Finally, what a relief it is, we are going to look at the eternal state, the eternal kingdom! Revelation 21-22 are the fullest pictures and understanding of the eternal state, and what life will be like for us with the Lord forever. So, we are going to take a rendezvous through that for the next several times and find out what it is that the Lord has planned for us.
We begin with Revelation 21:1, with these words, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” We start off I guess with a negative, if you want to call it that, with the old heaven and the old earth having passed away. They are no longer. It is my understanding that they are gone. They have been annihilated and destroyed. They have been replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. It says there is no longer any sea. I am not sure of the value or importance of that. There have been different debatable understandings on that, but I am not sure myself what that means. We do know, we have a new heaven and a new earth and the old has passed away. That is a wonderful thought.
Revelation 21:2 tells us about a third place called the new Jerusalem, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” There is a third place. A new heaven. A new earth. A new Jerusalem. The new heaven and new earth are apparently formed at this time, but the new Jerusalem has already existed. It doesn’t say that it has been created. It says that it comes down out of heaven from God at this point in time, and so this has existed before. My opinion on that is in John 14:2 the new Jerusalem is explained, when Jesus is talking to His disciples and they are disturbed that He is going to leave them and He says to them, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” I think that Jesus was talking about this new Jerusalem right here. He is saying I am going to go away, and I am going to prepare a place for you, and you are going to come to be at that place and I am going to be there as well . . .
