Michael Youssef - The New Heaven and The New Earth
Today, I'm gonna start by asking a question. What are the four chapters in the Bible where Satan and his works, nonexistent, they're not there, totally, completely absent, four chapters. Well, if you answered the first two chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters in Revelation, I want you to go ahead and pat yourself on the back. Satan does not make an appearance until Genesis chapter 3, and from there on, you see him throughout biblical history, busy opposing God, harassing, and menacing God's people all the time.
That terrible attack continues throughout biblical history until you come to the Book of Revelation chapter 20, where God casts him into the lake of burning sulfur. While Satan hates the entire Bible, he reserves his most venomous attack on Genesis and Revelation. Do you know why? The real reason that he hates these two books is because in Genesis, God pronounced his death sentence and in Revelation, he carries that death sentence. I want to prove to you the consistency of the Word of God when it comes to the new heaven and the new earth. In the book of Isaiah chapter 65, verse 17, 700 years... how many years? Seven hundred years before our Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven, God declared in the Book of Isaiah 65:17, "Behold, I'll create a new earth; and the former things will be remembered no more nor are they come to mind".
Now, listen to what our Lord Jesus Christ said how many years after Isaiah? Seven hundred years. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". In 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 7 and verse 13, he said, "By the same word the present heaven and earth are reserved for fire," so much for preserving Planet Earth, "they're reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly". Verse 13: "But in keeping with his promise we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where it's the home of righteousness," so another translation said, "where righteousness dwells," glory to God. Beloved, the Word of God is consistent. The Word of God is absolutely true. The Word of God is infallible. The Word of God will live forever.
Now, let me give you a Youssef explanation of what I think God is going to do from understanding the scripture. Are you ready for it? God is going to swing a cosmic wrecking ball to this universe, to the old universe. Then he's gonna bring into existence a new heaven and a new earth. The capital city of that new heaven will be the New Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem. Now, I don't make the stuff up. I'm not that smart. I'm gonna show it to you from the Word of God. Listen to what John said, as God privileged John in the Book of Revelation to be able to peer into the future. In Revelation 21:1, he said, "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and there was no longer sea".
I explained that to you a few weeks ago, why that sea was so important to John. Verse 2: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband". Verse 3, as he continues, "I've heard a loud voice from the throne declared, 'God's dwelling place is now among his people, and he will dwell with them. And there will be his people, and God himself will be with them to be their God.'" I know what thrills me the most about the New Jerusalem, the capital city of the new heaven. What thrills me the most is that there will be nothing to separate us physically from Jesus, that we're gonna be with him, and nothing is gonna come between us. There will be no sin, no temptation, no sorrow, no regrets, no tears, no heartbreaking divisions between believers.
Verse 4: "He will wipe away," literally says, "every last tear". You say, "How come? How come"? Because the glorified Jesus is gonna be there. Verses 5 and 6, follow with me: "He who is seated on the throne said, 'I make everything new!'" I make everything new. Can you say that with me? What does that mean? There's some old and some new. I make everything new. Here's what belongs to the old. All the pain and all the suffering belongs to the old. All the sorrow and all the grief belongs to the old. All the diseases and illnesses belong to the old. All the death and dying belongs to the old. When it's all new, none of that is gonna exist. Praise God. Then comes really the most thrilling. I just told you about the thrilling.
Now comes the most thrilling part of all. Jesus speaking through John, he tells us who's gonna be in heaven and who's not. Thank God I don't have to make that decision. He said only those who persevere to the end, only those who... how many times in the seven letters of Revelation? He who's persevered to the end. He who persevered to the end. But the cowardly, those who water down the Word of God, those who sought to please people, not God, those who sought to accommodate to the sinful culture, those who want to appease the rebellious people, those who doubt the Word of God and preach another gospel, all of these will be together with the vile, and the murderers, and the immoral people.
Now I come to the New Jerusalem, my favorite place in the world. I've traveled the globe, as all of you know, but my favorite place is what I'm gonna be spending eternity, the New Jerusalem. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22, he refers to that New Jerusalem as Mount Zion, the city of the living God, with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of angels joyfully assembled and praising God. Hebrews again reminds us we do not have an enduring city here on earth. We have no enduring what? But we are looking forward to the city that is to come.
