Storyline | Pastor Chip Parker | Week 5

So, what we've been talking about this entire series is the one overarching story that the Bible is telling.

One story that runs from Genesis all the way to Revelation, a story about redemption and a hero named Jesus.

And the point of that, in case you've forgotten as you've been watching the series, is that when we understand the entirety of the storyline, it helps us grow in the confidence we have about our faith and our ability to talk about it, but it also deepens our understanding of faith.

It helps us to grow in that story and find our place in it.

Stephen Wellum, an academic and professor, he says it like this.

He says that when we understand the plot movements of the Bible, it helps us answer questions that every person asked and must answer.

Where did we come from?

What went wrong?

What's the solution to our problem?

And where is history going?

And I think it's really that last question that most of us often get wrong.

Where is history going?

Or maybe even we would say more specifically, where are we going?

Where are we going?

The Bible and the story of the Bible gives us an answer to that.

Now, if you're a follower of Jesus, you may say, Well, I know the answer to that.

The answer's heaven.

Actually, you don't have to be a follower of Jesus to have that answer.

And one of my favorite studies of all time, it was done in the mid-2010s.

There were more people who believed they were going to heaven when they died than actually believed heaven exists, right?

So people say, Oh, I know where I'm going.

I'm going to heaven.

But the problem is, I think for most of us, when we say heaven, we don't really have all that great of an idea about what heaven actually is or even what it's like.

Um, the popular idea of heaven in modern Western culture is something like us floating on a cloud, sporting our wings and halos, strumming a harp for all eternity.

But that's nowhere close to the idea of heaven that we see in scriptures.

Pastor Sam Storms puts it like this: He says, the future that awaits all who believe in Jesus is not an immaterial, non-physical, purely spiritual existence in a distant world somewhere in the universe, but a redeemed life on this earth after it has been restored and glorified, and all sin, corruption, and evil have been eradicated.

The final destiny of redeemed mankind is in glorified physical bodies on a glorified physical earth.

I think that he put that as good as anybody I've ever heard.

And if that idea seems a little bit weird to you, I want you to step back and think about it through the lens of the storyline that we've been talking about.

If the idea that our ultimate destination are redeemed mankind in physical and glorified bodies on a physical, glorified earth, if that seems weird, then think about what we've been talking about.

In the very first week of the series, when we talked about creation, we talked about God creating a world that he said was good, it was perfect, it was complete, it existed in harmony with him, but that creation was broken by sin.

Sin did not just break our relationship with our creator, it broke creation itself.

And so, in the fullness of God's redemptive plan, which this story has been all about, we are gonna see creation itself restored, redeemed, and remade.

That's what Paul hints at in Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

We've looked at this passage over and over.

And in Romans chapter 5, in verse 20 and 21, Paul says this he says, The law came along to multiply the trespass, but where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

So that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I love that.

Number one, it's that picture of eternal life, eternity.

We're gonna get into that today.

But also the idea that everything sin broke, grace is gonna redeem and restore.

As far as sin goes, as far as the curse of sin goes, grace goes farther.

Pastor Sam Storms again says, when Christ returns to consummate his kingdom and to launch eternity, he will bring heaven to earth.

This earth will be redeemed, all evil will be eradicated.

The curse will be lifted from creation.

There will be no tornadoes, earthquakes, hailstorms, tsunamis or nuclear waste dumps.

There will be no weeds or thorns to infest the ground.

We will live forever and ever in the presence of Christ on this glorified and restored earth, the new earth.

This is truly heaven on earth, literally.

Now, I love that idea because it shows us the fullness of God's redemption.

That he doesn't just redeem and restore the broken relationship we have with him, but he redeems and restores creation itself.

And that's why I like the term recreation.

That's what we see at the end of the age, this idea of recreation, of a new heaven and a new earth.

And so the idea that I want you to get in your head today as we look at the end of the story, this idea of heaven, here's the idea I want you to understand.

Heaven is what earth was intended to be.

If you've ever wondered about heaven, if you've ever had questions about heaven, think about it through this lens.

Heaven is what earth was intended to be.

Now, I know when I say heaven, that brings a lot into play.

But to simplify it, let's keep in mind that heaven, in many ways, heaven is a moving target.

What I mean about that is that what defines heaven is not gates of pearl, streets of gold, it's not clouds and halos and harps.

What defines heaven is that heaven is where God himself is.

That is the defining mark of heaven.

The defining mark of heaven is God Himself.

Heaven is where he is, and that place has moved throughout history.

Just think, in the very beginning, we see God come from heaven to visit Adam and Eve in the garden.

After sin broke the world, in the Old Testament, we see heaven often referred to as paradise.

We know now in the New Testament that when we die, we go to be with Jesus in heaven.

But in Revelation 21, we get a glimpse of the heaven that you and I often think about when we think about heaven.

The new heaven and the new earth, the place that will be our eternal home with Christ.

And so, as we end the series today, I want to give us a glimpse of what heaven, again, here what we're gonna read in Revelation 21 is called the New Heaven and the New Earth.

I want to give us a glimpse of what heaven will be like for us in eternity.

And so if you got your Bibles, I want you to read with me.

We're gonna look at Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 through 8.

Revelation 21:1–8

So this is what we read, John writing, he says, 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.

I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

Then I heard a loud voice from the thaw throne.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

And then the one seated on the throne said, Look, I am making everything new.

He also said, Write, because these words are faithful and true.

And then he said to me, It is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

So, in Revelation 21, and we just stopped reading, we could go on in 21 and 22 and see a fuller picture, but we get this new heaven and new earth.

