All Things New: What Heaven is Like

Well good morning everybody my name is René, I'm one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. I want to welcome you whether you're here live in the auditorium or watching over in the venue services or watching online it is just great to have you here. I'm gonna invite you to grab your message notes that look like this and if you're not here live you can download these on our website or also on the free TLC app that you can get in the app store.

I just want to add my voice to what Val said earlier in announcements or what the other announcers said Sarah and Kyle over in the venue service because Easter is going to be great and we're going to start a brand new series on Easter Sunday called Rise and we're going to do it with a splash. We're going to give away to every single one of the six to seven thousand people who come next weekend we're going to give away a brand new little book that we wrote. It's a month's worth of daily meditations and it dovetails into the series which is going to last during the month of April. It's about how to live with resurrection power. It's just going to be a great weekend next weekend don't forget to invite your friends and you can invite them with those invite cards that we have available in the lobby for you. Grab a pile of them you can also do it electronically if you go to our website TLC org click on the Easter banner and it'll take you to an evite that you can send to your contacts that's another great way to invite people by text or by email.

Now this morning we are wrapping up our series in the book of Revelation. We have spent a total of 16 weeks in Revelation and some of you are like at last we are done but some of you are fascinated with this and want to dig deeper. Flip your notes over to page 2 where it says resources. I have a stack of at least a half a dozen or a dozen books about Revelation in my office but these are my favorites and the ones that I'm putting on screen here are the two I use the most. This Bible study by John Ortberg that he taught years ago at a church in Chicago you can get that online and I cannot recommend this book by Darryl Johnson highly enough discipleship on the edge. Star it circle it underline it if you have enjoyed our approach to the book of Revelation which is less as a crystal ball or as kind of a Christian version of Nostradamus and more as a discipleship manual for how to live your life today you are going to love this book it is so good.

Now let's wrap up by talking about one of the most common questions that I get as a pastor and that's this: what is heaven like? Everybody wants to know whether it's kids your grandkids you yourself everybody has this question and probably the most common of the versions of this question that I get is people come up to me they look one way than the other and then they say I almost hate to say this it sounds sacrilegious but will heaven be boring? Because I think a lot of people fear this in our pop culture heaven looks like a giant fog bank during which we will have an eternal hymn sing forever. Sounds like the most boring thing on earth and people say honestly I don't want to go there if that's what it's like.

Another question people ask me is what will we eat in heaven? And believe it or not the Bible has some answers about that. Other people ask me are there animals in heaven? Sometimes little kids ask you know my doggy died will there be dogs in heaven? And I say I don't know that the Bible doesn't say it could be or they say what about my cat will there be cats in heaven? And I say no I mean I don't know could be the Bible doesn't say. Everybody wants to know what heaven's like and that means there's all kinds of books about it too like 90 minutes in heaven or proof of heaven or heaven is for real which was also made into a movie.

And here's just a little 60-second clip from that. There's a newspaper article about heaven and they want to interview Colton and you think that's a good idea. So Colton a lot of people were praying for you I guess well that must feel good. Oh we're buddy be an interview you were very sick what did it feel like to die? I didn't die but you went to heaven that's a little off-topic it's beautiful you saw heaven mm-hmm what does it look like? Like here but even more beautiful and you saw Jesus? Yeah he's very nice I sat on his lap he has markers markers yeah right here and right here and right here and right here I go something on this wing some more yeah so Jesus has a horse there's lots of animals in heaven they don't believe me do they? Some people might be afraid to believe why are they afraid of? I don't know maybe they're afraid that there's no heaven or maybe they're afraid that there is daddy don't you? I believe God loves you so do I.

Well you know I don't know if Colton really did go to heaven but I do know this that little description of heaven it's like here only more beautiful that's actually a pretty good summary of what the Bible says. This morning I want to show you about that we're gonna dig into the two chapters of the Bible that say more about heaven than any other Revelation 21 and 22, the last two chapters of the Bible. I want to start by reading several verses from Revelation 21 in a row and as you listen I want you to just relax and use your imagination and try to put yourself in John's shoes the author of the book of Revelation. Remember he's in exile on the island of Patmos he's been writing about all the dangers ahead for persecuted Christians in the first century and he describes those dangers symbolically with horrible imagery like dragons and beasts and plagues.

