A Biblical View of Heaven Part4 - Wes Brown

A New Heaven and a New Earth — this lesson continues the study of the biblical doctrine of heaven by turning to Revelation 21, examining what John's imagery of "no more sea," the New Jerusalem, and God wiping away every tear actually points to. Tracing the phrase "new heaven and new earth" back through Isaiah and Joel, the study argues these words describe a new order established by God — first at Christ's coming, and ultimately in the eternal state to come. *Topics covered:* The mindset of the sojourner — living in this world without being tied to it Revelation 21:1-8 read and examined Isaiah 65:17 and 11:6-10 — "new heavens and new earth" as a figure for the first coming of Christ, not a literal remaking of the planet The holy mountain of Isaiah 2 and Joel 2, and how the kingdom of Christ draws Jew and Gentile alike Romans 15:8-12 — Paul's use of Isaiah 11 to justify preaching directly to the Gentiles "No more sea" as a figure for turmoil, drawing on Isaiah 57:20's picture of the wicked as a troubled sea The New Jerusalem as a symbol of God's eternal dwelling place, contrasted with the destroyed physical Jerusalem and temple Hebrews 13:10-13 — the true altar and tabernacle, and going "outside the camp" with Christ The church as the bride of Christ, and the espousal-to-consummation picture in 2 Corinthians 11:2 and Revelation 19's marriage supper of the Lamb A brief note on the "mark of the beast" in Revelation 13-14 as a matter of loyalty, not technology Revelation 21:22-23 — no temple, no need of sun or moon, for God's glory is the light God wiping away every tear, and an open question left for the next lesson: how that promise holds given loved ones who die apart from God This lesson challenges hearers to see Revelation's imagery not as a coded prediction of the future but as a description of what has already begun in Christ's kingdom and what awaits fully in eternity — a call to hold loosely to this world while looking toward "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." — Revelation 21:4 --- *A study on Revelation 21 and the biblical doctrine of a new heaven and a new earth.*