Revelation 21:1-5
Wayne Grudem: “Christians often talk about living with God ‘in heaven’ forever. But in fact the biblical teaching is richer than that: it tells us that there will be new heavens and a new earth an entirely renewed creation – and we will live with God THERE… There will also be a new kind of unification of heaven and earth… There will be a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation.”
Revelation 21:10-22:5
The new Jerusalem will be at the center of the future Heaven.
The new city will be a city.
The new city will be a physical place.
The new city will be beautiful.
The new city will be massive.
The new city will be perfect.
The new city will be radiant.
(Rev. 22:5)
The new city is where God dwells among us.

Revelation 21:1-4

The new earth will be MUCH LIKE this earth, but it will be FAR BETTER than this earth.

Revelation 22:3
Isaiah 65:17-25
2 Peter 3:13
The new Earth is waiting on us.
Romans 8:19-23
The new Earth is the New Heaven.  (They are one and the same.)
Ephesians 1:9-10
Jesus is the one who makes this possible.
Revelation 5:1-5, 9-13
Colossians 1:19-20

1 Corinthians 15 (
Jesus’ resurrection is a model for ours.
Luke 24:36-43
Our new body will be physical in nature.
Our new body will be familiar and recognizable.
Our new body will be immortal.
Our new body will be perfect for us.
We will finally be comfortable in our own skin.

Revelation 21:1-5
God’s not making ALL NEW THINGS; He’s making ALL THINGS NEW.
2 Peter 3:7, 10-13

Two Key Ideas
The new thing will be much like the old thing.
The new thing will be far better than the old thing.

The beginning of this message did not record, so it picks up in progress.  We started with Revelation 21:1-5 which says:

1Then 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. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place^a of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,^b and God himself will be with them as their God.^c 4He 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. 5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

Thanks for listening!

Heaven right now is not the way it always will be.

Revelation 21:1-5

The present Heaven is not visible to us… but some have seen glimpses of it.

Jesus is there now… and so are the believers who have died.

2 Corinthians 5:6, 8 “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

The present Heaven engages in worship.

Revelation 6:9-11

The present Heaven is concerned about what’s happening on earth.

Luke 15:7, 10

Hebrews 12:1

Heaven right now is cheering you on.

Most of us are looking forward to something we know very little about.

“The problem is not that the scripture doesn’t tell us much about Heaven. It is that we don’t pay attention to what it DOES tell us!” ~ John Piper

Luke 16:19-31
Jesus used REAL PEOPLE, most likely because these are REAL PLACES.

John 5:25-19
Jesus clearly believed his own teaching about the afterlife.

Heaven is real, but faith in Jesus is the only way to experience it.