{"id":19017,"date":"2020-01-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-068-gods-specialty\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:15:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:15:25","slug":"revelation-068-gods-specialty","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-068-gods-specialty\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 068 – God’s Specialty"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19017","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 068 - God's Specialty","sermon_date":"20200119","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2020","sermon_notes":19956,"sermon_slides":19957,"sermon_mp3":19958,"sermon_id":"11920132811532","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"21:1-3","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nGod\u2019s Specialty \u00a0\u00a0Revelation 21:1-8\n\nLesson 68\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 21.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is God\u2019s Specialty.\u00a0 You say well what is that?\u00a0 Well, just in case we don\u2019t get to the verse that covers that title God\u2019s Specialty is making all things new.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he specializes in.\u00a0 And in our passage this morning, Revelation 21:1-8 we see that he is making a new world consistent with the new identity that He\u2019s already given us in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 Did you know that if you\u2019re in Christ Jesus you\u2019re a new creation?\u00a0 How many of you know that?\u00a0 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that and it would be fitting, would it not, for God to put us as new creations, not in the current world but in a new world.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a new world coming.\n\nIf you\u2019ve been tracking with us in our studies through the Book of Revelation we\u2019ve finished talking about the judgments that come to the earth during the great tribulation period.\u00a0 Jesus has returned to the earth and now the Book of Revelation highlights four things: Kingdom, Great White Throne Judgment, Destruction of the Earth, and then a New Heavens and a New Earth.\u00a0 You can see all of those sort of portrayed on a graph form when you go to the Second Advent there and hang a right and you should see them.\n\nBut the kingdom we\u2019ve talked about, the thousand year reign of Christ, a thousand years with Jesus.\u00a0 Revelation 20:1-10.\n\n[Revelation 20:1-10, \u201cI saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. [2] \u00a0<\/sup>And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; [3] \u00a0<\/sup>and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it<\/em> and sealed it<\/em> over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. [4] Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw<\/em> the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.\n\n[6] \u00a0<\/sup>Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.\u00a0 [7] When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, [8] and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. [9] And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. [10]\u00a0<\/sup>And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.\u201d]\n\nAnd then what follows was a horrifying description of what awaits unbelievers in what is called the Great White Throne Judgment.\u00a0 Revelation 20:11-15 we talked about that last week.\n\n[Revelation 20:11-15, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] \u00a0<\/sup>And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book<\/em> of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13]\u00a0<\/sup>And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds. [14] \u00a0<\/sup>Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] \u00a0<\/sup>And if anyone\u2019s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nAnd now we come to, as we are getting near the end, I mean don\u2019t count my word too much on that but sort of near the end of the Book of Revelation where we\u2019re going to see two other things introduced today.\u00a0\u00a0 Number one, the destruction of this earth, verse 1.\u00a0 And then number 2, it\u2019s going to be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s really what the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation are about.\n\nSo we can take this remaining section that we have, just two chapters, and divide it into three parts.\u00a0 Number one, the new heavens and new earth, chapter 21:1-8.\u00a0 Number two, the city called the New Jerusalem that will be part of this new heavens and new earth, chapter 21:9 through chapter 22:5.\u00a0 And then finally the very end of the book gives what we would call an epilogue, chapter 22:6-21.\u00a0 The book began with a\u00a0 prologue and it\u2019s fitting that it would conclude with an epilogue.\n\nBut this morning we are just focused on verses 1-8, the new heavens and new earth that\u2019s coming.\u00a0 Here\u2019s sort of an outline that we can follow:\u00a0 A New Creation. (1)\u00a0 B.\u00a0 A new\u00a0 city\u00a0 (2} C. A New Fellowship\u00a0 (3) D. A New Order (4-5)\u00a0 E. A New Satisfaction (6)\u00a0 F. A New realization (7)\u00a0 and G. A New Holiness (8).\u00a0 You get the impression that God wants to make all things new\u2026 Amen!\u00a0 That\u2019s what He\u2019s already done in us as Christians, He\u2019s made us new creatures in Christ Jesus and so now we see the home that we will one day indwell that is consistent with our newness in Christ.\n\nBut notice, if you will, verse 1, A New Creation.\u00a0 Look if you will at Revelation 21, notice verse 1.\u00a0 John says as he is receiving this vision from the Lord, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s sort of a debate, if you will, amongst\u00a0 people that study intently the Book of Revelation, when does this old earth dissolve?\u00a0 Some would place it back in Revelation 20:11 we saw that last week that heaven and earth had fled away.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:11, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.\u201d]\n\nOthers would say no, it\u2019s going to happen not before the Great White Throne Judgment but after the Great White Throne Judgment.\u00a0\u00a0 I guess if you had to push me on that\u00a0 I would probably say it dissolves after the Great White Throne Judgment, but that really isn\u2019t something worth starting a new church over.\u00a0 We\u2019re the first church of the new heavens and new earth after the Great White Throne Judgment Church, that would be cutting the truth a little thin there I think.\n\nBut the important thing to understand is that this earth that we\u2019re in is temporary.\u00a0 God has a plan, a program in place where He\u2019s going to take this earth and dissolve it.\u00a0 Verse after verse in the Bible speaks of this.