Introduction:
John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Revelation 16:17 - The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
The Hope is Real: The Truth About Heaven (Revelation 21:1-8)
- Everything is New. (Rev 21:1-2)
- Every day is in God’s Presence. (Rev 21:3)
- Everything that Hurts is Gone. (Rev 21:4-5)
- Everything is Yours. (Rev 21:6-7)
Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
- Everyone is Not Going. (Rev 21:8)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:17
After this, "Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, 'I thirst.' A jar full of sour wine stood there.
00:17-00:22
So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
00:22-00:34
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished.' And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
00:36-00:46
Over this past month, we've been examining God's word to see that the Son of God came to finish some things.
00:47-00:50
And we've been trying to just answer one question.
00:52-00:53
What is finished?
00:54-00:57
Jesus made the declaration, it is finished.
00:57-01:05
So what is, well, I guess to put it all in one word, salvation?
01:08-01:16
The way of salvation, it's done, the work is done, and we've been spending time looking at different facets of salvation.
01:18-01:21
First we saw justification, the guilt is gone.
01:21-01:25
You realize Jesus has taken your sin away.
01:27-01:31
There are no grounds for punishment when you're in Christ.
01:32-01:33
The guilt is gone.
01:33-01:34
He's made you righteous.
01:36-01:40
And then we saw reconciliation, the relationship is restored.
01:42-01:43
By nature, you are not God's friend.
01:44-01:47
The Bible says by nature, we are enemies of God.
01:47-01:51
Jesus Christ came to restore the relationship with God.
01:53-01:55
Pastor Taylor, a couple of days ago, talked about redemption.
01:57-01:58
The price was paid.
01:58-02:01
There was a literal price that was paid.
02:02-02:09
You see, you have sinned against God, and it wasn't as if God was like, oh, that's okay, don't worry about it, I'm just gonna forget about it.
02:09-02:09
No, no, no.
02:10-02:13
As Pastor Taylor pointed out, you owe God an infinite debt.
02:16-02:19
And God paid that himself through the death of his son.
02:21-02:24
It is finished.
02:27-02:33
You know, you think of those words on the cross, it is finished.
02:33-02:44
You know, that's not the only time that Jesus declares that something is finished.
02:46-02:48
It's only the first time.
02:50-03:00
Do you know the next time Jesus says it is finished is when God pours out judgment?
03:02-03:06
Revelation 16, 17, it's the last bold judgment.
03:06-03:12
The book of Revelation talks about there's seal trumpets and trumpet judgments and bold judgments.
03:12-03:15
The last judgment of God is poured out.
03:16-03:17
Look at this.
03:18-03:28
Revelation 16, 17, the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne saying, it is done.
03:32-03:34
That's the next time Jesus says it is finished.
03:36-03:39
Today I wanna talk about the last time he says it.
03:40-03:49
You know the last time Jesus declares Something is finished as after He creates a new heaven and a new earth.
03:52-03:55
Revelation chapter 21, I want you to turn there.
03:59-04:00
Revelation chapter 21.
04:06-04:10
Revelation chapter 21, look at verses five and six.
04:10-04:17
It says, "And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new.
04:18-04:40
"Also," he said, "Write this down, "for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done." Like, wait, wait, what is he talking about here?
04:42-04:48
What is finished, the promise of glorification?
04:50-04:54
That is, the hope is real.
04:56-04:58
The hope is real.
05:00-05:01
We're gonna talk about hope today.
05:03-05:10
Because when we talk about hope, We use it in a different way than the Bible uses the word hope, right?
05:10-05:15
When we say hope, what we mean is wish, right?
05:15-05:16
You know what I mean?
05:16-05:19
Like we say, I hope it doesn't rain today.
05:19-05:20
What are we saying?
05:21-05:22
I wish that it doesn't rain.
05:22-05:26
Or we say like, I hope that the pirates win today.
05:28-05:28
What are we saying?
