Sermons

The Story of God: Eternity Begins
Revelation 21:1-4

What’s really going on here?  As we look at the fact that we are alive, that we have bodies, that we live in a massive solar system on planet whose history has been going on for a long time – we have to ask: what’s going on here?  What’s really going on?

That’s crucial – because we’d all agree that wisdom means aligning your life with what’s really going on.  I’ve been in jury duty this week; if what’s going on is testimony that could send someone to prison for life, it would not be wise for me to be daydreaming during that testimony.  No – what would be wise would be to listen really, really carefully.  Wisdom means aligning your life with what’s really going on.

Over the past months we’ve seen what’s really going on in the world.  We’ve seen that from eternity past God has always been with no beginning, and that He’s been full of joy in celebrating His glory: His perfections, His perfect holiness, His flawless goodness, His passionate love.

And we saw that God decided to display His glory – so He could share with us His joy in His glory.  So God created an amazing universe and world and all of us; He gave us life and bodies and each other; He promised to provide all we need and guide all our decisions and satisfy us completely with Himself forever – if we would just bend the knee, trust Him, love Him.

But even though we’re just little created beings who have received everything as a gracious gift from God – we’ve all mutinied against God and taken over the ship of planet earth.  And so God removed His blessing, allowed the earth to come under His curse, and now all of us face eternal punishment from Him.

Now that could look like God’s plan failed.  But the Bible says that God purposefully allowed all this to take place – because it would bring an even greater display of His glory -- the glory of His mercy.

God looked down at all of us mutinying against Him, and instead of destroying us – he chose, at terrible cost to Himself, to have mercy on us.  God the Father loved us so much that He was willing to send His own Son into the world, and to terribly punish His own Son for our sins.  And Jesus the Son loved us so much that He was willing to be terribly punished by the Father for our sins.  Imagine the crew of a ship mutinying, and the captain enduring the 39 lashes for his mutinous crew.

Do you see the glory of God’s mercy?  Then God raised Jesus from the dead.  And so now, the moment you turn from your mutiny and bend the knee in trust to Jesus, you heart is changed, you are forgiven for all your sin, and for the first time your heart is completely satisfied in knowing God’s love through Jesus.

But the story doesn’t end there.  Jesus calls His followers to display the glory of His mercy – as we trust Jesus, love His followers, and help other people come to know Jesus.  And as we saw over the last weeks, He warned us that this would involve suffering.  But He also promised to keep us strong, and that at the end of history He would return.  And that when He returns, and we see Him, seeing Him will make it all completely worth it.  And then eternity will begin.

So this morning I want to bring this series to a close by talking about four events that mark the beginning of eternity.

First, those trusting Jesus will be resurrected.  Let’s turn to 1Cor 15:42-44.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand, and we’ll bring one to you.  1Cor 15 is on p.962 in the Bibles we are passing out.  If you are trusting Jesus, and you die before Jesus returns, then you will immediately be with Jesus in what he called paradise, and your body will be buried here on earth.  If you don’t die before Jesus returns, you will be here in your body when Jesus returns.

But whether you have already died, or are here, the moment Jesus returns your body will be resurrected.  If you’ve already died, your old body will be raised up as a brand new resurrection body.  And if you are still alive, your present body will be transformed into a brand new resurrection body.  

So what will that resurrection body be like?  Look at vv.42-44 --

42            So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

43            It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44            It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

In v.42 you can see that it will be imperishable; it will never die.  Because of our sin and God’s curse on the world, our present bodies are all moving towards death.  But our resurrection bodies will not move towards death.  They will not age.  You will live forever.  So let that sink in.  You will receive a body that will live forever.

Second, in v.43, you can see that it will be glorious and powerful.  C. S. Lewis says that when we see each other with our glorious and powerful resurrection bodies, we’ll be tempted to bow down and worship.  We’ll be tempted to, but we won’t.  Because when see that we deserve eternal punishment, but that Jesus’ suffering purchased all the blessings of salvation including these glorious and powerful bodies, we will bow down and worship Him.

Third, in v.44, it will be a spiritual body.  That doesn’t mean it will be sort of spacy or ghostlike.  No – the word “body” there shows that it will be amazingly physical.  Your resurrection body won’t be less real than your present body; it will be more real, more physical than your present body.  Your future body won’t be ghost-like; it will be so real that it will make your present body seem ghostlike. 

And it will be a spiritual body – which means that it is perfectly gifted to be blown away by who God is.  What will that be like?  Let’s say your vision was 20/100 – can’t see distances.  You could see enough to be blown away by Yosemite; but imagine putting on glasses which made your vision 20/20 – whoa.  Our bodies now – minds, eyes, ears, hearts – are 20/100; our spiritual bodies will be 20/20.

So – if you are trusting Jesus – then you will be resurrected.

Then second, those not trusting Jesus will be resurrected and judged.  God’s word says those who do trust Jesus and those who don’t will both be resurrected from the dead.  But if you are not trusting Jesus, you will not be resurrected to eternal life; you will be resurrected to eternal punishment.

Look at how this is described in Rev. 20:11-15 –

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

God will divide humanity into those whose names were written in the book of life, and those whose names were not written in the book of life.  In Rev 13:8 the book of life belongs to the Lamb who was slain – Jesus.  So the way to have your name written in the book of life is by trusting Jesus.  You can tell your name is written in the book of life if you trust Jesus as your Savior, which means you are relying on His death alone to forgive you and give a righteous standing before God; if you trust Jesus as Lord, which means your passion is to bend the knee to Him and His will in every area of your life; if you trust Jesus as Treasure, which means that most of the time you desire Jesus more than anything else.

