Heaven sermon1

One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead , I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above , where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above , not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2

In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth , the home of righteousness. 2 Peter 3:13

As long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.... We would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord .
2 Corinthians 5:6, 8

To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.... I desire to depart and be with Christ , which is better by far .
Philippians 1:21, 23

Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise .
Luke 23:43

When I was a boy, the thought of Heaven used to frighten me more than the thought of Hell. I pictured Heaven as a place where time would be perpetual Sundays, with perpetual services from which there would be no escape.
David Lloyd George

“ I’ve been a Christian since I was five. I’m married to a youth pastor. When I was seven, a teacher at my Christian school told me that when I got to Heaven, I wouldn’t know anyone or anything from earth. I was terrified of dying. I was never told any different by anyone. . . . It’s been really hard for me to advance in my Christian walk because of this fear of Heaven and eternal life.”

"Whenever I think about heaven, it makes me depressed. I'd rather cease to exist when I die. I can't stand the thought of endless boring tedium. Heaven doesn't sound much better than hell. I'd rather be annihilated than spend eternity like that."

… the time has come for my departure . I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day .
2 Timothy 4:6-8

“ the time has come for my departure ” ( analousis , to loosen)
1. Loosening ox from yoke or cart.
2. Pulling up tent stakes for travel.
3. Untying ship from dock, to let sail.
4. Unchaining a prisoner.
5. Solving a problem.

If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God , and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby .
Aristides, AD 125

Since the children have flesh and blood, Christ too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death —that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15

God will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever . The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces ; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
Isaiah 25:7-8

The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable…then the saying that is written will come true: “ Death has been swallowed up in victory . Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:55

Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us from this place and sets us free from the snares of the world, and restores us to Paradise and the kingdom. Anyone who has been in foreign lands longs to return to his own native land.... We regard Paradise as our native land.
Cyprian , AD 250

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… God 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…. No longer will there be any curse .
Revelation 21:1,4; 22:3

Then I saw…a new earth… I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men , and he will live with them . They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Revelation 21:1-3

Immanuel: God with us

Note: The eternal Heaven will not involve us going up to Heaven to live with God in his [unearthly] realm. Rather, it will involve God coming down from Heaven to live with us in our realm—the New Earth.

We’ve heard it said, “This world is not our home.” We should qualify that to say “This world—as it now is, under the curse—is not our home.” But we should also say, “This world—as it once was, before sin and curse—was our home.” And we should add, “This world—as it will be, delivered from the curse—will be our home.”

It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven . . . to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else , but that which is our proper end and true happiness?
Jonathan Edwards

Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth .
Genesis 1:1
Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth . Isaiah 65:17

“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the Lord, "so will your name and descendants endure."
Isaiah 66:22

In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth , the home of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth , for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men , and he will live with them . They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Revelation 21:1-3

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth . And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God ; I myself will see him with my own eyes —I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:25-27

Then he will say, “Depart from me, you [people] who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels .”
Jesus, Matthew 25:41

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace , where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus, Matthew 13:40-42

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 1 Cor. 15:55
It is this (the perishable and mortal) which puts on that (the imperishable and immortal).
And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thess. 4:17
It is we, the very same people who walk this earth, who will walk the New Earth.

All the dead shall be raised up, with the self-same bodies , and none other.
The Westminster Confession
of Faith, 1646

The Lord Jesus Christ ... will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body .
Philippians 3:20-21

[The apostles] were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. [Jesus] said to them, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones , as you see I have.” …He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence . Luke 24:37-43

Forever dispel the myth of a nonphysical resurrection. A spiritual resurrection is like whitewashing a wall with red paint.

We know that when he [Christ] appears we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven .
1 Corinthians 15:49

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… God 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…. No longer will there be any curse .
Revelation 21:1,4; 22:3

Intermediate Heaven Death Life on Earth Resurrection Life on New Earth Intermediate Heaven Death Life on Earth Resurrection Life on New Earth

“ No longer will there be any curse.” Revelation 22:3
No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
“ Joy to the World”, by Isaac Watt
Red Sox. God will reverse the curse. Not only morally (sins) and emotionally (sorrows), but also physically (thorns infest the ground). How far does Christ’s redemptive work extend? Far as the curse is found. If redemption failed to reach the farthest boundaries of the Curse, it would be incomplete. Our spirits, our bodies, the earth itself, the animal kingdom, all are under the Curse, and will be delivered from the curse.
Albert Wolters: “Redemption in Jesus Christ reaches just as far as the fall. The horizon of creation is at the same time the horizon of sin and of salvation. To conceive of either the fall or Christ’s deliverance as encompassing less than the whole of creation is to compromise the biblical teaching of the radical nature of the fall and the cosmic scope of redemption.”

[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain… I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Revelation 21:4-6

In my Father's house are many rooms [dwelling places].... I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2
Christ chose common, physical terms ( house , rooms , place ) to describe Heaven.

This place is not an ethereal realm of disembodied spirits . Humans aren't suited for such a realm. A place is by nature physical, just as human beings are by nature physical (not just spiritual). What we've been specifically designed for is the place God made for us: Earth.

We are able to inhabit the mental images we create, and thence anticipate the delight of finally entering the greater reality to which they correspond.
Alister McGrath

[The Widow Douglass] went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn't think much of it. . . . I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.
Huck Finn

Where do we get our misconceptions about heaven?
Jesus said, “When he [Satan] lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44

[The satanic beast] opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven .
Rev 13:6, NIV

Satan slanders:
1) God's person
2) God's people
3) God's place

How you have fallen from heaven , O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth… You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of

God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High .’ Isaiah 14:12‑14

You were in Eden, the garden of God... You were anointed as a guardian cherub… You were on the holy mount of God…You were blameless in your ways…till wickedness was found in you…. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and expelled you, O guardian cherub… Ezekiel 28:13-16

After being evicted from Heaven, the devil is bitter toward 1) God , but toward 2) man and 3) heaven, the place that's no longer his. He usurps and corrupts humanity's God-given rulership of earth. He whispers lies about Heaven and suppresses the doctrine of the New Earth.