\u00a0 Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, \u201cHeaven and earth will pass away.\u201d\u00a0 Paul, the apostle, in 1 Corinthians 7:31 says, \u201cThe form of this world is passing away.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 1 John 2:17 says, \u201cThe world is passing away and also its lusts.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting how the Bible portrays this earth that we\u2019re in, this world, not only is it going to be dissolved it\u2019s actually in the process as I speak, the passing away.\n\nHebrews 1:10-12 says, \u201cAnd you, Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hand; [11] They will perish, but you remain, and they will all become old like a garment,\u00a0 [12]\u00a0 And like a mantle, you will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed.\u00a0 But you are the same, and\u00a0 your years will not come to an end.\u201d\u00a0 God never changes but the world that we\u2019re in is destined to change, which brings up a very important application for us.\u00a0 If this world is going to be dissolved, and it is, why are we clinging so tightly to it?\u00a0 Why are we looking at this world for our identity and our security?\u00a0 And why aren\u2019t we investing our lives better?\u00a0 You know, in the movie, The Titanic<\/em> it mentions or shows the Titanic going down and it shows people sort of foolishly playing violins, maybe they were doing that just to calm the fear in people, rearranging the deck chairs.\u00a0 Why would I risk my life rearranging the deck chairs on something that\u2019s going down?\n\nThe truth of the matter, and we\u2019ve mentioned this from this pulpit many times, there\u2019s only two things that are going to make it from this world into the next\u2026 only two!\u00a0\u00a0 The first is the souls of people because God, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, \u201cGod Set Eternity in the Heart of Man.\u201d\u00a0 People are designed to live forever somewhere; that\u2019s what it means to be made in the image of God, or part of the meaning.\u00a0 And the only other thing that will last is God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Isaiah 40:8 says, \u201cThe grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.\u201d\u00a0 Everything else will go!\u00a0 Everything else will disappear!\n\nAnd so when I make an investment\u2026 you all are making an investment this morning, there are many other things you could be doing but you\u2019ve chosen to come and worship the Lord and sit under the teaching of His Word.\u00a0 The time that you spend doing that, trying to understand the Bible, seeking to live according to the Bible, every single ounce of energy that takes is an investment that you just put into something that\u2019s safe.\u00a0 You know in our unsettled times everybody is talking about save investments.\u00a0 I really only know of two, the Word of God and people.\u00a0 And the more you invest in a person, evangelizing someone, discipling someone, ministering to someone, investing in your own children and grandchildren, husband, wife, spouse, etc. you\u2019re making an investment into something that will stand the test of time.\u00a0 Everything else will be dissolved.\n\nA lot like the illustration I\u2019ve used before on this of the person at the restaurant carving out of a block of ice something attractive, an Easter basket, a Thanksgiving display.\u00a0 I remember as a very young person being taken to restaurants like that, watching them kind up front chiseling away, making something attractive out of giant block of ice.\u00a0 And the work that they did was very good.\u00a0 And if we were seated close enough we could see the perspiration on the person\u2019s face, chipping and carving and working and crafting, and yet there\u2019s always that sense of frustration as\u00a0 you watched them work because you know that they\u2019re working with ice which will melt, meaning everything that they\u2019ve invested themselves in is perishable; it only is going to last a certain amount of time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s how many of us have our lives wrongly ordered and organized.\u00a0 We\u2019re so invested in the things of this earth and the things of this world, whether it be any number of things that we\u2019re pouring our hearts and souls into not understanding that those things are destined to be dissolved.\u00a0 And we ought to be not rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic but investing in the things that will actually matter, and survive the test of time, people and God\u2019s Word.\n\nAnd so John says here in Revelation 21:1, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Now this is after the thousand year kingdom, and so a question is raised, well why does God dissolve the earth now, after the thousand\u00a0 years subsequent to the return of His Son?\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t Jesus just come back at the end of the seven year tribulation period and take the earth and dissolve it and replace it with a new heavens and new earth and bypass the thousand year kingdom entirely?\u00a0 That would have been much more speedy, it would have been much more efficient.\n\nThe answer to that question actually relates to the Book of Genesis, chapter 1; the better\u00a0 you understand the things that happen at the beginning of the Bible the better you under\u00adstand the things that will take place at the end of the Bible.\u00a0 God took our forbearers, the first man and his wife and He vested them with authority.\u00a0 They were to rule over creation for God.\u00a0 You see that in Genesis 1:26-28, let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky\u00a0 Verse 28, they are to \u201csubdue it; and rule over\u201d the things that God has made.\n\n[Genesis 1:26-28, \u201cThen God said, \u201cLet Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u201d [27] \u00a0<\/sup>God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [28]\u00a0<\/sup>God blessed them; and God said to them, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u201d]\n\nAnd we know how that story ended, our forbearers began to listen to creation, in particular a talking snake and they began to rebel against the Creator.\u00a0 What God had established at the beginning in Genesis 1 became corrupted by the time you get to Genesis chapter 3.\u00a0 And so the goal of human history is to restore what was lost in Eden.\u00a0 God the Father will rule over a man one day, it won\u2019t be the first Adam who failed, it will be who?\u00a0 The last Adam, and the last Adam, along with his wife, now who would his wife be?\u00a0 That would be the church wouldn\u2019t it, will govern creation for God for a thousand years.\n\nAnd God cannot allow the earth to go out of existence until this is accomplished.\u00a0 And if the earth goes out of existence before this is accomplished then God Himself loses. God must be triumphant in the same arena where He was seemingly defeated.