The Coming Glory | Sunday, May 4, 2025

Good morning. There are a lot of people who have many questions about heaven. I've noticed this more recently as I've been interacting with people. The topic of heaven has come up quite a bit, and most people I encounter actually believe in it.

A research firm called Pew Research conducted a study of 11,000 Americans a couple of summers ago in 2023. They found that 71% of those surveyed believe in heaven. Another research organization, Barna, performed a similar study 20 years earlier in 2003 and found that 76% of people at that time believed in heaven. Of those, 64% believed they would go to heaven when they die. In fact, it might not surprise you to know that less than 1% of Americans think they will experience the alternative place after death. Most people believe in heaven, and most believe that when they die, they will go there.

When speaking to those who attend a Protestant or evangelical church, it is almost unanimous that all Christians in these churches believe in heaven. Furthermore, nearly all of them believe they will go to heaven when they die as well. So, if you're here this morning and you're a regular participant or member at Cross Connection Church, it is highly likely that you believe in heaven and that you will go there when you die. I don't think this is a wrong belief; in fact, I think it's a good belief to have.

However, it is also highly likely that among Christians, particularly those who attend church regularly, many have very misguided views about heaven. They believe they are headed there, but they hold incorrect ideas about it. I apologize if saying that is a bit offensive, but a significant part of the reason many Christians have these misguided views is due to faulty or non-existent teaching on the subject.

I must admit that we have not focused our attention on the topic of heaven since I have been the pastor of this church. About 10 years ago, we did a series on hell, which might seem like a glaring inconsistency. We talked about hell for several weeks, and since then, I've had people ask, "You talked about hell, but when are you going to talk about heaven?"

Heaven? What I wanted to do, as we have been discussing the kingdom of God, is to consider what the Bible has to say about this subject. This topic came up in our study last time in the Gospel of Luke, where a big part of Jesus' mission was to go and preach the gospel, the good news of the kingdom.

I thought it would be really helpful for us to explore this, because most of the people you will interact with, whether they know the Bible or not, likely have some faulty understanding of heaven. Where did those faulty ideas come from? Many times, they are just assumptions that we have picked up along the way. It's as if we have a memory bank in our minds, where we gather little ideas and fill that bank with thoughts as we go about our lives. However, we often haven't examined whether the Bible has anything to say about those ideas.

Most of our concepts of heaven come from these assumptions. They arise from cultural narratives and pop cultural depictions of heaven, such as what we see in movies. Generally speaking, if you ask someone to describe what they think about heaven, they will probably depict some sort of ethereal, floaty place up in the clouds—something like the image we have here this morning.

I think it's coming. Wait for it. There it is! You know, it is May the 4th, so not a bad idea: May the Fourth be with you. I can't help but recall my upbringing in an Episcopal church, where I would respond, "And also with you," because that's the proper response when someone says, "The Lord be with you."

So, this is kind of the image that people have. Of course, Lando Calrissian will be there, and everything will be great in Cloud City. But this is what people generally imagine—some sort of cloudy, ethereal place that feels insubstantial. It's not something we can grab hold of; it's intangible, if you will. That's what a lot of people think of when they envision heaven.

How many of you have ever heard the reference to the pearly gates? Yes, most of you. And the streets are paved with gold. You've heard those as well. We have these ideas that we've gleaned and gathered along the way, and we kind of put them into our memory banks to hold in our minds about what heaven is like. We try to imagine this place, and that image comes to us because of things we've heard, often gathered from pop culture.

When someone mentions the pearly gates and the streets paved with gold, they may not realize that this imagery comes from Revelation 21, where the Apostle John records a vision he had of a place somewhere in the future. What is this place that he is describing? Is it heaven? Well, not exactly. He does not identify that place as heaven; he refers to it as a city. He calls it the holy city, the New Jerusalem. He specifies that it is coming from God out of heaven to here.

