GOOD NEWS OF HEAVEN
DORN RIDGE FEBRUARY 17, 2013
Audio Link to sermon: http://chirb.it/rFfgdK
INTRODUCTION:
1.) The very opening verse of the Word of God begins: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
2.) Over the course of the next two chapters Genesis reveals details of creation, and the complete beauty and perfection of the world which God had created.
A.) Several times after looking at creation, God exclaimed "It is good."
B.) Following the creation of man and woman together in the garden, God exclaimed "It is very good."
C.) Certainly the picture of The Garden of Eden was a sight of beauty, beyond what we can imagine today in this world corrupted by evil and sin.
ca.)The scene was that of a perfect garden.
cb.) Trees were planted in that garden that were pleasing to the eyes, and good for food.
D.) There was a river that flowed from the Garden of Eden, and in the middle of the garden was the tree of Life.
da.) Every aspect of the scene was one of beauty, and of the best of everything, designed in the plan of God Almighty!
db.) In fact, the scene in the Garden of Eden, though perhaps not as nice, is very similar to pictures of Revelation that describe heaven.
dc.) What was in Eden may not compare with the new and final heaven, but for all intense purposes, God had put man into heaven when he created the Garden of Eden.
I. THE ORIGNAL HEAVENLY PARADISE ON EARTH WAS LOST DUE TO SIN.
1.) In all of Eden there was only thing that was considered sinful.
A.) How hard could that have been?
B.) with only one sin, and that nothing of great pain to resist, surely Adam and Eve could have kept from sin.
2.) Though there was only one sin, the reality is that man had to experiment with that one sin.
A.)Tempted by Satan, the first couple, like you and I chose to wander as close to sin as they could get without actually entering into it.
aa.) It was and is like standing at the precipice of the Grand Canyon with the wind behind our backs, and our toes over the edge to see how close we can get without actually falling.
ab.) When man gets that close to sin, he almost always falls into it.
3.) From that one sin, man’s heart was tarnished, causing the entire human race to drift further and further from God, and also further and further away from heaven..
A.) The account of Genesis is staggering when we see man’s progression into sin, and away from God.
aa.) In Gen. 3 Adam and Eve sin.
aaa.) Then they lose fellowship with God, become ashamed of their nakedness with each other, blame each other, blame God,
ab.) Gen. 4 Cain kills his brother Abel.
ac.) Gen. 6 Man’s wickedness becomes such that God limits his days to 120 years on this earth..
Man continues to become so wicked that God wipes all but Noah and his family off the earth in the Great flood.
Throughout the generations, the wickedness of man got even worse.
God again shortened the days of a man`s life, giving him now 70 years.
The law and sacrifice was given to man so that man could understand how wicked he actually is, and eventually point him back to see the need for the Messiah that God would later send.
II. PARADISE AND FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IS RE-ESTABLISHED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
1.) After man’s fall, God was preparing for man to come back to God in heavenly fellowship even before man had sinned.
A.) Eden’s sin brought God’s announcement that he was already preparing the way back to God.
aa.) Gen. 3:15
ab.) When sin occurred, God made this Messianic Prophecy, that the Serpent would strike the heel of the Messiah, when Jesus would go to the cross.
aba.) The other side of that is that the Messiah would ultimately crush the Serpent or Satan.
abaa.) This was partially done when Jesus died and rose again from the grave.
abab.) Jesus’ final act of crushing Satan will come when He returns to this world to restore man to his perfect fellowship with God, in heaven.
B.) The rest of the Old Testament Scriptures deals with God’s preparing the world for Jesus Christ who would in turn bring the world back to God.
C.) From the beginning of sin God was preparing man’s way back to God, and ultimately back to the heavenly abode in the presence of God.
2.) When Jesus came into this world the first time God had prepared for his arrival.
