Behold, I Am Making All Things New (Part 1) | Revelation 21:1-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (10/4/26)

Very fitting songs for what we are about to discover together in the book of Revelation. One of the truths that have been emphasized throughout this final visions in this incredible book is the promise of a future resurrection. And through them, we have gained a deeper understanding of what the Lord Jesus calls the resurrection of life which is the destiny of those who have placed their trust in Christ. We've also received a glimpse of the resurrection of judgment which is a separate resurrection and speaks of the raising of the unbelieving dead who were not found in the book of life and will be condemned because of it. And these two events are summarized by the prophet Daniel in the following way in Daniel chapter 12 verse two.

And many who are asleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. But I wanna propose to you this morning that the book of Revelation speaks of a different kind of transformation that we have not yet considered. It is neither the resurrection and glorification of the saints nor is it the summoning of the wicked throughout all history to stand before the great white throne judgment. No. Revelation chapter 21 actually points us to something that we rarely think about when we consider our glorious future and it is the miraculous renewal and restoration of creation itself.

Now, when most people think of the Book of Revelation, what comes to mind frequently is the devastation that awaits this planet. And no doubt, there is great fascinating details concerning the fate of this physical world in this book. However, before this book closes, what we realize is that God has a redemptive purpose for the cosmos, not just for Christians. And what's even more fascinating is that the perfection of creation is somehow connected to our bodily resurrection. This is something that the Apostle Paul taught about.

In Romans eight nineteen, Paul says, for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Here's what Paul is essentially saying. Just as the fallen Adam of Eve brought about consequences for all creation, so will the resurrection of the sons of God bring an impact to our natural world. This is a profound thought.

Here's another way of thinking about it. When the Lord restores you and I to our complete and permanent state of glory, It will be followed by the restoration of creation to its intended perfection as well. And that is why Paul says that creation waits with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. Meaning what? That there is something that will take place when our adoption is fully realized and we are united with our creator, with our new glorified bodies.

And one of those wonderful ramifications is that creation itself will be clothed anew, will be healed in every way possible, will be restored to God's original purpose. So you see scripture does not present salvation on merely as an individual experience. It's far larger in scale. When God saves as He is saving us today and as He continues to unfold His plan of redemption, we will realize something far more profound. You see, there's this misconception that the final stage of our salvation means that God is going to rescue us from this sin stained world and usher us into some ethereal realm while he discards his creation.

But the opposite is true. Scripture actually speaks about a redemption both for his people and the world that they inhabit. What revelation is going to remind us is that our salvation in the end is not us escaping creation but heaven and earth coming together as one. And we see here that what Paul is speaking about finds its fulfillment in Revelation chapter 21. And not just here in Romans eight, think of verses like Colossians one twenty where it says, and through him to reconcile all things to himself whether on earth or heaven.

God is going to redeem everything at the end of the day. And John calls us the new heaven and the new earth. Let's begin by reading about it together in Revelation 21 verses one through verse eight. Revelation 21 beginning in verse one. 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, 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 shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away.

And he was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Also, 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 and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexual moral or moral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death. Lord, we ask with these verses and with the time that is allotted to us that you would grant us more than just clarity about doctrine, but you would move our hearts to worship as we recognize what you have purchased for us in Christ. May this stir us to adore you and to realize the great inheritance, the heritage that is ours who have conquered through their faith in Christ and overcome this world because of it. Grant us, Lord, a power attached to these truths.

May it not just tickle our minds, but may it be deposited in the depths of who we are. Change us as a result, Lord, we ask. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. I think it's helpful to remind ourselves where we are now as we come to the near completion of this book in God's prophetic timetable for the future.

We spent many many months looking at what the Bible calls the tribulation period. A time of unprecedented calamity and destruction and persecution, which precedes the return of Jesus Christ. This is a period of time that Christ himself spoke of in places like Matthew chapter 24. And following that, we looked at the climactic event of the return of Christ. The second coming, where our Lord will bodily return to this earth and vanquish all his enemies and bring about a victory that this world didn't expect, but the church has been waiting for.

And immediately following that, we recognize that the Lord Jesus will establish a physical literal kingdom for a thousand years. And we looked at some of the things that will take place at the beginning of that reign and during that reign, at the end of that reign. And one of the main events that awaits is what we saw last week, the Great White Throne Judgment. When the Lord will call from Hades and the sea in every corner of our planet. The dead who died in their sin and will now stand before God's judgment awaiting their eternal condemnation.