\u00a0 He originally wanted Himself, God the Father, to govern the first Adam along with his wife and they would govern creation for God.\u00a0 That failed, Genesis 3, and the goal of human history is how that structure is brought back.\u00a0 God the Father will rule over the last Adam, Jesus Christ, along with his wife who will govern creation for a thousand years and if that doesn\u2019t take place or transpire you have no final victory for God.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the earth as it exists cannot and will not go out of existence until this thousand years is complete.\n\nCharles Ryrie puts it this way: \u201cWhy is an earthly kingdom\u201d that\u2019s the thousand year kingdom, why is it \u201cnecessary? Did not He\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201creceive His inheritance when He was raised and exalted in heaven?\u00a0 Is not His present rule His inheritance? Why does there need to be an earthly kingdom? And here\u2019s the answer: \u201cBecause He<\/u>\u201d that\u2019s God, \u201cmust be triumphant in the same arena where He was seemingly defeated.\u00a0 His rejection by the rulers of this world was on this earth.\u201d<\/u>\u00a0 God\u2019s authority in Genesis 3 was challenged, not in heaven somewhere but on this earth.\u00a0 So His exaltation must be on this earth, and so it shall be when He comes again to rule the world in righteousness.\u00a0 He has waited long for His inheritance and soon He shall receive it.\n\nDwight Pentecost puts it this way, \u00a0he says, \u201cApart from the reign of Christ\u2026here on earth\u2026And apart from this rule, God\u2019s purpose for man would never be brought to a conclusion. God\u2019s purpose for the earth would be unrealized and the problem generated by Satan\u2019s rebellion would never be resolved. Thus the physical, literal reign of Christ on the earth is a theological and biblical necessity<\/em>\u2014unless Satan is victorious over God.\u201d<\/em> [J. Dwight Pentecost,\u00a0 Thy Kingdom Come, page 316.]\n\nSee, there\u2019s a reason theologically and there\u2019s a reason biblically why the old earth will not be dissolved until the thousand years runs its course.\u00a0 God has to rule over a man over this planet.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the thousand year kingdom is about.\u00a0 But with that purpose solved, with that tension alleviated the thousand years now being over now God is free to take the world that we are living in now and destroy it and replace it with a new heaven and a new earth.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find this teaching all over the Bible.\u00a0 In fact, when Noah got off the boat after the flood God said this in Genesis\u00a0 8:22, \u201cWhile the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night\u201d oh my goodness, what does it say there, even \u201ccold and heat,\u201d \u00a0shall not cease.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In other words, God Himself has established this earth, whether it be seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, oh my goodness, what does it say there, even \u201ccold and heat,\u201d to continue in its normal rhythms, to continue in its normal cycle.\u00a0 God has established it this way and that cycle will not be interrupted until Jesus is victorious over planet earth.\n\nNow I know everybody\u2019s gone out and seen the new Star Wars movie and we think about the death star and we think about laser beams coming out of the death star and just destroying entire planets.\u00a0 And we have politicians today saying unless we fix climate change or global warming or whatever it is they\u2019re talking about the earth is going to be destroyed, we\u2019re always on the precipice of destroying the earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what the Bible says.\u00a0 God cannot and will not let this earth go out of existence until the thousand years are complete and in the meantime in His covenant with Noah He is established certain cycles or rhythms in nature which really have nothing to do with whether I just bought an SUV or not, quite frankly.\u00a0 The cycles of cold and heat, summer and winter, harvest, seed time, etc. those are going to just naturally occur.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we had global warming actually in the days of the Vikings.\u00a0 That was long before I got my SUV by the way; you can\u2019t blame everything on the SUV.\n\nSo these cycles are going to occur and the cycles will not be interrupted until it\u2019s time; once the thousand years runs its course God is victorious over what was lost, now it\u2019s time to dissolve the earth and replace it with a new heavens and a new earth.\u00a0 You see folks, there\u2019s a reason chapter 21 comes after chapter 20; are you all in agreement with me on that?\u00a0 You have chapter 20, the thousand year reign of Christ, then you have chapter 21, the new heavens and new earth.\u00a0 There\u2019s a theological reason why the new heavens and new earth will be subsequent to the thousand year reign of Christ.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find a lot of your answers to those questions in Genesis chapter one.\n\nNow one of the big questions that comes up here in Revelation 21:1 when it says \u201cI saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,\u201d the question is this: is this really a new heavens and a new earth, because a lot of people will treat this as kind of a fixer-upper, kind of a facelift, a makeover.\u00a0 In other words God just sort of takes the existing earth and slaps a coat of fresh paint on it and it\u2019s just the exact same earth, it\u2019s just kind of fixed up a little bit.\n\nI can\u2019t tell you how many very big names that people that you know and that you listen to and hear will teach that.\u00a0 And I\u2019m here to tell you that I don\u2019t think that view is correct.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this is a renovation at all.\u00a0 I think this is an ex nihilo <\/em>new creation, ex nihilo<\/em> simply means something out of nothing.\u00a0 Why would I think that?\u00a0 Well just a few reasons.\n\nFirst of all you\u2019ll notice the word \u201cnew,\u201d what does John say in Revelation 21:1?\u00a0 \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth;\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word\u00a0 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bd\u03cc\u03c2 [kainos<\/em>] and it is same word used to describe the new man of the church in the Book of Ephesians, chapter 2 and verse 15.\u00a0 Ephesians 2:15, \u201cby abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is<\/em> the Law of commandments contained<\/em> in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man,\u201d what is that one new man?\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the church.