John Bradford, an English martyr who was burned at the stake, often shared an interesting idea. He reflected that if God created such a magnificent universe for his enemies, then the world he must have prepared for his friends is extraordinary. It’s going to be incredible. But it’s only for his friends.

Big Idea: God will make everything new, live with his people on earth, and give eternal joy to those who conquer by his grace.

I had a problem, and it was a big one. Heaven seemed boring to me.

I love this world. I love my life. I have a great family and friends. I enjoy great food. I get to go on vacation sometimes and see amazing things around the world. I love life so much that it’s sometimes hard to imagine how heaven could be better. It sounds sacrilegious to say it, but it’s true.

Add to that the fact that I used to be really confused about heaven. Many are confused about heaven due to misunderstandings, unclear teachings, and varied biblical interpretations. What we do think we know doesn’t sound that exciting. Theologian Michael Wittmer writes:

All things being equal, I’d rather continue the earthly existence that I currently enjoy.
I’d love to go to heaven—for a visit. It will be unspeakably exhilarating to stand in the presence of God and sing his praises—but to do nothing except this forever and ever? That’s a lot of rounds of “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” Perhaps you think I’m being unfair. Well, what else do people do in heaven but worship God?…
Heaven does sound boring.

Here’s my problem: my life here on Earth, although full of problems, is actually pretty great, and I couldn’t imagine how heaven could be better.

The End

We’ve been studying Revelation since last September, and we’re coming to the end with just two more sermons after today.

As you know, Revelation was written to seven representative churches in the first century. They were small. The Roman Empire was large. They looked like they were on the losing end of history, and they were suffering for their faith in Jesus.

Revelation is written to reveal God’s “behind-the-scenes” perspective on the ongoing spiritual battle between good and evil. It aims to comfort, warn, and encourage believers to stay faithful during persecution, temptation, and suffering by showing that Christ has already triumphed and will ultimately conquer all evil. It’s meant to strengthen us for faithful witness by portraying God’s ongoing victory and the assurance of ultimate redemption.

Today, we’re getting closer to the end, not just the end of Revelation but of Scripture and of history. Revelation 21–22 serves as the climactic finale of the Bible’s story, revealing God’s ultimate purpose and our future. I’m very excited to go through these final chapters with you over the next few weeks.

Today’s passage introduces us to the end. What will the end be like? It’s much better than our vague ideas of heaven and any experiences we have on earth.

What will happen in the end? Three things:

Heaven will come to earth (21:1-2)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

These first couple of verses are a radical readjustment of what we normally think about our future. You aren’t going to heaven. Well, you are, sort of. If you are in Jesus, you will go to heaven for a short time after you die, but that time will end when Jesus returns. But that’s only temporary. You’re not going to heaven permanently. There’s much better news according to verses 1 and 2: heaven is coming to earth.

Verse 1 speaks of a new heaven and earth. This new heaven and earth is necessary because the first heaven and earth will have passed away. This comes right from Isaiah 65:17: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” We don’t know the details of how this will work, but God will somehow change the heaven and the earth so that it’s appropriate for what’s to come. It will somehow be different from what we experience now, but it will also be similar too.

This passage talks about a few things that won’t be present in the new earth, and one of them is the sea. This seems like bad news for those of us who like going to the ocean for vacations, until you understand what the sea represents in Scripture. Back in Revelation 13, the beast came from the sea. In Daniel 7:3, which reads a lot like Revelation, four beasts come from the sea. In Job, a beast called the Leviathan, which seems to have Satan-like qualities, comes from the sea. It seems that Revelation is saying that we won’t have any of that on the new earth. No more chaos. No more forces that try to suck this world into darkness and disorder. No more sea.

Verse 2 describes something amazing. Depending on when Revelation was written, Jerusalem was either in ruins or soon to be destroyed. But in verse 2, John sees Jerusalem coming from heaven like a bride prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Jerusalem, just like a bride on her wedding day, looks her best. As this new Jerusalem arrives, it can only be compared to how a bride looks when she arrives to walk down the aisle.

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