So, when John sees this vision, people connect it with their ideas of heaven because it features pearly gates and streets paved with gold. Yes, it is coming out of heaven from God, but where is that place? What is that place he is describing? It is what he refers to as the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God. This place is not necessarily going to be in the conceptual form we call heaven. Instead, it is coming from that place and arriving here, to what John sees as a new heaven and a new earth.

These concepts can become displaced in our minds because they do not align with the way many of us have formulated our understanding of heaven. This kingdom, this new holy heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, is coming down from heaven, from God, to this earth. This can be quite different from how a lot of people imagine heaven or think about it, which can lead to confusion. Is that place that John describes with big walls and twelve gates truly what we envision as heaven?

Gates, pearly gates, and streets paved with gold—this glorious new Jerusalem, this new holy city. Is that heaven? Well, not exactly. That is the kingdom of God, and it is the kingdom that now resides in this place that sometimes New Testament writers refer to as a place called heaven. But it can be confusing, and it's confusing for several reasons.

First, none of us have ever been there. In saying that, I recognize that there has been a lot of research done in the United States, especially over the last 50 years, really since the advent of medical technologies like CPR and other interventions for people undergoing major medical problems. Many people now have recorded events known as near-death experiences. This has led many in the fields of cognitive science and medicine to acknowledge that something is happening that we can't fully comprehend through scientific examination and laboratory equipment. In fact, there are many phenomena in cognitive science that science cannot explain, and one of those is near-death experiences.

Research on near-death experiences in America shows that one in five people have had such an experience. That means in this room this morning, there are probably several of you who have had a near-death experience. You may not talk about it much because you don't want to be "that guy." It's similar to knowing someone who only talks about aliens; everyone thinks, "That's the alien guy." You might find them a little spooky or weird. You don't want to be that person.

So, you had this experience—maybe it was during a stroke, a heart attack, or while undergoing surgery—but you've never shared it with anyone because you don't want to be labeled. The last time I discussed this topic was about ten years ago, and on that Sunday, two people from the church came to me within the same day to say, "I had a near-death experience." They explained it to me, and the things they described were pretty amazing.

There's a great book by a pastor in Texas named John Burke called "Imagine Heaven." He recently released a follow-up book titled "The God of Heaven," in which he talks about these experiences. The insights he shares are quite interesting.

People have described verifiable experiences that cannot be explained in any other way than that they had some sort of conscious out-of-body near-death experience. That is pretty amazing.

One of the reasons we have a lot of confusion about the subject of heaven or the kingdom of God is that, number one, we haven't been there. Additionally, there is not a lot written about it. Even though the word "heaven" and its direct connection to the kingdom of God is mentioned almost 200 times in the Gospels, there is still not a lot of information given about it. Because none of us have been there, and because there is not much written on the subject of the kingdom of God, we find ourselves confused.

Furthermore, the writings that do exist often do not do the concept justice. For example, when people describe what John writes in the Book of Revelation about the kingdom of God, which is not of this world, he speaks in a way that leaves us wondering what exactly he is seeing. The reason for this is that the earthly language we use simply cannot capture the glories of this place called the kingdom of God. As the great prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, would say, "The concept of heaven breaks the backs of words." Words just can't convey it.

Perhaps some of you speak other languages fluently, and when you try to explain something to someone who does not speak your language, it doesn't always translate well. You may struggle to find the right word.

Imagine this scenario: most of you likely have a favorite ice cream flavor. Think for a moment about that flavor. I know you might be thinking, "It's not even 10:00 in the morning. Don't do this to me right now." But consider how you would describe that flavor to someone who has never tasted ice cream. You would find it difficult to help them comprehend and understand what it tastes like. Even if you are a person who can describe things well, it might still be very challenging to explain the experience of that flavor.

Tastes like. In the same way, John or others in the Bible who have had a vision of this Kingdom of God, which is not of this world and is somewhere else, but one day will be of this world, when they try to explain it, do so in ways that leave us confused. This doesn't really explain everything perfectly because the glories of heaven cannot be captured with earthly language, which falls so far short of it. The descriptions of this great place, in comparison to its grandeur, make it so that we just can't fully conceptualize it in our minds. It's beyond anything we can think or imagine.

