Feb. 21, 2024

Dear Friends,

If you have gotten out of the habit of coming to (or streaming) our ChristLife Bible study, I'd like to encourage you to rejoin! I especially believe that you would be blessed by our study tonight in Revelation. Our time together in God's word is an hour well-invested.

Tonight we will study Revelation 21:1-8—the vision and truths given to John regarding the new heaven and the new earth. Notes are attached.

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

HILLTOP LAKES CHAPEL

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Revelation 21:1-8

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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold,

the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God

himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall

be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have

passed away.”

5 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.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha

and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life

without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be

my son. 8 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.”

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v 1 “Then I saw…”

I interpret this to be at the end of our current earth’s history and existence. There are, of course,

other views…

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,

and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are

done on it will be exposed.11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of

people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the

coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved,

and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are

waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.—2 Peter 3:10-13

A cosmic, physical event

New heaven—as in the celestial heaven, not God’s dwelling place

New earth – new (for both), not reformed or improved

A renewed creation

“and the sea was no more”

This could actually be seen as a new sentence—the first example of what John notes when he

saw the new heaven and new earth.

Up to the point, the verbs are past (aorist) tense. This phrase is in the present tense.

So thus: “…for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea was no more!

And I saw the holy city… !...”

This passage has a great excitement to it, as over and over its phrases begin with “and,” as in

“and then then I saw this and then this happened and then that happened and then…”

There is much pondering about what it means that the “sea is no more.”

2

Some immediately think that perhaps on the new earth, there are no oceans; but that is not really

what John said. What “sea” did John mean?

It may indicate that on the new earth, people will no longer be geographically separated by

oceans as a barrier.

This would have had special meaning for John, who was in exile on an island, surrounded by the

sea, and cut off from home and friends and family. And so it resonates with him

immediately: the sea is no more!

v 2 – “And I saw the holy city…”

“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed

to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”—Hebrews 11:16

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.”—Hebrew 12:22

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”—Hebrews 13:14

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will

transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to

subject all things to himself.”—Philippians 3:20-21

“The holy city, new Jerusalem”—I believe a physical city that will be placed by God upon the

earth.

“I go to prepare a place for you.”—John 14:2

Prepared by Christ himself

“Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”—prepared means more than decorated or

beautifully attired, but also prepared in a wedding’s context of love and joy

A place of wonder, beauty, splendor, purity, holiness

v 3 – “And I heard a loud voice …”

John often mentions that the voice is a loud one

God’s truth is not uncertain—and it is to be heard and heeded

“Behold” – give heed, understand, take this in

lit. “The tabernacle [skéné] of God is with men and he will tabernacle with them and they will be

his people and God himself will be with them as their God”

John’s excited tone continues

The “dark mirror” will be removed. God will be present in our very midst, and his

presence with us will be the main reality of life

There will be no resistance to God, no sin. All will truly be his people.

v 4 – “He will wipe away every tear …”

One of the most memorable and hopeful passages of Scripture

All sorrow, which is such an ongoing part of present life, will be taken away by God, with the

tenderness with which a parent wipes away the tears of a child

v 5 – “And he who was seated on the throne…”

This is the “great white throne” mentioned in ch. 20.

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth

and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.”—20:11

God is on his throne and Jesus, the Lamb, is with him.

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from

where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the

ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white

3

in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day

and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any

scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will

guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”—

Revelation 7:13-17

“Also he said…”

This may be a different person speaking to John, i.e. the angel, instructing him to write all this

down

“for these words are faithful and true”—God has ordained that his words be written down for us

v 6 – “And he said to me…”

God speaking again, and this time, “to me”

“It is done!”— ginomai, to come into being, to accomplish

Referencing that he has made all things new

“I am the Alpha and the Omega…”

God is the Creator, He is the eternal reality

There is nothing beyond him

His authority is ultimate

“To the thirsty I will give…”

God’s gracious promise of life

“to the one thirsting”! – the one who seeks him, who knows his own need

“Without payment” – dórean, freely. God’s gracious, free gift in Christ

“The one who conquers…”

More lit. “The one overcoming will inherit all”!

“and I will be his God and he will be my son”

For all of eternity, as it was always meant to be

v 8 – “But [for the] …”

cowardly – Those who forsake Christ because of fear.

“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation,

of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father

with the holy angels.”—Mark 8:38

[In the Greek, “and” precedes each subsequent example, adding emphasis]

faithless – apistos, unbelieving

having become detestable – bdelýssōmai, from bdelýssō, lit. to stink, become foul, polluted

murderers – including those who “murder” with hate and words

sexually immoral – pornos, properly, a male prostitute, in the NT applied to other sexual

immorality

4

sorcerers – pharmakos, occult practices involving the use of drugs. Still going today.

idolaters—literal idol worshipers, and by extension, anything, especially materialism, that people

gives their lives to

all liars – “all” – pas, each and every, every kind of

“their portion…”

“portion” – meros, place, allotment

More lit. “in the lake burning with fire and brimstone [sulfur]”

“the second death”

An eternal death of eternal punishment

“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of

fire.”—20:14

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared

for the devil and his angels… And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the

righteous into eternal life.”—Matthew 25:41, 46