Word of Salvation – Vol. 37 No. 30 – August 1992

 

The Final State

 

Sermon by Rev. Bruce Gillard on Revelation 21:22

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters,

The Bible clearly indicates that there are various states of existence.

I think we find this clearly mentioned in verse 4 of chapter 21 in this book of Revelation, where it says, ‘for the old order of things has passed away.’

What are these various states of existence?

There is what we might call this present state, referring to this present world, which is still, in so far as the whole of creation is concerned suffering from the curse of God.

Then there is what we call the Intermediate State.  This is the state that those who have died enter into.  For believers it means they are in heaven with Christ.  They are now reigning with him during the one thousand years reign that we read about in chapter 20.

But then there is also the final state.  That is the state that will come to pass when Christ returns to earth, and the final judgement and resurrection of the dead will have taken place.

This is the eternal state, a state of true and complete heavenly bliss for those who are saved, a state of everlasting doom for those who are not.  Now it is the eternal state that John goes on to speak about, in the last couple of chapters in the book of Revelation.  He is not describing something that takes place on earth prior to our Lord’s return, nor even something that has its beginning here on earth and gradually blends into the final state.  He is describing something that is totally new, climactic, and catastrophic.

I think we can see that in the opening verses of this chapter, where he says, ‘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.’

A new heaven and a new earth is something that the Bible leads us to expect.  Much is said about it in the Old Testament and in various parts of the New Testament.  Think for a moment of the second epistle of Peter chapter 3, verse 10: ‘But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.’  And again in verse 12, the Apostle Peter says, “The day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promises we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”

It is then the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness that john is describing for us in the last two chapters of the book of Revelations, will come about The goal of our salvation, and the final and ultimate goal of God’s entire work of redemption is nothing short of the complete and final and ultimate restoration and recreation of all things, with the exception of course of those who are unbelieving and the devil and his angels, who will all be cast into the lake that burns with fire.  That will be their final state.

But for the rest, God is not only at work to save the soul of the believer and rescue him from this present world, but he is at work, and is going to recreate the entire heavens and earth, where He will once again dwell in the midst of his whole redeemed people.  It would be quite wrong of us therefore, if in our thinking we contemplate anything less than this in regard to our salvation.  We must not stop simply with the forgiveness of our sins, and our reconciliation with the Father.  Nor should we stop with the intermediate state, and contemplate the soul in heaven with Christ, but we must look forward to that time, when Christ will have returned, the resurrection of the dead, and the great judgement has taken place, and the entire creation has been recreated, and the redeemed dwell together with God in a new and glorified heaven and earth.  To contemplate anything less than this is to fail to enter into the glorious salvation that our God in Christ is accomplishing and will accomplish for us.

It would also be equally wrong for us, congregation, to ever imagine or think that the real blessedness of the eternal and everlasting state will be and can be experienced and entered into in this present state.

And yet isn’t that the great mistake that man keeps on making again and again?  One of the truly interesting things that is taking place in our world today, is the rejection by many countries of communism.

Now, I am not an expert in these matters, but from the little I know, I understand that communism was in some sense man’s own attempt to realise a kind of heaven upon earth.  It was going to be the ideal state, where everything was held in common for the common good.  Each one moved by love would give according to his ability, and each one would receive according to his needs and so a true commune of brotherly and sisterly love would result.

What went wrong?  Well, simply this, men thought they could ignore what the Bible says about sin, and man’s true condition, and the one and only Saviour.  Man thought, and has often done so in history, that he by his own efforts could usher in an everlasting state of heavenly bliss.

But it cannot be done.  Such a new order can come from one source and one source only, and that is from God the Father, through the redemption that is in Christ.  First, we must have atonement for sins, reconciliation with God, then we may look forward to the new heavens and the new earth.

It is God’s doing and not man’s.  This is what John reminds us of here.  He says ‘I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.’ The new heavens and the new earth.  The Holy City that reflects and radiates the holiness and purity of God, is not man’s creation, it is God’s.  And if we look to anyone or anything other than God himself as our only hope in this present state, then we will look in vain.

