What Will the City of Heaven Be Like pt. 1

Mark Finley: What is heaven going to be like? What is the greatest joy of heaven? The greatest joy of heaven is two things: it's fellowship with Christ, the one that loves us with an everlasting love, and it's fellowship with one another.
Guest (Male): Amen.
Announcer: This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, "What Will the City of Heaven Be Like? Part 1." Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: Now I have one problem in preaching this sermon, and my problem is that I try to preach from Revelation chapter 21, but my Bible doesn't have those pages in it. So you know, the Bible right, the Bible on the chair there I've marked. So I need to get a different Bible because I've memorized much of this chapter, and it's just right.
Guest (Female): Here. Here. Here's your old one. It's almost in the same condition.
Mark Finley: Thank you so much. That will help me. It's nice to have a Bible where you have all the passages. So I'll use some of the passages from
Guest (Female): Here's your old one. It's almost in the same condition.
Mark Finley: So I got three Bibles. I'm going to probably be able to find Revelation 21 in at least in one of them. Thank you, dear. All right, we're ready to go now. Sometime ago, I I saw a survey on heaven. And so what had happened is the surveyors went out and they began to ask people the question, do you believe that heaven is real and what is heaven like? And I want to read to you some of the responses. So the question is asked to people on the street. Now these are not necessarily Christians. They they're walking down a street and you got the surveyor with the clipboard asking them the question, do you think heaven is real? Do you believe is heaven a real place? And what do you think about it? First answer: are you kidding? Let's get serious. Second answer: for me, heaven is my house, my kids, and my Lexus. That guy must have been had a little money in the bank. Third question: heaven, well, I just kind of hope so. I just kind of hope so. Third answer: an elderly couple actually. At our age, we're looking forward to it. Fifth answer: that's pie in the sky by and by. The surveyors came to the conclusion that the one commonality of the answer to the question that was asked, do you believe in heaven? Is heaven for real? The the one commonality was uncertainty. That people had great doubts. They had kind of this inner longing that they wished there was a heaven. They wished there was something life after death, but they have this great uncertainty whether it is real or not. I thank God that we can live with something beyond uncertainty. We can have a hope that burns within our hearts of the reality of heaven. The Bible begins with a perfect world, and the Bible and the Bible ends with a perfect world, Revelation chapter 21 and 22. And I want to look at some insights regarding heaven. You know, often when we talk about heaven or we preach about heaven, we talk about the fact that we'll build houses and inhabit them, and that's true. We'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, that's true. We'll live eternally and never die, that's true. There'll be no sickness, suffering, heartache, and death, that's true. But if all that were true, and you were living in a mansion alone, would you be fully happy? If you had no human relationships in heaven, would you be fully happy? And I want to look at three things in this devotional this morning. First, heaven is a place for relationships. And the broken relationship that we have with God will be fully restored. Secondly, God has made provision for every one of us to be there. And thirdly, all relationships in heaven will be healed. There will be no fractured relationships, no tension between people. And I want to show you that from the text. So we begin here at Revelation chapter 21. And John says, Revelation 21 verse 1, "And I saw a new heaven and new earth." Does John seem doubtful? Does John seem uncertain? Does John seem ambiguous? What does the scripture say? John says, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth." This is not something that is the figment of John's imagination. Here is something real, something definite, something certain. "I saw a new heaven and a new earth." And in this age of uncertainty, where so much is questioned, letting the scripture echo and re-echo in our minds, and getting the certainty of the book of Revelation, John says, "This earth may have polluted waterways, polluted airways. Our food may be contaminated. There may be conflict between peoples. There may be sickness, suffering, and death." This old world may be in a state of decay. But "I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away." This earth so polluted, so pockmarked with sin, this planet in rebellion, it passed away. There was no more sea. Now what does John say there was no more sea? He was on the island of Patmos. I think people ask me, "Pastor Mark, when you travel, where's the favorite place you go?" Well, it's usually the place I'm at. But of many, most of the time when they ask me that, I think one of my favorite places is Patmos. Patmos is just an amazing place. I've traveled there many, many times. You can go from two locations. You either go from Turkey and go from Kusadasi in