So, if that's the case, if the descriptions we have of this place in the Bible are few and those few descriptions do not do it justice, is it even worthwhile to take time to consider or contemplate this place? I think it is. However, in doing so, we need to keep in mind that anything we say about this future coming Kingdom and all of its glory is going to fall short of what it really is until we see it.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul says, "We see dimly as in a mirror." Another way to read that is like looking through frosted glass. Have you ever tried to look at something through frosted glass? You just can't fully see. You can see the form of something, but you can't see the detail. So, we see dimly as through frosted glass. But someday, we're going to see face to face. We're going to see it in all of its glory, and it's going to be, for lack of a better way of saying it, shocking. It's going to be awesome.

So much so that the Apostle Paul describes an individual who many theologians believe he is talking about himself, but in a somewhat subtle way, in one of his letters to the Corinthians. He says, "I knew a man who, 14 years prior, was taken up into the third heaven." You might wonder, "What in the world?" Yes, there are three heavens. He was taken up into the third heaven and he heard things that could not be uttered. He obviously saw things that he probably couldn't describe, but Paul doesn't even go there because the glories of this place break the backs of words. There's no way to put it into language that we can fully comprehend.

So, what little we do know, though, from...

The text is quite glorious. How can I say that? Well, I can say that because of some of the descriptions we have. One of them I want us to read together. In fact, if you would take out your Bibles and stand with me, open to the book of Revelation. You can turn to Revelation like you are a total authority on the Bible. It is the last book of the Bible, nearly the last chapter. I mean, you can't get any easier than this: Revelation 21.

This is John's vision of the kingdom, the city that he calls the holy city, the new Jerusalem, that he sees in this vision moving from its place outside of this realm to this place. Revelation 21:1 states, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away or dissolved. Also, there was no more sea."

Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God, is with man. He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 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."

Then He who sat on the throne—who do you suppose that is? That's right, Jesus. He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." He said to me, "John, write, for these words are true and faithful."

God, I pray as we look at these true and faithful words here in Revelation 21, as we consider some of the other texts in the time that we have this morning about what the Scriptures say regarding the glories of this kingdom, I pray that You would use these things to stir in us a desire—a desire to know You, the God of this kingdom; a desire to see and fully grasp the realities of this kingdom; a desire for the true nature of this kingdom and You, its King, to so transform us that we would be representatives of this kingdom here in this place. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen."

Amen. You can be seated. John says, "I saw a new..."

Heaven and a new earth have caused many people over the years to wonder if that means everything will be destroyed or annihilated. Is it just going to be completely done away with? I think not. The word "new," as translated in this context, can also mean that John saw a fresh heaven and earth. He saw a renewed or refreshed heaven and earth—not in the sense that everything is completely done away with, but that it is transformed. John sees this place completely renewed, no longer under the curse and stain of sin, and no longer affected by the brokenness that came as a result of the fall in Genesis chapter 3.

He sees a refreshed, renewed heaven. The word "heaven" is challenging because the term translated as "heaven" is a general Greek word that refers to the sky. Anytime the Bible speaks about the clouds and the blue sky that we see every day—though not so much today—the clouds and the sky are referred to as "heaven." "Oranos" is the Greek word that is translated as "heaven."

Beyond that, outside of this world and the atmosphere that surrounds the earth, there is the heaven where the clouds are, which the Bible refers to as the second heaven. This encompasses everything beyond our atmosphere, in the cosmos and the universe. The Bible uses the same general word "oranos," which is translated as "heaven" in reference to the blue sky and the clouds, to describe the cosmos where the universe exists.

When I was a kid, it was when the Hubble Space Telescope first went up, and we began to see images coming back from it that showcased the awesomeness of the heavens and the grandeur of the cosmos—things we could have never imagined before. We simply didn't have the ability with the telescopes we had, or even the capacity to see beyond the first heaven, which is the atmosphere of our earth.