And yet, congregation, are we not also guilty of confusing these two states ourselves at times?  Do we not often allow ourselves to fall into despondency and sorrow, and feel as though God has let us down in some way when we are afflicted and burdened?  We feel as though such things ought not to happen, because, after all, are we not believers?  And are we not the children of God?  Have we not come out from the world, as it were, to follow the Lord Jesus?  Then why do we suffer the way we do?  Why are we often struggling and afflicted the way we are?  Well, the answer is simply this.  We are not yet in the final state.  God’s work is not yet complete.

But one day it will be.  One day we will have passed through this present state.  We will have passed through the intermediate state if we die before our Lord returns and then we will have passed forever into the final and eternal state.

And what will that state be like?  Well, let us just take a peek at it, for we can do little more than that, for it will be so wonderful that in some ways it defies description.  We must wait until we experience it to fully comprehend the things that God has prepared for those who love him.

Now John tells us enough here to whet our appetites.  Let us look at a couple of things he mentions in the first few verses of chapter 21.

In verse one he tells us, that there was no longer any sea.  Now I’m not sure exactly why he said that.  I don’t think it was to discourage those who like to go surfing, or go for a walk along the sea shore.  Quite possibly it was because the sea in those days was a threatening kind of place to man.  Man had not mastered the sea then as he has now, in terms of navigation and so on.  Remember also it was from out of the sea, that the first beast arises who serves the dragon in his opposition to God and his people.  The sea therefore was a threatening place.  In Isaiah 57, verse 20 we read, ‘But the wicked are like the tossing sea whose waves cast up mire and mud.’

In the new heavens and the new earth, everything that is in opposition to God, everything that is a threat for God’s people, will have no place.  It will be the home of righteousness.

The best thing about the new heavens and the new earth however, is that God himself is going to be there in the midst of his people.  In verse three John says, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘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 will be no more sin in God’s new creation.  For God and sin cannot dwell together.

We will be made perfect, and perfectly fit to dwell with God.  Perfect reflections of his image, which has been fully recreated in us.

All the effects and results of sin will also be gone forever.  John goes on to speak about this.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  Sometimes we have tears because of pain, sometimes because we feel rejected, sometimes because we have suffered loss, sometimes because we experience the shame of our failures.  But in that day, tears of sorrow will be gone for ever, because the cause of our tears, which is sin, will have been overcome through the blood of the Lamb.  Death will be no more.  The wages of sin is death, but our Lord has conquered death for us.  In that final state we will enter into the fullness of the benefits we have in Christ.

In the remainder of these chapters John goes on to describe the heavenly state in language that is drawn from the Old Testament, and also from the garden of Paradise which man inhabited before the fall.  The language is hard for us to comprehend, but it is only because the glories of the heavenly state are in our present state too marvellous for our comprehension.  More important perhaps, is the question, ‘What is John’s purpose in telling us these things?  And why does the Bible end with a description of the final and eternal state?’

I think the answer to that question should be fairly obvious to us, but let me briefly mention three things in conclusion.  Here we find great comfort, whatever difficult situation we may find ourselves in.  Whether it be persecution, or physical or mental suffering, or financial loss or whatever.  Let us not confuse the present state with the final state, as though this was to be our final lot.  No indeed if that were the case, then we might well despair.  But rather, let us lift up our heads, and look forward as the saints of old who looked for that city whose builder and maker is God.

Let us say with the Apostle Paul: ‘For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’

Then in the second place, here we have great encouragement to persevere in our faith and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ.  For who would want to miss entering into the joys of this eternal state?  Who in their right mind would throw this away to escape the persecutions, and court the favouritism of this present world?  To do so would be sheer madness.  To grasp at a few worldly, sinful pleasures, which are no true pleasures at all, to forfeit the great reward of eternal and heavenly bliss, would be to commit the greatest act of self-destruction that there is.  No beloved, here is a prize, and here is a bliss not to be lost, and not to be missed.  Be faithful to Christ, stand firm in your faith, for the one who is creating all things new says, ‘He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur.  Then finally, there is more than comfort and encouragement for us here.  There is something to work and long for.  The Apostle Peter mentions this in his third epistle.  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  Do we not long for those things that will bring us great benefits and joy?  Does not a young man or a young woman look forward eagerly towards that day when they will be wed to the one they love?  How much more should we be looking forward to and praying for that great day, when we will have finally entered upon our eternal state, and faith will give way to sight, and all our hope in Christ Jesus will become our eternal reality, to the praise of Him who is making all things new.  Let us continually lift up our voices in prayer, and say, ‘Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.’

AMEN