And then finally then he writes 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. Now hit pause for just a second because that sounds terrible to most of us in Santa Cruz right no sea but remember John is using symbolic language and to first century readers the sea represented chaos. The sea was danger nobody went to the sea recreationally they went to the sea because they had to for trade but that was it the sea was scary the sea was drowning and tidal waves and destruction and so this is another way of saying there was no more death there was no more scariness.

And he says and then 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 and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said I am making all things new and then he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true.

And he said to me it is done I am the alpha and the omega the beginning of the end to the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Isn't that an awesome description? Now I want to drill down into this but at first I just want to hone in on one single phrase it's highlighted there on page one of your notes where God says I am making all things what new. Let's say that phrase out loud together let me read it here I am making all things new not I am making all new things. Do you see the difference? For years really that's what I thought the Bible taught the second phrase one day God would make all new things this earth would be just sort of junked up and dropped in the wastebasket and taken to refuse and forever and there would be all new things kind of shadowy cloudy vapory things.

But he says I am making all things new in other words he's going to take what's good about this earth the things you love and redeem them and restore them. I mean next weekend is Easter we're gonna talk about Christ's resurrection and God this right he took his dead body he didn't destroy his dead body he made it new and that's a foretaste of what God is going to do with your body and with this dying earth. They'll take the corrupted planet and make it new and so what that implies is watch this now when you think of heaven don't think of clouds and harps and dry ice you know think of the most awesome physical things here.

What comes to my mind I think of the time I saw the rainfalls in Europe last year it was just stunning just amazing the sheer volume of water and the smell and the sound it just created awe or I think of the flowers that are blooming right now along the ocean here or I think of the rainbow that I saw a couple of weeks ago during sunset over the ocean and I snapped this quick picture with my phone. That tug we feel toward this kind of beauty or the Grand Canyon or the Rockies or anything else it's really not just an appreciation of earthly beauty it's a longing for the new earth. You know what that longing is? It's homesickness for a place you've never been yet and I am making all things new includes you and that's what I want to talk about for the rest of our time together.

The four aspects of the kind of person you will become your future your destiny what you will be like in heaven that's really what so many of those questions about heaven boil down to four aspects to this jot these down in your notes. Number one I will be thoroughly healed. Thoroughly healed. The day is coming when you will be healed down to the marrow of your bones. Let's go back to Revelation 21 verse 4 one of the most beautiful parts of the whole Bible he will wipe every tear from their eyes. This is such a visceral image isn't it? God wiping tears from your eyes and you know why this just goes down into our core? It's because one of the first needs that a human being has in life is this a little baby is born and it's hungry or sick or wet or thirsty or tired or afraid or in pain and the parents one of the first things they do in their relationship with that new little baby is to dry that baby's tears.

It's one of the first interactions you ever had with a human being was somebody saying to you it's okay it's okay. One of my earliest memories being raised by Swiss German parents was them singing a little Swiss German lullaby to me that goes sit there and heard a soul do our notice so to sleep out who knew them that translates into English as don't fret don't you worry the house isn't gonna fall down today it's all gonna be okay. Which by the way in case you're going that's kind of weird to say the house isn't gonna fall down today and a lullaby for a kid when the bow breaks the baby will fall come on I rest my case.

But you know what we all get to a certain age and for some it's sooner than others when you realize those lullabies actually are not totally true sometimes it's not okay sometimes the house does fall down bad stuff happens and some hurts are actually not going to get healed not in this life. I mean that dawned on me when I was four and dad died and some of you are sitting in this room right now with a hurt like that and you can read books dealing with grief you can join a support group like grief share you can go to counseling and I'd recommend all those things they can help but there's an ache in your heart that will not go away and it may never go completely away until the day you die.

Well one day one day one day God himself will wipe away that tear that's been there for a long time and he'll completely heal that hurt for good it'll be gone and he will say to you don't worry don't fret the house fell down but I'm building it back up again the earth fell but now it's all made new. And that doesn't just mean emotionally it also says and they're about the tree of life the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Isn't that an interesting picture that means all the racial and national divisions will go away and every individual within those nations will be thoroughly completely healed.