When we get beyond that, we enter the dead darkness of space, and now we receive these incredible images. Most recently, we have been receiving data from the James Webb Space Telescope, and it is phenomenal to see the heavens. The first heaven is this place around us, the atmosphere. The second heaven is beyond that.

That place exists out in the cosmos, the universe. Paul said, "I knew a man who, 14 years ago, was caught up into the third heaven." The third heaven uses that same Greek general word for the sky and for the universe, "Oranos," to describe the place where the temple and kingdom of God currently are, which is outside of this place.

This concept is really hard for us because we live here in 2025, on the other side of the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution. For the better part of the last 200 years, we have been told that there is nothing that exists beyond the physical, the material, and the natural. Most of us have been thoroughly indoctrinated by materialism, naturalism, and physicalism, making it difficult to conceptualize anything beyond this space that is not experienced by our hands, eyes, mouths, ears, and other sensory perceptions.

We struggle to believe there is anything beyond this space, which poses a real challenge for cognitive scientists. They know that there is something called consciousness, but they cannot explain it very well. They refer to it as the hard problem of consciousness and come up with all kinds of strange ideas when they adhere to physicalism or materialism.

However, Christians throughout history have believed that this is not all there is. They believe that this world was made by a God who exists outside of this place, in what we would refer to as the third heaven. It is a different realm, a spiritual realm that is not tangible to us. We cannot experience it with our senses; it is what we would call incorporeal.

Paul says he has seen it, and John is seeing into that realm in Revelation 21, where that place comes to touch this place. This is not for the first time, but for the second time. The first time that place came to touch this place was when Jesus came during His first coming. According to the Bible, there is only one person who has ever come from that place to this place to tell us about it and show us how we can become a part of it. That is what Jesus did in His first coming.

Now, here John is witnessing that place coming to this place, and when it does, a radical transformation takes place.

He, Jesus, says, "Behold, I make all things new." Point number one, if you're taking notes: one day, Jesus will make all things new—completely reformed, completely renewed. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty far out to me. It sounds phenomenal, and it is. It seems so phenomenal, especially to people like you and me living in 2025 in the Western world, on the other side of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. This sounds incredible; it just doesn't sound like it could possibly be true.

This is why Jesus says to John, after he declares, "Behold, I make all things new," "Write these things down because they are true and they're faithful. They're trustworthy." He wants John to record this because it is something you can bank on.

Now, here's the awesome thing: as evidence that this place exists, which will one day make this place new, when you become a Christian, God begins that renewing, transforming work in you first. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, "If anyone is in Christ," that's one of the things we use to say a Christian, "they are a new creation. Behold, all the old things have passed away. You have become completely new."

When you become a Christian, in fulfillment of God's promise through Ezekiel the prophet in Ezekiel 36:26, God gives you a new heart and puts a new spirit within you, and you become a new creation. You may not see it completely, at least not fully formed immediately, but over time, by God's work, by His Spirit, and by His grace and His word being worked in you, as He has given you a new heart and a new spirit, you begin to take on a new form.

To the point that you notice it, and other people even say, "There's something different about you." What is that? It's evidence of the new kingdom and the new creation that God does in you and in me when He transforms us. He is transforming us daily, more and more, into the image of Christ.

His children. One day, He will complete the fullness of that work. Sometimes, we have a hard time believing that He will one day complete it. Listen, Paul, even though you might have a hard time believing that will happen, assures us of it in Philippians 1:6. He says, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." Keep those words, "the day of Christ Jesus," in your mind because they're important.

If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All that old stuff has gone away and become completely new. God will finish this renewing, refreshing work on the day of Christ Jesus. I can be confident of this very thing: He who began this good work will be faithful to complete it. You see, when I, or when you, or when we become followers of Jesus, when we trust in Him and His finished work on the cross, His kingdom begins to bring about a new work in us. We now have citizenship in a new kingdom, and we are subjects of a new King. Although He is not here right now, that doesn't mean He will never be here.