And now we come to Revelation 21. And what we have here moving forward is the final stage. There is nothing that comes after this. We are looking at the eternal age. John, by the spirit, is giving us a window into the world in which you and I will inhabit forever and ever and ever.

And what I would like for us to do this morning is speak to you about five amazing facts about that world to come. And I thought that we would cover all of those facts, all those wonderful truths in one session, and then when I spent time just reflecting on the opening point, I realized that is not going to happen. We won't be able to do it. And so we'll see where we land this morning, but what I want us to do is begin with this first thought. What are we to expect?

What features does the Bible give us about our everlasting abode? Where are we headed? What did Christ prepare for us? What did He again purchase for us? Well, the first thing that you and I can expect about the eternal age is found in verse one and it is this, it will be a brand new universe.

When John writes about a new heaven and a new earth, he is referring to a renewed cosmic order. Something that when John mentions a new heaven that he is speaking about God's dwelling place, but the word heaven can have multiple meanings depending on the context. In some cases, heaven can speak about the sky above, the one that you look at every single day. In other places, it can be speaking about the spatial realm above the sky. And more familiarly, heaven can also speak about God's glorious domain apart from our natural realm.

And I believe the most convincing evidence here is that John is using this phrase to speak about the totality of our material world. Everything above and everything below and everything in between is going to be made new. All of the destructive elements that our human experience has known will be done away with. All of the patterns of deadly plagues, all of the fierce weather patterns, all of the different forms of decay will suddenly cease and no longer be a part of our experience. There's a fascinating statement made in Revelation 22 verse three.

Look at it quickly with me where it says, no longer will there be anything, anything, underline that anything accursed. So much of our world has come under the curse because of the fallen of Adam, but there's a time coming where not one thing will be fractured. Not one thing will be broken. Not one thing will be out of order. Not one thing will harm us.

Nothing will be accursed in the new heaven and the new earth. Now, there is debate over whether this new heaven and new earth mean that the universe as we've always known it will be completely abolished, completely discarded, and God will create something unrelated to the world as we have known it, or if God will bring about a glorious restoration to our current planet. And we don't have time to get into that discussion, but one thing is absolutely certain. There will be both continuity and discontinuity in the new heaven and the new earth. In other words, in this new realm, there will be some characteristics that will remain similar though perfected.

At the same time, there will be some things that will be radically altered. And one of the things that John tells us about this new earth and this new heaven and this new universe is found there in verse one, the last part. And the sea was no more. I found myself amazed sitting last night at how such few words like and the sea was no more could demand so much meditation and careful reflection. And the sea was no more?

Is John being literal here? Is he actually speaking about the absence of large bodies of salt water in the new earth? Some would say no. They would instead remind us and point to us about how the sea throughout scriptures is often referred to as a symbol of chaos, hostility, mystery, danger, unpredictability, which is absolutely true. The sea does speak of these negative things throughout the Bible.

Even in Revelation itself, when we saw the beast arriving on the scene in Revelation thirteen one, where did he come from? The sea. So there is an element of the sea being no more that refers to the cessation of of evil. Of again disorder, of chaos. But at the same time, we should not rule out the possibility that this is also describing an actual geographical modification.

Now that might have disappointed some of you. But if it is the case, we must ask why. Why not include the sea in the new earth? Why this particular change being emphasized as we're peering into the eternal age? Why?

Well, besides the negative connotations that would come to the ancient imagination regarding the sea, you know, most of us think of the sea as something beautiful, something that we go and have vacations around. But to the the person of biblical times, the sea had a different thing about it. It was a different feeling towards it. It was ominous. It was terrifying.

It was strange and again mysterious. But we also have to remember the role that water plays in our current world. 71% of our planet is covered by water. It is absolutely foundational to all things that are living. Think about what it contributes.

Think about all that it supports. Think about all that it regulates. Think about all that it sustains, our biological functions, global climates, ecosystems. They are all dependent upon this one resource, water. And if we don't have the right amount of it, virtually everything living will cease to exist at some point.

