It’s Going to be an Awesome Eternity!

5th Sunday of Easter, 4/28/13
Revelation 21:1-6


It’s Going to be an Awesome Eternity!
I. In a completely new existence
II. Paid for by our God


There are words that we use to describe things that have been used so often and so widely that they’ve lost some of their meaning. The word “cool” is one that comes to mind. Ever since the 1960s it’s been used to describe everything from concerts to a person’s attitude or reaction to something. It can be used to describe something astonishing or to simply indicate that you have no objections to something.

The word “gross” is another one. It used to be reserved for describing terrible injuries or injustices. Now it’s used to describe everything from food to fashion. And what one person might describe as gross, another person might actually enjoy. We’re just not certain what’s being described anymore as being “gross.”

Perhaps the word “awesome” fits in that same category. Once again, it can be used to describe everything from food to fashion. You might use it to describe a sporting event or your score on a test. When using the word “awesome,” would the general population agree with you, or would people conclude that you’re exaggerating?

With that being the case, I hesitated to use it as a descriptor for heaven. But if we were to reserve the word “awesome” for only one place, for only one experience, for only one existence, wouldn’t it be heaven? And even then it still wouldn’t fully describe heaven.

But surely that’s one of the words that come to mind as we ponder what John saw in one of his final revelations. He saw something that we can’t fully understand or comprehend. It’s an understatement, but it was awesome. And that’s what each of us by faith in Jesus can look forward to. It’s going to be an awesome eternity! Will you please join me in taking a look at it once again this morning?

Part I.

Heaven. What descriptions of heaven have you heard or seen? A common one is the pearly gates. I don’t know how that one originated and I’m not interested enough to search for an explanation on the internet. Another description of heaven has angels sitting on clouds and looking down on earth. Some people who have died for a short while and have been revived describe it as light with the most beautiful music they have ever heard. I don’t know what to make of these descriptions.

But instead of resorting to imagining what heaven is or relying on the descriptions of other humans, let’s listen to the infallible word of our God. The Holy Spirit caused John to write down what he saw. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” John’s description isn’t lengthy, but it’s packed with meaning. He “saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” It’s unfortunate if this description isn’t familiar to you. This isn’t the only place in the Bible where it describes heaven this way. Isaiah and Peter use the same verbiage. It’s used to describe heaven immediately after the return of Jesus on the Last Day. After Jesus raises our bodies on the Last Day and glorifies them, our bodies will need a place to exist. What could be better than living in a new, perfect world like the one God originally created? Awesome, isn’t it?

But then John speaks about a Holy City, the New Jerusalem. Please don’t mistake this for the Jerusalem we know of today, located in Israel. This is a Holy City and it’s new. This is John’s description of the Holy Christian Church, every believer in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. On the Last Day he will bring all believers in heaven together with all believers on earth. Adam, Abraham and Moses will be there along with believers yet to be born. Awesome, isn’t it?

And what a sight it will be! John further describes it in words that Jesus used for his Church—a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. There are few events in this world as happy and as glorious as a wedding and, humanly speaking, the bride is always the most glorious. Talk to the bride immediately after her wedding and she’ll tell you how glorious and happy she feels. That’s the way John describes us along with every other believer as we stand before our Savior on the Last Day. Awesome, isn’t it?

But it gets even better than that. John heard a voice say, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” There are times in our lives when God seems very far away. We long for his help and his presence. There are other times when we’d be ashamed to have God near us. Neither will happen in heaven. God created us to live with him. Sin ruined that. God will restore his original design. We will see him. We will live with him. Awesome, isn’t it?

In fact, it’s so awesome, that human language is forced to describe it by stating what it isn’t, instead of what it is. John writes the famous description, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Every day of our sinful lives here on earth is marred by those fearsome four—death, mourning, crying, pain. We came into this world that way and we’ll leave it that way. But not in the new heaven and the new earth. Then we will live in unending bliss and happiness and contentment. Awesome, isn’t it?

It’s going to be an awesome eternity in a completely new existence.

I don’t want to sound like a Donny Downer about this life. There are moments of happiness and bliss. But that’s just it. They’re only moments. Nothing in this life brings lasting happiness and contentment. So why do we keep struggling to find them here? Why do we think that real happiness and fulfillment is just around the next corner of our lives? We get duped into thinking that way along with the rest of our world. Instead, focus on the new heaven and the new earth. It’s the one our Savior won for us when he declared his work finished on Calvary’s cross. He suffered our hell so that we can be certain of enjoying his heaven. And what an awesome existence that will be! Completely new! Every issue, problem, frustration and disappointment with this life will be left right here and destroyed. In its place will be a new heaven and a new earth prepared just for you. It’s going to be an awesome eternity!

Part II.

I’m sure we’ve all had this experience: We take a trip that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. It was an awesome experience. But four weeks later our credit card statement arrives and we see the reality of the cost of that trip. It tends to dampen our awesome experience.

If we had to pay up for our trip to the new heavens and the new earth, it wouldn’t only dampen our awesome experience. We wouldn’t get there at all.

But that’s what makes our eternity so awesome. It’s been paid for by our God. He wants us to be absolutely certain of it.

So God instructed John, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Those words cause eternal confidence to well up inside us. First, God wants us to know that the new heavens and new earth aren’t simply a hope or a dream for us. Nor are they God’s unfulfilled plans for us. They’re our reality. God told John to write it down. There’s nothing uncertain about it. Life in the new heavens and new earth belongs to us.

“It’s done.” Those words remind us of one of Jesus’ sentences on the cross. Near the end of his sufferings he proclaimed, “It is finished.” There’s nothing left for us to do. Our sins have been paid for in full. God has washed our sins away. We stand as saints before him. Heaven is our home. It’s done!

And it all comes to us through God’s gospel, the good news of Jesus as our Savior from sin, proclaimed to us in his word and given to us in his sacraments. That’s why we hear that word and receive his Supper over and over again. We need the daily assurance of our forgiveness and our life with our God. And God doesn’t disappoint us. He reminds us, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Those words remind us of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well of Samaria. His water of life costs us nothing but it cost him everything.

That’s another reason that our eternity is going to be awesome. Our God paid for it.

All too often we don’t get what we paid for and it’s disappointing. God’s truth here in our text turns that situation completely around. Regarding our eternity, we get what we didn’t pay for. In fact, we can’t pay for it. Even our best efforts are unable to do so. Our God knows that, so he took care of our bill for eternity himself. He paid it with the blood of his Son. A payment so terrible purchased something so wonderful for us. It’s going to be an awesome eternity. It’s all yours by God’s grace. Amen.