As a citizen of that new kingdom, Paul goes on after he says in Philippians 1:6 that we can be confident He will finish this work. He says in chapter 3, verse 20, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." You see, when you begin to walk with Christ, He begins to do a work in you, and you now are homesick for a different home.

I love this place. I've traveled and lived in other parts of the world, and always, when I'm in another part of the country, I'm looking forward to coming back, even if it means I have to go through LAX, which is akin to hell. But I'm always looking forward to coming back here. As Christians, there is this growing sense in me, in us, that this is not really our home, and we're longing for another place. We are eagerly waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. After Paul says our citizenship is in heaven, he continues in verse 21, "Who will transform this lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things."

What is Paul saying? He says, "Listen, you have another home, and there's a yearning in you to go home to that other home." In Philippians chapter 1, he expresses, "I don't know what I would choose if given the choice whether to stay here with you or to go and be with the Lord. I think I'd rather do that, but it'd be more helpful if I stay with you."

Maybe you experience that too, to a growing degree, especially as time goes on and our bodies groan. I don't know about you, but my body groans every morning, especially when I get up. The first hundred or so steps feel like it's just groaning. Is there anybody else who feels this way? I think to myself, I'm 45, and if it's like this at 45, good God, what is it going to be like at 65? Oh my goodness, the whole of creation, my body is groaning for another home.

We have this promise: He will come and transform this lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body. The fullness of the new creation will be experienced by us. When I read about this, I can't help but ask the question, when and how? Well, we're not really given the full details about it, other than this. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection passage, says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery" (1 Corinthians 15:51).

I love that word "mystery" because, for us in the Western world in 2025, it seems to carry the idea of something that we can't know. We have unsolved mysteries or ancient mysteries, and we just don't know. For example, how were the pyramids constructed? Well, don't ask Joe Rogan because it would probably be really weird, but there's a mystery. We just don't know, and so it feels like we can't know because we can't go back there.

However, in the Bible, a mystery, the Greek word "mysterion," is not something that cannot be known. It's something that is not known until it is revealed. The whole point of a biblical mystery is that it shall be revealed. I think the best illustration is kind of like this: we have this holiday we celebrate called Christmas. Many of us exchange gifts on Christmas, and a lot of times those gifts are underneath a tree, awaiting a day when those gifts, which are a mystery, will be revealed.

The biblical word for "revealed" is interesting. It's the Greek word "apocalypsis," which means apocalypse or revelation. A mystery cannot be known until it is apocalypsis, or revealed. We have a day in which those things are revealed, and it happens to be the day of the Lord's birth. This is a mystery, but it will be revealed on the day of the Lord.

When is that? Well, we don't have all the details. We only have certain hazy things that we understand because we see dimly, as through a frosted glass. However, we are given some highlights. Paul says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep." What does that mean? He uses that same word two other times in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 to speak of people who died, people who have perished. Every single one of us here has people in our lives who have perished. Maybe some of you have experienced this recently, and it weighs on you that they are no longer here.

We ask the question, "Where are they now? What's going on with them?" I want to talk about that, but I won't have enough time today. There is a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. I heard about a church nursery that had that on the wall: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."

How will this happen? In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Keep that in mind because it is a prophetic landmark. It shows up in many different places in the Bible, pointing us back to the same event, called the day of the Lord. In a moment, in the twinkling of light, at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. Those who have already died, who have fallen asleep, will be raised incorruptible, even though their earthly tent has been in the ground and has decomposed.

They will be raised incorruptible, and we, if we haven't died, shall be changed. This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: death.

Is swallowed up in victory. Man, that is a mystery, but it's not an unsolved mystery. It's not a mystery that cannot be known. It's a mystery that will not be known until its apocalypsis is revealed.

Well, when will it take place? The day of the Lord. When will that be? I don't know. And anybody who tries to tell you they know the date, don't listen to them. There have been a lot of those, and they've always been wrong. There's only one who knows. God knows. If these things are true and faithful, as the one who knows about these things said to John when he said, "Write these things," then I can trust that his knowledge is good enough for me to just wait in.

