Rev. 21:1-8, Live with looking forward to the new heaven and the new e…

Rev. 21:1-8, Live with looking the new heaven and the new earth!

  1-8, 1 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 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. 4 ‘He will wipe 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.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 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 water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

  In chs. 17 and 18, Babylon, all the powers and cities of the world will be destroyed. In chs. 19 and 20, when Jesus returns, He will destroy the devil and his powers. In chs. 21 and 22, all the saints will go into the new heaven and the new earth.

1. See the new heaven and new earth (Eternal Heaven) (1-2)
  In ch. 21, God shows John a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven, the first earth, and the sea disappear(1). Let's look to the new heavens and the new earth. 2 Peter 3:13, But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. In the cursed land (Gn. 3:17, To Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life), all creation awaits release (Rom.8:19-22, 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God). The holy city of New Jerusalem (Community of the Saved Saints) comes down from heaven from God like a bride beautifully adorned for her husband.

2. Comfort and Reward (3-4)
  The tabernacle of God is with men, God is with them, and God Himself is with them. God protects the saints and is with them (Lev. 26:11,12, 11 I will put my dwelling place with you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people). God is the God of the saints (Gen. 17:7, Abraham), and the saints become his people (2, 2 Samuel 7:14, David). God wipes away all the tears of the saints. There are no first things, death, mourning, weeping, or pain in heaven. 7:17, For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’; Isaiah 65:19, I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more (the kingdom of heaven is full of joy, there is no weeping and crying). How should we live in this world? Let's look at the cross of Jesus (Jesus despised the shame of the cross) and live with patience and patience (Heb.12:1b-3, And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart). Because the sufferings of the present cannot be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom.8:18, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us).

3. The work of new change and completion (5-6)
  5, God who sits on the throne ‘makes all things new’. Also, the Alpha and Omega, God who is the first and the last (who never forsakes nor leaves us to the end, Heb.13:5, Josh.1:5) freely gives the fountain of the water of life to those who are thirsty. Don't say it's the last time you talk about yourself and your neighbors. Because in the end, God is taking care of you. The Lamb, the shepherd, leads us to the fountain of the water of life. Blessed are the poor in spirit and those who live with a mourning and thirsty heart (Mt.5:3-12, 8 blessings).

4. The overcomer and the unbeliever (7-8)
  v.7, Those who overcome (the devil, the world, sin and the old self) are blessed and live in the relationship between God and His children. But the cowardly(the persecution and death of the Roman emperors, the world and sufferings of today), the unbelievers, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all those who lie, will meet the second death, namely, be thrown in the lake of sulfur fire (8, Mt.25:41, Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.). Believers must share in suffering as well as in the glory of Christ (Rom. 8:17, Now if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory).
  Brothers and sisters, two roads lie ahead of you, your family, and your neighbors. Are you going to walk the path of eternal life with the children of God who receive the wonderful blessings of heaven? Or will you live in the world without suffering on the cross, worship idols for our own gain, deny the Lord, and then go into eternal death in the lake of sulfur fire?

  Conclusion, 6b-8, “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

  I pray that all of us will look forward to the new heaven and new earth and live as the pure bride of the Lord. Amen.