Heaven sermon2

They will see His face.
Revelation 21:4
The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things...but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them .
Jonathan Edwards

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him , graciously give us all things ?
Romans 8:32
Primary Joy ( Source )
Secondary Joys ( Derivatives )

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep [die], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 …Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. …And so we [together] will be with the Lord forever . 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words .
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 17-18

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
John 14:9
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God .
Matthew 5:8

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

God himself, who is the Author of virtue, shall be our reward. As there is nothing greater or better than God himself, God has promised us himself. God shall be the end of all our desires , who will be seen without end, loved without cloy, and praised without weariness.
Augustine

As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
1 Corinthians 2:9
— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. -10

[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

Add on resurrection: Job 19, Luke, I am not a ghost; our bodies like his, Jesus ate and served meals; said we’d eat with him.
We affirm doctrine of resurrection but don’t believe it. “Spiritual resurrection” is like whitewashing a wall by painting it red. See book. Like saying you believe in the deity of Christ, but you don’t think Christ was God. No, deity means God. Resurrection means a physical body forever.

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.

In my Father's house are many rooms [dwelling places].... I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2

[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

All the dead shall be raised up, with the self-same bodies , and none other.
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

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

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

What happens to our bodies and what happens to the creation go together. And what happens to our bodies is not annihilation but redemption .... Our bodies will be redeemed, restored, made new, not thrown away. And so it is with the heavens and the earth.
John Piper

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

Virtually all of the basic words describing salvation in the Bible imply a return to an originally good state. To redeem is to "buy free," literally to "buy back." ... The point of redemption is to free the prisoner from bondage, to give back the freedom he or she once enjoyed.
Albert Wolters

God has never given up on his original creation. An entire biblical vocabulary that makes this point clear. Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Regenerate. Resurrect. Each of these biblical words begins with the re- prefix, suggesting a return to an original condition that was ruined or lost.

Many of the re- words are translations of Greek words with an ana prefix, which means the same as the English re- . Redemption means to buy back what was formerly owned. Reconciliation means restoring a prior friendship. Renewal means to make new again, restoring to an original state. Resurrection means becoming physically alive again, after death.

Redemption: buying back what was formerly owned.
Reconciliation: regaining a prior friendship.
Renewal: making new again, restoring to an original state.
Resurrection: becoming physically alive again, after death.
Regeneration: being born again, having a new beginning.
Restoration: bringing back the lost.

RE demption: buying back what was formerly owned.
RE conciliation: regaining a prior friendship.
RE newal: making new again, restoring to an original state.
RE surrection: becoming physically alive again, after death.
RE generation: being born again, having a new beginning.
RE storation: bringing back the lost.

Ruined sinners to reclaim.
God is a salvage artist.
God doesn’t start over from scratch, he repairs and restores to what He originally made. Stripping old paint off an antique to restore to original.

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

… 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.

Romans 8:19 The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us . The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed . For the creation was subjected to frustration [curse] … in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay

and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God ….We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies .
Romans 8:19-23

Re demption: buying back what was formerly owned.
Re conciliation: regaining a friend.
Re newal: making new again, restoring to an original state.
Re surrection: becoming physically alive again, after death.
Re generation: being born again, having a new beginning.
Re storation: bringing back the lost.

At the re newal 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.
Jesus, Matthew 19:27-28

In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth [an earth that is re newed] , the home of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13

“[Christ] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to re store everything , as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Acts 3:21

Resurrected (Embodied) Ghostly (Disembodied) Familiar; earthly Unfamiliar; unearthly New Earth Non-Earth What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Dynamic Our God to worship and serve; friends to enjoy and meet; a universe to rule and explore; forever learning Static Nothing to do but float on clouds, strum harps; no memory or continuity of relationships, no learning What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Time & Space No time & space Retaining the good; finding the best ahead Leaving favorite things behind Home (all the comforts of home with many innovations) Foreign (won’t feel like home, utterly different) What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Both old and new, familiar and innovative; nostalgia and adventure Neither old (like Eden) nor new and earthly; just strange and unknown Art, culture and progress No art, culture, progress Dynamic Static What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Fully human individuals; desires continuously fulfilled Inhuman; no individuality; loss of desires Fascinating Boring An eternity of exciting learning and discovery No learning or discovery; total knowledge, no curiosity What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Story Just Beginning Story over Presence of the wonderful (everything we desire and nothing we don’t) Absence of the terrible (but presence of little we desire) What the Bible Says About Heaven What We Assume About Heaven

Are We Past Our Peaks? LIFE ON NEW EARTH INTERMEDIATE HEAVEN LIFE ON EARTH Death Resurrection

6 By these waters the world of that time was deluged and destroyed . 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment… 10 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. 12 That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire … 13 But …we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth… (2 Peter 3:6-13)

