Something new is coming

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 22

Revelation 21:1-8

We’ve all had that special thing we really loved—a toy, a car, a tool, a piece of equipment, a piece of clothing—that eventually broke, or got torn, or damaged somehow. We may have tried to repair it or patch it, keep it running, keep using it for a while. But eventually we knew, it was just too broken, beyond repair. We had to get rid of it. We had to replace it with something new.

That’s God’s evaluation of this earth, of this universe. He created it good. But it broke very quickly, when man fell into sin. Since then, God has been sustaining it, holding it together, keeping it running, because He had a purpose and a use for it still—to prepare the world for the coming of His Son, to give His Son into death for our sins, to build a Church through the preaching of the Gospel. But soon that purpose will be completed. And then, God won’t try to repair the earth. It’s just too broken. Instead, He will replace it with something new. That’s what John sees in his vision in Revelation 21. Something new is coming.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. This verse, and really this whole section, mirrors the prophet Isaiah’s words in the last two chapters of his book. For example, Isaiah writes: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. There’s no use trying to save this planet, or trying to populate a new one, like Mars, as some are obsessed with doing. It’s not possible. It’s not worth it. God is about to get rid of this broken world and this broken universe. And the new heaven and earth will be so much better, in every way, that no one will even miss what we had here. As Paul wrote to the Romans, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

John continues his description of the new heaven and earth: Also there was no more sea. The problem with the sea is that it’s uninhabitable by man. In fact, most of the earth is covered with sea, making most of the earth uninhabitable. But the new earth won’t have that problem. The whole earth will be designed for God’s people to live in it and to prosper in it.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Jerusalem, in the Bible, is used in at least two different ways. It sometimes refers to the actual city that David conquered from the Jebusites and that became the capital city of Israel and the home of Solomon’s temple. It often refers to the visible Church of God, either before the coming of Christ, when the city of Jerusalem was still the literal capital of the Church, or after the coming of Christ, when the Church is no longer tied to any single geographical location but has spread throughout the whole world. But the visible Church has always been made up of both believers and hypocrites—people who are outwardly members of the Church but inwardly unbelieving and sometimes hostile toward the believing members.

But there’s a New Jerusalem coming, one that won’t be a mixture of believers and hypocrites, one in which only believers in the true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are found. It’s coming down out of heaven from God, or, as God says through Isaiah: For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people.

John writes, I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” God walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve until they sinned. Then He didn’t walk among men anymore in the same way. He had Moses build a portable tabernacle, and later a permanent temple, so that God could dwell with men on earth. But it was a limited dwelling, where men couldn’t see or interact with God. Then, for about 33 years, God tabernacled among men in the Person of His Son. John says in chapter 1 of His Gospel, The Word became flesh and dwelled or “tabernacled” among us.” But that was wasn’t meant to last forever, either, and the divinity of Christ was still veiled and hidden most of the time. Now we don’t see God. We aren’t able to ask Him questions and hear His answers. He interacts with us through the medium of His Word and Sacraments. But the time is coming when He will make His permanent, visible dwelling among His people. He won’t work in hidden, mysterious ways anymore. We won’t have to wonder what His plans are. And we won’t have to constantly be waiting for the next shoe to drop, for the next disaster to strike.

As John writes, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

We heard very similar words in chapter 7 talking about the souls of those who are already in heaven. But here it’s applied to all God’s people in the new earth and the New Jerusalem. It’s hard for us even to imagine a world like this, a life like this, untainted by sorrow, pain, or loss, with no fear of what tragedy or bad news may be just around the corner. But God would have you try to imagine it, try to picture it, and definitely look forward to it and let it comfort you here, because the valley of the shadow of death is not the final destination of the Christian. It’s only a stop along the way to a better and permanent life.

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

There, at the end of this world and at the beginning of the next, stands our God. He never changed. He never wavered. Everything around us will be new, but God will remain the same, the same, faithful Father who only kept this old world going long enough to bring salvation to all who would be saved; the same faithful Lord Jesus who was with God in the beginning, who became our Brother, and who will remain with us forever; the same faithful Holy Spirit who was the finger of God in creating this earth, who brought the water of life to us here in Word and Sacrament, and who will sustain us forever in the new heavens and earth.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

This is the true promise of God to Abraham, that His Seed would inherit, not just a plot of land by the Mediterranean Sea, but would inherit the earth. That Seed is Christ, and all who are joined to Him by faith. We’ve been made sons of God here through Baptism and faith in Christ Jesus, and we’ll remain His sons forever and inherit all things together with Him, if we overcome.

And so, again, that’s the lesson for us here. Look forward to the new heavens and the new earth, to the end of pain and suffering, to everything being made new and fresh and permanently good. And, be diligent to overcome, with God’s help, all the obstacles the devil will put in your way until the day when God makes all things new, so that you don’t end up in the wrong group.

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

All those vices mentioned here are perfectly fitting for this old, broken world, and for the burning lake of fire, but not for the new habitation that God will create. If it’s the new home you have your heart set on, if it’s the New Jerusalem where you wish to live, then rehearse for life in that place, and turn away from all those things that characterize the broken sinfulness of this place. Set your heart on the new creation, and walk in the new life of the children of God until you get there. Amen.