\u00a0 The church is not a renovation of Israel\u2019s program; the\u00a0 church is a brand new man that came into existence on the day of Pentecost.\u00a0 That same word, kainos<\/em> is used here to describe the new heavens and the new earth.\n\nBeyond that what does it say in verse 1?\u00a0 What happens to the old heaven and old earth?\u00a0 It says it \u201cpassed away.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away,\u201d\u00a0 Now that is the word\u00a0 aperchomai<\/em> which is used right down there in verse 4.\u00a0 Just drop down to verse 4, it says, \u201cHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there will be no longer any death, mourning, crying or pain, for the first order of things has passed away\u201d that\u2019s aperochomai<\/em>.\u00a0 Now are all of these things mentioned in verse 4 just going to be renovated?\u00a0 Not at all, they\u2019re going to be completely done away with.\u00a0 So just as all of the things mentioned in verse 4 are going to be completely and totally done away with the old heavens and old earth will be completely and totally done away with.\n\nThere\u2019s another reason why God has to not just fix up this earth but after the thousand years destroy\u00a0 it completely is because sin contaminated the entire universe.\u00a0 What Adam did in Eden affected everything.\u00a0 We know this from the Book of Romans, chapter 8, verses 19-22 which says: \u201cFor the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.\u201d\u00a0 Look at verse\u00a0 22, \u201cFor we know that the whole creation\u201d it doesn\u2019t just say creation there, it says \u201cthe whole creation.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s sin affected everything in this universe.\u00a0 And what does God have to do to prepare things how He wants them given sins universal impact?\u00a0 He\u2019s got to take everything and dissolve it and replace it by a new heavens and a new earth.\n\nDid you know that even in the thousand year kingdom, you look at the eternal state and then you back up to the millennial kingdom, the thousand years that we\u2019ve studied over about three sermons, did you know that even sin will exist during that thousand year kingdom?\u00a0 We\u2019re told in verses 7-10 that there\u2019s a rebellion at the end of the thousand years.\n\n[Revelation 20:7-10, \u201cWhen the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, [8] and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. [9] And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. [10] And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.\u201d]\n\nOther verses you might jot down to show you that sin in some form will still exist during the thousand\u00a0 years:\u00a0 Isaiah 65:20 talks about death.\u00a0 [Isaiah 65:20, \u201cNo longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.\u201d]\n\nEzekiel 45:22 talks about the priest who will have to offer up a sacrifice for his known sin.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 45:22, \u201cOn that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.\u201d]\n\nAnd then Zechariah 14:16-18, people aren\u2019t going to want to go to Jerusalem to worship.\u00a0 For the sin problem, although it\u2019s certainly curtailed through the righteous reign of Jesus Christ has not been totally eradicated during the thousand years.\u00a0 [Zechariah 14:16-18, \u201cThen it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u00a0 [17]\u00a0 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. [18] If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u201d]\n\nSo the sin problem exists even into the thousand year kingdom. So how can God take our current world and just sort of fix it up a little bit, since sin affected everything?\u00a0 Well the answer is He can\u2019t and He won\u2019t, His purpose is to destroy it completely by fire and replace it with a brand new creation, not a facelift, not a fixer upper, but something brand new.\u00a0 Something that would fit who you are because \u201cin Christ\u201d you are a new creation.\u00a0 Now how could a new creation fit well into sort of a fixup renovated environment?\u00a0 Because you are brand new in Christ your destiny one day is to dwell in a brand new universe as God intended without sin.\n\nSomething else worth considering as we look at this subject is the world that\u2019s coming has within it profound changes in the topography.\u00a0 So it has to be replaced with something new.\u00a0\u00a0 (By the way, there\u2019s a nice little picture there of what our current world is like, suffering under bondage.)\u00a0 But the world that\u2019s coming is going to have some very profound changes in the topography of it which leads me to the conclusion that it can\u2019t be the same world that we\u2019re living in now.\u00a0 When you look at verse 1, the end of the verse, it says, \u201cthere was no longer any sea\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[Revelation 21:1, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.\u201d]\n\nOur world, going all the way back to Genesis 1:9-10, has sea or ocean within it.\u00a0 In fact, Genesis 1:9-10 describe the land coming out of the sea.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:9-10, \u201cThen God said, \u201cLet the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear\u201d; and it was so. [10] God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.\u201d]\n\nAnd according to what folks say 57% of the earth\u2019s surface is ocean and what this says, God says I didn\u2019t see a sea any longer.\u00a0 I have no reason why sea can\u2019t be interpreted literally.\u00a0 So he\u2019s obviously describing a world that is pro family topographically, different than the one that we\u2019re all in.\u00a0 Now I was teaching a Bible study in southern California many years ago, I used to have this surfer guy, he would come into the Bible study literally off the beach.\u00a0\u00a0 So he would come off the beach, sand everywhere, wet suit, went right into my shower, I never invited him to go in there by the way, (but that\u2019s another story), and then we would go into the Bible study.\u00a0 And he was a very eager Bible student.\n\nBut when I got to this part here about there was no longer any sea I could see the disappointment on his face.\u00a0 And so my remark to him that sort of comforted him was look, whatever God has taken away it\u2019s going to be replaced by something so much better than you can possibly ever understand.\u00a0 And that kind of consolidated him at least momentarily.\n\nBut this is a topographically different world and what\u2019s interesting about this is if you look at\u00a0 Revelation 21:23 it says, this creation \u201chas no need of the sun or of the moon.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:23, \u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is<\/em> the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 And if you look at chapter 22:5 it says, \u201cAnd there will no longer be any<\/em> night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.