Rev 21: 1Then 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, "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. 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 him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 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 sulfur. This is the second death."
The new heaven and the new earth or, The new Jerusalem. We have heard this in Isa 52:7, 43:18& 19 and 65:17. The message here is that this will be very new, nothing like we have ever seen before.
Then notice for the first time we find God speaking with the promise of living with us. Following is the promise of no more tears, mourning, or pain! Oh what a time it will be!
All is done, all is taken care of. He reminds us he is he Alpha (first letter in Greek alphabet) and the Omega (last letter in Greek alphabet), the beginning (of everything not just time) and the end. He is unchanging and His promises are kept.
There are actually 12 blessings for us in the new Earth:
1. God will be with us!....let me say YEAH!! and Amen
2. God will continue to be our God....Yeah again!!
3. All tears wiped away.
4. No death....try to imagine that one!
5. No unhappiness or sorrow.
6. No pain.
7. Everything...All Things are made new.
8. Water.....well, the water of life... and plenty of it!
9. We will inherit all things.
10. We will be he son of God!
11. No curse for us.
12. No more having to deal with "bad neighbors", they will be in the fiery lake.
Okay so who are the "bad neighbors"?
1.The fearful. This is not how it reads. It is not fear that is bad, we will be afraid, it is the fear that turns men into cowards and causes them to not stand for the right thing. We will be afraid, but we are assured by God that he will be with us and if he is with us....Who can be against us! We need to pull our strength from Him!
2. The unbelieving.
3. The abominable or polluted. Those who have allowed themselves to be taken over by the lusts of this world.
4. Murders
5. Whoremongers, translates to pornois, fornicators.
6. Sorcerers Greek word for this is pharmakeusin- drug use, charms, enchanted potions, supernatural effects....Think of "crack, LSD, the drunkenness from alcohol, marijuana etc...
7. Idolaters-the worship of idols, money, wealth in "things", beauty, other gods,etc.....A pasture friend put it this way, "Anything you are spending the majority of your time thinking about is what you are worshiping." Physical shape, cars, work, money....God needs to be a part of our entire life, not just your nightly prayers! He wants to be in on every aspect of your life, work, health, wealth, etc. There are promises there for YOU from Him that covers everything! Just put Him first!
8. False prophets and homosexuals.
9. Liars
10. The lover of lies.
All of this is kind of heavy duty. What you need to remember, we have all fit into this "bad neighbor" category at one point is time or another. So may still be there. But, there is hope, and there is grace and mercy for any and everyone who comes to the cross! We fail daily and still we keep trying and God knows that and us. We need to keep striving for the Christ like qualities that God asks us to try and be like. No passing judgement on another, just lend a hand and remember God will finish the good work He started in us.
The second death: This is the second separation from God, it is the lake of fire.
Blessings on all!!
Calabash
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