05:29-05:32
We're saying that our theology allows for miracles.
05:35-05:38
But you see, that's not how the Bible uses the word hope.
05:40-05:46
Biblically, church, listen, hope is the confident anticipation of receiving Jesus' promises.
05:47-05:51
Biblically, hope, it's in the bag, it's happening.
05:52-05:55
I'm just waiting for it to take place, but it's gonna happen.
05:56-05:58
I'm not wondering if it's gonna happen.
05:58-06:03
I can't wait, I know it's going to, and I'm just waiting for that to happen.
06:03-06:04
That's biblical hope.
06:05-06:10
That's the receipt that we hold onto that says it's coming.
06:10-06:15
I know that it's coming, and I can't wait for that day.
06:15-06:17
That is biblical hope.
06:19-06:21
See, that's what we're here to celebrate today.
06:24-06:26
Actually, every Sunday, we celebrate this.
06:26-06:35
And actually, for the Christian, You celebrate this every day of your life, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
06:37-06:40
We've been spending so much time talking about the fact that he died for our sins.
06:40-06:46
Yes, that's true, but three days later, he rose from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life.
06:47-06:49
And the Bible says that he went back to heaven.
06:49-06:50
And you're like, well, what's he doing now?
06:50-06:52
Do you know what Jesus is doing right now?
06:53-06:54
Like right now, do you know what he's doing?
06:55-06:58
He told us in John chapter 14 what he would be doing.
06:59-07:12
He says, "I go to prepare a place for you." Right now, Jesus Christ is building a place for his people in heaven.
07:14-07:18
We're gonna talk about heaven today, the place of our hope.
07:20-07:22
Do you know what heaven's like?
07:27-07:36
Sadly, there's so much confusion about heaven because people embrace ideas about heaven that just aren't in the Bible.
07:37-07:45
I think for a lot of people, their ideas of heaven come more from a Bugs Bunny cartoon than from what God actually said.
07:47-07:53
There's just so much nonsense about the people believe about heaven that's just not true biblically.
07:53-07:55
You know what number one is, by the way?
07:55-08:07
The most nonsensical, wrong, false thing that people believe about heaven that's just absolutely not true is that good people go to heaven.
08:08-08:10
You have to be a good person to go to heaven.
08:10-08:15
That's just bombarded onto us from society.
08:15-08:20
Good people go to heaven, good people get, well, that's not true.
08:20-08:24
If that was true, heaven would be empty.
08:26-08:29
We're going to talk more about that in a bit.
08:31-08:33
But no, you do not get to heaven by being a good person.
08:35-08:41
But you know, even Christians, honestly, even Christians are clueless about heaven.
08:43-09:03
Just grab your Christian, your average churchgoer, and say, "Well, what's heaven like?" you're gonna get answers like, "Um, well, I thinkin' Grandma's there." They're like, "Well, what do you do in heaven?" "Well, I guess you, um, I guess you play a harp, right?
09:04-09:12
"And then you sit on clouds." And, um, yeah, that's all I got.
09:14-09:21
Like, well, maybe, um, maybe you've been getting your theology about heaven from Bugs Bunny from a far side cartoon.
09:24-09:32
But I think many Christians aren't really excited about heaven because they don't know what the Bible actually says about it.
09:34-09:37
We had a funeral last week for the oldest member of our church.
09:37-09:38
He was two weeks shy of 99.
09:39-09:40
And she's having a good day.
09:41-09:45
What a great celebration of her life and a celebration of the fulfillment of her faith.
09:47-10:00
But I think a lot of people, even that we're sitting in that funeral, might not have been excited because they don't really know what she's experiencing in heaven, what is coming in the future in heaven.
10:04-10:05
We need to educate ourselves, church.
10:07-10:08
I mean, think about it this way.
10:09-10:11
Imagine if I booked you a three-month vacation.
10:14-10:14
Imagine that.
