The New Jerusalem - Heaven - Eternity

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And the Lord has spent a lot of time, and is sparing no expense in readying heaven for us. [2,000 years compared to 6 days of creation! And there’s some great beauty in this earth…even tho’ it’s been cursed!]
R.G. Lee—“Heaven is the most marvelous place the wisdom of God could conceive and that the power of God could prepare.”

The butterfly, the sculpted rose, the stars and planets…all in 6 days…and by comparison to heaven, the Grand Canyon will be an infected wound!

Ill.—little girl born blind/only beauty she knew came from her mother’s descriptions/flowers in spring, trees in fall, snow in winter, ocean in summertime/girl could only imagine/at 10 years of age, had experimental surgery to help her see/bandages for several weeks/moment of truth came…bandages removed and she saw/ran to the window and stood breathless/ “mother, why didn’t you tell me it was so beautiful?”/ “I tried to, but words just wouldn’t suffice!”
I believe that in heaven we’ll run around breathless, and when we see the apostle John we’ll say, “why didn’t you tell me?” and he’ll say, I tried, but words wouldn’t suffice!
1 Cor. 2:9
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

4. Heaven is a Place of Relationship
v. 3 This is what makes heaven heaven! If the streets were not gold but gravel, if the walls were particle board and not jasper, if mud was knee deep and weeds over our heads, it will still be heaven because Jesus is there!
If you’re lost, this thought should terrify you, not just that you would go to a fiery hell, but that you would go somewhere cut off from God! A lost person would be terrified even in His presence at the Great White Throne, but being face to face w/ Him is a precious contemplation for the believer…that’s what Heaven is!

And there we’ll see the only “man made” thing in heaven. As we study about all God is preparing for us, let’s not forget the paralyzing sight we’ll behold in the nail scarred hands and feet of Christ! [a constant reminder of how we got there!]

Heaven is not a reward for those who are faithful…we can’t work our way to heaven. We’ll be elated, yes, but only because we’re RELATED! Heaven is a place of relationship…

5. Heaven is a Place of Relief
v. 4-5 no more crying, sighing, or dying! No hospitals or graves! And Satan will not be able to get a passport. He will be in the bottomless pit. All the fallen angels will be chained up. There will be no aging, wrinkles. The fountain of youth will be there. One drink and all signs of age gone. Nothing will ruin, rot, or rust. There will be no thirsting, or hungering. No itching, no blindness, no deafness, no diabetes, no cancer, or heart attacks, or scars, no witchcraft, no drugs, no alcohol, or tobacco! No divorce, child abductions, accidents…and no more bills!

Ill.—5 year old girl had never stayed the night w/ a friend before/was nervous, but gave it a try/she did fine during the daytime, but when it got dark she got nervous in a strange place/ friend’s mother perceived this: “honey, are you getting homesick?”/with childlike innocence she replied, “no ma’am, I’m getting here sick!”

And the more you may go thru down “here”, the sweeter heaven will be for you!
Romans 8:18
For I reckon that