God hangs on to his fallen original creation and salvages it. He refuses to abandon the work of his hands —in fact, he sacrifices his own Son to save his original project. Humankind, which has botched its original mandate…is given another chance in Christ; we are reinstated as God's managers on earth . The original good creation is to be restored.
Albert Wolters, Creation Regained

Why does God go to all the trouble to dirty his hands, as it were, with our decaying, sin-stained flesh, in order to reestablish it as a resurrection body and clothe it with immortality? Because his Son paid the price so the Father's purpose for the material universe would be fulfilled: that he would be glorified in it , including in our bodies, forever and ever.
John Piper

Isaiah 60
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come , and the glory of the LORD rises upon you…. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn… 5 Then you will look and be radiant , your heart will throb and swell with joy ; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come .

Isaiah 60
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn… 5 the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come . 6 Herds of camels will cover your land…And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD ….

11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night , so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations - -their kings led in triumphal procession. 13 The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will call you the City of the LORD , Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night , so that men may bring you the wealth of the NATIONS - -their kings led in triumphal procession. 13 The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together…I will call you the City of the LORD , Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah . And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD …. 9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish , bringing your sons from

afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. … 11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night , so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations - -their kings led in triumphal procession.

13 The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will call you the City of the LORD , Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ….Then you will know that I, the LORD , am your Savior,

your Redeemer , the Mighty One of Jacob." 17 … I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler . 18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. 19 The sun will no more be

17 I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler . 18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. 19 The sun will no more be your light by day , nor will the

your light by day , nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more ; the LORD will be your everlasting

light, and your days of sorrow will end . 21 Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land [erets, the earth] forever . They are…the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. 22 …I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.

brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light and your days of sorrow will end . 21 Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land [erets: the earth ] forever .

Isaiah 65
For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. 17 " Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a

delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more . 20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who

dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. 23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox , but dust will be the serpent's food . They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

Isaiah 65
“ Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth . … 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more .

… 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit . …The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox , but dust will be the serpent's food . They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

[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

Isaiah 66:9-22
“ Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD.… 10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her , all you who mourn over her. 11 For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and

delight in her overflowing abundance." 12 …The LORD says: " I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream ; your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. 15 See, the LORD is coming with fire…

17 "Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens…," declares the LORD. 18 "I…am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. 19 "I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations--to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.

20 And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD--on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels," says the LORD. "They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites," says the LORD. 22 "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."

Ezekiel 47
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple… 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand , he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water…. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in--a river that no one could cross.

Ezekiel 47
I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple… 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand 6 He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river . 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on

each side of the river . …[The river] goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this

Ezekiel 47
I saw water coming out from under the temple… a great number of trees on each side of the river . When [the river] empties into the Sea , the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows…. water flows there and makes the salt water fresh ; so where the river flows everything will live .

water flows there and makes the salt water fresh ; so where the river flows everything will live . 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Great Sea….

12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear , because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing .”

Romans 8:18-25

Psalm 8
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. … 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little

lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor . 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands ; you put everything under his feet : 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The kingdom of God ... does not mean merely the salvation of certain individuals nor even the salvation of a chosen group of people. It means nothing less than the complete renewal of the entire cosmos , culminating in the new heaven and the new earth.
Anthony Hoekema

The redemption in Jesus Christ means the restoration of an original good creation.
Albert Wolters

Colossians 1:16-20
For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things , and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn

from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things , whether things on earth or things in heaven , by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:16-20

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…Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them… God himself will be with them and be their God.
Revelation 21:3

The rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth . . . . In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed , nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 2:35, 44

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed , nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever .
Daniel 2:35, 44

He [Son of Man, Messiah] was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away , and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed .
Daniel 7:14

But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever — yes, forever and ever .
Daniel 7:18

T his horn [human king] was waging war against the saints and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom .
Daniel 7:21-22

The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth . It will …devour the whole earth , trampling it down and crushing it. …another king will arise…. 25 He will speak against the Most High [the true King] and oppress his saints…. The saints will be handed over to him for a time …

26 But the court [of God] will sit, and his [demonic earthly leader’s] power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever . Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints , the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom , and all rulers will worship and obey him (v. 27).

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance , the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Matthew 25:34

They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
Isaiah 11:9-10

"They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels," says the Lord.
Isaiah 66:19-20

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "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

He made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment— to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ .
Ephesians 1:10

Jesus answered, You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born. King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Are We Past Our Peaks? LIFE ON NEW EARTH INTERMEDIATE HEAVEN LIFE ON EARTH Death Resurrection

Heaven sermon2

by eternalperspectives on Apr 26, 2010

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Heaven sermon2 — Presentation Transcript