Turkey, you take a boat, it's about two and a half hours boat ride. It's it it's idyllic. It is just absolutely amazing. And or you can go from Greece. And if you go from Greece, it takes you an overnight trip, the boat's not real nice, and you don't sleep well. So I don't like to go from from Greece at all. But when you go from Kusadasi, you come into this beautiful port called Skala on the island of Patmos. And there's only a couple thousand people living there. And I remember one time I was there on the island of Patmos, and I sat, I came in on a Friday night, I spent Sabbath there, and I was just with a small group, at that time we weren't leading a tour, and I think there were probably four or five of us, I had camera people, and I had some some sound people. And we went out and on Sabbath, we all spent time alone. And I went down, it was first on Friday night, the sun was setting, and I went down and sat on the rock by the Aegean Sea. And I looked out over this vast expanse of the sea, and I read the first half of the book of Revelation. And on Sabbath morning, I came down and read the second half. But I thought about John when he writes there was no more sea. And I think this aged apostle, he is now in his 90s. He's an old man. There are deeply etched lines upon his face and his gray hair. He writes with his trembling hand, you know. And he looks out over the sea. He's separated from family, separated from friends. He's isolated and alone. And he writes, "There will be no more sea." No more separation from the people we love. No more separation from our families, no more vast expanses of sea. So John writes, "There was no more sea." Then he says, "Then I John saw." Notice the emphasis in verse 1 and verse 2 on "saw." "Then I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." "I heard a loud voice from heaven saying," Now this is critical because here is a divine announcement. Here is an announcement by an angelic being that God is going to move the capital of the universe, and he is going to live at a different address. If you look here, it says, in verse 2, "Then I John saw the holy city coming down from heaven." Verse 3, "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold the tabernacle of God is with men.'" Now notice the emphasis, "He will dwell with them. They shall be his people. God himself shall be with them and be their God." The separation caused by sin will no longer be present. The tabernacle of God will be with his people. Now, when the Israelites thought about the tabernacle of God, they thought about the Shekinah glory of God. In the tabernacle was the most holy place of the heavenly of the earthly sanctuary. And in that, for the Israelites, they they could not enter into that most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, only the high priest entered there once a year. So now what John is saying is that the tabernacle of God is coming down. That there is no more separation. That in Eden, God walked and talked and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve. God came to them. There was no barrier between them, but like it says in Isaiah 59 verse 1 and 2, "Your sins have separated you from God." So that separation is over now. The great controversy is ended. The conflict is over. The tabernacle of God is with his people. But beyond that, or in addition to that, John said, "I saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven." Now, I want you to think about that. Right now, our planets revolve around the earth. But this solar system is in a vast system of the universe that is all rotating around a cosmic center, which is namely the throne of God. And from that cosmic control center, God arranges the destiny of the affairs of the nations. In addition to that, just think of it, just in our solar system, we have the planets revolving around the sun, and then that solar system revolves further. But why aren't there collisions in the universe? Why do these planets not hit one another? It's because God keeps them in orbit. But think of the fact that God manages these vast numbers of solar systems and stars and planets and worlds. And he keeps them all in in his hand. He guides them, and we all they revolve around the throne of God. But here is an announcement that the holy city, the cosmic control center of the universe, is going to descend in the New Jerusalem. That's going to come to a new earth that is made new. And this earth will be the center of the cosmic universe. This planet in rebellion that has drifted away from God will be God's honor planet. And so you remember what the Bible says, "All things work together for what?" Good. So even the sin problem is going to work out to the glory of God to reveal his love and grace and goodness. And imagine it, this planet so pockmarked with sin, this planet so defiled, this planet in rebellion is going to be made over to a new heavens and a new earth. It will be the center of the universe. And we will travel with Jesus from star to star, to planet to planet, see the technologies of vast new other worlds, cherubim and seraphim and orders of beings that we could never even imagine. And we'll see technologies that have never been crippled by sin. And we will give our testimony of the goodness of God and the grace of God, what Christ has done in our lives.