And yet, John says something so strange about the new world that there will be no more sea. And, that does not necessarily mean that there will be no bodies of water in the new heaven and new earth. However, it does suggest that our lives will no longer depend on such sources for our survival. There's a different message being conveyed here. We will be entering into a new climate and environment.

We will be living in a realm that operates on completely different terms. And that hard to imagine truth is further developed in Revelation 22 verse five. Look at it with me in Revelation 22 verse five. There will be other things that will be no more and night will be no more. They will need no light or lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever.

No more sea, no more light, no more need for the sun, no more need for the light of the moon. Things are going to change drastically. Now again, when we hear that, it may disturb us a little bit because these very things that will no longer be have often been means of our own delight and enjoyment in this world. But you have to remember that anything that will be no more in the eternal age is not going to be less than what we have now. God is not bringing us into a subtraction.

God is not taking things away. God is bringing us into something far more glorious that we can't even conceive or imagine. And so, yes, even good things in this life, things that we look forward to, things again that we take pleasure in will be no more and not just things like the sea and and the sun, but think about marriage. Will there be marriage in the world to come? Jesus says, no.

We will be like the angels. It demands faith to recognize that heaven is not so much about the removal of things, but the replacement of things with far greater bliss and glory that will cause us to worship for eternity. Now before we move on, it's worth mentioning that this concept of the new heaven and new earth is not introduced to us in New Testament. It doesn't just suddenly appear in the gospels and the epistles and books like Revelation. It was promised long ago.

Ever since sin entered into our universe and brought corruption and pollution, God repeatedly reveals to his people that a permanent change is on its way. Even this phrase here in Revelation twenty one one, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, alludes to prophetic passages like Isaiah 65 verse 17, and Isaiah 66 verse 22, where Isaiah himself speaks about a new heaven and a new earth. There's a clear connection here. But John, by the spirit, is doing far more than just complimenting Isaiah's predictions. There are other places in the Old Testament that speak about this wonderful age to come.

And one of those places I would like for us to turn to, Psalm one zero two. Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm one zero two, and notice what is said here beginning in verse 25. We're gonna realize just how significant this prophetic passage is to our faith today. But notice what it said here in Psalm 102 beginning in verse 25, Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain.

They will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe and they will pass away. But you are the same and your years have no end. The children of your servant shall dwell secure, their offspring shall be established before you. What an amazing picture of how the Lord will bring about the new heaven and the new earth.

This world is like into a garment that has been stained, torn and dulled of its color because of sin. And yet in the same text we read that the Lord one day will change it all like one changes a shirt. And this is a message of hope surely, but it's also a billboard of the majesty and the might of God. This is how easy it's going to be for him To cleanse the galaxies, to restore the stars, to balance the landscapes, to adjust the mountain peaks, and to calm anything that has been disturbed by sin and iniquity. It will be as simple to God as one changes their robe.

And what makes this Psalm even more powerful, a Psalm that describes God's eternality and his unparalleled authority and his matchless ability is who it is attributed to in the New Testament. You need to know the scripture if you wanna proclaim that Jesus Christ is in fact God in the flesh. Go with me to Hebrews chapter one, please. This part is familiar to most of us, but what follows is rarely referenced in defense of the deity of Christ and who he is. In Hebrews chapter one beginning in verse eight, This is the author of Hebrews telling us what the father says to the son.

But of the son, he says, Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. But of the sun, he says.

And then he quotes Psalm 45 verses six and seven. And this is actually fulfilled in Christ, but what the father says next is still about the son. And this is where people stop for some reason when they want to show how God himself calls the sun God. There's a very important word in verse 10. It's the first one.

Look at it with me in Hebrews one verse 10, and. So there's a continuation here. Is there not? The declaration goes on and we're still speaking about what God says to and about the sun. And what does he say?

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will have no end.

He quotes Psalm one zero two. About who? The sun. Do you grasp the magnitude of this? The Lord who laid the foundation of the earth from the beginning.

The one who remains unchanging through generations. He who will one day roll up the universe like a robe and replace it with the ease of changing a garment is none other than Jesus Christ. The one we sing to, the one we pray to, the one we adore, the one we walk with on a daily basis, the one who loves us and has never failed us and supplies all our needs and comforts us in our affliction and is tender towards us when we fall. This one is the one spoken of here, and all I wanna do here is flash before your mind just how awesome Jesus Christ is. It will be Jesus Christ who will usher in the new heaven and the new earth.