Now we know in the Old Testament, earthly Jerusalem was called the holy city, but sadly, as I said, it is stained with the blood of the Savior, the Messiah, whom the Father sent. Earthly Jerusalem rejected and crucified God's anointed Messiah, and that is why there has to be a New Jerusalem. Beloved, listen to me, please. Jesus did not redeem us so that we may live in earthly Jerusalem or any piece of real estate on this earth. He redeemed us so that we may live with him forever in the heavenly Jerusalem, and that's what the Book of Revelation is all about.
So this new city, the Bible gives us several things that are in that New Jerusalem. First of all, there will be billions of mansions. Secondly, there will be the tree of life there. Thirdly, there will be the river of life there, and fourthly, there is the water of life there. Let's look at these very, very, very quickly. In Revelation chapter 21, verse 9, "The angel said to John, 'Come, come on, I'll show you the bride of the Lamb.'" Verse 10: "Then the angel carried John to a high mountain," it's a figure of speech, meaning we're able to see the future, "and he showed him the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God. This city is surrounded by high walls with twelve gates. Each of the gates has the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. And then the city itself was built on twelve foundation stones. They were written there on these twelve foundation stones on the names of the twelve apostles".
In other words, listen to me, are you listening? Say Amen. In other words, the New Jerusalem is built on both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and don't let anybody tell you to get unhitched from the Old Testament, amen. But there's something else I don't want you to miss. I don't want you to miss. John said, "I did not see a temple in the New Jerusalem". There was no temple. Why? He said, "Because God himself and the Lamb is the temple". Beloved, in the Old Testament, the temple was only a representation and a reminder of the presence of God among his people. Whether it would be in the Tabernacle in the wilderness or later, in the first temple, second temple, third temple, the idea is God is in the midst of his people. But when the real thing comes, we don't need the representation, right?
God himself and the Lamb physically present, no need for the shadow. When you see a shadow coming and say, "Oh, the person is coming," but as soon as the person shows up, the shadow no longer is needed. In fact, he said, "There will be no need for the sun or the moon. God's presence will light up the New Jerusalem". Glory to God. The secondly, the river of life is the New Jerusalem. You have to understand the figure of speech, of course. Now we move to 22, Revelation 22:1 and verses 1 and 2: "The angel showed John the river the water of life, and it was clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb," verse 2, "is going down in the middle of the street of that capital city".
This is not gonna be like any river you've ever seen or even imagined. It is beyond explanation. It is inexplicable. It's indescribable. It's unfathomable. Try to imagine the throng of believers gathered around the throne of God, around the river of life, worshipping, celebrating his gift of eternal life. That's what all this river of life, and Word of life, and tree of life represents is eternal life. We will be celebrating that we're there for eternity, rejoicing in the presence of Jesus. Question: what does the throne of God that John speak about is like? Please, please, please, I appeal to you, do not think of it as a throne like some of the earthly monarch we see them sitting on a big, ostentatious piece of furniture, a seat called throne. No, no, no, no, that is not it. It is not a chair. It's not a seat. It is the fixed center of the entire universe. It is that immovable point of reference for all space and time. It is the hub around which the entire universe revolves. Are you surprised why some of us can't wait?
Thirdly, there will be the tree of life in the New Jerusalem. Verse 2, Revelation 22:2, John describes the tree of life in Jerusalem, and he said, "The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations". Remember the very first mention of the tree of life is in Genesis 2:9. We are told that there were probably, I don't know, millions, I don't know, there were lots of trees, lots of trees in the garden paradise, but in the middle of the garden, there is just one tree, tree of life, or the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And God said to Adam and Eve, he said, "You can eat all from all these trees. This one, you must not eat". Adam could not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but when Satan persuaded Adam and Eve to go against God's clear direction, against God's clear instruction, against God's clear command, that moment entered sin into the spiritual DNA of the human race, and from that time on, from that moment on, we become depraved, incapable of living righteously. Oh, but praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God! We will live righteously forever in the New Jerusalem. We will gather around the tree of eternal life, symbol of eternity in heaven. One more thing about the tree of life before I leave it. There will be no more curse the scripture said.
