven perfectly proportioned, never to be destroyed. God is telling us here that the fullness of his awesome presence, the place where his majesty shines brightest, is coming to be with us for an eternity so blissful and pleasurable it is hardly describable.
There’s an important point that we miss here if we don’t read Revelation through. In chapters 17 and 18 you have a vivid description of another city; Babylon. Babylon stands for everything and everyone that opposes God and his people. Babylon is a tarty, gaudy, drunken harlot. Jerusalem here (in v2) is a beautiful pure bride in a radiant wedding dress, prepared for marriage.
I was saying on Thursday at Alpha that one of the things that I have the privilege of doing here is taking weddings. I love it. But there’s one part of the wedding service that I love most. It’s the moment right at the beginning. All the friends and relatives have gathered in the church. The bride has spent all morning preparing. She’s arrived at the back of the church usually a couple of minutes late! She wants to keep him waiting but not too long. Everyone in the church is dressed up for the occasion, and then the moment comes when it all goes quiet. The music starts and everyone looks round. And the bride comes in down the aisle, the husband-to-be who is waiting here at the front, turns round and he looks at his bride, beautifully dressed for her husband.
If I’m in the congregation I always get emotional at that moment! If I am marrying the couple, I try to keep my composure. That’s how we will be one day.
There are only two cities. Babylon, the harlot and Jerusalem, the bride. The point is you can only live in one or the other. There is no third city. If you’re not in the New Jerusalem you’re in the Old Babylon. Jesus said, “Anyone who is not for me is against me.”
Babylon, this anti-Christian order that harasses, picks on, attacks and persecutes God's people, is going to fall under God's judgement never to be rebuilt. Jerusalem, the community of persevering believers who delight themselves in the Lord, no matter what the cost, will endure forever.
2) What Will Eternity Be Like?
If someone asked you “What do you think eternity will be like?” how do you think you’d answer? Do you know where is this New Earth going to be? I don't. Billy Graham once said, “It doesn't matter where it is. It will be where Jesus is.” Is it a real place? What did Jesus say? He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you.” And we will have physical resurrection bodies in which to explore it and enjoy it.
In 1 Corinthians 2 it says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” The Bible speaks of streets, rivers, trees, eating and drinking, music... There have been many people who have had near death experiences who claim to have caught just a glimpse of it. I don’t think this is proof of anything but I do think it’s interesting that they say things like, “It was stunning beyond description,” “There was beautiful music unlike any other I have heard.”
C.S. Lewis said: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Nothing could be more pleasurable and delightful than the future God has prepared for us. Nothing compares.
In 21.1 it says there will be no more sea. The sea symbolises mystery and turmoil and evil in the Bible. People used to be terrified of the great monsters the sea was thought to hold. People felt uneasy about the surf pounding relentlessly, day and night, never at rest - and so it came to represent inner anguish and unrest.
And the sea is about separation. It divides countries, peoples and continents. Having lived in Continental Europe for 18 years I can say without hesitation that the mentality there is quite different from the one we have here in Great Britain. It's mostly because of the channel which started to detach Britain from mainland Europe about 7,000 years ago.
As God gave John the vision of the New Jerusalem it was revealed that there would be no more sea. The things that separate us from each other and from God will be gone. The things that cause us anguish and turmoil will be gone. The things that mystify and terrorize us will be gone because Jesus walks on water, he is master over the sea, and he is coming back to reign.
In 21.4 it says there will be no more tears. You know what it feels like to feel unloved and lost and unfairly treated. Who has not shed lonely tears of a crushed spirit? You really loved someone but it didn't work out. Broken toys. Broken homes and families. Broken promises. Broken marriages. Broken dreams. Broken hearts.
C.S. Lewis once said: “Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
Oh, yes! In the New Jerusalem everything will always be new and nothing will get broken. No one will even remember what brokenness used to feel like because Jesus makes all things new and he is coming back to reign.
In 21.4 it says there will be no death. Our oldest and most persistent enemy will have gone. The longer you live the more death becomes a part of life. Friends die, family die, spouses and even children die, which is why someone said, “I don't think getting old is so bad when you consider the alternative.”
Someone I knew who died of cancer about ten years ago never allowed herself to mention the word “death.” She knew she was dying but she would only talk cheerfully about doing things she knew she never would. She was in denial. Finally, the day before she died she gave in. Knowing the end was very close she said, “Is there any way they can speed this up?”
Some dread death, some defy it and others deride it. Groucho Marx's tombstone reads “I told you I was sick!” And Woody Allen famously said, “I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens.”
But if you’re a Christian today you don’t need to fear death or pretend it’s not there or make light of it. You can look at it in a totally different way. In the place God is preparing, there will no longer be any death at all. It will be a world with no funeral wreaths, no black armbands, no minute's silence, no undertaker's offices, no cemeteries or memorials.
Someone once read through the announcements column of the Times and said, “Isn't it strange how people always die in alphabetical order!” In the New Jerusalem there’ll be no obituary columns either, because Jesus has conquered death by rising again and he is coming back to reign.
In 21.4 it says there will be no more pain. No arthritic hands, no broken bones, no cancer-ridden bodies, no mental illness. No more pain, nothing will hurt because Jesus has nailed pain to the cross he is coming back to reign.
In 22.5 there’s more. No more night either; how do you feel when you hear a strange noise walking home in the dead of night with no moon and poor street lighting?
My dad used to tell me bedtime stories about the ghost of an old pirate with a wooden leg who would walk around the corridors of houses at night. Bump, scrape... bump, scrape... It's a wonder I ever slept at all! Actually, it was my fault. “Go on dad, tell me a scary story.”
But the night is the haunt of our fears. Fear of illness, storms, crime and darkness. But in heaven there will be no night. It will never be dark and there will be nothing frightening there because Jesus says “Do not fear” and he is coming back to reign.
3) Why Has God Told Us This?
Why has God told us this? What effect should it have on the way I live and the choices I make?
2 Peter 3.11, talking about the new creation, says this: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
It means this: our choosing to live a life of faith which glorifies God and gives life to others will not only determine where we spend eternity when Jesus comes back; it will actually hasten his return.
Most of that sleazy list in v8 applied to me before God, in his mercy, took hold of me. My guess is that most of us would have to say the same. Don’t you want to show God and show the world how grateful you are that he showed grace to you? The way to do that is to cherish and cultivate the very opposite of all that.
I want never to be ashamed of belonging to Christ. I want to hold on to his promises and believe his word. I want to live right and speak cleanly. I want to love life and be a peacemaker, defusing anger and resolving conflict. I want to be faithful to my wife, having eyes for her alone. I want to shun superstitions and demonically inspired secrecy. I want to worship God alone, exalting and magnifying him at all times. And I want to love honesty, be trustworthy and reliable to tell the truth.
Jesus said, “Store up treasure in heaven instead of storing it up on earth.” That column on the right it what he means.
Ending
Finally, this: If you're finding it hard to live for Christ, lift your head. Let this truth lighten your spirit and brighten your mood. Your everlasting elation will far outweigh your temporary trials. Be strong in the Lord and stay true to Jesus. And may this great vision stir every one of us to lay up more treasure in this breathtakingly joyous place we will call home.
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 13th December 2009
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