I'll tell you a story one of the most dramatic demonstrations of this I ever saw I was speaking at a camp for disabled children children with special needs they would say these days it was at Mission Springs in Scotts Valley and I met a little girl there probably about 12 or 13 at the time her name was a Raya spelled a r a y a Raya. Raya was born with a genetic spinal disorder that keeps her from growing much taller than this stool right as it keeps her bent over double it also prevents her from walking more than a step or two at a time most of the time she's in a wheelchair or a walker. Her birth parents actually left her at the hospital abandoned her because of that condition but the nurses at the hospital called a woman that they knew who had the same exact condition who volunteered at the hospital and they dared to suggest to her what have you adopted her and you could teach her how to live with this condition and she did and that's the woman who gave her the name a Raya and she gave her the middle name sunshine a Raya sunshine.

Well one day a Raya is in church and there was a beautiful ballerina who goes to this church and her husband's a musical composer and she did a liturgical dance a ballet that was just amazing and a Raya leaned over to her mommy and she whispered mommy when am I going to be able to dance like that? Now for most little kids it's well we'll put you in dance class right but a Raya's mom didn't know what to say so she said well in heaven in heaven you'll be able to dance like that a Raya. So little a Raya wheels up to the ballet dancer after church and she says my mommy says one day I'll be able to dance like you one day in heaven.

Well the ballet dancer and her husband the composer were so inspired that they wrote a piece and choreographed a dance that they call a Raya's wings and the next year I got to see the world premiere at the camp at Mission Springs and this is kind of bad cell phone video but I want you to experience this that's a Raya there and there's the very ballet dancer she was inspired by and the plot line of this dance is this is the new heaven and the new earth and a Raya wakes up on the morning of the resurrection and the angel tells her now at last you can stand a Raya now you can walk now you can dance and at first a Raya doesn't dare to believe her but slowly she wakes up in this resurrected body like a butterfly crawling out of a caterpillar's cocoon and then watch what happens next.

Isn't that beautiful? And her cocoon turns into wings, because God makes all things new. Now, I want you to apply this. Get personal here. Think right now about your deepest hurt, your worst loss, your incurable wound, physical or emotional. The biblical... listen. The biblical hope is not that when you become a Christian, you get a free pass from suffering. The biblical hope is that you can trust God today right now. You can take your broken heart to Him, because one day God Himself is going to hold you close as His little son or little daughter, and He's going to wipe it all away. Doesn't that sound good to anybody else in here? Man, that is going to happen, and then it gets better. Even better, because the second aspect of your destiny might surprise you just a little bit about heaven. Point two is this. I will be amazingly creative. Amazingly creative. This surprises some people, because I'd say the number one fear that most folks have about heaven really is that it'll be kind of boring.

We wonder, is it going to be like an eternal retirement village? Are we just going to sing all the time? I mean, I like singing as much as the next guy, but after like 30 or 40 billion years, I might be ready for a break, right? Look at Revelation 22, verse 5, the end of the verse. There's just one phrase I want to unpack. And say this with me. And they will reign forever and ever. What does that mean? I used to think it means like sitting on a throne, just sort of waiting for something to happen, and we all know nothing happens in heaven, and so you're just sitting there like a stone for all eternity. That's not what it means.

So what does it mean? Well, back to the beginning, back in Genesis, way back in the garden, God said we were created in His image, and He said we were made to, what? Have dominion, reign, over the earth in cooperation with Him. And that was the Garden of Eden. In other words, even in a perfect environment, we were made to work, to be fruitful, to reign. And that's why every single one of us has this need to contribute and to do some worthwhile work and to be creative, and that God-given desire is not going to vanish in heaven. Instead, it's going to be finally, fully expressed in heaven. Your gifts and your abilities will be fully realized.

You say, really? I don't know. Let me show you a few verses. Watch this. Revelation 21, 24 it says, "And the kings of the earth will bring their," what? "Splendor, their glory into the new Jerusalem." What's this mean? Go to any museum and you'll see the splendor of kingdoms. Art and glory and creativity and artistry, and many museums like in Europe are themselves amazing pieces of creativity like this. The Louvre was itself a palace, part of the splendor of a kingdom. Well, the book of Revelation says that that splendor, the best parts of that splendor are going to be part of the new earth.

And I think this means there'll be better Beethovens and better Beatles and better Beavers, for those of you who are Bieber fans. But in Isaiah 65, there's this great picture. Look at this. God says, "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth." And what are we going to do there? It says, "They will build houses and dwell in them." Those are going to be some pretty beautiful houses. "And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit." And not just eat their fruit. How about Isaiah 25, 6? "On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food." Rich food, not low sodium food. Rich food for all peoples. A banquet of aged wine, the best of meats, and the finest of wines. Now we're talking.

