Revelation 21 1 through 5 We won't so much take this word
by word this time But I believe we may come back and do that
very thing, but I want us to see an incredible Just amazing
message in this in these five verses The title What do you
think the title of the message is? It could be several, right? New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem,
all things new. So the title is just one word,
new. And in verse five, Christ says,
I did it. I did it. Well, I'm getting ahead
of myself. Look at this. Look what he did and don't miss
the clear spiritual Truth of this entire passage of scripture.
What's wrong with the old earth? There are a lot of questions
raised by here. Why do we need a new earth? Well, there can
only be a one-word answer to that because of seeing This old
earth would be just fine Except for seeing Well, how can we have
a new Earth then? You got to do away with sin.
You got to get rid of sin. Otherwise, you make another Earth.
What good is another shot going to do us? You think the new Earth
is just another reset for us? Maybe we'll get it right this
time. Maybe we won't completely destroy it. Our very presence
in this Earth destroys it. Put away sin, how does that happen? Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. It only happens by the blood
of the lamb. And think about this, what is the essence of
all this newness? New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem.
He said, I make everything new. What does that mean? Is he just
gonna make a new earth that's prettier than the old one? You
know, we know that sin has affected this earth. There's thorns and
there's cruelty even in nature that wouldn't exist otherwise.
Are there just gonna be roses with no thorns in this new earth?
What does it mean? What does that even mean, a new
earth? What's the essence of that? What was the point of the
old earth? What's the point of this earth?
I'm already speaking of it in past tense. That sounds good,
doesn't it? I'm ready for this earth to be
past tense. I believe I really am. What was the point of this
one? The glory of God, specifically
in redeeming his people. Everything revolves around the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has a people and so he has
an earth that he's populated with his people. And so that was the point, and
what was the point of man though in this earth? The first thing
that happened was we fell. We became alienated from God. And so from the beginning of
history, this earth has been about what? Getting back to God. That's the cross. That's the Lord Jesus. He listened
to the scripture on that. 1 Peter 3.18, for Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God. Why did Christ die on Calvary?
Well, he's just to show us his love, to show us how much he
loved us. Well, how's that working out for everybody
that's in hell tonight? He suffered the just for the
unjust, that he might bring somebody to God. Not everybody's gonna
be brought to God, but those who are, are brought to God by
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the sacrificial offering of
our Savior on Calvary. Now, listen, Look what God said,
the essence of newness, that's what we're talking about. So
the old earth was about getting back to God, to bring us to God.
The cross, everything revolves around the cross. And Christ
died on that cross to bring us to God, to redeem a people out
of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue under heaven. We're gonna
sing about it throughout endless ages. But listen, so what's the
new earth all about? Well, to answer that, look what
God said about it. We can speculate, but why would
we do that? Listen, he said, I saw, John
said, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, okay? For the first
heaven and the first earth are passed away, and we know why.
God said he was gonna burn it up, and he did at this point. And I, John, saw the holy city. New Jerusalem coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The church is the bride of Christ. New Jerusalem is the kingdom
of God. It's the church. It's the people
of God, the elect of God. And as a bride adorned for her
husband, John saw her. And listen, God's gonna tell
us what all this means. What is newness? What does it
mean to be new? I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, look at it. Behold. What? The new heaven
and the new earth and the new Jerusalem, the new everything.
Look at it. The tabernacle of God is with
men. That's the point of it. He didn't say, look at it. There's
no thorns on the rose bushes. He didn't say, look how pretty
it is and shiny and new. The man hasn't had a chance to,
Messed it up yet? He said, look at it. The tabernacle
of God is with men. The point of the new earth is
the same as the old one. It's like the old covenant. What
was the point of the old covenant? The glory of God. You're going
to obey. You're going to do this. You're not going to do that.
Same as in the garden of Eden. The glory of God, obedience to
God, service to God, glorifying Him. in thought, word and deed. Well, how is that working out
today? Just like in Noah's time, it's
the same story, isn't it? The same story. The imagination
of man's heart is only evil continually. Therefore, I'll send a flood
and I'm gonna wipe everybody off the face of the earth except
for the few that I've chosen to put in my son. and I'll pour
out my wrath against them on my son and not them. Same with the old covenant. What's
wrong with the old covenant? Us. What's wrong with the old
earth? Us. And what did he do with the
old covenant? Put it away. It's passed away. And there's a new one now. What's
the point of it? Same point as the old one, the
glory of God. But it happens a different way.
It's not gonna happen, it's not gonna depend on you. It's gonna
depend on his son. That's how it is in the new earth.
