All Things Made New (Revelation 21-22)

Resource by Peter Park

This is it. We made it. Not just to the last Sunday of 2024 but the last Sunday of TWS – We started all the way back in Genesis 1 and 2 and journeyed through the entire bible this year.

Anyone make it every week of the series? No? Me neither. Anyone make it through reading the bible in a year – BRP? No? It’s ok. Jesus still loves you. There’s still a couple days to finish up or there’s always next year. But just a heads up next year’s reading plan will be available soon and it’ll be much lighter reading following the sermon series again.

Today, we’ll be in Rev. 21-22. Turn. About – What is heaven and our eternity going to look like for believers in Jesus? And what about those who don’t put their faith in him? What happens to them?

Text: Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, (John – revelation/unveiling) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

(Jump down to…Again, John…) 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

This ending to the Bible almost sounds too good to be true, like a made up fairy tale. We love watching movies with these kinds of endings because that’s what our hearts long for. And for the duration of the movie, we can get lost and imagine that we get to live like that. But then the movie ends. And we get back to our realities filled with sin and brokenness, disappointment and despair, striving and suffering. So the perfect ending seems unimaginable, unattainable for us. But just as sure as Jesus came 2000 yrs ago, the reason we celebrate Christmas, he’s coming again, and he’s bringing heaven with him.

So let me highlight a few things about heaven we see from these verses. What you’ll see is – Prof. James Allman – What God has done in the past, He will do in the future, but He’s too creative to do the same thing the same way twice.

1. All Things Made New – There’s no more death, crying, or pain anymore. No more diseases like covid. No more cancer. No more allergies, creaky joints and lower back pain. (WD40 > Coffee) No more sin of any kind, not even in our hearts. And God is going to wipe away all our tears for the last time just like when one of my kids gets hurt and needs a hug and I dry off their cheeks and tell them it’s going to be ok.

Now, I’ve shared this before about the new creation – there’s no sea anymore. Sea/Waters symbolize chaos. In the water – die. Stay dry – you’re good. Every major movement of God involves a water element.

-Creation – Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

-Noah (Ge. 6-9) – Everything and everyone, except one family and animals according to their kind, died in a worldwide catastrophic flood.

-Exodus – Red Sea – Salvation and Deliverance, Giving of the Law.

-Promise Land – Jordan River. Rest and blessing.

-Jesus’ Baptism

-Pentecost – Holy Spirit – Living Water (Life giving presence)

-The Church – Our baptism

-Revelation – There is no more sea. (21:1)

Jesus, by his resurrection, makes an end to all the chaos and brokenness of the world brought on by sin. So if your life is full of hardship and sorrow and brokenness, this message is good news for you today. One day, all of that is going away and the greatest of joys will be yours forever. So much so that the worst pains and sufferings of this life will seem like nothing. And it’s not a dream. It’s not make-believe to give you false hope. Jesus gives the perfect ending he deserves to those who put their trust in him as he makes all things new.

But there’s also a warning to those who feel like this life is amazing and all they could hope for. All that you’re finding pleasure and comfort and security in and everything you own is all going away. And the question for you is – Is what you’re living for worth it? Is it going to last? Is it something death cannot take away from you? If not, you’re living for the wrong things.

2. Rest and Victory – In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, he created everything in 6 days and on the 7th day he rested not because he was tired and needed a break, but to enjoy his creation. And after God delivered his people out of slavery from Egypt, he told them to take a Sabbath to commune with him and remember they were no longer slaves.

So our heavenly rest is not just physical rest, though if there’s napping in heaven, I can’t imagine how awesome those naps are going to be. We will rest in the fullest sense of the word – spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and everything else – because God has done all the work to save us through Jesus. So we just get to enjoy him as free people no longer slaves to sin and death. Our eternal sabbath rest comes from Jesus’ victory, that is our victory.

Now this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not going to have any work in heaven. There may be good and fruitful work for us to do. I’m not sure. When God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, there was work before sin came into the picture. It’s toil and fruitlessness that entered in with the Fall. And when God took his people out of slavery and into the Promised Land it was supposed to be a land of rest if his people were faithful to him. But they of course failed. But now, we’ve been ushered into a rest not based on our faithfulness, but the faithfulness of Jesus in our place. So it’s guaranteed for us.

And what’s Jesus doing in heaven? All his work is finished so he’s sitting on his throne and reigning. 22:5 – Reign with Jesus. I don’t know fully what that will look like but it sounds pretty awesome. (I always wanted to be in charge of something. Home – Mom is the boss. In heaven, I’ll get to reign with Jesus.) We will have dominion over the new creation with Jesus as it was in the beginning. Jesus takes the lowly and unworthy and makes us royalty with him.

3. All Nations – God’s mandate for man before the fall was to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth and have dominion over it. But as we saw at the Tower of Babel, man rejected what God said was good and tried to stay at one place all together. So God confused their language and made them spread out. They were all still supposed to worship him only, but they ran after other false gods.

