Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
11 sermons cite this verse
… heaven and the new earth that God has prepared for us as we answer the question, what is heaven like? If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 21. Look at verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. The second feature of John's revelation was the center of that new heaven and new earth, and that was a literal city, the new Jerusalem. Look in verses two to four at the characteristics of this new city. John says, and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. Now it's important to note whenever we talk about heaven in the Bible, we have to determine which heaven God is talking about. You say, what do you mean, which heaven? Well, the word heaven is used four specific ways in the Bible. The first heaven is the atmosphere. It's the air we breathe. It's where the birds and the airplanes fly. That's the first heaven. In the Bible, the second heaven is outer space, where the sun, the moons, the planets, the galaxies are. The third heaven in the Bible is where God is right now. It's the residing place of God. It's where you and I and our loved ones go if we're Christians when we die. Where is that third heaven? I had no idea, nor does anyone else. …
… Revelation chapter 21 Revelation chapter 21 verse 1 through 7 there is coming a day when he will wipe every tear from our eyes death will be no more and there shall be mourning, crying, or pain for the former things have passed away then listen to verse 7, Revelation 21 verse 7, the one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son that's the picture of heaven a heritage where he will be our God and we will be his son, his children and so as children of God the Father I invite you to look forward to a day when there will be no more pain Amen. brothers and sisters there will be no more pain in your heart in your body
… Revelation 21, 1. Then I saw, John said, a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither there shall there be mourning nor crying or pain anymore for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Chapter 22, verse one, then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, brightest crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb to the middle of the street of the city. …
… Notice what John says here. He says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what a blessing to get a sneak peek into the future and all that you have prepared for those who love you. In heaven, in this place that Jesus said he would go and prepare for us. …
… Revelation 21. And 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. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying the dwelling of God is with man that in the same way in the incarnation God has stepped down into time in the person of Jesus and when he brings things to fruition he will step down once again. And in that same chapter, which you're familiar with, I'm sure, John says in 22, and I saw no temple in the city, for the temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. so here we sit in the 21st century learning from the history of the people of God they were the ones going up they were the ones looking back they were the ones keeping on perhaps we put it this way we now tonight are the privileged ones looking back encouraged to be keeping on because we're looking forward to a day when we're going on. …
I want you to see chapter 21. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. There was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a voice from heaven say, behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people God himself God himself will be with them and be their God and I want you to hear this read this like you've never heard it before like these are this is news to you because this is God's promise to every person who will accept his son Jesus Christ life is hard life is is at times overwhelming but listen to this great promise and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be, now pretend you've never heard this. You're going somewhere that God has prepared and there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, nor crying. You're not doing it. You don't believe that. …
… The Bible says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. So what you've got is the restoration, a recreation of the earth here in Revelation 21, like it was intended to be in Genesis chapter 1 and 2. So you've got those bookends on the Bible. Then we see the image of God marred by sin in the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3. I want you to look at Revelation chapter 22. I want you to look with me at verse 1 and 2. This is talking about heaven. It says, The angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. …
… ever happily ever after and so forth and so on. Heaven is a real place. Revelation chapter 21. Here's the tour. You ready for this? Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy, say it with me, city. Now, God just drops this out of heaven. A capital city. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem. I call it J-Town, kind of joking around. I'm not being sacrilegious. It's just a way to remember it. Coming down of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. So this capital city is like a beautifully adorned bride that God just drops down. And then you have the consummation of this relationship with the Lamb of God, of course, being Jesus Christ. Heaven is a real place. It's a city, a capital city in the midst of heaven. Remember, it's very important that you understand this because I didn't know this. I really didn't know this until I began to really study about heaven, but this is important for us to know. …
… clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, made possible by Jesus who died on the cross for our sin. And then check this out, Revelation chapter 21. I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth that passed away, the sea was no more, and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem. This is a picture of heaven coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I remember the day when I stood at the front of a church. The door in the back swings open. I see my bride step forward, dressed in white. All the emotions, all the exhilaration. And this is the image God gives us of heaven coming to us. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them as their God, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. Neither shall every mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Talk about the wedding day of all wedding days. …
… it says, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, including the asthma and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people when God himself will be with them and be their God. And he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more cancer, no more divorce, no more mental illness, no more decay. There will be no more death. If you are... In the funeral business, I applaud you. That is a tough job. And it is a calling. But you're going to need to find a new line of work in the new heaven and the new earth. …
… And at the end of this lengthy view into the future that is given to the apostle, we come to the twenty-first chapter in which John writes these words, And then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth and the first heaven had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. Now, let's just stop right there. That's strange, isn't it, that the announcement of the appearance of the new heaven and the new earth. Incidentally, that creates all kinds of theological speculation. Does that mean that God is going to utterly destroy and annihilate this order and create brand new and from scratch? I don't think so, because the idea that we encounter in Scripture from the Old Testament all the way through the new is that there's something wrong with this world order. There's something rotten about this world. You're not going to get an argument about that, are you? And what redemption is all about is not the annihilation of this planet, but the redemption of it. …