And what's interesting is in Genesis chapter 1, we see heaven and earth exist in such a way that God would come from heaven to earth to visit Adam and Eve in the cool of the day in the garden.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

But then sin broke that barrier between heaven and earth, or maybe we would say fixed that barrier in such a way that now sinful man could not get to be with holy God, and that only through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross have we been able to get back with him.

But in Revelation 21, at the end of time, during this recreation, we see heaven and earth combined.

And for the last two chapters of the Bible, that phrase, new heaven, new earth, they're not separated anymore.

And so the question I want to answer today as we end the series is well, then what will that look like for us?

What will eternity look like for us?

And the first part is this.

We see it in verses one and two.

What we've already said is that a new heaven and a new earth will meet.

Commentator J.F.

Walford says it like this.

The opening verses of chapter 21 describe the creation of the new heaven and new earth, which chronologically follows the thousand-year reign of Christ described in chapter 20.

Chapter 21 begins with familiar words, I saw.

This is an expression repeated in verse 2.

This new creation is described as a new heaven and a new earth.

That is a totally new heaven and a new earth, and not the present heaven and the present earth renovated.

It is supported by the additional statement for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away.

An amazingly small amount of information is given about the new heaven and the new earth, but one major fact that's stated in the verse is there was no longer any sea.

Now, this is interesting, right?

This idea of new heaven and new earth, this recreation.

Bible scholars are not agreed as to what exactly happens there, whether the old elements that made up the heavens and the earth are renewed, or whether the old will be destroyed and the new creation will be ushered in.

The fact that the Greek word translated means new in character probably lends credence to maybe the former explanation, but the idea is that heaven and earth will be united and recreated for us to be with God for all of eternity.

And as a matter of fact, that's the second thing that eternity will be like.

We will be with God forever.

That's what we read there in verse 3.

This main feature of the new heaven and the new earth is that God Himself will dwell with us, his bride, the church, forever.

You see, before the fall in the garden, God only visited Adam and Eve.

In the life of Jesus, we see God dwelling with man for a time.

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, now we have a God who abides in us, but here in eternity, we see the full presence of the Godhead dwell with his people forever.

The president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr.

Danny Aiken, says, This is one of the most wonderful promises in the Bible.

In a real sense, this is what the Bible has been pointing toward throughout its 66 books.

John hears a loud voice, something we hear 20 plus times in Revelation, and this voice comes with divine authority and power, for it comes from God's thrones.

And the announcement, God's dwelling place is with man.

That's amazing, right?

Not just visiting, not staying temporarily, not his spirit indwelling us, but the fullness of God living with us, living among us, dwelling with us for all eternity.

Incredible to think about.

But that brings up the third part of what eternity will be like.

In order for God to dwell with us, that means that sin and the effects of sin will be gone.

Part of the recreation that we see here in eternity is that the effects of the curse, the effects of sin, are wiped away once for all forever.

In this eternity where God dwells with us, that's only possible because that barrier of sin has been removed.

We live in a world now where sin and death are still present, and so there is that barrier between us and our Creator, but in this recreation, sin, the effects of sin, the effects of curse are gone.

God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Death with its mourning and pain and crying will vanish.

The old way of life is gone and passes away.

That's why I think the song that we sing every Christmas, joy to the world, is worth being sung all year round.

The words there, no more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground.

He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.

That's what's happening here.

The curse, as far as it went, is eradicated forever.

And because of that, the fourth thing in eternity is that we will never have to taste death again.

One of the promises of eternity that probably sits closest to my heart, closest to your heart, is the promise that this present reign of death that we live under now will be done away with.

That we will never taste death again.

For those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, for eternity, we will know nothing but life with him in this new heaven and new earth.

But I will say for those who don't know Christ as Lord, for eternity, they will know nothing but death separated from him in a place called hell.

But in this new heaven and new earth, death will be no more.

So we think about what recreation in eternity will be like, we will see heaven and earth reunited.

We will see God Himself dwell with us, the curse of sin done away, and death forever abolished.

There's so many wonderful things that we can say about eternity.

It's hard to know where to start and where to end.

But Pastor Chuck Swindah, in a way that probably only he could, gives us a way to look at eternity by looking at what will not be in eternity.

And so let me end with 12 things that will not be present in eternity.

There will be no more sea because the chaos and calamity that the seas represented will be eradicated.

There will be no more tears because hurtful memories will be replaced.

There will be no more death because mortality will be swallowed up by life.

There will be no more mourning, because those of us who have sorrowed will be completely comforted.

There will be no more crying because the sound of all weeping will be soothed.

There will be no more pain because all of our suffering will be cured.

There will be no more thirst because God will graciously quench all of our desires.

There will be no more wickedness because all evil will forever be banished.

There will be no more temple because the Father and Son will dwell among us.

There will be no more night because God's glory will give us eternal light.

There will be no more closed gates because God's doors will always be open.

And there will be no more curse because the blood of Jesus has forever lifted the curse of sin.

And so it's good for us to remember that God does not leave his story unfinished.

Heaven is what earth was intended to be.

That he will redeem and restore all of creation on that day.

And until that day, we wait and we work until he comes again.

Let me pray for you.

God, thank you for this time to finish looking at the scope of your word and the scope of your story and the promise of eternity.

And so, God, I pray now that you would help us to see eternity for what it is, that it would motivate us and how we live here and now, that it would help us to work toward bringing as many of those realities as we can into this world today.

And God, that we would lift our eyes beyond the scope of this world today to you and what you've promised, to leave your story not unfinished, but finished, completed, once and for all accomplished the story of redemption.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.