10:14-10:15
If I booked you, I'm like, you know what?
10:15-10:16
You've been working hard.
10:16-10:16
You know what?
10:18-10:19
I'm gonna get you the plane tickets.
10:20-10:27
You know, you just bring your wife, jump at the airport and get on the plane, three month vacation on me.
10:30-10:31
Would you wanna know where you're going?
10:34-10:35
Would you wanna know what you'd be doing?
10:36-10:39
What if you said, "Oh, thanks Pastor Jeff, that was really nice of you.
10:40-10:40
Where am I going?
10:40-10:52
What am I doing?" What if I said, "Don't worry about it, you'll like it." No, I want to know where I'm going to be spending three months of my life.
10:52-10:54
And I'm like, oh, it'll be nice.
10:56-10:58
What am I gonna be doing there?
10:58-10:59
Fun stuff.
11:01-11:05
Wouldn't you want more information of where you're going to be spending three months of your life?
11:05-11:10
Okay, reminder, heaven is eternal.
11:12-11:18
Wouldn't you like to know what it's going to be like for eternity?
11:20-11:25
If you do, you're in the right place this morning because that is exactly what we're gonna be seeing from God's word.
11:26-11:27
So on your outline, take some notes.
11:29-11:30
The hope is real.
11:31-11:32
The hope is real.
11:33-11:34
The truth about heaven.
11:36-11:38
The truth about heaven.
11:40-11:43
Number one, write this down, everything is new.
11:44-11:45
Everything is new.
11:49-11:51
Verses one and two in Revelation 21.
11:51-11:58
"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.
11:59-12:09
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
12:11-12:11
Stop there.
12:12-12:13
New heaven and new earth, why?
12:13-12:14
Why do we need a new heaven and new earth?
12:15-12:34
Well, because this is talking about what's happening future, and at this point, the heaven and earth now, the one that you're like sitting on right now, will be vaporized by God's glory, according to 2 Peter chapter three, according to Revelation 20 11.
12:36-12:38
He talks about this new Jerusalem.
12:40-12:41
Like, what is New Jerusalem?
12:42-12:46
What's the capital city of the new heaven and the new earth?
12:46-12:54
And John describes it as coming down from heaven onto this new earth.
12:56-12:58
It's a fascinating study.
12:58-13:00
You can really dig into it on your own.
13:02-13:07
Just to give you a little overview, verses 15 and 17 give us the dimensions.
13:07-13:09
And by the way, these are literal measurements.
13:09-13:10
The Bible's clear about that.
13:11-13:16
But New Jerusalem is a massive city and it's shaped like a cube.
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And each wall is 1,380 miles long.
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And each wall is 216 feet thick.
13:29-13:31
You're like, can you give me a frame of reference?
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Yeah, absolutely, I can.
13:34-13:40
If you were to take this New Jerusalem and put it on our current earth, just drop it onto North America.
13:42-13:51
If you were to drop it onto North America, it would go from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America.
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It would go from the Atlantic Ocean.
13:57-13:59
I'm still trying to adjust to that, I'm sorry.
14:00-14:04
It would go from the Atlantic Ocean to Colorado.
14:06-14:09
That is the size of New Jerusalem.
14:10-14:12
You're like, why do I need to know this?
14:12-14:20
Look, that is the place that Jesus is preparing for you right now.
14:23-14:34
And this passage describes the final and eternal heaven, and over and over he uses the greatest word possible that he could use to describe.
14:35-14:39
anything, and it's the word new.
14:42-14:43
New, look at verse five.
14:43-14:45
This is the best verse in the Bible.
14:46-14:50
And I know somebody would say, well, actually, Pastor Jeff, it's all God's word.
14:50-14:51
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
14:52-14:53
But this is the best verse in the Bible.
14:56-15:06
It says, "And he who was seated on the throne "said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" No.
15:09-15:12
Look, that is... that is awesome!