\u201d\n\nIn other words you don\u2019t need a sun, s-u-n, because you have the son, s-o-n radiating everything.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you don\u2019t need the moon because the moon reflects the sun so the moon is no longer necessary; the sun is no longer necessary because we have the Son, S-o-n!\u00a0 Is this literal?\u00a0 I don\u2019t see why it can\u2019t be; this is a completely different situation, no ocean, no sea, no sun, no moon.\u00a0 Well how are we going to get light then?\u00a0 Well God is the light. \u00a0Doesn\u2019t 1 Timothy 6:16 say God \u201cdwells in unapproachable light\u201d?\u00a0 [1 Timothy 6:16, \u201cwho alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be<\/em> honor and eternal dominion! Amen.\u201d]\n\nPastor, are you telling me that God doesn\u2019t need the sun, s-u-n?\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m telling you.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because in the beginning it says this:\u00a0 \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let there be light and there was light.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 1:3]\u00a0 Now that\u2019s on day one of the creation week.\u00a0 The sun, s-u-n wasn\u2019t created until day four; the sun, the moon and the stars, the luminaries were not created until day four.\u00a0 You mean to tell me that we had light before the sun, s-u-n ever came into existence?\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m saying.\u00a0 So if that could exist in early creation why can\u2019t it exist at the end of the Bible in what is called the eternal state.\u00a0 In fact, I believe this: I believe God did it this way on purpose.\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to rewrite the Bible to make it sound like the sun existed at the beginning; the Bible is very clear,\u00a0 you\u2019ve got light before the other source of light, the sun was created on day four, why did God do it that way?\u00a0 Because God knew something about human nature that people throughout the ages of time would worship the sun, not the s-o-n son but the s-u-n sun.\n\nDeuteronomy 4:19 says, \u201cAnd beware<\/em> not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.\u201d\u00a0 God knew the idolatrous potential of human beings, how they would worship the creation rather than the Creator.\u00a0 And throughout human history you have groups and people that worship the sun, s-u-n, and God says check the record book, check the beginning and check the end.\u00a0 There was a time when light existed without a third source, an intermediary, and that time is coming again in Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 God is saying worship Me, these other things are just creations.\u00a0 And so we\u2019re starting to see a lot of reasons why I think the destruction of this old heavens and old earth is going to be replaced by a brand new heavens and earth.\n\nAnd one more fast point, is if you think this is just a renovation\u2026 it\u2019s completely and totally contradicts the Apostle Peter\u2019s description of how this world is going to be destroyed.\u00a0 In fact, you might consider hanging out with us on Wednesday nights as we\u2019re going through verse by verse the little Book of Second Peter.\u00a0 But Second Peter 3:7, verses 10-11, and verse 13 makes it very clear that God has a plan and a program for this earth.\u00a0 It is to destroy it by fire.\n\n2 Peter 3:7, \u00a0<\/sup>But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.\u00a0\u00a0 2 Peter 3:10-12 says, \u00a0\u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, the heavens will disappear with a roar and the elements will be destroyed by fire, and everything in it will be laid bare.\u201d\u00a0 I wish the passage wouldn\u2019t talk so much about prophecy because prophecy has no relevance to our lives.\u00a0 Ooops, look at verse 11, \u201cSince \u00a0\u00a0all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be\u201d if you know the Titanic is going down it causes you to rearrange your priorities.\u00a0 \u201cSince everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?\u00a0 You ought to live holy and godly lives as\u00a0 you look forward to the day of God, the day of God being what?\u00a0\u00a0 The destruction of this old heavens and old earth only to be replaced by a new heavens and new earth.\n\nSo as I like to say, global warming is coming to planet earth. \u00a0Everybody today is really upset about the Big Bang, where are you going to get the Big Bang?\u00a0 Where do you put the Big Bang?\u00a0 My point is the Big Bang is at the end, not the beginning.\u00a0 You know, the poor evolutionist has the whole thing backwards; they\u2019ve got their big bang at the beginning when the Bible says it actually happens at the end.\u00a0 \u201cThe day of the LORD will come like a thief in the nigh in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d\u00a0 It does not look like renovation time; it looks like new creation time.\n\nSome people will camp on 2 Peter 3:6, which says, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.\u201d\u00a0 And they\u2019ll say aha, the flood never destroyed the whole earth.\u00a0 But wait a minute, \u201cworld\u201d could be the world of the people, the flood did a pretty good job of destroying all of them.\u00a0 Sometimes world doesn\u2019t refer to the cosmos,<\/em> it can refer to humanity, John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the\u201d what? \u201cthe world,\u201d that\u2019s the same word, cosmos<\/em>.\n\nSo the fact that the flood didn\u2019t destroy the entire world is no indicator that God will not one day destroy the entire world via fire as He destroys the old heaven and old earth and replaces it with a new heavens and replaces it with a new heaven and a new earth.\u00a0 What is coming is not a renovation!\u00a0 What\u2019s coming is not a facelift!\u00a0 What\u2019s coming is not a fixer upper!\u00a0 What\u2019s coming after the thousand years is something completely and totally new.\n\nNow if you want your renovation you don\u2019t look at Revelation 21 for your renovation, you look where:\u00a0 Revelation 20.\u00a0 Revelation 20 is your renovation; Revelation 21 is your new creation.\u00a0 So we need to keep the millennial kingdom, Revelation 20, completely different than the eternal state, Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 In the millennium sin is restrained; in the eternal state sin is removed as we\u2019ll see.\u00a0 In the millennium the curse is restrained; in the eternal state the curse is removed.\u00a0 In the millennium there\u2019s death, Isaiah 65:20 talks about it, amongst the survivors of the tribulation period who enter the kingdom in mortal bodies and begin to repopulate the earth.