But when he comes, he will make all things new. Not just you and not just me; he'll make all things new. Remember, John saw a new heaven and a new earth. That means that everything here will be completely renewed on the day of the Lord. He will remake everything. I think he will remake it back to its pre-fall, pre-sin, pre-curse, pre-death, glorious state—the way that God made it when he said, "Let there be light." In Genesis 1, seven times he says, "It is good."

But then something bad happened in Genesis chapter 3. What happened when that bad thing occurred? Sin came in through the temptation of a spiritual being that we typically identify as the devil, Lucifer, or Satan. Through his seductive temptation, humanity rebelled against God's command, and we lost control of this place that God gave us dominion over. A lot of theologians believe that we ceded that dominion over to that spiritual entity, so now all of this is under the sway of the wicked one.

Ephesians chapter 2 says, and Ephesians 6 says, all principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, are controlling this. That same spiritual being appeared to Jesus and tempted him. We read about it a few weeks ago. Remember one of the temptations? He brought Jesus to a high mountain and said, "Look at all of these kingdoms of this place. If you bow down to me," Satan said, "I'll give these to you." So apparently, he occupies and holds those. He offered them to Jesus, and Jesus said, "No, I don't want that from you."

It doesn't mean that He won't one day take it. In fact, He will, in fulfillment of the prayer He told us to pray: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Point number two: one day, Jesus will rule and reign forever and ever. This is a great mystery. We ask, how will this happen? When will this happen? We don't have all the details, but we have the true and faithful word of the Lord, who said it will come.

And where will it take place? The kingdom, the domain, the dominion, and the rule of the King of Kings will come here. His kingdom, the one that's called the New Jerusalem, the holy city, will come from God out of heaven to here. This is phenomenal and mind-blowing. But this is what the Bible says. It’s not that you and I will go to heaven in the way we generally conceptualize it, but that that kingdom will come to earth, and the Lord will rule and reign forever and ever.

Just like the enemy tried to give Him rule and dominion over all the kings of this earth, when Jesus comes to establish His kingdom here, He will take rule and dominion. We read it in Revelation 11: "Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.'"

The seventh angel, the last in a series of seven, makes a loud sound. That is the seventh trumpet. So yes, the seventh angel is giving the seventh trumpet. That's the last trumpet, the same trumpet that was mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15 and in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This is that prophetic landmark that we piece together to see how it all joins.

So many times, these visions and images are seen by different prophets, visionaries, and seers at different times and in different places, but they are seeing the same thing from different perspectives. It’s helpful to look at all the different ones that are speaking about this. It's like watching a football game with dozens and dozens of cameras, video cameras, and all different angles.

That side sees something different from this one, but they are all seeing the same thing from different perspectives. This is what we have in the Bible, giving us a fuller imagery of what this is, but not full enough for us to fully comprehend it. What we do know is this: it is an awesome mystery. One day, Jesus will rule and reign forever and ever. When He does, He will make all things new. That is the image we are given in the Scriptures.

Because of the certainty of this, what was Jesus's message? It was the same message of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:17 when John said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus, one chapter later in Matthew 4, says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's coming. It's here." He, as the representative and the king of that kingdom, came and said, "You need to turn and repent because the kingdom is coming." Only those who turn to Him in faith and trust, only those who turn away from the direction they have been going under the course of the wicked one and turn to Him, will receive His grace, His love, His forgiveness, and entrance into His kingdom when it comes.

Ultimately, Jesus will rule and reign forever and ever upon a renewed and refreshed earth where there is no more sin, no more suffering, no more sorrow, and no more tears. I heard a loud voice from heaven in Revelation 21:3 saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself will be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

This is what we call our eschatological hope. The eschaton is the word that speaks of the finality of things, the last things. Eschatology is the study of those things. What is our eschatological hope? It is this: one day, God will restore right order and undo the effects of the curse and stain of sin.