15:15-15:21
And we can relate to that, can't we? Because there's nothing like getting new stuff, right?
15:23-15:24
Don't we love new things?
15:25-15:26
New shoes.
15:28-15:29
A new car.
15:30-15:31
New jeans.
15:33-15:34
A new phone.
15:35-15:42
I'm pleased to announce that Pastor Taylor finally upgraded from his iPhone 8.
15:45-15:54
Yeah, a little bonus celebration today. But wasn't it so exciting getting that new phone, Pastor Taylor?
16:05-16:08
You know what, I thought it was bad until Jay Nower showed me.
16:08-16:09
He has, what do you have, an SE?
16:17-16:18
Yeah, take good care of that, Jay.
16:18-16:19
We're gonna put that in a museum.
16:20-16:21
(laughing)
16:23-16:27
So, we love getting new stuff, right?
16:27-16:28
Getting a new computer.
16:29-16:31
Men, get that new fishing rod.
16:31-16:32
Ladies, get the new purse.
16:34-16:36
How about a new puppy?
16:37-16:38
Oh, that's the best.
16:40-16:44
But there's nothing like getting new stuff.
16:45-16:51
And you know, the Bible says in heaven, Everything is always new.
16:54-16:55
So a little tip for you.
16:55-16:59
If you're in Christ, and if you are, you will end up in heaven.
16:59-17:18
I just want to encourage you, if you're trying to make friends, to not walk up to somebody in heaven and say, "Hey, what's new?" Because they're going to say, "You are, amigo." Because I don't know if you got the memo, but everything here is new.
17:19-17:26
I have people say to me sometimes, like, "Heavenstone's kind of boring." Like, what are you talking about?
17:27-17:29
That is a clueless statement.
17:30-17:30
Boring.
17:32-17:36
Everything is always going to be new.
17:40-17:46
And if that's not a beautiful enough description with that little word, He gives us a word picture that really drives it home.
17:47-18:00
He says, "It's prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Like Jesus, what kind of care and attention are you putting into creating this new heaven and earth?
18:01-18:02
This new Jerusalem?
18:04-18:09
What kind of meticulous care is going into preparing this new city?
18:10-18:16
The Bible says it's like a bride preparing herself for her husband.
18:18-18:21
That's a word picture that really impacts me.
18:22-18:24
Because look, I've been to a lot of weddings.
18:25-18:26
It's part of my job.
18:26-18:27
I've been to a lot of weddings.
18:28-18:33
And you know something that I've never, ever, ever seen at a wedding is this.
18:33-18:39
Like, it's wedding day, and I come to the front of the chapel or the woods or the barn or wherever we're having it.
18:42-18:45
Oh, they have them everywhere now, but I'm up there with the guys, right?
18:46-18:50
And here comes the bridesmaids and they take their place.
18:50-18:52
Oh, it's the big moment.
18:54-18:55
The music shifts, right?
18:56-18:57
And you know what's next.
18:58-18:59
Here comes the bride, right?
19:00-19:01
You know what I've never seen?
19:02-19:16
So the doors fling open and there's the bride in a college hoodie, wearing sweatpants and Crocs.
19:19-19:21
Crocs will not be in heaven, by the way.
19:22-19:32
Well, the Bible doesn't say, I'm just thinking it's a safe assumption, but I've never seen her where she's got a near terminal case of bedhead.
19:36-19:39
I've never seen that, ever.
19:40-19:41
Do you know what I have seen though?
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Every time.
19:46-19:48
A breathtakingly beautiful bride.
19:51-19:52
How did she get that way?
19:54-19:55
She prepared.
19:56-20:12
Do you know how much time and effort and energy and money and detail, and it goes in, She puts everything into making herself as beautiful and perfect as she can for her husband.
20:16-20:25
And that is the kind of attention and care that Jesus is putting into preparing this place for his people.
20:26-20:27
Wrap your brain around that.
20:29-20:35
But the Bible says in heaven, Everything is new.