This is heaven. One thing that really surprises a lot of people is how, when the Bible describes heaven, it's so physical. And again, we'll talk about this next week when we talk about Jesus rising. I am so excited, by the way. I'm finished, thank God, with a message for next weekend. And I don't want to sound like un-humble, but it's really good. And so invite your friends. Because it's about like the best thing ever. How when Jesus rises from the dead, He's super physical. And our resurrection body will be like that. It'll be physical.

C.S. Lewis, in the very last book of his series, The Chronicles of Narnia, he's trying to capture all of these glories. Here's what he writes when the characters in his story die. And their life in heaven begins. He says, "The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them." And for us, this is the end of all the stories, but for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world had only been the cover and the title page. And now, at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has ever read, and which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before. Don't you love that?

Thoroughly healed. Amazingly creative. And it keeps getting better. Number three, I will be completely holy. Completely holy. Morally flawless. Now, some of you are going holy. That does not sound that exciting. Quick show of hands, how many of you have even one bad habit that you'd like to change? Can I see a show of hands? How many of you, if you're honest, you don't really, but the person next to you has a serious problem? Can I see that? All right. I remember when I started as a pastor here, I was 32 years old, 22 years ago, and I remember thinking, by the time I was the age I am now, like in my mid-50s, I'd pretty much have the whole Christian growth thing down. Like, I'm going to be completely mature, and all these things that are struggles now are not clearly not going to be struggles, then how wrong I was.

Does it ever bother you how slow your Christian growth seems to be going sometimes, right? It's like, man, it's hard. It's so slow to grow in Christ-like character. Am I really getting anywhere? Well, guess what? You do get there. You get there. Look at Revelation 21, 22. This is so interesting. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. What does this mean? You've got to put yourself in the shoes of somebody in the first century reading this for the first time. Many of them were Jews. For Jews, the temple in Jerusalem was the place where the Holy of Holies was. It was the place that people went to meet with God. It was a sacred space. It was a place of part. They couldn't imagine life without it.

But now, John's saying, there's no temple. Because there's no need for a temple in heaven. Because there's no distance anymore between God and us. Because we're perfect, as God is perfect. We're as holy as God is holy, and His dwelling place is with us. Again, when God is saying, "I make all things new," that includes you. I mean, think of this. You'll have a new mind, and the only thoughts that will ever go through your mind will be thoughts that are noble and good. You're going to have a new mouth. How many of you just can't wait to just have a new mouth, right? And the only things you say, they will only be uplifting and encouraging only. And you'll have a new heart. And your new heart is going to love the Lord and other people as effortlessly as your heart right now beats. Because that's just going to be just part of your nature. Isn't that cool?

And then there's one other set of images I want to show you that show that I will be entirely satisfied. Entirely satisfied. Revelation 22 starts with a description of the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God. Watch this. On each side of—this is so cool. On each side of the river stood the tree of what? Okay, we're going to get back to that. Bearing 12 crops of fruit yielding its fruit every month. Now take a snapshot of that picture now. Imagine what this meant to people in those days. They were in the dry Middle Eastern area, not a lot of water. Crops were only harvested maybe once a year. If that, it was a culture of scarcity. And so the picture being painted here is, there is no want. The water flows ceaselessly. The harvest happens ceaselessly. There's no long months without water or fresh fruit. There's no scarcity.

And this is so huge for you and me too because in our culture, our lives are this crazy chase after contentment. And some of you are here this morning and you're deeply discontented in some area of your life. And there's almost this sense of desperation. You know, I'm still unhappy and I've got to figure out what it is I have to do in order to get happy. And it's maddening and it leads to such despair. But the promise is this, the day is coming when you will be entirely satisfied. So think of the picture of the future all this is painting. Does this remind you of anything you've seen before? Jog your memory. The Bible started way back in Genesis with the Garden of Eden, right? And right at the center of the garden was a tree and what was it called? The tree of life.

But then because of human rebellion, that perfection was shattered and we were forbidden access to the tree of life. And death entered the world. And then what do we see here at the end? It says, remember on each side of the river stood the tree of what? Life. The big idea here is that the Bible comes full circle. And we're back in the garden again, living with God again. We have the tree of life again. Show of hands here. Anybody remember Woodstock? Anybody remember Woodstock? You know what they say if you remember Woodstock? You weren't there? You know that. I'm talking about the song though, the song Woodstock. It's an interesting, if you remember it, it says, we are stardust, we are golden, we are trapped in the devil's bargain. We have got to get ourselves back to the garden.