And then God chose Israel – They were supposed to be a light and example for all the nations, to bring them to faith in the one true God. But even Israel themselves were unfaithful.

And in Acts, we saw the same pattern after Jesus sent the disciples to preach the gospel into the farthest corners of the earth. They initially stayed in Jerusalem, until Stephen was martyred and they were spread out and sent out by the Spirit.

And now all the nations are being drawn back in, together. At peace with God and with one another. (Can you imagine that? A world where all the nations are at peace with one another. No more wars or fighting or oppression. None of us have ever experienced this before. Not yet.)

It is Jesus’ rightful claim to his inheritance because of what he did on the cross. He is the King and Savior of all creation and worthy of the worship of all the nations – Malaysia, China, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Iran, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, US, Australia, Korea, Russia, Bolivia – all 195 of them today. And the day is coming where everyone will bow down to him and him only and confess that he is Lord in…

4. Endless Worship – If the thought of an endless worship service and party sounds miserable to you, I’ve got bad news for you. That’s all heaven is going to be. 22:3 His servants will look upon his face and worship him. There’s not going to be a greater joy.

When you come face to face with the glory of Jesus, it will feel like the most natural thing for us to fall down and worship him. (I love all my kids the same…But there’s something about having a baby girl. Ellis and then Allie.) He will be so beautiful, so worthy that it will take eternity to give him to worship he’s due, so it’ll go on and on and on. And we won’t ever want it to end. (Like you feel about my sermons.)

5. God’s Presence – The worst thing that happened at the Fall, when man rebelled against God, was not that the earth was cursed or that childbirth was going to be hard, or even that we would have strife with one another. The worst part of the Fall was that we lost God’s presence. (Korean Kids Story – Frog. I was such a bad kid growing up.)

God would be present with his people throughout history for certain periods of time and for special assignments, but not like it was in the Garden. Not with the kind of intimacy before sin entered the picture and separated us from God. Even the Temple, where people went to meet with God, they couldn’t meet with him face to face and in his direct presence because of his holiness or they would die because of their sin.

In heaven: No Temple. No night. No light. Because we will be in the fullness of God’s presence unhindered, unfiltered. So there’s no need for a temple or light, because God is there.

And the order of how Rev. says it is important: He, God, will dwell with Man. Because man could not choose to dwell with God. God had to make a way, which is exactly what he did through his Son, Jesus.

If you don’t love Jesus very much, you’re not that interested in him. I’m sorry but he’s going to be the central focus of heaven. Pretty much nothing will be about you or what your interests are. That could be on one hand terrifying or seemingly boring – which means you don’t understand the depths of your sin. But on the other, you’re so secure and loved, you don’t even need to think about yourself.

Why would heaven be about anything or anyone else? Everything is about Jesus. It always has been and it will always be about Jesus. That’s what we’ve seen all year in our series…

Jesus from Genesis to Revelation:

–Genesis – Jesus is the Word of God, creating the heavens and the earth, and man; He is the promised seed of the woman

–Exodus – Jesus is the Passover Lamb, whose blood was sprinkled on the doorposts so we could escape the bonds of slavery

–Leviticus – Jesus is the high priest and representative of the tabernacle; He is the lampstand. He is the showbread. He is the sacrifice on the altar. He is the temple, the holy place you met with God

–Numbers – Jesus is ever-present guide, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and the rock that gives living water

–Deuteronomy – Jesus is the prophet greater than Moses

–Joshua – Jesus is the commander of the army of the Lord, leading his people into the Promised Land

–Judges – Jesus is the true and final judge

–Ruth – Jesus is the kinsman redeemer

–1, 2 Samuel – Jesus is the anointed shepherd king

–1, 2 Kings – Jesus is the righteous King

–1, 2 Chronicles – Jesus is the faithful restorer of the kingcom

–Ezra – Jesus is the faithful restorer of the temple and scribe

–Nehemiah – Jesus is the redeeming rebuilder of the walls

–Esther – Jesus is the sovereign advocate and protector of his people

–Job – Jesus is the living redeemer and our true comforter

–Psalms – Jesus is the good shepherd who hears our cries

–Proverbs – Jesus is wisdom

–Ecclesiastes – Jesus is the meaning of life

–Song of Solomon – Jesus is the loving bridegroom coming for his bride

–Isaiah – Jesus is the promised Messiah; the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace; the Suffering Servant wounded for our transgression and bruised for our iniquities.

