What Will Heaven Be Like? Part 2
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation. It’s a series about finding peace in a world of chaos, and the text we’re studying today is about heaven. It’s about what will heaven be like when Jesus finally returns? Now if there’s one thing we all want, it’s for our lives to get better, not worse...Both skeptics and believers want our lives to get better, not worse...I mean nobody wakes up in the morning saying “I hope today is a worse day than yesterday. I hope today is a more miserable day than yesterday.” Nobody wakes up hoping for that, instead we wake up hoping and wanting our lives to get better, not worse. Heaven is the place where the better days we desire will become a reality. It’s the place where there won’t be any more worse days, there will only be better days. In the words of C.S. Lewis, it’s a place where every chapter is better than the one before it. Today’s text teaches us those better days are coming, and it gives us a picture of heaven that’s greater than our greatest imagination. So let’s turn to Revelation 21 and check it out. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation Ch. 21:9-22:5. The title of the message is What will heaven be like: Part 2? As I mentioned last week there are so many incredible things we learn about heaven in Ch’s 21 and 22, that I had to divide this message into two parts. Last week was Part 1, this week is Part 2, and the big idea for this week’s message is heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination...Heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination...
Here’s your context. The book of Revelation is about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen at the end of history when he returns. We divided this entire book into four major sections based on four major visions Jesus gives to John the author, and right now we’re in the 4th major vision which is of Jesus and The Consummation. It’s a vision of Jesus consummating or completing his final restoration of creation. It’ll be a time in history when Jesus has already cast Satan, the demonic, and those who’ve rejected him into eternal hell so they can’t cause any more sin, death, or destruction to creation. It’ll be a time when Jesus returns to restore creation, to restore heaven and earth together as one. Last week in our study of vs. 1-8 we learned 9 incredible things about heaven, and this week we’ll learn several more incredible things about heaven. We’ll learn heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination. Let’s check it out.
Revelation 21:9 states, “Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’” The bride symbolizes the church, it symbolizes God’s people. The Lamb symbolizes Jesus who’s often referred to as, the sacrificial lamb who gave up his life for our lives on the cross. He did this so we can enjoy eternal life in heaven with him, and what
John’s seeing here is the day when all God’s people will get to enjoy that eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
Vs. 10, “He then carried me away in the Spirit, to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 arrayed with God’s glory.” When we studied vs. 1-8 we were given a little picture of what heaven will be like, but here we’re being given a little picture of what the holy city, the new Jerusalem will be like. We’re being given a little picture of what the capital city of heaven will be like, and here’s how John describes it.
Vs. 11, “Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” He says this holy city, this new Jerusalem, this capital city of heaven will be a beautiful precious place. It’ll be like a precious jewel, it’ll be like a jasper stone. The key word there is like, meaning it isn’t literally those things, instead it’s like those things. John’s doing the best he can to describe what he’s seeing, but all human words will fail to adequately describe the beauties of heaven. He’s doing the best he can to describe a beautiful, precious, perfect, heavenly city, which is something we’ve never seen before. We’ve never seen a beautiful, precious, perfect, heavenly city before. So trying to describe this is like trying to describe cars, airplanes, the internet, and cell phones to somebody living in the 1500’s. It’s easy for us to understand those things, but it wouldn’t be easy for them since those things didn’t exist in the 1500’s. Now if things have advanced this much for us in just 500 years with humanity’s limited wisdom, then imagine how much more advanced things will be in eternity with God’s infinite wisdom?...If we’d have a hard time describing an airplane to somebody in the 1500’s, then imagine how much harder it'd be for John to describe heaven to us?...He’s doing the best he can to describe how beautiful heaven is, but even the best descriptions he gives will fail to adequately describe those beauties. He’s saying heaven is like these things, but they aren’t literally these things. So whatever he says heaven is like, we need to realize it’s infinitely greater than that. It’s infinitely greater than our greatest descriptions or imagination.
Again vs. 11, “Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.” The twelve tribes and twelve apostles that John mentions here, represents all of God’s people from the Old and New Testament, including those who put their faith in Jesus today. It includes all of God’s people getting to enjoy this incredible heavenly city, which John says has a massive high wall. This massive high wall is symbolic of safety and security. It’ll be a place of safety and security that’s completely separated from Satan, the demonic, and every evil we have in our current world today. We won’t have to worry about thieves, crimes, wars, having to watch our backs, or having to look over our shoulders when we walk in the streets of the city of heaven. Your Spiderman senses that go off in the subways of New York or the streets of DC won’t go off anymore in the subways and streets of heaven. It’ll
be 100% safe and secure in the capital city of heaven. It’ll be a place for God’s people to finally live in peace with God and others for all eternity.
Vs. 15, “The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used.” The capital city of heaven is 12,000 stadia, which is close to 1400 miles in every direction. To put that into perspective, the distance from here to New York is about 1,000 miles. So the capital city of heaven is further than the distance from here to New York in every direction. The wall is 144 cubits, which is about 72 yards thick, so it’s almost as thick as an entire football field. The point of these measurements is to teach us that the capital city is a massive, perfectly measured place.
Vs. 18, “The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.” All these different jewels that are mentioned implies that the capital city of heaven is very beautiful and valuable. But what’s interesting is each of the gates are made of pearls. The reason I say that’s interesting is because a pearl is made from the wounds of an oyster’s flesh. What happens is something gets inside the oyster and creates an irritant like a splinter to its flesh. The oyster starts covering the wound with a substance called nacre, which eventually forms a beautiful pearl. Well some scholars say it’s very possible the reason the gates in the capital city of heaven are made of pearls, is to symbolize the beautiful pearl of salvation that came from the wounds of Christ. It’s meant to be a reminder to anyone who passes through those gates, that Jesus is our pearl of great price. John Phillips states, “Throughout the endless ages we shall be reminded by those pearly gates, of the immensity of Christ’s sufferings. Those pearls will remind us forever of the One who hung upon a tree, and whose answer to those who injured Him, was to invite them in His home.”
Vs. 22, “I didn’t see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it., 25 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it., 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The main focus of these verses is on the glory of God illuminating the hearts and lives of the people in the city. It’s also on the eternal safety and security we have because of the presence of God, which is why the text says the gates to the city will never close. The gates can remain open since the presence of God will be our eternal safety and
security. His presence assures and secures our joy in heaven, so we don’t have to worry about locking our doors anymore in heaven. But again, the main focus of these verses is on God’s glory illuminating the hearts and lives of the people in the city, and some people think vs. 23 is saying there won’t be any more sun or moon in heaven. Now that might be the case, but if you read the text carefully it doesn’t say that. It doesn’t say the sun and moon don’t exist anymore, it says the city doesn’t need them to shine on it anymore. So the sun and moon could possibly still exist in heaven, it’s just our lives won’t be dependent on them anymore like they are here since the glory of God will be our light and provision. Some people also think vs. 25 means there won’t be any more night in heaven, but again the text doesn’t say that either. It says there will never be night there, meaning in the capital city of heaven. There will never be night in the capital city of heaven, but there could still be night in other parts of heaven outside the open gates of the capital city of heaven. There could still be opportunities for us to enjoy and explore the infinite wonders of the night, the moon, the stars, the numerous galaxies in the universe. The Lord created 6 sextillion planets in the known universe, and we’ll have all eternity to explore the infinite creative wonders of those planets made by our glorious Creator’s hands.
Ch. 22:1, “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.” The water of life and the tree of life, are a reminder of the paradise humanity had in the Garden of Eden. We lost that paradise because of sin, but John’s seeing a perfect paradise in the capital city Garden of Heaven that’ll never be lost because of sin. He sees the water of life, which is symbolic of an eternal life giving stream that allows us to enjoy eternal life giving blessings from God. He also sees the tree of life, which is symbolic of an abundantly full life with it producing fruit every month, and its leaves providing healing. In the original Greek manuscripts the word for healing is therapedia. It means therapeutic or life giving healing, kind of like taking a multivitamin. There won’t be any more illness in heaven, so it’s like taking a multivitamin to promote good health and nourishment for our souls. All of this is a symbolic reminder that there’s no more sin, sickness, suffering, sadness, or death in heaven. It’s a reminder that the curse of sin and death that happened in the Garden of Eden, won’t happen any more in the capital city Garden of Heaven. It’ll be a life giving place full of abundant health and joy beyond our greatest imagination.