A.) Gal. 4:4-5
B.) It was the fullness of time, because God had prepared the world to receive His Son.
ba.) There were numerous prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus into this world.
baa.) God had prepared the world so that every prophecy would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
C.) In this world there were many things that God had caused to bring together to ensure the world was prepared for the first coming of Jesus into this world.
ca.) The Roman rule of the Jewish people had them not only anticipating a Messiah, but also looking and anxious for it.
cb.)When Jesus came into this world the Roman Empire had unified many lands together under their military power, and had in fact enforced what was called the "Pax Romana" or the military enforced state of peace within the Roman empire.
cba.) This made travel throughout the Roman Empire relatively easy, and safe.
cc.) Just as the Romans had conquered the world from a military point of view, the Greeks had conquered it culturally.
cca.) Part of this Greek influence was a common trade language that was used throughout the Empire, making possible communication through the entire Roman Empire, and the many languages that were spoken.
cd.) The pagan gods had failed, and the Greek Philosophies had proven empty, so the people were receptive to the coming of Christ.
ce.) The mystery religions demanded continual bloody sacrifices; The idea of Christ as the once and for all sacrifice was appealing.
cf.) The Roman army recruited soldiers from among the provinces, introducing these men to Roman culture and to ideas (such as the gospel) that had not reached those outlying provinces yet.
cfa.) In fact, the earliest introduction of the gospel to Britain was the result of the efforts of Christian soldiers stationed there.
III. GOD’S NEW HEAVEN WILL BE A PREPARED PLACE FOR A PREPARED PEOPLE
1.) Jesus came to prepare the way on earth so that we could ultimately be with Him in Heaven.
A.) For 33 years God in the flesh prepared the world to come back to God.
aa.) To do so He had to live a sinless life and meet the righteous requirements of God’s perfect holiness and justice.
ab.) It was only when the requirements of God had been met in the person of Jesus, that the way could be prepared for man to come back to God.
B.) In his life, he lived and met the requirements of God.
C.) In his death, Jesus paid the penalty that we could not have paid for the ransom of our souls from the clutches of Satan .death, and eternity in the depths of a hell.
D.) That afternoon on the cross at 3:00 in the afternoon, a priest would be slitting the throat of a lamb for the daily sacrifice,
da.) At that very moment when the trumpet sounded throughout Jerusalem for prayer and sacrifice, Jesus made a declaration from the cross.
daa.) At that very moment John 19:30 tells us: Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
db.) In that act of death, Jesus had completed His mission from God, in bringing man back to God and heaven.
2.) Jesus came to this earth to prepare man for Heaven; when He left this earth he went to prepare heaven for man.
A.) If we can just for a moment backtrack from the cross, I would like us to look at an event the night before this.
aa.) John 14:2-3
B.) As I have said in times past, there are aspects of Christianity that can only be fully understood in the context of the Jewish wedding ceremony.
ba.) When Jesus told these words to His Disciples, he was speaking the final words the bridegroom would say to his bride before going to prepare his home, or if he could not afford his own house than to build a room onto his father’s house a bridal suite for him and his bride.
bb.) For the past 2,000 years Jesus has been preparing for his bride to join him in heaven.
IV. GOD’S NEW HEAVEN IS THE ETERNAL PICTURE OF PERFECTION.
I am not going to get into the description of heaven myself, but will just read the description from Scripture, and let your own imaginations fill in the details.
1.) Heaven is described as the New Jerusalem, and also as a bride.
A.) To any Jew, Jerusalem was the most wonderful and beautiful city on the face of this earth.
B.) God used the city they loved and valued so much to describe heaven.
ba.) Rev. 21:1-26
2.) Heaven is the abode of God, where we can dwell with Him forever.
A.) Rev. 21:3
3.) Heaven is like the Garden of Eden, only better.
A.) Rev. 22:1-5
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I close this message today, if there is one thing from it I could say again, it is that "Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people."
A.) Through Jesus Christ, God has not only prepared heaven for us, but he completely prepared and paid the cost so that the door of heaven could be opened to us.
B.) I want to close with one final verse of scripture.
ba.) Rev. 22:17 says: 17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."
C.) God has prepared the way for us to come to His heaven.
D.) But God’s heaven will only be your heaven if you have prepared to meet your God.
2.) To be prepared to meet your God means that you have:
A.) Put your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour;
B.) That you have repented of the sin and wickedness in your life;
C.) That you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord;
D.) That you have pledged your life to Christ by being buried under the waters of baptism,
E.) And that you remain faithful to Him, until His return to you, or death whichever comes first.
ea.) If you have done these things, then God’s heaven, will be your heaven.
eb.) But if you have not done these things The Word of God gives you neither the assurance, nor the hope of being with God in His heaven.
3.) Today is decision day.
A.) If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, then God’s Good News of Heaven does not have your name recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
B.) As we sing our hymn of invitation, If you are outside of Christ is this the day you will decide to change your relationship with God and His Christ?
ba.) If God is speaking to your heart, won’t you come today, and accept the invitation of Christ.