\u00a0 [Isaiah 65:20, \u201cNo longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few<\/em> days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought<\/em> accursed.\u201d]\u00a0 We\u2019ve done prior lessons on that.\u00a0 Not so the eternal state, no death at all!\n\nThe millennium, as we\u2019ve talked about, you\u2019ve got mortals and resurrected people dwelling together.\u00a0 Not in the eternal state!\u00a0 Resurrected people only!\u00a0 In the millennium you still have to evangelize, there\u2019s still going to be unbelievers.\u00a0 Not in the eternal state!\u00a0 Evangelism is over.\u00a0 Millennium, renovation,\u00a0 the new eternal state a brand new creation.\u00a0 The millennium is temporary, it only lasts a thousand years.\u00a0 How long does the eternal state last for?\u00a0 Look at the title, eternal\u2026 eternity.\u00a0 The millennium is transitionary, it\u2019s transitioning us from the tribulation period into the eternal state.\u00a0 The eternal state is not transitioning anything.\u00a0 It\u2019s God\u2019s creation as He intended it before Adam sinned and corrupted it.\n\nBoy, these are exhausting details, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re finished with that chart.\u00a0 Don\u2019t celebrate\u00a0 yet, here\u2019s another one.\u00a0 In the millennium there\u2019s time, a thousand years.\u00a0 The eternal state is time\u00adless, it lasts forever.\u00a0 In the millennium there are luminaries, in fact Isaiah 30:26 says, \u201cthe sun,\u201d s-u-n, is going to be seven times brighter than what it currently is.\u00a0 [Isaiah 30:26, \u201cThe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter<\/em>, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.\u201d]\n\nThe eternal state there is no sun, s-u-n because we have the Son, S-o-n.\u00a0\u00a0 In the millennium death; the eternal state no death.\u00a0 In the millennium you have Satanic activity, at least at the end when Satan is let out of the abyss.\u00a0 But no influence or activity of Satan at all in the eternal state.\u00a0 In the millennium there\u2019s going to be rebellion of some sort; at the end no rebellion in the eternal state.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m looking forward to this eternal state, aren\u2019t you?\n\nSo that is our new creation that\u2019s coming and the new creation is going to be inhabited by a new city.\u00a0 Look at verse 2, John says, \u201cI saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.\u201d\u00a0 And so we have the fancy graphics today of the New Jerusalem descending to the earth, and I was so proud of that, then I thought well wait a minute, that earth there has ocean on it, that whole thing has to be redone.\u00a0 But you get the idea.\u00a0 What John sees is a city descending to the earth.\u00a0 Now if I really wanted to be biblically accurate I\u2019d have that city landing on Texas, which I don\u2019t, it\u2019s there in the Middle East.\u00a0 But he sees the city descending and it comes down to this brand new earth that God has created.\n\nAnd I\u2019m of the opinion that that city exists right now; it\u2019s in heaven right now as I speak and I get that from Galatians 4:26, speaking of the New Jerusalem, it says, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>But the Jerusalem above is<\/u> free\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Now when you study that in the original language what you\u2019ll find is the linking verb \u201cis\u201d is in the present tense.\u00a0 In other words, the city currently exists. Well why doesn\u2019t it come down?\u00a0 It\u2019s not fit to come down yet because the earth hasn\u2019t been dissolved\u00a0 yet.\u00a0 This city is holy,\u00a0 you can\u2019t have a holy city coming down to an unholy earth.\u00a0 And so the city is in heaven as we speak, waiting for the descent and the descent won\u2019t happen until God takes the current heavens and earth and dissolves them by fire and replaces them with a new heavens and a new earth.\n\nThe pastor sure has some weird ideas\u2026 I like to quote people so you don\u2019t realize that I\u2019m just coming with new stuff, some of the great scholars of the past believe exactly what I\u2019m speaking of here.\u00a0 My mentor, J. Dwight Pentecost says it this way: \u201cIt is generally agreed by interpreters...that the city seen in Revelation 21:10 is suspended over the earth...\u201d\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s going to be suspended over the earth even during the thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 Christ will return to the earth at the second advent and He will reign on David\u2019s throne. The center of that authority is to be \u00a0recognized to be earthly Jerusalem. That does not necessitate the presence of Christ on that throne constantly. Christ may still reign on David\u2019s throne over David\u2019s Kingdom, but make the heavenly Jerusalem His place of residence with His Bride\u201d<\/em>\n\nI\u2019ll tell you what I see happening.\u00a0 I see Jesus making a lot of trips back and forth, from the New Jerusalem descended in heaven to His throne on the earth.\u00a0 And by the way, does not 1 Corinthians 15:49 say we will also bear the image of the heavenly.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 15:49, \u201cJust as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.\u201d]\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t 1 John 3:2 say, \u201c\u2026We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, [because we will see Him just as He is.]\u201d\u00a0 His resurrection body is sort of a pattern for our resurrection body.\u00a0 And Jesus, in His resurrection body was not limited by certain laws.\u00a0 For example, in John 20:19 it says this: \u201cSo when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d\n\nWell wait a minute, how did Jesus get into the Upper Room there when the doors were shut?\u00a0 He walks right through the wall because at this point He is in a resurrected body which is not limited by the natural laws that govern non-resurrected bodies.\u00a0 That\u2019s why in Acts 1 He just descended back to the Father\u2019s right hand.\u00a0 They could see Him going, He was in a body but obviously He wasn\u2019t bound by the same laws and limitations that govern a normal body.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s called a resurrected body.\u00a0 And if I\u2019m reading my Bible correctly what it says in 1 John 3:2, \u201cWe know that when He appears, we\u201d that\u2019s little old me and little old you, \u201cwill be like Him,\u201d in other words His resurrected body is sort of a pattern of our resurrected bodies.\u00a0 Just as His resurrected body was not limited by certain laws, neither will ours be.\u00a0 So as He makes trips back and forth from the earth to heavenly Jerusalem, which hasn\u2019t yet descended to the earth, and won\u2019t descend to the earth until this earth is destroyed by fire and replaced by a new heavens and new earth, throughout that thousand years He\u2019s kind of making trips back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.