And I can't think of any better news than that. As good as this world is, and there is a lot of beauty in it, it pales in comparison to the glory of what it was before the fall and what it shall be when His kingdom comes. Although there is a lot of beauty in this world, there is still a lot of horror. Evil manifests in the form of natural disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis. It also appears as malevolent evil, in the form of war, rape, and murder. This world is under sin and under the curse.

But one day, God will restore right order and undo the effects and the curse and stain of sin. In response to this, in response to the little bit of information that we are given about this glorious kingdom of the King of Kings that will one day come to this earth and renew everything, it will be just as tangible as this place is, and even more so—totally glorious and without any sin.

In light of that, what is the response of those here upon the earth? The response of us here, not just humans but every part of creation, is groaning. Romans chapter 8 says, "The whole of creation was subjected to futility and decay because of sin. But all of creation is groaning for the manifestation." That is the apocalypsis, the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. When you and I are transformed in the moment of the twinkling of the eye, when our lowly body is transformed to be conformed to His glorious body at the day of the Lord, all of creation is looking forward to that.

Why? Because all of creation is under the curse and stain of sin, and it is longing to be reformed and renewed. So listen, if you listen really carefully... No, that's the 15 freeway. Yes, that's kind of groaning too. All of creation is groaning and longing for this coming day when He will come and renew. Not only is all of creation groaning, but...

Romans 8:23 says, "We also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, God has given us a new spirit and a new heart." That's the first down payment, if you will, of this future glory. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body. We're looking forward to that day when this body is transformed and conformed to His glorious body.

It's easy to lose sight of these great, true, and faithful promises when we're carrying along the busyness and the brokenness of a fallen world. As we pass through the valley, the psalmist says, "as we pass through the valley of Baka." What is the valley of Baka? It's the valley of bitterness. You might be wondering what is all this bitterness at your feet. That's here on this earth: bitterness and death. As we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, that's where we are. But we have this hope: we shall be with Him in His kingdom forever and ever. That's what the psalmist speaks of in Psalm 23. We're looking forward to that.

Point number four, and I'll wrap it up. One day, maybe sooner than we expect, Jesus will come again. That's the point at which people say, "Yeah, okay. When? Tell us when. Tell us how." I have no idea. But these words are true and faithful, which means I can bank on them.

You guys remember that global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009? Lehman and all these other names? Oh gosh, it was terrible. All these institutions that we thought were too big to fail ended up failing, and we needed people to come and backstop them. Your investments were uncertain, and people are going through similar things right now, kind of wondering about the uncertainty of these matters.

Listen, this place is uncertain and under the brokenness of sin, but there is a bank of eternal securities that is far more certain. This is why Jesus would say, "Store up your treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, nor does the thief come in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Yes, we groan eagerly desiring to see.

The Lord and His kingdom raise important questions about what happens to our loved ones—family members and friends—when they die. Where do they go? Where are they at this moment? What ought I to be doing now? How should I occupy my attention and time here? These are significant questions about the kingdom that we will explore next time, as I don't have any more time today.

However, I will say this: seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be taken care of. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is the trouble thereof. Seek first His kingdom. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth, because He will come again. He has promised that. Amen.

Let's stand together and close in prayer. God, thank You for the glimpse we have into the glories of the kingdom. In response to these things, we say as Your people, "Come, Lord Jesus." Three times in the very last chapter of the Bible, Jesus said, "Behold, I am coming quickly." We respond, "Lord, come quickly." That word, "Maranatha," means "come quickly."

But until You come, would You cause us to be ambassadors of Your kingdom, manifesting the glory of Your kingdom? In Your presence is fullness of joy, so would You cause joy to be manifested in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters? Lord, let love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control be in abundance in us. These are the virtues and values of Your kingdom, and we ask that You make them a reality in our lives as we represent You this week—on Monday, Tuesday, and throughout our time at work, school, or wherever we are.

May joy and peace be the things we are known for, not gossip or fear, but our trust in the true and faithful sayings of Your Word. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

That agreed said, "Amen." Amen.