Now, this is a profound statement: no more curse. You see, we have been living in a world that is cursed by sin, by rebellion, by hatred toward God, but there, God's name, the name of Jesus, is gonna be written on our foreheads, that the ones who love Jesus, the ones who wait for his appearing, those who are longing for his coming, they're gonna have the name of Jesus on their forehead. And at that point, when we have his name on our foreheads, there will be no curse. You know, so the Bible said that the Antichrist is gonna do the same thing for his followers. The Antichrist is going to have the mark of the beast on the forehead of those who follow him, but praise God, we're gonna have the name of Jesus on our foreheads.
Fourthly and finally, the water of life. Look at verse 12, Revelation 22:12: "I'm coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give each person according to what they have done". Now, if you're visiting with us, I want to tell you one thing. This church believes that salvation is by grace alone. If you got that, say amen. Now, whether you disagree or not, that's your business. Salvation is by grace alone, not by works, but by grace alone. But we know also that not all the believers will be rewarded equally. The rewards will be given in relationship to the faithfulness of the believer. God doesn't require from you what is required of me because he has given us all different talents. He's gonna require faithfulness from you from what he has given you, not from somebody else.
That's why the Bible said, "To whom much is given much is required". Verse 17, Revelation 22:17: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let all who hear say, 'Come!' All who are thirsty come; let all who wish to take free gift of water of life come". Beloved, this is both a general invitation to whomsoever wants to come to Jesus, receive salvation, eternal life, and if you've never done that, this is the time to do it. Don't put it off. But it's also an invitation for the lovers of Jesus, the followers of Jesus, those who long to see Jesus. It's an invitation for them too. Because we who know and love Jesus sometimes feel spiritually parched, not physically but spiritually, because of the evil surroundings that we find ourselves in. We too long for Jesus to come to us. When we feel battered and tempted to conform to this evil world system, we become spiritually parched. Come, come, come, receive from him.
I thought long and hard how to illustrate this incredible reunion when we see our Savior who redeemed us with his precious blood. And it's a true story that took place in the year 1900. In fact, to be exact, it was October 12, 1900 in London, England. There was a wedding. Well, there were probably many weddings, but this wedding was different. The bridegroom name was William Monte Dyke. He was the son of a prominent member of parliament at Westminster, and he was engaged to be married to the daughter of Admiral John Halliday Cave, a well-known royal officer of the Navy. But this was not an ordinary courting of marriage for William because he had never seen his bride-to-be. They spent countless hours talking and getting to know each other, but William Dyke had never seen Miss Cave. He didn't know what she looks like. The reason: he was blind. At the age of 10, due to an accident, he lost sight in both eyes.
Even though with his challenges, he studied hard, worked hard, and graduated from Cambridge University with honors. At a social gathering, he met Miss Cave, and he fell in love with her. He fell in love with her voice. He fell in love with her touch, her mind, and her compassionate spirit, and she fell in love with him too. During the time that they were discussing marriage, William Dyke was told by an eye specialist, a surgeon, eye surgeon in London, very prominent person, that there is an experimental surgery that he could perform on William and he will be able to see. We don't know how long. He said he could see for a day or two, or maybe he could see for the rest of his life, but not sure. It's an experimental surgery.
William Dyke agreed to the surgery with one condition, one condition. He wanted the bandages to be removed from his eyes the moment his bride-to-be start coming to the altar. And so, while standing at the altar, he wanted to be the first vision of his beloved bride-to-be. So, on the appointed day, the 12th of October 1900, Mr. Dyke stood, William stood at the altar, and next to him, in the place of the best man, it was the eye surgeon. And when the organist played the wedding march, the doctor began to remove the bandages from Mr. Dyke's eyes, just as the bride was walking down the aisle. Literally, the people there in the congregation, they literally held their breath. What's gonna happen? Until the bridegroom looked at the face of his beloved and said, "At last, at last, at last". He could see her face.
Now, beloved, listen to me. You and I have never seen the face of God physically. It is as if we have been spending our entire Christian life here on earth in total blindness, unable to see the face of the One whom we worship and love, but one day, I'm getting ready to shout. One day, and it may be sooner than most of us think, we will see him face to face. We will see him. I believe our faces will shine with the reflecting light of our Lord and Savior, and then we will say, "At last, at last"! Say it with me. The question is: are you ready? And if you're not, you can be today. All you need to do: call upon the Lord, and he will be found.