Gospel-Hope of the “No Mores”
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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 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.”Revelation 21:1-4 Hope has its reasons. We dare to hope BIG because God has given us a sure, living and enormous hope. What is hope? Hope is a guaranteed future with present implications. Our hope is guaranteed because of the perfect and finished work of Jesus, which of course is what we mean by the word “gospel”-the good news of Jesus. This is why I love the term “gospel-hope,” because the very nano-second we get our eyes off of Jesus, hoping becomes wishing and wishing becomes wishy-washy.
So what kind of future has Jesus secured for us by his finished work? Here’s where we begin meditating our way through the most complete and breathing picture of the life we will enjoy in the new heaven and new earth when Jesus returns (Rev. 21:1-22:6). For starters let’s consider a few of the “no mores” of the future of heaven. What will NOT be a part of our eternal party? Take a peek at the Scripture of the day, Rev. 21:1-4.
There will be no more “sea“. Don’t worry! That doesn’t mean there won’t be any beaches in the new heaven and new earth! It means there won’t be any more sin and evil, for in the Book of Revelation the “sea” is a metaphor for the place of sin, darkness, chaos and evil. Can you imagine a world devoid of all of the effects of sin, death and evil? You should! Because Jesus has won just such a world for us! In fact, we haven’t really seen any perfect beaches yet, just fallen beaches in the present fallen earth. Just wait till you get a load of the beaches of the new heaven and new earth!
No more death, or mourning, or crying or pain… Can you imagine a world completely devoid of every manifestation of death-not just physical death, but emotional, spiritual, societal, relational, environmental, cultural…oh my! And what about an existence totally devoid of all sadness, discomfort and pain? Among other implications of such glory, let me close with a couple. Because of Jesus, none of us needs to fear carrying the burden of regret throughout eternity. We will not be haunted by anything, forever.
Lastly, there will never ever be the possibility that we will ever hurt anyone, or be hurt by anyone, for we will be as lovely as and as loving as Jesus! Our future is a guaranteed future of perfect relationships! With that kind of gospel-hope, how shall we live today?