20:38-20:40
Oh, it gets even better than that.
20:42-20:45
Because number two, write this down, every day is in God's presence.
20:46-20:49
Everything is new and every day is in God's presence.
20:49-20:50
Look at verse three.
20:51-21:02
Verse three, he says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
21:02-21:03
"He will dwell with them.
21:04-21:14
and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God." Every day is in God's presence.
21:18-21:24
Don't you wish that you lived at the time that Jesus lived?
21:25-21:46
Wouldn't it have just been absolutely amazing to watch Jesus, like to sit down with Him, to hear Him teach, to watch Him heal, to watch Him feed the thousands with the little kids' lunch?
21:47-21:55
Wouldn't that have just been awesome to personally be in the presence of Jesus Christ?
21:59-22:02
Well, I got good news for you.
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In heaven, you're gonna get that like every single day.
22:10-22:13
Because according to verse three, we're always in God's presence.
22:15-22:27
See, that's good news, my friends, because I think if we're honest, sometimes God seems distant right now.
22:27-22:29
I mean, he's not, right?
22:30-22:31
He's not distant.
22:33-22:37
But can we just be honest in church for a second and say sometimes it feels like he is?
22:41-22:42
You know, we go through trials.
22:44-23:00
or hurting, maybe you've been betrayed, disappointed, you're just worn out, and you're like, God, where are you?
23:01-23:06
Seems like I need you the most right now, you seem absent, where are you?
23:09-23:14
Well, never again will God seem distant.
23:17-23:20
The Bible says he is going to tabernacle with his people.
23:20-23:31
He is going to pitch a tent in unprecedented perfect fellowship in the midst of his people.
23:32-23:37
Every day of heaven is being in the presence of God.
23:37-23:38
(sniffling)
23:40-23:41
It's the truth about heaven.
23:42-23:43
Everything's new.
23:44-23:45
Every day is in God's presence.
23:45-23:47
And number three, everything that hurts is gone.
23:49-23:50
(sniffling)
23:52-23:53
Everything that hurts is gone.
23:53-23:54
Look at verse four.
23:56-24:00
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more.
24:00-24:07
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
24:07-24:12
No crying, no mourning, no crying and no pain.
24:13-24:14
Do you know what that means?
24:17-24:23
That means no, a lot of other things.
24:24-24:26
That means no depression.
24:28-24:29
That means no cancer.
24:31-24:33
That means no diabetes.
24:36-24:37
That means no organ failure.
24:39-24:40
That means no autism.
24:42-24:44
That means no wheelchairs.
24:46-24:49
That means no mental health problems.
24:52-24:54
That means no dentist appointments.
24:58-25:01
I see somebody rejoicing in the back greatly over that.
25:02-25:07
But I can tell you in the first service, there was like a group of dentists sitting, right about where the Zenko's are right now.
25:08-25:11
And I told him, like, look, we're gonna be out of a job in heaven.
25:12-25:16
Nobody's gonna need to hear about Jesus from me, nobody's gonna need their teeth fixed by them.
25:17-25:21
So, you know, there's no more tears.
25:22-25:24
There's no more death, there's no more goodbyes.
25:26-25:29
Every bit of pain and heartache and discouragement.
25:32-25:32
Never again.
25:34-25:34
Never.
25:36-25:37
Everything that hurts is gone.
25:40-25:57
People ask, "Well, you know, will I remember "the failures of my life on earth?" Because I would think if I could remember my failures of my life on earth, that boy, there'd be some tears over that in heaven.
25:58-26:00
Will I remember the failures of this life?
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I don't know.
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But I do know this for a fact, that if you do remember the failures of this life, it's not gonna bother you.
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Because there's no more mourning or pain.
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Sure about that.
26:20-26:22
And you could get to this point, you're like, really?
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Now hang on a second.
26:26-26:29
This sounds just a little too fantastic.
26:31-26:31
Really?
