Bible Study – Stand (6) – GOD’S Promise of a New Home – October 11, 2015

This is the sixth (6^th) and final lesson in our series entitled “Stand Strong: Building Your Life on GOD’S Promises.”

Our focus scripture is Revelation 21:1-8.

A life in CHRIST means a life with CHRIST forever.

First, the Book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John while he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. Notice that the word “revelation” does not end in “s” therefore it is NOT revelations, it is singular. 

Our focus scripture is Chapter 21 which describes the coming of the new heaven and new earth which will be the time of GOD’S rule, reign and presence upon earth.

When our ancestral parents sinned and lost eternal life, GOD discharged them from the Garden of Eden. GOD placed a cherubim and a flaming sword to prevent Adam and Eve or any of their descendants to get to the tree of life. If they were to eat fruit from the tree of life, they would live forever in their unredeemed state.

GOD had a plan, even before sin came into the world, for the descendants of Adam and Eve to be given the opportunity to be redeemed from eternal death. Before JESUS was born in the flesh, those who worshipped GOD were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. After the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of JESUS, we are looking back on that event for redemption and restoration to GOD’S original intent for eternal life with HIM. The best is yet to come and GOD reveals the final act to us through HIS revelation to John.

Eve ate the forbidden fruit and handed it to Adam. Adam took a bite of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and their eyes were opened to the truth of what they had done.

GOD had told Adam if they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die. They would lose eternal life and they would be separated from HIM.

We are descendants of Adam and Eve and as such, we live in the world they chose. Fallen earth is our home. It is a world filled with the knowledge of good and evil. All humans long for peace but there is no peace. GOD did not abandon us as fallen humans but instead HE had a place where we could live and have a second opportunity for eternal life and fellowship with HIM and be restored to HIS original intent. Look around and behold HIS handiwork. Every human lives in a miracle body which HE fashioned to function upon planet earth. HE provided all things to sustain the human race. HE gives all humans the opportunity to be redeemed from eternal death.

Earth is our second opportunity to get it right. We have a choice to either accept or reject CHRIST as our Savior. CHRIST gave HIS life through the shedding of HIS blood to pay, in full, the death penalty GOD imposed upon the descendants of Adam and Eve. CHRIST is the second Adam. The first Adam was flesh whereas the second Adam was both flesh and blood, yet divine. Both the first Adam and the second Adam had free wills to choose. Adam chose to disobey GOD and the second Adam chose to obey GOD, remain sinless and gave HIS life to redeem all who will place their faith in HIM.

CHRIST’S shed blood paid the price for sin and redeems ALL who will place their faith in CHRIST as their Savior. All humans have the freedom and right to choose. GOD never violates the human right to choose but HE maintains the right to appeal to every human his or her need for salvation.

It is the miracle of rebirth in a person’s spirit that restores him or her to GOD’S original intent and eternal state. Life upon earth is for the perfecting and equipping of each Christian to obediently serve GOD, according to HIS plan and purpose, and to prepare him or her for eternal life in heaven.

I think JESUS gave us a glimpse of this perfecting upon earth in the “Model Prayer,” when HE said “our Father Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To experience the fullness of CHRIST and GOD in our lives Christians are to obediently serve GOD upon earth as they would in heaven. Those in heaven willingly obey the will of GOD their Father because they know and abide in truth. Upon earth the flesh has its own agenda and battles with being obedient to the will of GOD. The flesh must be brought under the authority of GOD by yielding to the leadership of GOD by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Christians must yield themselves to GOD and ask HIM to make and mold their lives as HE desires. HE is the potter and we are the clay. All the clay has to do is be available to the potter. The potter is the designer and determines the final product suitable for its intended use.

The present earth will be destroyed by fire but what will replace it?

Let’s read Revelation 1:1-2: (Background)

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves (servants) what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave (servant) John, 

2 who testified to God's word and to the testimony about Jesus Christ, in all he saw.

The LORD JESUS gave the Apostle John a vision of things to come. Our scripture focuses on the period after Satan and his angels have been cast into the lake of fire. In Revelation 1:19, JESUS instructed John to write everything he had seen; what is now and what will take place later. Let’s explore!

Let’s read Revelation 21:1-3:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. 

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

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God's dwelling 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.

Chapter 21 is the next to the last chapter in the Book of Revelation. There is a great deal that has happened upon earth before we get to Chapter 21. Chapter 21 is the great reveal for all Christians.

The Apostle John saw a new heaven and a new earth. Saw means there was no doubt regarding what he was seeing. It is a knowing that what he saw was truth and real or genuine.  The word “new” means just that. It was not a renovation or a remodel but it was unprecedented, unheard of, never thought about, a brand spanking new heaven and earth. WOW!!! Now that is something to get excited about.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9:

9 But as it is written: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what has never come into a man's heart, is what God has prepared for those who love Him.

What a day that will be!

The “sea existed no longer” can be pondered in several ways. We know that the “sea” is a barrier separating land masses, countries, cultures, loved ones, etc. “Sea” has been used to describe the divide between heaven and earth. JESUS was teaching as recorded in Luke 16:26:

26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.'

JESUS was teaching of the “great chasm” between heaven/paradise (Before the death of CHRIST) and hell (sheol).

There was a great chasm between GOD and mankind, which JESUS bridged when HE came to earth as a human and gave HIS life to pay, in full, the penalty for sin.