\u00a0 And guess who\u2019s there with Him?\u00a0 We are also.\u00a0 We\u2019re traveling up, doing whatever it is we\u2019re supposed to be doing, traveling back down.\u00a0 Some of you are looking at me like this is just the weirdest church I\u2019ve ever been involved in.\u00a0 [Laughter]\n\nBut I think these are natural inferences from the text; in fact, doesn\u2019t Jesus in John 14:1-4, the promise of the rapture which takes us out of the world before the seven year tribulation period even begins.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus say this, \u201d Do not let your heart be troubled;\u00a0believe in God, believe also in Me.\u00a0[2] In My Father\u2019s house are many dwelling places<\/u>; if it were not so, I would have told you; for\u00a0I go to prepare a place for you<\/u>.\u00a0[3] If I go and prepare a place for you<\/u>,\u00a0I will come again and receive you to Myself, that\u00a0where I am,\u00a0there<\/em>\u00a0you may be also.\u00a0[4] And you know the way where I am going.\u201d\n\nHave\u00a0 you ever stopped and asked yourself well where is this \u201cFather\u2019s house\u201d exactly?\u00a0 I mean, where did He go for two thousand years to prepare dwelling places for us?\u00a0 Could it be that He left the earth to go to heavenly Jerusalem, which hasn\u2019t yet descended to the earth and won\u2019t even descend to the earth during the thousand year kingdom and that\u2019s where He\u2019s preparing these heavenly dwellings?\u00a0 You mean our destiny for seven years can be between the rapture and the second coming.\u00a0 Could it be that heavenly Jerusalem?\u00a0 I\u2019m just saying it\u2019s a possibility.\u00a0 It\u2019s something worth thinking about.\n\nCharles Ryrie commenting on this verse, says, \u201cThis heavenly city will be the abode of all the saints (Hebrews 12:22\u201324), the bride of Christ (vv. 9\u201310), and the place Christ is preparing for His people (John 14:2). \u00a0During the Millennium the New Jerusalem (described in detail in Revelation 21:9\u201322:5) apparently will be suspended over the earth, and it will be the dwelling place of all believers during eternity (as is emphasized in 21:1\u20138).\u201d\n\nYou see the reason I like to throw these quotes at you is not to bore you with footnotes and biblical geographical data; it\u2019s for this simple reason: I realize that some of the things we talk about in this church you\u2019ve never heard before and because you\u2019ve never heard them before\u00a0 you\u2019re thinking that we\u2019re being novel or we\u2019re just making things up.\u00a0 I like to use the quotes to show you that the ideas that are reflected in this pulpit are ideas that you will find in the pages of scholarship if you know where to look for it.\n\nAnd so really I\u2019m not making anything new\u00a0 up at all; it just seems new.\u00a0 And the reason it seems new is nobody else deals with these subjects.\u00a0 So when someone hits you with it\u00a0 you think they\u2019re making things up when in reality all I\u2019m taking is old truth, neglected truth, ignored truth, truth pushed out of the church for whatever reason, and bringing it back front and center.\u00a0 No novelty here folks!\u00a0 Just bringing old truth that was once established and recognized back where we can see it and appreciate it.\n\nAnd so we see very clearly here that this city is coming to the earth after the thousand years have run their course and the old heavens and old earth have been destroyed.\u00a0 That\u2019s our home.\u00a0 Hebrews 12:22-23 says this: \u201cBut you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, [23] to the general assembly and church\u201d that\u2019s us, \u201cchurch,\u201d \u201dand of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the<\/em> righteous made perfect,\u201d your name is enrolled in heaven in that\u00a0 city.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s interesting that when you study the life of Abraham in Hebrews 11:9-10, what does it say there?\u00a0\u00a0 It says, \u201cBy faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,<\/em> dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; [10] for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is\u201d who? \u201cis God.\u201d\n\nTwo thousand years before Jesus showed up Abraham was looking for that city.\u00a0 Abraham, according to this verse, wasn\u2019t even so much focused on the thousand years which precedes this city, he wanted to be in the city.\u00a0 That\u2019s not a denial of the thousand years; the thousand years will be a reality, a glorious reality, a wonderful reality, but Abraham was looking for the city.\u00a0 He knew that\u2019s where his home was.\u00a0 He knew that\u2019s where his destiny was.\u00a0 Is this not why Philippians 3:20 says, \u201cFor our citizenship is\u201d what? \u201cin heaven,\u201d citizenship, doesn\u2019t that [can't understand word] of city in heaven called the New Jerusalem, it currently exists and won\u2019t descend to the earth until the fulfillment of the thousand year kingdom.\n\nWhat are you living for exactly?\u00a0 Vacation?\u00a0 Retirement?\u00a0 Pleasure?\u00a0 If we live like that we don\u2019t\u00a0 understand who we are, we don\u2019t understand our destiny.\u00a0 We don\u2019t understand our future in God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I frankly will show up and vote with every single one of\u00a0 you I\u2019ll show up and vote, every single time, but let me tell you something, I\u2019m not looking for any current crop of politicians to solve this world\u2019s problem.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is the more these people get their hands on things the more they seem to wreck them.\u00a0 My hope is in a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God; that\u2019s my heart, that\u2019s what I want.\n\nSo we have a new creation, we have a new city, one more verse, maybe we can squeeze this in, a new level of fellowship.\u00a0 Look at verse 3, \u201cAnd I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, \"Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that word \u201ctabernacle.\u201d\u00a0 That goes back to the time of Moses, the Book of Exodus.\u00a0 What was the tabernacle?\u00a0 It\u2019s where God lived.\u00a0 In the days of Moses you would say where is God?\u00a0 Where does God live?\u00a0 Everyone would point to the tabernacle.\u00a0 The tabernacle was something that God instructed the nation of Israel to build at the foot of Mount Sinai.\u00a0 They built that, probably around 1446 B.C. or so, and they took it around with them wherever they went; they unpacked\u00a0 it, went to the next stop, packed it up, unpacked it, on and on disciples went.\u00a0 It was like a mobile temple.