Text: REVELATION 21.2-7
By: WHISKEY, JOSHUA
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INTRODUCTION:
It is good we talk about our home from time to time. This is because home is where we belong. At the end of the day, it is to home we go. Our lives on earth is said to be transitory. This means we are on a journey. And we look forward to going home. In Revelation 21.2-7 the apostle John talks about heaven our home:
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
The day a woman is most beautiful is her wedding day. The new heaven is said to be prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. John is here telling us about the the beauty of heaven. Let us consider the various reasons why heaven is a beautify place:
Heaven is the home of God. God who made everything beautiful will surely make his abiding place to be the most beautiful place. Heaven is beautiful because it is the abiding place of God. Jesus declares that heaven is the home of God. In John 14.2 He says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Hebrews 12.22 describes heaven as the city of the living God. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. When Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He says “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name” (Mat 6:9 NKJ). Heaven is beautiful because it is the home of God.
Heaven is the home of innumerable hosts of angels. The Bible talks of the number of angels before the throne of God to be unlimited, innumerable. Revelation 5.11 says, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” The Greek word translated ten thousand is murias. It means unlimited number, innumerable hosts. Hebrews 12.22 says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.” The angels are so many that they are also sent forth to serve men (Heb. 1.14). Heaven is beautiful because it is the home of the angels. Since the angels in heaven are sinless creatures, it makes heaven to be beautiful.
Heaven is the home of the Godly. The apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Philippi, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:20). The Lord Jesus says to His disciples, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys” (Luk 12:32-33).
About the faithful people of old it is said, “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb 11:16 NKJ). The apostle Paul talks of the crown the faithful will receive when they get home to heaven: “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing”. (2Tim 4:8 NKJ). Heaven is beautiful because it is the home of only the faithful.
No sin in heaven. The greatest beauty of heaven is that there is no sin there. Revelation 21.27 says, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” The reason for suffering in the world is because of sin. Where there is no sin, there will be no death, no sorrow, no tears and no pains. Revelation 21.4 says, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Further, where there is no sin, there will be no evil. In Revelation 21.1 Apostle John says, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” The ancient people associate sea with evil. Since there is no evil in heaven, John says, “And there was no more sea” that is to say no more evil. Since there is no sin in heaven, there will be no decay for that reason all things will be new. Revelation 21.5 says, “Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Sin has been the reason for many problems in the world. Man decides to sin in various ways. The New Testament lists those things that people that are sin. Galatians 5.19-21 gives some list of things that are sinful:
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Those who practice sin will never enter into heaven. Revelation 21.8 says, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” All of these that do sin shall not be in heaven. The beauty of heaven includes the fact that no sinner shall be there. This means we need to think about our lives. If we live in sin, we may never get to be in heaven. There is no sin in heaven.
- IV. In heaven, no one dies. Death and dying has been a big problem for man. No matter the high technology, man has not been able to defeat death. But those who will be in heaven will never die. They shall be with the Lord forever. In first Thessalonians 4.17, we have the following: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” The thought that in heaven there will be no death is satisfying. It shows the beauty of heaven. This means there will be no more separation. Those in heaven will be there forever.
Revelation 20.6 says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” The reason there will be no death in heaven is because there is no sin there.
Conclusion
Heaven is a beautiful home. It is a home everyone is anticipating to go. Observe the way apostle John describes the beauty of heaven: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Rev 21:10-11). Revelation 21.18 says, “The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” Revelation 21.21-23 say, “And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”
Heaven is a beautiful place. Heaven is a prepared place. To go to heaven we need to prepare ourselves. Those who have not been baptized into Christ but want to go to heaven will need to be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Those who have already been baptized into Christ and want to go heaven must stay away from sin. Sin of any and every kind will deny us of heaven. We need to be careful. It is now we have time to prepare ourselves and adjust our ways. Any mistake we make now may cost us eternity. Some are not happy with their Lord and others are not happy with brethren. Any of these attitude may make one to miss heaven forever and ever. May we remain faithful until Christ comes so that we will be taken to that beautiful home called heaven. May God be with us and bless us in Jesus name. Amen.
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