Passages: Revelation 21:1-8 & Romans 6: 5-10
Big Idea: Believers don’t have to fear death because Jesus promises them a new future where he will make all things new.
Application: Live in the suffering and groaning of the world with steadfast hope in the future glory to come & choose to come to God in joy to thank Him for the blessings given now, and to come.
How often do you think about your future? Perhaps it could be about big things for your life what you want to do for work, where you want to live, who you want to marry – or big things about the world who are our government leaders, what are the next technological advancements. Maybe it’s small everyday things – what’s happening this week, what’s for dinner, when are my bills due? No matter how big or how small, we are always thinking about our future.
However, what if I told you I could predict what was going to happen to you in the future with 100% accuracy? Would you like to know?
Well, I can predict that YOU and ME are all going to come face to face with something. And that something is death … Hopefully not today or anytime soon, but the fact is we all will die. And death is a key signifier that we live in a fallen world, overcome by sin. The apostle Paul in the New Testament of the Bible writes:
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.”
Because of a world consumed by sin, and the fact that we all sin, we all deserve to die. We have all gone against God’s way and have chosen this future for ourselves. Sorry to get heavy on you so quickly on, but that is the reality of the world we live in. We live and experience our world of pain, hurt, war, crime, abuse, and injustice. So, is that it? God loves us now, but does it stop when we die? Well, let’s see.
I was thinking about this when I was reading the Book of Psalms, and in Psalm 91, it says this:
Psalm 91:14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him.”
In this Psalm, we see God sees those who love Him and will choose to rescue them. But if God is going to rescue us, how will He rescue us from the inevitability of death? Well, the answer can be found in the truth of the Gospel. The apostle Paul, an Apostle of Jesus, writes to the church in Rome declaring the truth of the Gospel. And he writes this about what death means for followers of Jesus.
Romans 6:5-10 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”
We see in this passage that those who choose to follow Jesus, are set free from the burden of sin. Jesus took our sins for us meaning we have a new identity and life in Christ. In this passage, we see that we are not only in Christ but UNITED with Christ – we are bound with him. And we remain bound to Jesus in death.
”Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once and for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God” (Rom 6:8-10).”
When Jesus died, he did not stay dead. He was resurrected and rose to life again. And if we are followers of Jesus, united with Him, we too will rise again and join Him in glory. You see the God of the entire universe has a promise for us that we have a new future to look forward to, a future beyond death, and a future that lasts for ever and ever. For followers of Jesus, we can look forward to an eternal life with Him and with one another.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We have a gift from Jesus, not an accidental decision, an obligation, or a wage. God chose to send His only Son Jesus as a gift for You. A gift that does not seek repayment. So, Jesus came to save us from death how amazing is that? But where do we go? Are we just floating around? Is it a purgatory until Jesus returns?
Well, let’s look to the last book of the Bible, Revelation, to see what this gift and promise of eternal life will look like. Now the writer of Revelation, John, was a disciple of Jesus who received a vision from God, and he writes for us to see what he saw. Now a lot is going on in this passage, so we are going to break it down and look at some of the key points. Maybe you’d like to read this passage and spend time in silence allowing your imagination to spur.
Revelation 21:1-8 “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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 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. 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.”
In this promised future, we are shown a new creation where God will dwell amongst His people – with us! There will be no more tears, no more death, no more pain, and no more sin. For the old world – with all its sin and suffering will pass away.
5-7 “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. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”
For those who are followers of Jesus, this is our inheritance! We will live in this perfect place with Jesus forever! We will be completely satisfied and made new in full glory. All of our burdens, pains, and sin will be wiped away – and we will be able to enjoy life with God forever. But there is also a stern warning for those who do not believe in the truth of the gospel.
8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
You see God’s gifts are for HIS children. And if we believe and are united with Christ, we become a part of His Holy family. And Jesus so desperately wants you to be a part of that. Death does not need to have mastery over us anymore. The world and all its suffering and groaning do not need to worry us anymore because we know of this amazing future to come. We might not know about our immediate earthly future. We might not know how God will challenge us, bless us, or work through us. But we do know, with complete assurance, that when all things pass away, by faith we will be with Jesus in the new creation after we die. So, what do we do once we know of this amazing new future with God? Why don’t we thank Him? Come to Him in joy every day and worship Him.
Thank you, God, for sending your Son Jesus to save ME. To look at all I’ve done, and to still love me, to seek me, and to choose me to be a part of your family – thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me so that I may join in your resurrection and spend an eternity with you in paradise.