–Jeremiah – Jesus is the Potter and the righteous Branch, the one who writes God’s laws on our hearts

–Lamentations – Jesus is the weeping prophet

–Ezekiel – Jesus is the river of life, bringing healing to the nations

–Daniel – Jesus is the fourth man in the fiery furnace

–Hosea – Jesus is the ever-faithful husband pursuing his unfaithful bride

–Joel – Jesus is the restorer of what the locusts have eaten and the one who will pour his Spirit on his people

–Amos – Jesus is the burden-bearer and the true restoration

–Obadiah – Jesus is the judge of all the earth and mighty to save

–Jonah – Jesus is the salvation of all lands and the prophet cast out in the storm who spent three days in the depths so we could be brought in

–Micah – Jesus is the promised Messiah born in Bethlehem

–Nahum – Jesus is the avenger of God’s elect

–Habakkuk – Jesus is the reason for rejoicing and our strength even when the fields are empty

–Zephaniah – Jesus is the preserver and restorer of his remnant and kingdom

–Haggai – Jesus is the desire of all nations

–Zechariah – Jesus is the cleansing fountain and the pierced Son whom every eye on earth will one day behold

–Malachi – Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in his wings; He is the refiner’s fire

–Matthew – Jesus is the King of the Jews

–Mark – Jesus is the Son of God, the servant King

–Luke – Jesus is the Son of Man, Christ the Lord

–John – Jesus is the the Word become flesh who dwelt among us, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world

–Acts – Jesus is the risen Lord, bringing salvation to all nations

–Romans – Jesus is our justification and the righteousness of God

–1 Corinthians – Jesus is the Rock

–2 Corinthians – Jesus is our triumph, sanctifying the church

–Galatians – Jesus is the righteousness and liberation that fulfills the law and sets us free

–Ephesians – Jesus is the head of the church who gives us God’s armor

–Philippians – Jesus is our joy and one who meets our every need

–Colossians – Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and the head of the church

–1 Thessalonians – Jesus is coming again with a trumpet and a shout to meet believers in the clouds

–2 Thessalonians – Jesus is believers’ patience as they await his return

–1 Timothy – Jesus is our mediator between God and man

–2 Timothy – Jesus is the seed of David, raised from the dead, and our salvation

–Titus – Jesus is our blessed hope and our faithful pastor

–Philemon – Jesus is our redeemer, restoring us to effective service

–Hebrews – Jesus is our high priest and the author and finisher of our faith

–James – Great Physician and life at work in our faith

–1 Peter – Jesus is the living stone, the chief cornerstone, and the rock of offense

–2 Peter – Jesus is the faithful, longsuffering Lord, not willing that any should perish but offering salvation to all

–1 John – Jesus is love and the true and eternal God

–2 John – Jesus is the truth by which we walk in love

–3 John – Jesus is all that is good and a hospitable host

–Jude – Jesus is the one who keeps us from stumbling and presents us blameless with great joy

–Revelation – Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, the Lamb chosen to be slain before the foundation of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one who is making all things new and whose presence is the joy of the nations and the light of the world.

Every verse, chapter, and book of the bible tells one story about one person – Jesus. So if this is your first time here at church, and you missed the entire rest of the series, now you know everything we’ve been talking about all year.

The Bible is about God’s faithfulness in our unfaithfulness. God’s redemption – how he’s making all things new. Japanese pottery – Kintsugi – Artists will take a broken pottery and put it back together with gold, making the newly restored piece more beautiful and valuable than before. That’s what God has done with us.

*MUSIC* Conclusion/Gospel: Last detail: Jesus is referred to not only as the AO, but the Lamb. Jesus the conquering Lamb who was slain for us. That’s so amazing…that he will be known and worshipped for all eternity as the one who died and rose again to give us eternal life with him.

Believer/Missional: Rev. 22:7 And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Jesus said, he’s coming soon to establish his eternal kingdom. What we know is coming should inform how we live today. If you knew that you’d only live 1 more year, you would probably radically change many things in your life. Here are a couple things this all means for us as believers:

1. You don’t need to live your best life now. You don’t need a better life now. The best life you can imagine here on earth will be nothing to what all eternity will be like. What we need now is faithfulness to God.

2. Heaven will not be a reality for everyone. So we need to have urgency in the mission to share the gospel. We want to be faithful in stewarding our lives and everything God has entrusted to us to be about his work in drawing all the nations to himself. It’s what he’s worthy of and it’s what brings him the most glory.

Nonbeliever/EV: This glorious future is only for those who have put their faith in Christ. It’s available, free to everyone. Rev. 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

But not everyone will enter into heaven. You will not enter into the gates of heaven by your good works, by being a good person, by money, by education, or anything else that is from you. And not by any other person or other god. It is only by faith in Jesus. It’s free for you because the price has been paid.

The same question Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden, will you submit your life to God? Will you say to God, your will be done? Or will you say, my will be done? If you want your way, you can have it. If you decide to reject the God of life, then your eternity will be the exact opposite of all of the goodness of heaven in hell, eternally separated from God. That may sound harsh, but that is the reality of God’s justice.

But Jesus desires for you to turn to him. – Cross.

Other videos in this series: