The New Eden
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Tonight we will do the final chapter of Revelation and the the entire Bible.
Tonight we will talk more about the heavenly city or the new Jerusalem, or the city of God. Not only will we be a new people, we will dwell in a new place.
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
Why is the New Jerusalem square on all sides?
to mimic the Holy of Holies in the temple
What do the 12 gates and 12 stones symbolize?
that believers from the NT and OT will be in heaven
What are the streets at the New Jerusalem made out of?
Gold
What are the gates made out of?
One large pearl
I want us to begin tonight by turning to Gen 2:10 and I am going to point out a few things as we read
1) The Fullness of the Spiritual Life
Revelation 22:1–2 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
“a river of the water of life”
The water symbolizes eternal life (water of life) and also its constant flow speak of its never ceasing source of refreshment. We already saw earlier in chapter 21 that God wold, “give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost”. So in the new Eden, that water will flow right down the middle of the city and be available to all
QUESTION: Where does this source of water come from? And what does that tell us?
That God and the Lamb are our source of spiritual nourishment
Water does symbolize the Holy Spirit
And the source of our spiritual life here is the Lamb and God.
John 7:37–38 “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
One Application:
One point we must not miss is that even in our glorified bodies, people will still be dependent upon God. That does tell us that despite what the mormons say, we will not become gods, but still be God’s people.
We will need Him, He will be our source, just as he should be in our lives today. The reason we can dry up spiritually here and now is we stop needing
QUESTION: What are some ways we can stay spiritually quenched in this life?
Stay connected to Jesus:
Reading His Words
Praying
Fellowshipping with other believers
Sharing the gospel
Discovering the joy to being in His will
“Tree of life”
bearing twelve kinds of fruit.
There was also a tree of life in the garden of Eden. And it says that if Adam would have eaten from the tree of life, he would have lived forever. (Gen 3:22)
I think the idea here is that makes adequate provisions for His people. In other words he gives them every thing that they need, more than enough.
One Application:
And that is so true for us today. And God has this way of rearranging the circumstances in our lives just so that He can show us again and again that He is the great Provider. And He will give us everything we need always!
God has had me worried many times, but has never once let me down. And He goes above ands beyond to meet my my needs.
Psalm 23:1–5 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”
Revelation 22:3–5 “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any 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.”
“There will no longer be any curse”
QUESTION: What curse is this verse talking about?
The curse means judgement or condemnation. And it was sin that brought the world under a curse.
Genesis 3:14 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;”
Genesis 3:17 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.”
When Eden is restored, better than it was before, the curse will be undone. It will be reversed. It will be gone. How?
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—”
Jesus took our curse, and bore it on the tree. Though we never understand the seriousness of God’s judgement until we have experienced it, one day we will know in full what a blessed thing Jesus has done for us.
“And His bondservants will serve Him”
We all want to know what we will be doing in heaven. One think seems for sure, we will be serving God.
Now what will that service consist of, I have no idea, but there it is plain as day.
Isn’t it amazing that this great reward, great inheritance we have stored up for us in heaven will involve serving God. The great joy unspeakable involves serving God! The great heavenly inheritance that we have waiting for us is serving God!
Want to know what could make your life better on earth? Spend more time serving the King.
“They will see His face”
What was impossible on earth will be possible in heaven. We will see the face of God
To say that God has a face reminds us that God is a personal being
With a personality
That we can know as we know one another
That can get angry
That can love us like no other person can love us
That can teach us better than any teacher
That can make us more like Jesus than anything we have available to us today
He is a person and He is to be known like a person