26:32-26:33
Well, look at verse five again.
26:35-27:01
And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also, he said, "Write this down, "for these words are trustworthy and true." Oh, everything is made new, everything stays new, and you're like, "Adam, is that really true?" Jesus says here, write this down.
27:02-27:05
You write this down, you take this to the bank.
27:06-27:08
You build your life on this, man.
27:08-27:11
This is trustworthy and true.
27:14-27:16
Listen, this isn't fantasy stuff.
27:17-27:23
This isn't like fairy tale stuff that we say to placate children when grandma passes away.
27:28-27:31
Jesus says this is real, this is trustworthy and true.
27:34-27:38
Every hurt is forever behind you.
27:39-27:41
Everything that hurts is gone.
27:41-27:45
Number four, it gets even better.
27:46-27:48
I know you don't think it can, but check this out.
27:48-27:50
Number four, everything is yours.
27:52-27:53
Everything is yours.
27:56-27:56
Look at verse six.
27:57-27:59
And he said to me, "It is done.
28:01-28:06
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, "the beginning and the end.
28:06-28:16
"To the thirsty I will give "from the spring of the water of life without payments." Who are the thirsty?
28:18-28:19
Who are the thirsty?
28:21-28:22
I hope you are.
28:23-28:28
Thirsty refers to people who realize their spiritual need and genuinely thirst for God.
28:30-28:38
Heaven is for people who know they need Jesus Christ and they receive Jesus Christ and they love Jesus Christ.
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That's what he's talking about here.
28:41-28:45
You see, water, biblically, is a symbol of fulfillment.
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It's a symbol of satisfaction.
28:48-28:50
I was thirsty and in need.
28:51-28:54
Now, from the living water, I have been satisfied.
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That's what water's talking about.
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That's what the Bible's talking about.
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Excuse me when it talks about water.
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Satisfaction.
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It's great news.
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That means heaven's not going to be lacking anything that would add to your satisfaction.
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You know that?
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That means you're not gonna be walking around heaven and say, you know what?
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This place is pretty good.
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But I have a few ideas that would make it a little better. You're going to be absolutely, totally, perfectly satisfied in heaven. And this, this is your heritage. Look at verse 7. He says, "The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son." We talked about this with justification, that we don't live in fear of God as judge, if you're in Christ, that You're not afraid of God as judge.
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You live in the freedom of God as father.
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That he adopted us as his children.
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But being a child has implications for the future.
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Like, what do you mean?
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What I mean is, if you're a child of God, you receive an inheritance.
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Like look at Romans chapter eight here.
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Romans eight says, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
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And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
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You see, Paul wrote this to the Romans, and Roman adoption was very interesting.
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I was reading about it this past week.
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Do you know, in Roman culture, adopted children actually received greater honor than naturally born children in the home.
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Like if a couple has natural children, it's like, well, you just came into the world the regular way.
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But if you adopted someone, it was, ah, you though on the other hand, you were chosen to be a part of this family.
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But there's something else interesting about Roman children, including the adopted children, by the way, that they all received an equal share of the inheritance.
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You're like, good for the Romans.
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What does that have to do with me?
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Here's what this has to do with you.
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Look at this.
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We are fellow heirs with Christ.
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You know what that means?
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I can tell some of you are very excited about that.
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So we're gonna walk through this together.
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You are fellow heirs with Christ.
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You know what that means?
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That means you will receive the same inheritance that Jesus receives.
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So, what does Jesus own?
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Everything.
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So what do you stand to inherit?
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Everything.
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Everything.
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Wait, wait, wait.
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Hang on a second there, Pastor Jeff.
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You was talking about the new heavens earlier.
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Do you mean I'm gonna inherit the new heavens?
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Everything.
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And if you're like, oh, well, he's creating the new earth.
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Do you mean I'm gonna inherit that new earth too?
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That's gonna belong to me?
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Everything.