John saw a new Jerusalem. Again, the words “saw” and “new” are the same as we have already discussed. John was certain of what he was observing and experiencing. Earth as we know it will be destroyed by fire. Here there are differing opinions about whether or not earth is totally annihilated or cleansed by fire thus reducing it to a burned out cinder. Earth as we know it will be gone and a new earth built by GOD will appear. Heaven, where GOD is and earth where humans dwell will exist no longer. Keep in mind that Christians will have their Glorified bodies.

This New Jerusalem was coming down from above in breathtaking splendor as a bride adorned for her husband. We know a bride’s desire is to look her absolute, stunning best for her groom.

There was a loud unmistakable voice that announced from the throne that GOD has established HIS home in this New Heaven and New Earth. If it is pure and holy enough for GOD, it is pristine and beyond our wildest dreams.

Let’s read Acts 7:48-49:

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses and temples made with hands; as the prophet says, l49 Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of] house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest?

Isaiah 66:1-2: (Amplified)

1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place? a2 For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a brokenor wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands. b

GOD'S deisre is to indwell every human. HE does the instant a person receives salvation by placing his or her faith in CHRIST because the redeemed receive the Holy Spirit. GOD'S greatest accomplishment will be when all who are redeemed, by the shed blood of the Lamb, inhabit their Glorified bodies. This is vital in the final act of merging the New Heaven and the New Earth so that GOD can dwell with HIS children. "It is done!" as discussed later in Revelation 21:6 sheds some light on this. Only GOD'S children will be in the New Heaven and the New Earth.  HE will dwell be there as well. Our Holy GOD and Father will dwell with those HE made righteous through the shed blood of JESUS.

Currently, GOD’S dwelling is universal but when the new heaven and new earth is revealed, that will be the place where GOD will reside but HE is always universal and sovereign.

So Who is the loud voice from the throne? He Apostle John was raised in the Jewish religion where the name of GOD was not written or uttered. Bible scholars believe that John purposely avoided using or writing the name of GOD. The voice was GOD speaking from the throne.

The next to be revealed is what living in the presence of GOD will be like.

Let’s read Revelation 21: 4-5:

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. 

5 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." 

GOD reveals to mankind what becoming a Christian means. No more tears resulting from death. No more grief, crying and pain because they EXIST NO LONGER! Christians will be in their Glorified bodies. Their Glorified bodies will be just like CHRIST’S Glorified body and death will not exist. Their Glorified bodies are eternal.

When our pastor was preaching the funeral of our eldest son, when he read this scripture, our eldest daughter, Said “YES!” There will be no more death, sorrow, grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer.  Our previous life in the flesh will no longer exist. We will be in our new bodies and dwell as GOD originally intended; in complete harmony, obedience and fellowship with HIM.

As the song says, “We can only imagine.” We cannot even imagine what it will be like because it will be better than good because it will be perfect.

JESUS instructed John to write because these words are faithful and true. GOD continued to speak.

Let’s read Revelation 21:6-8:

6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift. 

7 The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. 

8 But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, 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."

The words “It is done!,” means “they have become reality.” [New Testament Commentary, Revelation, page  559, Simon J. Kistemaker, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 49516-6287, ISBN 0-8010-2606-7]

Alpha and Omega are the beginning and ending letters of the Greek alphabet. It would be like we would say “A to Z.” GOD’S plan and purpose for humanity and creation has come to completion. GOD is the One Who gives eternal life as described by the “living water” to those who desire having an intimate, personal, loving relationship with ME by placing their faith in CHRIST. HE gives eternal life free of charge to the receiver/Christian. It is a free gift of GOD’S Grace, but it cost HIS only Son’s sinless, earthly life. JESUS gave HIS sinless life in order that all who place their faith in HIM will receive eternal life and experience the miracle of rebirth into the family of GOD.

Christians are the “victors,” thus Sons or Daughters of GOD and as a result inherit all things; to the victor’s go the spoils. Christians will inherit all the rights and privileges of being GOD’S child for eternity and live with HIM in the New Heaven and New Earth. GOD chose us and we in turn chose HIM. So we are where we want to be of our free will.

Since Christians are “victors,” those who refuse to take a stand are “cowards” because they are fearful for various reasons e.g. pride, what will my friends or business associates think of me if I become a Christian. Fear prevents them from becoming Christians. Following cowards are those who are unbelievers or the faithless, followed by vile (abominable, detestable), murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers (those who practice magic arts e.g. horoscopes, fortune tellers and those who go to fortune tellers, etc.), idolaters, and all liars – “will be consigned” (NIV) or will be in or share in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." Hell was made for Satan and his angels, thus humans that refuse the free gift of GOD share in what was originally made for them.

Some may ask, “Do you think there is such a lake of burning sulfur?” Think of your worst nightmare or horror story that will never end. Coming to the full, complete knowledge and reality that because you rejected the love of GOD and the redemptive love of CHRIST is the reason you are being in torment is beyond human thought.

On this side of eternity, I have heard people say, “I will take my chances.” Oh, friends please do not let this instant pass without asking JESUS to forgive you for your sins and to come into your heart right now. Do not put it off. This is the most serious, eternal decision you will ever make. We are all but one heartbeat away from eternity. And the eternal rewards are beyond our wildest imagination. Blessings!!!