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Mark Finley: The real meaning and purpose of heaven is restored relationships. It's not simply that we eat bananas that are three feet tall. That'll be kind of fun. It's not simply that we have to carry some watermelon that is uh takes four men to carry it, you see. It's not so simply that we'll grow strawberries as big as apples. I mean, I'm looking forward to all that because I like fruit, but there's something far more deeper here. And that is the plan of salvation will come to its consummation, and we will fellowship with Christ down through the ages. Now, notice verse 5 and 6, "Then he who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" New relationships. The relationship that with God that has been fractured will be consummated. We will be brought together in unity with God. This earth will be made more beautiful than the Garden of Eden. And we will walk and talk and fellowship with God. In verse 6 it says, "He says to me, 'It is what?' Done." Now, there are three places in the Bible that say "it is done." First in Genesis, second in John, third in Revelation. So look at let's look at those three places, they each have a little different nuances. Three places in the Bible that says, "it is done." First, Genesis, chapter 2. Genesis, the second chapter, God has created the world in six literal days. And at the end of creation, he says, "It's finished, it's done." Genesis 2 verse 1 and 2. "Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished." "It's done," he says. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had what?" Done. So the first "it is finished" or the first "done" in Genesis 2 speaks about the marvels of creation. It speaks about a creator God that brought us into existence, that cares for us, that loves us. A God that knows our name, a God that has not forgotten us. The second "it is finished" is found in John chapter 19 verse 30. This "it is finished" talks about the creator God who created us has come to redeem us. John 19 verse 30. In the three "it is dones" in the Bible or "it is finished" in the Bible, you have the whole plan of salvation. You have the creator God who created the human race. You have the God who is the redeemer, who came down to redeem the human race, and you have the Christ who's coming again to save the human race after it sinned. John 19 verse 30, second "it is done." So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It's finished." Now notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say, "I am finished." He said, "It is finished." Is there a difference? Yes. There sure is. Because Jesus says, "It is finished." The plan of salvation is finished. There are three meanings of that "it is finished." First, the plan of salvation is finished. Christ has provided salvation for all mankind. Second, the death blow is given to Satan. Satan is finished. He is a defeated foe. And thirdly, death is finished. Because with the death of Christ on the cross, he conquers the grave and death is finished. So in the first "it is finished," we see God as creator. Second "it is finished," we see God as redeemer. Third "it is finished," in Revelation chapter 21, we see Christ as the coming King who will ultimately restore his kingdom and reign forever and ever and ever in a land of peace, in a land of joy. So our first point is this: the purpose of the coming of Christ in the New Jerusalem is to put a final end to sin, and to bring in everlasting relationship between God and his people. The thing God wants more than anything else is a relationship with his people. He has everything else. The sun, the moon, and the stars are in his hand, but what he longs for is a relationship with you and with me. And he longs to have the barrier between us restored. He longs to have open communion with us. Can you imagine it, our creator, the one that fashioned us, the one that redeemed us, the one that that loves us more than anything we can imagine, longs to be able to sit down with us. He longs to be able to fellowship with us. He longs to be able to share with us the mysteries of eternity. Longs to be able to share with us how much we mean to him. He longs to have that relationship that he had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before sin. He longs to have that with you and with me. The first aspect of that restored relationship is described here in those first few verses. But then there is that second aspect, and that is, if God wants this restored relationship, is it possible for me to be there? Is it possible for you to be there? What do we have in Revelation chapter 21 and 22 that reassures us of the possibility of living in the New Heaven and the New Earth? Nobody knows us better than we do know ourselves. We know our weaknesses. We know our faults. We know our selfish inclinations. We know the workings of the human heart. And at times we wonder. Within our hearts, we long to be in heaven. Within our hearts, we long to be in eternity. But we wonder, can I make it? Can I be there? And God knew that we would wonder that way. And so here we find as God as we wonder if we can ever be there. You look here at Revelation chapter 21. And we're looking there, can we make it? Is it possible? Verse 9, verse 10, verse 11. "Then one of the seven angels who had seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues." Now remember the seven last plagues take place at the close of human probation, when everybody has made their final decision. And when they make their final everlasting decision, for or against Christ, the Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth. And when that Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth, all of hell's forces break loose and bring about a situation that we call the seven last plagues. Now, notice what it says in verse 10. "He carries me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain. He shows me Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." "Having the glory of God, her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone clear as crystal." Verse 12. "Also she had great and high wall with 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates, and the names on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west." How many gates were there in this holy city? How many? Twelve. How many on the east? Three. How many on the west? Three. How many on the north? Three. How many on the south? Three. Now, if you know anything about biblical archaeology, this is what you know. Ancient cities usually had one gate. Now, some of the Jewish cities had two gates, but you don't have more than two gates. Why do you think in the ancient