This is how powerful our lord is. This is how glorious our savior is. Why do you doubt him? Why do I question him? Who has this ability?

The one you and I call the shepherd of our souls. The one who again watches over us while we sleep and goes before us whether we're aware of his presence or not. This one that we tenderly call friend has the kind of authority that will strip away everything in the perceivable world and unperceivable and replace it with matchless beauty. That just moved me. That moved me to to realize again who my God is and who Jesus Christ is.

And as I mentioned earlier, there is so much to be said about our eternal habitation, especially when we consider that there will be no more sea. Maybe we can spend the rest of our time here discussing what that implies. And one thing that came to mind is what this must have meant to John in the immediate sense. We're here at the end of the book of Revelation. Do we remember how it began?

Where was John writing from when he is putting these visions and prophecies together to share with the church? Revelation one:nine tells us that he was on the island called Patmos which was on the Aegean Sea. It still is in the Aegean Sea. Think about that. Here's John being given this revelation and faithfully recording everything that was revealed to him And it was designed to be distributed to the churches of his day that were separated from him through a vast expanse of water.

He's in isolation physically speaking, is he not? And as he's collecting these thoughts and as he's writing everything down, he comes now to the point where when he is given insight into the new heaven and new earth, there will be no more sea. You know what that meant for John? I'm sure. There will be no more separation between me and my brethren.

No more exile. No more broken fellowship. We know from our own experience that land itself can be unforgiving and can create some difficulty for us to get to somebody else, but water is a far more challenging barrier than land is, even today with all our technology. And we can almost see here that the sea speaks of separation and how in the new heaven and the new earth, it will be eliminated. I know it's difficult sometimes to fellowship with Christians, but here's some good news about the new heaven and new earth that we're gonna see next week.

Every Christian you know, including yourself will be made perfect. Amen. Amen. Including you. Including me.

Imagine, with all our different personalities and our unique traits, we will be perfected. If we can enjoy each other so much now with our imperfections and the need to forgive, what will our communion with one another look like in that age to come? Do you know the joy you feel when you walk into this place? Tired, weary, maybe even freshly coming out of an argument with your wife and your kids. There's there's relief, there's healing.

When you come into the prayer meeting, and you see other people there who love God and are ready to speak to him, there's something fulfilling in that. David said, the saints of the land in whom is all might delight, there's genuine delight being with one another. It's something supernatural really. It's a work of the spirit of God. And I thought to myself, if if if there is that kind of excitement and blessing now, What is it gonna look like in this world?

I'm sure it's gonna be glorious and one of the things that's going to make it glorious is that there will be no seed to divide us anymore. It will be uninterrupted fellowship with perfect people who worship a perfect God. This may be hard for us to rejoice in now because we have so much access and we have so much freedom, but to to Christians like John, no more see. To be with the church forever. To be with the family of Christ for eternity.

Nothing will ever sever my fellowship. Nothing will ever hinder receiving from my fellow brethren and me giving to them. So this no more see here is again, much more complex in a good way. And it's a shame that some debate and their only conversation around it is, is it literal or is it figurative? Is it gonna be be a beach or no beach?

You can have that conversation, but look deeper. Look deeper. What does this mean to John? What does this mean to his immediate audience? What did it mean in light of symbolism across the bible regarding the sea?

And we still have four more facets of the new heaven and the new earth to unfold together, but for now, I want us to pause on that thought. As we prepare to be reminded on this side of eternity that we are one body, that God has meshed us together by his spirit and his truth and that he has given us his body so that we can become part of his. Let's pray and thank him for that. Lord, we thank you as you've given us a very brief sample of the new heaven and the new earth. And you have brought to our remembrance that it will be a brand new universe.

One that will be far greater than what we have known in this world. And Lord, we thank you that the great power that will be required to bring about this transformation comes from the one that we worship today, comes from you who is able to deliver and intervene and supply and protect and convict and comfort. Lord, thank you for reminding us of just how awesome you are and just how great your son Jesus Christ is. And Lord, we realize that his greatness extends to these elements as they speak to us about his humility and his great love for us. Help us partake of it in a noble manner, in a way that blesses you and blesses us in return.

In Jesus name we pray, amen. Can we stand and worship the Lord and allow these words to align our thoughts as we prepare to partake of the table together?