5/5/2014 John 14:2-3, NLT There is more than enough room in my - PDF document

5/5/2014 John 14:2-3, NLT “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” A. Even more to realize, that home will be built in a more glorious “garden” than ever seen in this world—the New Eden in the New Heavens and New Earth. (Rev 22:1-2, NLT ) B. We will spend eternity in the most exciting place God’s creation has ever seen. Rev 21:1, NIV “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” A. Newness in terms of the “world” we will inhabit, 1 1. The events that constitute the Eschaton (the End that leads to heaven) 2. The incredible changes to both earth and heaven 1

5/5/2014 B. The Descent of the New Jerusalem, 2 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” C. Newness in terms of our relationship with God, 3 “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” D. We ourselves will be made new, 4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 2

5/5/2014 A. The beauty and radiance of heaven, 11 “It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” B. The entrance to heaven—the gates and foundations, 12-13 “It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel… The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” C. The vast size and sacredness of heaven/the New Jerusalem, 15-17 “The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold…. The city was laid out like a square…. He measured the city with the rod and found it was 12.000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.” 3

5/5/2014 D. The glorious splendor of heaven, 18-21 “The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone…. The twelve gates were twelve pearls…. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.” E. The centrality of worship and purity in heaven, 22, 27; 22:3a “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple…. Nothing impure will ever enter it… no longer will there be any curse.” F. The complete absence of sin and danger in heaven, 23, 25; 22:5 “The city does not need the sun or the moon, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp…. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.” 4

5/5/2014 G. The glorious unity of all people groups in heaven, 24, 26 “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it…. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.” A. Our eternal home will be “Paradise”= the New Eden Revelation 2:7 “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” B. The elements of life in the New Eden 1. The river of life, 1a “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal” 5

5/5/2014 B. The elements of life in the New Eden 2. The throne of God and our part in it, 1b-2a, 3a, 5b “flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city… . The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him…and they will reign forever and ever.” B. The elements of life in the New Eden 3. Our food will come from the tree of life, 2b “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” 6