When God's done with it because of us, he's gonna get rid of
it. He's gonna burn it up and he's
gonna make a new one. And the point of that new one is gonna
be the same as the old, the glory of his son. None of it depends on us. It
depends on Him. It turns out, after all, that
it wasn't all about us doing something for God. It was about
Him doing something for us. Look what He did for us. We are
a beautiful, spotless, beautifully adorned bride, worthy of the
King of life, worthy of the Prince of Peace Himself. But think about what he said.
First of all, God's with us. We're gonna be with God. The
tabernacle of God, notice he says it three ways. Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them. Why is it stressed like that?
Why is it said three different ways? Because God's with us now. He said, if we meet in his name,
just the two or three of us, he's there in our midst. So he's
stressing it in a whole different sense now. But look at the three
things. There's three things that God
says about the new heaven, earth, and us. There's a new heaven,
a new earth, a new us. There's three distinguishable
messages about this newness and we talked I mentioned one of
them already But and then I then we talked about the first one.
It's God with us the essence of this newness And remember the point of the
old one it was all about God's purpose of grace in Christ Jesus
That's now fully accomplished That's accomplished in the old
earth, so what's the point of the new one? Verse three, with
men, dwell with men, God himself shall be with them and be their
God. The old earth and everything
that happened on it was about getting to God. The second earth,
the new earth, is all about being with God. We got there by his
grace. We're gonna get there. Doesn't
look like it sometimes. We're gonna get there. How we became separated from
God and getting to God is what it's all about. He died, he suffered
the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, the
old tabernacle. was about getting to God. He
mentions the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell
with them. Who will? The tabernacle, the
Lord Jesus Christ. What was the old tabernacle?
It was Christ in picture, in type, in ceremony. Christ in his glory revealed
and exalted in all of it. The new tabernacle is Christ
in reality, in his very presence. I thought about how to explain
this. I mean, it's so simple, isn't it? It's God, not just
pictured, but he's with us tonight, right? What's the difference,
though, then? We'll talk about that in a minute. But it was all about getting
to God, the old tabernacle. What was the point of it? Communion
with God, forgiveness of sins, the day of atonement. You know
what atonement is? At-one-ment. What we have in
our text, at-one-ment. With God, God with us, he himself
with us. At-one-ment was made in the tabernacle. That tabernacle was Christ in
every way. What else was in that tabernacle?
Light, bread, incense, blood everywhere. Light that we might
see God. The light of his glory in the
face of Jesus Christ, Paul said. Bread that we might live before
God. Incense that we might have intercession
between us and God. The old tabernacle was Christ
and so is this new one, but in reality, in person. Notice the
language of verse three. The tabernacle of God is with
men and he, the tabernacle's a he. This is God in the room. I don't
know how to say it. God actually with us. Christ
was God with us before. And God is always with us in
that sense, that he was with us now, is with us now, and was
when he came into this world. That old sense doesn't perish.
It wasn't just about proximity. It wasn't just he came down here
to earth. God's everywhere. He's omnipresent. Though he did
come where we were in order to save us, but Christ being Emmanuel,
God with us, is about him being what we were, yet without sin. It was about him being for us
in so much that nothing can be against us. And that's eternal. He is with
us eternally in the sense of him coming where we were, redeeming
us on Calvary, doing everything for us, honoring the law for
us in his life, shedding his precious blood for us, and that
with us is never obsolete. That began when God fell in love
with us and it will continue as long as his love does. But our text doesn't just say
that, as wonderful and eternally glorious as that is, Christ himself
being God with us. But notice the different ways
it's expressed, with men, dwell with them, himself, himself being
with them. How is that different than what
Christ promised in Matthew 18, 24, where two or three are gathered
in my name, there I am in the midst of them. How is our text
different from that? I can answer that, because God
tells us that. Listen to John 17, 24. Father,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory. We can see the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ by faith tonight. And I pray everyone
in here will do that by his grace. That we're gonna see the glory
of God in his face in person. That they may behold my glory
which thou has given me. For you loved me before the foundation
of the world. That's Christ's desire, and our
desire is no different. We're desiring the same thing.
This world is all about at one minute, being with him. Listen to what David wrote in
Psalm 27, for one thing have I desired of the Lord. What's
this world for? Why this old earth, David? One
thing. And that's what I'm gonna pursue
my whole life, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord. That's
what it is. That's what this earth is. And
the new one, we're gonna get there. He's gonna
bring us there. They may behold my glory, oh,
that I might see the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his
temple. Let me just take one thing, for example. Do you want
to know what God's love is? This reprobate world talks about
the love of God. And they want to ridicule and
shame those that believe that God is God and say, well, that's
not love. If he just loves some and not
others, that's not love. That's exactly what love is.
It always is. If you love every child in this
world the same, then you don't love your children. I'm sorry. You just don't. You just don't. You think about it. You think
about that one laying in bed at night. You do not love them.
