Morning Message Text: Revelation 21: 1-6
A New Heaven and a New Earth
1 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.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Morning Message:
How many of you worry about the future? It is a very natural thing to think about what the future holds. All of us have plans for what we want our future to look like, and we all hope for the best possible future. Our worry about the future goes beyond our own lives. We worry about our children and grandchildren, what will things be like for them? Will there be anything left on this earth for them to enjoy? I don’t get involved in environmental issues, and I have never been one to put too much stock in what all of the so-called experts predict will happen to this planet if we don’t change our ways. Some might say that is reckless and uncaring of me, but I can’t bring myself to worry about things that I feel are under the control of God. In our first scripture reading this morning Psalm 24: 1-2 says; “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” I want you to hear me correctly, this doesn’t mean that we should be reckless or irresponsible, and it doesn’t mean that we should take God’s creation for granted, but we must remember that it belongs to God, and God has a plan for all of his creation and since sin entered the world everything has an expiration date.
I honestly get upset with all of these extremist-save-the-planet people. Everyone has their own views on these issues, but for me, I find this argument over global warming and us somehow having the ability to control it by lessening our carbon imprint to be illogical. We are told that we should all drive electric cars in order to lessen the emission output. First of all, I don’t know how many of us can afford an electric car, and more importantly, do you know that we would have to burn so much coal and gas and oil in order to make enough electricity to power all of those electric cars that we would release way more carbon into the air than we do now driving gas powered cars? Now you may not agree with my point of view, but the facts speak for themselves. My point today is not a political one but a biblical one. This planet has an expiration date that none of us knows. This planet will not be inhabitable for one second less or one second more that God has willed. We should take care of this planet. We should be good stewards of what God has put us in charge of, but we should not confuse our stewardship with God’s will and his plan for his creation.
In our scripture today from Revelation, the Apostle John saw the new Jerusalem descending from heaven to earth, dispelling the notion that our eternal home is up in heaven. “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.” As Christians, our future is not on this planet. This earth is dying, and it will one day be removed. Our new home, the new earth, the new Jerusalem will be our dwelling place for eternity. It will be perfect, not imperfect like this current earth. Nothing will need to be conserved because there will be a never-ending supply of everything and there will be no pollution or anything to defile God’s perfection. The sea of the old earth represented all the evil, violence, and unrest that seemed to come out of it. For ancient readers, the sea was a raging, threatening, and fearful place that the Lord often had to calm. Furthermore, for them the sea signified chaos, disorder, and evil. In Revelation it is the home of the dead and is also associated with the abyss, the place from which the beast comes. Therefore, when John says there will no longer be any sea in the new heaven and the new earth, he is saying that there will be nothing to harm or cause God’s people fear, no chaos, death, or evil. Everything will be created anew.
This will be the culmination of time. Sin has been paid for, and everything that was harmed by sin has been taken away. Mankind brought sin into the world and took away the perfection of what God created. We are still living in that fallen imperfect world. As much as we might want to save this planet we must carry out our stewardship with these facts in mind. This earth cannot be saved, it will one day be gone. This planet is not your future if you belong to Jesus. God has a much better plan for you; your future is in paradise.
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
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