And if you are not trusting Jesus – if your name is not written in the book of life – then you will be thrown into the lake of fire.  Now this is painful to talk about.  But it’s true.  Jesus talked lots about hell, because He loves us and wants us to understand what’s at stake.  One of the most terrifying descriptions of hell is found in Rev 14:9-11 –

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

Those who continue in mutiny, even after the Captain has offered them amnesty, even after the Captain received the 39 lashes for them, will suffer terribly day and night with no rest forever.  That’s absolutely terrifying.

Is your name written in the book of life?  Right now, bend the knee before Jesus and trust Him as Savior, Lord, and all-satisfying Treasure.

Then third, those trusting Jesus will be rewarded.  If you are trusting Jesus, your name is written in the book of life, and you will have an entirely different destiny – heaven.  But first you will be rewarded.

The Bible is clear that there will be different levels of reward in heaven.  In Luke 19 Jesus tells the story of a nobleman who gives each of his workers 10 minas, which today would be equal to maybe ten thousand dollars.  One worked really hard, gained ten more, and was rewarded with ten cities.  Another worked sort of hard, gained five more, and was rewarded with five cities.  The third didn’t work at all, didn’t get anything.

So we will receive different levels of reward depending on our faithfulness.  So what’s the reward?  It’s joy in Jesus.  All through the Bible the prize we seek and long for is Jesus.  So the reward, the crown, is joy in Jesus.

See, we are all equally saved, loved, justified, and forgiven.  But some will have more joy in Jesus than others.  How does that work?  Here’s how Thomas Watson put it – a pastor in England in the late 1600’s –

"Though every vessel of glory shall be full, yet some vessels hold more than others."  A Body of Divinity, 276.

So we’ll all be full of joy in Jesus, but some will have a greater capacity for joy in Jesus than others.  Some will be shot glasses, others will be pint mugs, others will be 50-gallon barrels.  This has nothing to do with being a pastor, or being really well-known.  This is all about faithfulness to your calling – pursuing Christ, community, and mission as a CPA, a homemaker, a student, or a pastor.

So think about this.  If you’re a shot glass, then for eternity you will be full of joy in Jesus – with a shot-glass capacity for joy in Jesus.  If you’re a pint mug, then for eternity you will be full of joy in Jesus – with a pint glass capacity for joy in Jesus.  If you’re a 50-gallon barrel, then for eternity you will be full of joy in Jesus – with a 50-gallon barrel capacity for joy in Jesus.

Now don’t say: how embarrassing to be seen as a shot-glass – I want to be seen as a 50-gallon barrel.  If your motivation is how you are seen by others – then your heart is not set on Jesus.  The only motivation we have is to receive more of Jesus. 

And Jesus will get the glory for all of it.  Take Paul, who will probably be a 100-gallon barrel capacity guy.  When we see Paul with a 100-gallon barrel capacity – we will not worship Paul; we’ll worship Jesus.  Why?  Because Paul was completely rebelling against God.  Paul deserved hell forever.  But God set His love on Paul and decided to save Him.  And Jesus took upon Himself all of Paul’s sin and suffered the hell Paul deserved.  And God changed Paul’s heart and gave Him faith and by His grace turned Paul into a man who fought against sin and labored in prayer and suffered for the gospel – all by God’s grace.

So when we see 100-gallon Paul – we will turn and worship Jesus.

But can you see how this makes it all worth it.  Today’s fight against porn will enlarge your capacity for joy in Jesus forever.  Today’s avoiding of gossip will enlarge your capacity for joy in Jesus forever.  Today’s reaching out to your neighbor will enlarge your capacity for joy in Jesus forever.

Then fourth, those trusting Jesus will enjoy God together forever on the new earth.  This heaven and earth is under God’s curse.  And so what God will do is create a new heaven and new earth.  Look at Rev. 21:1 –

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.

We talk about going to heaven.  And that’s accurate.  But if that’s all we say then it can be misleading.  Because God will create a new heaven and new earth, and we will spend eternity on the new earth.  The new earth will be more real, more beautiful, more amazing that this earth.

But our focus will not be on how amazing the new earth is.  Our focus will be elsewhere – keep reading in Rev 21 starting with v.2 –

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband [that’s us – those who are trusting Jesus]. ³ 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. ⁴ 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." ⁵ And he who 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." ⁶ 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. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Our focus will be completely on God.  God’s purpose for this universe is to display His glory for the everlasting joy of the redeemed.  And because you have trusted Jesus, from time to time you have had a taste of Jesus’ glory, a nibble of Jesus’ glory.  And that taste, that nibble of Jesus’ glory has satisfied you infinitely more than anything else.

But as much as we have experienced now – it’s just a nibble compared to the full banquet we will have on the new earth.  Then we will fully know God as our Father; then we will have face to face fellowship with Jesus.  This will be our joy forever.  And it will never be boring; since God’s glory is infinite, every day there will be new gasps as we see His perfections displayed, as we feel His love, as we behold His glory.

And seeing Him will make every trial, every labor, every suffering in this life worth it.  When He wipes away every tear from your eyes, when you are in Jesus’ very presence, when you look ahead to an eternity with your brothers and sisters enjoying Jesus on the new earth – you will be so glad Jesus was punished in your place for your sins.  You will be so thankful to Jesus for redeeming you, forgiving you, changing your heart, comforting you, strengthening you, satisfying you, sustaining you.

So what do we do now?  Understand that the way you live today can increase your capacity for joy in Jesus forever.  So pray, meditate on God’s Word, love your wife, love your kids, lead your family in prayer and Bible study, lay your life down for a group of brothers and sisters, work hard at your job, and advance the gospel – no matter what the cost.  And you will be filled with joy in Jesus forever.