If you love every child exactly the same, if I loved every woman
exactly the same, Vic, you might have a problem with that. You
reckon? Love is always distinguishing. It's always special. But to say that God loves everybody,
despite the fact that most go to hell, that live in this world
and grow up in this world, That's not love. Do you want to know what God's
love is? Just for example, out of all
the things that we might want to know about God, I can tell
you tonight that his love is in Christ. It's nowhere but in
Christ. Don't expect any love from God
anywhere else except in his son. I can tell you that it's distinguishing
in particular. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. There's no way to twist that.
You just can't do it. You can try, but you're not gonna
get it done. You can't twist that. His love is distinguishing
in particular. I can tell you though that he
loves sinners. He loves sinners. In Christ Jesus, He loves wretched,
the most wretched sinners in this world. I can tell you His
love is everlasting. He's loved us with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness, He draws us. You don't leave it up to, what
kind of love leaves it up to you? I'm just gonna leave it
up to my child whether he wants to run out in the street and
die or not. Really? Great parenting, you should write
a book. Love never leaves it up to anybody. God's love hedges us. His love
keeps us. His love overshadows us. His
love protects us. An everlasting love, no beginning
or end. I could tell you that his love
is effectual. It's not impotent. His love doesn't say, well, I
sure do hope everything works out for them. I've done all I
can do, you know. That's not the love of God. His
love is effectual. He gets the job done. Those whom God loved, he also
did predestinate. Does that sound like leaving
it up to you? because he loved you, he determined
everything about you, everything that would happen to you, and
where you're gonna end up, looking exactly, being exactly like his
son. I'm so glad he didn't leave it
up to me. I know how that story ends. You wanna really know what his
love is though? I can tell you tonight, those whom he loved,
he also did predestinate and he called them out of darkness
into his marvelous light and he justified them. He didn't
give them a chance. He justified them with his precious
blood and glorified them. He loved his church and gave
himself for it. There's no theme like it in the
world. But though I expound from his word better than anybody
else ever has, the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, we're
not ever gonna know much about his love until we get a glimpse
of his face in glory. That's what I'm talking about.
That's the difference between now and then. We're gonna know
him even as we're known, because we're gonna see him, what? Three
words, as he is. I can't do that right now. But then we will, because he's
gonna dwell himself. He's gonna dwell with us. Let's talk about something that
we just mentioned before. New here means no sin. No sin. No sin. We don't know what that
is either. We were shaping an iniquity and
it hadn't gotten any better. It is no better to this day. Think of all the scars of sin
on this old earth. Every time someone disobeys God
or does something evil, thought, word, or deed, it leaves a scar. It has a collective effect. No man sinneth unto himself. presence of sin that hangs in
the air everywhere we go. Somebody said I'd like to get
away from everybody, but the problem is I'd have to take me
with me. You can't get away from sin. Glenn knows who said that. I'd have to take me. But listen, not only all of the
scars of sin gone on this new earth, there's no sin, no presence
of sin, no scars of sin, no potential for sin, no potential for sin,
no possibility of any sin, no sin hanging over our heads and
no sin to dread in the future. This is the second thing that
God declares about all this newness. You wanna know what new means?
Look what God said about it. I'm gonna dwell with you, myself,
personally. Everything that the old earth
was all about is fulfilled now. Here we are, you and me. Don't even know how to talk about
that. But here's the second thing, no nature of sin, no sin hanging
over our heads, no sin possible. He'll be with us and then there's
a consequence of that. He'll be with us, we'll be with
him and we'll be like him. Look at verse four. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. God's gonna do that. What does
that even mean? Are we gonna be crying when we
get there and he's gonna wipe it away? We gotta talk about
that, you know we do. You see why I'm probably gonna
have to come back to these five verses. God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the
former things are passed away. The old earth and the old us,
gone. You see what new means? We're
a new creature in Christ now. Everything that new means, there's
already a foretaste of it here. and a very beautiful and glorious
one. We are already right now saved from the penalty
of our sin. There is therefore now no condemnation
now to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. The penalty of sin we are free
from, since Christ bore our sins in His own body on Calvary, and
consequently bore all of the punishment and the wrath of God
for our sin, His people will never bear any punishment for
sin. We might think that now when
something bad happens, we're suffering for our sin. No, completely
contrary to that. Whatever temporal earthly consequences
there are to our sin, God uses them for our good. We're not
suffering because of it. It just feels that way to us.
We're actually being benefited by it. We're never gonna suffer
for our sins if Christ suffered in our place. The justice of
God won't allow it. God will overrule even our evil
for our good. And everybody else says, you
meant it for evil, Joseph said, but God meant it for good to
do what he does, save much people alive. So we're saved already from the
presence of sin, from the penalty of sin, there's no condemnation.