Now the last two weeks we’ve barely even touched how incredible heaven will be, and I’m sure some of you have questions we didn’t get to answer such as: “Will I still be married to my spouse in heaven?” “Will I get to marry someone in heaven, if I didn’t get to experience that joy on earth?” “Will I get to have children in heaven, if I didn’t get to experience that joy on earth?” “Will we forget or remember the people we love who didn’t get into heaven?” “Will we
remember or forget our past wounds on earth?” “Will we get to see our dog, our pets in heaven?” Some of you are quick to say dogs and pets don’t have souls, so they don’t go to heaven. But I can give you some biblical reasons why you might actually get to see little Fluffy in heaven. There are so many incredible things we didn’t get to discuss about heaven, so if you have questions you can ask your small group or email me at Louis@cityawakening.org. In the meantime here’s a quick summary from last week and this week. It’s a summary of some of the things we can look forward to in heaven.
#1 We will enjoy all creation renewed and enhanced into heavenly perfection. (21:1)
#2 We will enjoy no more dangers or divisions. (21:1)
#3 We will enjoy no more tears from sin, sickness, death, or any other afflictions. (21:4)
#4 We will enjoy seeing Jesus with us face to face. (21:3)
#5 We will enjoy seeing and recognizing the people we love. (Luke 24:39)
#6 We will enjoy physically touching and hugging the people we love. (Luke 24:39)
#7 We will enjoy physical resurrected bodies with no decay or deficiencies. (Luke 24:39)
#8 We will enjoy great food with friends and family. (Luke 24:41-43)
#9 We will enjoy playing games and sports. (Zechariah 8:5)
#10 We will enjoy safety and security in the streets of heaven. (21:11-14)
#11 We will enjoy seeing the beauty of heaven sparkling like a jewel. (21:18-21)
#12 We will enjoy walking through the great pearly gates. (21:13)
#13 We will enjoy the glory of God illuminating our hearts and lives. (21:22-24)
#14 We will enjoy the water of life and the tree of life in the Garden of Heaven, giving us
an abundant life, with abundant blessings, as we spend eternity with Christ enjoying
and exploring the infinite creative wonders of his kingdom. (22:1-5)
We have so many things to look forward to in heaven! It’s way more things to look forward
to than what we’ve been able to cover in these two messages! But even our best descriptions of heaven will fail to adequately describe just how incredible heaven will be. King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, the Lord has put eternity in the hearts of humanity. In other words there’s this eternal thirst for joy in our hearts that nothing ever seems to satisfy. It’s because this world isn’t meant to satisfy us, it’s meant to point us to the eternal God who can. It’s meant to point us to the eternal God and the infinite blessings he offers us in heaven with him. Your spouse, children, career, wealth, sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever it is you’re pursuing or thinking you need to finally be happy...It’ll never satisfy the eternal thirst for joy in your soul. You can have a great spouse, great children, great career, great wealth, great sex, a great buzz from drugs and alcohol, but still wake up the next morning with an empty soul...You can still wake up the next morning feeling like something is missing in your life...It’s because the Lord put eternity in the hearts of humanity so we’ll realize only he can fully satisfy our thirsty souls. The more you
realize how eternally small even the most satisfying things in this world are, the more you’ll realize how eternally big your soul is...The more you realize how eternally small even the most satisfying things in this world are, the more you’ll realize how eternally big your soul is, and how much you need the eternal God to fill your eternal soul...John points us to that eternal God, he points us to Jesus, and to some of the eternal blessings that’ll come from spending eternity with Jesus. He does the best he can to describe what heaven is like, but it’ll be infinitely greater than our greatest descriptions or imagination. It’ll be a place where our eternal souls, will never feel empty or thirsty again.
The big idea of the message is heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination...Heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination, and the good news is anyone can enjoy this heaven through faith in Jesus. In John 3:16 Jesus says whoever believes in him, will not perish but shall have eternal life. If you put your faith in Jesus, if you believe he died for your sins on the cross, then you’ll get to enjoy the beautiful pearl that comes from the wounds of Christ on the cross. You’ll get to enjoy an eternal life giving relationship in heaven with him. Whoever believes in him will get to enjoy a better life with him on earth today, and an even better eternal life with him in heaven later. Like I said before both skeptics and believers want our lives to get better, not worse. Heaven is the place where the better life and better days we’re desiring will become an eternal reality. It’s the place where there won’t be any more worse days, there will only be better days, and it’ll be greater than our greatest imagination...