\n\nIn fact, that structure wouldn\u2019t even be replaced till the days of Solomon, 1446-966 B.C.\u00a0 That\u2019s a long time.\u00a0 1 Kings 6:1, when Solomon finally built a permanent structure in the land of Israel called the temple.\u00a0 [1 Kings 6:1, \u201cNow it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.\u201d] Before that that\u2019s always where God lived and God dwelt.\n\nAnd so Revelation 21:3 says, \u201cBehold the tabernacle of God is among men.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 21:3, And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, \u2018Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,\u201d\u2019]\n\nThe dwelling\u00a0 place of God has become a reality in this eternal state.\u00a0 Jesus, in John 1:14, it says of Jesus, \u201cAnd the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d\u00a0 Do a word study on that word \u201cdwelt\u201d or lived.\u00a0 It\u2019s the verb esk\u0113n\u014dsen<\/a>, coming from the root esk\u0113na which means tabernacle.\u00a0 Literally what John 1:14 says is \u201cthe Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us\u201d in the incarnate Son of God.\n\nThis word \u201ctabernacle\u201d is rich with meaning.\u00a0 Exodus 40:34 says, \u201cThen the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s why it talks here about how God, we will be His people.\u00a0 And He, in that time period, will dwell among us. It\u2019s sort of a roll back to the Garden of Eden where Genesis chapter 3:8 speaks of how God walked with man in the cool of the garden.\u00a0 [Genesis 3:8, \u201cThey heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.\u201d]\n\nI mean, think of it as eternity where you have uninterrupted, unobstructed, moment by moment fellowship with God. You say well don\u2019t we have that now?\u00a0 To some extent we do but there\u2019s a little problem, it\u2019s got three letters in it, it\u2019s called what? Sin, which separates us from God.\u00a0 Isaiah 59:1-2 says, \u201cBehold, the Lord\u2019s hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.\u00a0 [2] \u00a0<\/sup>But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His <\/em>face from you so that He does not hear.\u201d\n\nEven as a Christian we can get out of fellowship with the Lord.\u00a0 Your position in Him never changes but I\u2019ll tell you something, you can get out of fellowship with Him to the point where the heavens itself seem like wrath.\u00a0 Deuteronomy 28:23 says, \u201cThe heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s just like an argument in your marriage, you\u2019re still married but the moment by moment enjoyment that you have with your spouse is severed until apologies are made, sins are confessed, etc.\n\nThis is why 1 John 1:9 is so important for the Christian.\u00a0 \u201cIf we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive\u00a0 us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d\u00a0 People say that\u2019s the gospel.\u00a0 That\u2019s NOT the gospel, the gospel is for the unsaved, this is a provision for the saved, to restore broken fellowship with God.\u00a0 We understand a little bit about what this issue of tabernacle and young men, fellowship, what it means but we don\u2019t have the full realization of it; we\u2019ll never have a full realization of it as long as we have a sin nature.\u00a0 It\u2019s just ours until death or glorification\u00a0 or the rapture of the church or whichever comes first.\u00a0 But imagine living in a world where sin doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 And therefore you can never get out of fellowship with God; you start to experience a level of walking with God, a level of fellowshipping with God that you\u2019ve never experienced before.\n\nSo a new creation, a new city, a new fellowship and then next week we\u2019ll pick it up in verse 4 with a new order.\u00a0 As the old order dissolves and is replaced by the new order.\n\nGetting into a city is dependent upon having the right passport.\u00a0 When you travel internationally \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0you start to figure out real fast that your driver\u2019s license means nothing, it has no power, it\u2019s not recognized.\u00a0 Your driver\u2019s license will not allow\u00a0 you to pass through international barriers but\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0your passport will.\n\nSo the question becomes what\u2019s the passport into the new city?\u00a0 There\u2019s only one passport in; it\u2019s \u00a0\u00a0the transferred righteousness of Christ.\u00a0 If you\u2019re trying to get into the city through your own righteousness that\u2019s a driver\u2019s license but if you receive by faith what Jesus has done for you two thousand years ago and His righteousness is transferred to you at the point of faith, we\u2019re not \u00a0\u00a0dealing with the driver\u2019s license anymore, now we\u2019ve got a passport.\u00a0 And how do you receive this transferred righteousness of Christ.\u00a0 You don\u2019t work for it, you can\u2019t work for it.\u00a0 You receive it as a gift.\u00a0 The only way you can receive a gift from God is by faith.\n\nWe don\u2019t get into the city based on the good works we do, we get into the city based on the good works He has done for us two thousand\u00a0 years ago, through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 Through His final words on the cross \u201c It is\u201d what? \u201cfinished!\u00a0 The passport is secure but until you receive it as a gift it\u2019s of no value to you.\u00a0 So our exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church as the Spirit of God convicts you of your need to do this is to receive what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross two thousand years ago.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where the Spirit places you under conviction and you respond in your heart of hearts by way of confidence to what Jesus has done.\u00a0 In other words,\u00a0 you trust or rest in what He has done.\u00a0 That is your passport.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join a church to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord, where you respond by way of faith to this wonderful free gift of salvation.\u00a0 It\u2019s something you can do right now as I\u2019m speaking.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to leave here with the ambiguities about your passport; you can get it secured right now\u00a0 by way of faith.\u00a0 I would exhort you, encourage you, anybody listening to do that, and if it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we are grateful for these three verses that we covered today and the things they reveal to us and the future that You have in store for us.\u00a0 Help us to leave here with attitudes of optimism because the future in Christ is very bright.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give\u00a0 you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t