We're saved from the power of sin. Romans 6.14, sin shall not
have dominion over you. It shall not rule over you, for
you're not under the law, but under grace. The strength of
sin is the law, but we're no longer under the law. We're under
the grace of God in Christ Jesus. But we're not yet saved from
the presence of sin until verse four. A new earth and a new us. No
more even presence of sin. That's exactly what our text
is talking about. When he is actually with us,
when he himself dwells with us, there'll be no presence of sin.
Sin now tonight is still mixed with all that we do, all that
we think even, and everything that we say. And we do now suffer
temporal consequences of sin, though our Lord uses them for
good. Oh, but look at verse four with me again. Can we just read
it again? You see why this is my favorite
now? And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, all
of them. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, Neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away. You know what's so glorious? The third thing that God says
about newness? I did it. I do it. Behold, I make all things new. He did that for us. He did away
with all these things. by the sacrifice of himself.
And we're gonna experience that then like we never have before,
never could in the body of this dead. Now listen, there's more to this
than none of this is gonna happen anymore. There's none of this
than it just no more of that from now on. That's not what
it says. It doesn't say there's not gonna be any more of that
from now on. It says it's all passed away, all of it. Think
about that for a second. Not only is this not ever gonna
happen anymore, death, sorrow, pain, but even the ones that
did happen are gone. How can they not be if the cause
of them is gone? How can they not be gone? They're
gone. What causes all of this? Sin.
What happened to our sins? He didn't just stop us from sinning.
We're still sinning. He's not just going to stop us
from sinning anymore. He put all of our sins away and
all of the consequences go away with them. That's what this is
talking about now. It's not just that we're not
gonna sin anymore. The truth is we never did. If
we did, we'll never sin. I know I'm talking strange language,
but the Lord speaks of those things that are not as though
they were. And if he speaks of them as though
they were, it's because they are. We just haven't experienced
it yet. If our sins and iniquities, God
remembers no more, the omniscient God, it's because they never
happened. And if the sin didn't happen
and the tears were never cried, you mark it down. It doesn't
make a lick of sense now, does it? It's going to though. That's
what this text said. They're all gone. They're gone. If God omniscient doesn't remember
them, then they didn't happen. God's not just wiping away tears
that we may be crying at the time when we get to heaven. He's
wiping away here all of the tears that we've ever cried. Gone. Every sorrow that ever creased
our brow is gone. At the touch of his hand, the
former things are passed away. He didn't say the former things
are not ever gonna happen again. They're gone with the sins that
caused them. All things are new. New. Which means what he said it did
here. It means he's with us in every
sense. With us like the old, like we
know now, like we experience now, for us. But with us in a sense that we've
never experienced until this day. It means we're like him. is now
we see him as he is. And there's no, none of the marks
of sin, none of the scars of sin, none of the experiences
of sin, no presence of sin, passed away. And then God declares that final
thing about all of that newness that we glory in. Behold, I did
this. I do this. I make all things. That's why we're gonna glorify
him. We're not gonna be singing about the wonders of heaven. He is the wonder of heaven. He's
the one that did it. We don't sing about the house.
We sing about the one that built the house. What does it mean that God did
this? Well, we kind of implied one already,
don't we? He gets all the glory for it,
that's what it means. He's gonna get all the glory
for it, like he always has. May he do so now in this old
earth, may we give him glory both now and forever. But the fact that God, he said,
I make all things, he gets the glory. Not on the wedding garment, but
on his pierced hand. Not the things that he's done
for us, but the one that did them. He gets all the glory,
doesn't he? And boy, that's never gonna be
more right than it is then. I'll tell you what else it means
that God did this. It can never be undone. It can
never be undone. If anything good happens in this
world, and it does, we experience many
wonderful instances of God's grace in this
world, but you know what happens? We don't even have the capacity,
much less the brains to not mess it up. But this can never be undone
because God has done it. He opens and no man shuts. He
shuts and no man opens. What God joins together, no man
put asunder in reality and experience. And
I'll tell you this about the fact that God did it. He gets all the glory because
he did it for his glory, right? We know that much, but you know
what else about God? Everything he's ever done, he
did it for you, D. It means it's for us. This is
my body, which is broken for you. That which is the whole
point of this old earth is for you. It was for you. It is for
you. This is my blood, which is shed.
The blood of the new covenant is shed for you, for his people,
for his elect, for his loved ones. His love is in Christ. Romans 832, he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Who's the us? When we did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son. You look at the context of Romans 832. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? If Christ is all things, then how can he give us Christ
without giving us all things? Well, I don't even know what
to say about any of this and I just proved it for 45 minutes. But I hope that we can go to
bed tonight thinking about new and what it means, what God said
it means. I don't think what religion says
it means, I don't think that's what it means. May God give us grace. So look to Him who makes all
things new, and glory in Him alone. Amen.