There's this universal human need, even from people who aren't believers, that somehow we know it used to be better and we want to get ourselves back to that beautiful original state. And the song gets that longing right, but what it gets wrong is what we as humans always seem to get wrong. And that is we can't get ourselves back to the garden. Because we're the reason that we're not in the garden, so we can't get ourselves back to the garden. The good news is that God wants to get us back to the garden. And he went through incredible lengths to do it. Look at this invitation, Revelation 22, 17, almost the very last verse of the Bible. The spirit and the bride say, come and let the one who hears say, come, let the one who is thirsty come back to the garden. Let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Now look at this carefully, does it say, let the one who worked real hard to prove themselves worthy? No, let anyone who hears, anyone who wants it, if you're thirsty, just come and take it. Why? Because Jesus already paid the price. Jesus picked up your tab. Jesus opened the gate again by giving his life on the cross. God's goal is not to bring you to dry Iceland forever in heaven. God's goal is to bring you back to the garden, to a physical, creative, thoroughly healed, perfect, holy garden.

And so a couple of things here. First, if you're a believer already, I hope in addition to savoring this future as much as you can, that you will do everything you can. Whether you're a part of this church or another church to help everyone you know spend this kind of eternity living with God. And that doesn't mean lecturing, it means loving. But listen, one of the key steps just might be inviting them to Easter next weekend. I mean, think about it, you could be part of something that changes someone's eternal destiny. You really could.

Second, maybe you want this future, but you're not sure you're going there. And you want to just settle the issue today. The Bible makes it so simple. You just accept this invitation, and I'm going to pray a prayer in just a moment. And if you want to just settle the issue, you know, you're not sure you can join me in it. But let me address a third group, and that's a group that's thinking, well, it sounds attractive, but I got questions. Well, I want to reiterate what you heard in announcements. Something we got starting in two weeks, the weekend after Easter, you've got an insert in your bulletin called Starting Point. There's a table outside, you can get more information.

Here's what this is about. We felt like there was such a need for a safe place for people who come here to Twin Lakes Church. And, you know, they're not ready to kind of step over the line and say, "I want to be a Christian," but they're intrigued. And what they need is not a classroom, not a lecture. They need a safe place where they can get to know people who really believe this stuff. And they can ask them whatever questions they want to ask them. And they can trust them to be confidential. And that's what this environment is about. It's not a lecture. It's a support group for you. This intrigues you, but you've honestly got some questions.

If you have questions about this, you can email us, startingpoint@tlc.org. That starts in two weeks, the weekend after Easter. And we're doing it so that you can go to any one of our services and go to Starting Point either before or after. It's happening after our Saturday night service, and it happens during this service, the 9 o'clock service, and during the 10.45 service, so that you can go to Starting Point and also catch church. I'm really stoked about this, because following Jesus is not about some kind of heavy-pressure sales pitch. It's an invitation to start a lifelong, like as in eternal lifelong, relationship.

Remember what Colton said in the opening clip? He said, "Heaven's like here, only more beautiful." And we said, "Think of the best, you know, ocean scene or flowers or rainbow or waterfall you've ever seen. Only make it more beautiful, and that's the glory of heaven." Well, think of this. Think of the most loved you have ever felt. Maybe it was a moment with your mom or your dad. Or maybe it was that moment with a loved one. Maybe that your wedding day, or maybe it was that one day that you held somebody's hand and you kind of look in their eye and you just felt unconditionally loved. Well, heaven's just like that, only forever and even more beautiful. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this picture. Thank you for the promise of a new body and a new heaven and a new earth. I'm so glad to know that you're going to restore the beauty of this earth, that you're going to wipe away every tear. We're going to be with you forever. And some people here just want to say, "Thank you." And some want to settle this issue once and for all and say, "Lord, I know that in and of myself I'm not worthy to be there. I'm an unclean person. I've sinned, but I throw myself entirely on your grace, given for me by Christ on the cross. Today I accept that invitation. In this moment, I take freely of what you offer freely, the free gift of the water of life. I receive Jesus as my Lord and as my Savior to follow now and forever and ever." And others are praying right now, "God, I'm seeking, and you promised if you seek, you will find it, so I want to devote myself to seeking. I want to consider that group. I want to find answers, God. Give me the answers." In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.