We are not unaware of [Satan's] schemes. 2 Cor. 2:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Eph. 6:11

A distorted view of heaven: 1) robs us of joy in anticipating being with our bridegroom. 2) makes us love the present earth [not the new earth] , as if it were our home. 3) takes away our motivation to tell others about Jesus and how to go to Heaven.

The New Earth The Culmination of Christ's Redemptive Work

Genesis 1:1
God called the expanse "sky." …God made the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
Genesis 1:8,17, 31; 2:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
God called the expanse "sky." …God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth…
Genesis 1:8,17

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good….Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
Genesis 1:31-2:1
“ In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth , the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come , and I will fill this house with glory,” says the LORD Almighty.
Haggai 2:6-7

These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth , will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
Jeremiah 10:11-12

Genesis 1:1
Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth . Isaiah 65:17

“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the Lord, "so will your name and descendants endure."
Isaiah 66:22

In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth , the home of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth , for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men , and he will live with them . They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Revelation 21:1-3

Immanuel: God with us

Note: The eternal Heaven will not involve us going up to Heaven to live with God in his [unearthly] realm. Rather, it will involve God coming down from Heaven to live with us in our realm—the New Earth.

We’ve heard it said, “This world is not our home.” We should qualify that to say “This world—as it now is, under the curse—is not our home.” But we should also say, “This world—as it once was, before sin and curse—was our home.” And we should add, “This world—as it will be, delivered from the curse—will be our home.”

Genesis 1:24 ff.
And God said, " Let the land [earth] produce living creatures according to their kinds…And God saw that it was good . 26 Then God said, " Let us make man in our image , in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth …"

27 So God created man in his own image … 28 God said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the earth.… 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good .

Genesis 2
7 The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground [earth] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being . 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees

grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food . In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden ; from there it was separated into four

… that were pleasing to the eye and good for food . In the middle of the garden were the tree of life… A river watering the garden flowed from Eden… through the land of Havilah, where there is gold . ( The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are there.)….The LORD God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it .

Rev. 21:24 The NATIONS will walk by [the Lamb’s] light, and the KINGS OF THE EARTH will bring their splendor into [the city] . 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut… 26 The glory and honor of the NATIONS will be brought into it …. 22:1 the river of the water of life… flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle

of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life , bearing twelve crops of fruit , yielding its fruit every month . And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the NATIONS . 3 No longer will there be any curse. [God’s] servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face…. 5 And they will reign for ever and ever.

[God’s people] are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them .
Hebrews 11:14-16

headwaters. 11 The…Pishon… winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold . 12 ( The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there .)….The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it .

… The Pishon [river]… winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold . 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)….The LORD God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it .

Genesis 3
[After the first sin] the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent…" Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on

your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life . 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman , and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head , and you will strike his heel ." 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing…

To Adam he said… " Cursed is the ground [earth] because of you ; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you … 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground , since from it you were taken ; for dust you are and to dust you will

To Adam he said… " Cursed is the ground [earth] because of you ; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you … 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground [earth] , since from it you were taken ; for dust you are and to dust you will

return ." And the LORD God said, "The man…must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever ." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground [earth] from which he had been

taken . 24 After he drove the man out , he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life .

Revelation 21
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. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"Now the dwelling of God is with men , and he will live 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! " And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…. 11 It shone with the glory of God , and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates ,

On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

24 The NATIONS will walk by [the Lamb’s] light, and the KINGS OF THE EARTH will bring their splendor into [the city] . 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut… 26 The glory and honor of the NATIONS will be brought into it …. 22:1 the river of the water of life… flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle

of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life , bearing twelve crops of fruit , yielding its fruit every month . And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the NATIONS . 3 No longer will there be any curse. [God’s] servants will serve him . 4 They will see his face …. 5 And they will reign for ever and ever.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light , and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The NATIONS will walk by its light, and the KINGS OF THE EARTH will bring their splendor into it . 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut , for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the NATIONS will be brought into it.

Revelation 22
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life , as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life , bearing twelve crops of fruit , yielding its fruit every month . And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the NATIONS .

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city [Heaven is the place where God's throne is], and his servants will serve him . 4 They will see his face …. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun , for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. [Where? When?]

12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me , and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city .

… I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." 17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come ; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life .

At the renewal of all things , when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Matthew 19:27-28

Peter preached that Christ "must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything , as he promised long ago through his holy prophets" (Acts 3:21).
* Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 are the Bible’s bookends, prologue and epilogue. What happens between is the drama of redemption and restoration.

Calvin Miller:
I once scorned ev'ry fearful thought of death,
When it was but the end of pulse and breath,
But now my eyes have seen that past the pain
There is a world that's waiting to be claimed.

Earthmaker, Holy, let me now depart,
For living's such a temporary art.
And dying is but getting dressed for God,
Our graves are merely doorways cut in sod.

Heaven sermon1

by eternalperspectives

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 21

Statistics

Heaven sermon1 Presentation Transcript

Heaven sermon1

by eternalperspectives

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 21

Statistics

Heaven sermon1 Presentation Transcript

Let LinkedIn power your SlideShare experience

Let LinkedIn power your SlideShare experience

Customize SlideShare content based on your interests

Keep up to date when your LinkedIn contacts post on SlideShare