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And you're like, well, that giant city that you was talking about, Am I gonna inherit that too?
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Is that gonna belong to me?
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And I'm like, look, I'll do respect.
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What part of everything do you not understand?
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Everything will belong to you.
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But do you know the greatest thing that you're going to inherit?
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Is God himself.
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Do you see that in verse seven?
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He says, "I will be his God." Oh no, let's not gloss over that because that's like the Levites in the Old Testament.
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Remember, Israel was told, you know, that they were gonna receive an inheritance in the promised land, but you go to like Deuteronomy 18-2, the Levites did not get an inheritance like the other tribes of Israel.
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They were told that God is their inheritance.
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And if you get God, you get everything.
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If you're a fellow heir with Christ, that means someday everything is yours.
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And finally, number five, truth about heaven.
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Everything's new.
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Every day's in God's presence.
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Everything that hurts is gone and everything is yours.
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But we do have to say this because it's in the text.
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Everyone is not going.
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Now look, you know, it'd be real easy to come into Easter service and we're all wearing our spiffy clothes and the music is fantastic, and it would be so easy to get caught up in this passage and get excited about a heaven that some of you aren't going to see.
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Look at verse eight.
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John says, "But as for the cowardly, "The faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, "the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, "their portion will be in the lake "that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." See this list?
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These are people that love their sin more than they love Jesus.
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But I gotta ask you, are you on that list?
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Is there anything here that characterizes you?
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Understanding that murderer means hateful and sexually immoral means lustful.
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You there?
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You know the one that always sticks out to me in this list is the first one, cowardly.
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What does that mean?
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It's not saying being afraid of stuff is a sin, like in the sense of I'm afraid to go camping because I'm afraid of bears and snakes.
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And that's not what that's talking about at all.
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It's talking about being afraid to follow Jesus Christ because there is a cost.
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And what will my friends think?
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And what am I going to have to give up?
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and refusal to follow Christ, God says, "You're a coward." You mean he bought your way to heaven with the blood of his son?
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And you're too afraid to receive him because of what your goofy friends might think, because of what sinful thing you might have to give up.
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You're a coward.
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And that's not my opinion.
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That's God's opinion.
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Well, I guess it is mine if it's God's.
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But he said it.
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You think following Christ is easy?
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You think it's easy to trust God?
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Do you think it's easy to say no to sin?
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Do you think it's easy to say yes to serving Christ when it's inconvenient or difficult or harder than we thought it was gonna be?
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This ain't for cowards, okay?
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All of the items on this list characterize people who have never repented.
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They've never received Christ.
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And these are just evidences.
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He's saying that this is what they lived like.
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And I have to ask you, if you took an honest inward look at yourself, would you say that my life is generally characterized by a love for Jesus Christ, Or would you say, my life is generally characterized by a love of my sin, myself, my way.
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Which one is it for you?
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Because if it's the latter, then none of these promises about heaven, none of this hope is for you.
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I can have the worship team join us back up on the platform here.
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It is finished.
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It is finished.
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Someday, you're gonna hear Jesus say those words again.
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For some of you, you're going to be horrified to hear Him say it when He brings judgment.
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And for some of you, you will rejoice when you hear Him say it, because He's giving you everything.
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The hope of heaven.
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It is finished.
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Today, today, we hear those words from the cross.
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So if you have received Jesus Christ, your sin has been taken away.
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If you have received Jesus Christ, he rose from the dead to give you eternal life.
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And if you have received Jesus Christ, you do not need to wait for heaven to rejoice in Him.
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So let's stand and let's celebrate Him for who He is and all that He's done.
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Let's rejoice in the victory of Jesus Christ.
Small Group Discussion
Read Romans 8:16-17, Revelation 21:1-8
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What are some wrong ideas about heaven that even many Christians believe?
What is an aspect of heaven covered in Revelation 21 that was new or surprising to you?
What does it mean that we are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17)? What exactly do we inherit?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
