Introduction: Have you ever taken a picture and realized that the
focus was on the wrong point? This morning I read a headline that
said 1/3 of the people who die of old age are affected by dementia.
If you look forward to retirement, do you also look forward to
dementia and a nursing home? I used to look forward to retirement,
until I decided that I was not going to retire if I could help it. Am
I now looking forward only to dementia and a nursing home? No. Like
the picture with the wrong focus, I’m slowly refocusing on my real
“retirement” – heaven! Let’s jump into our study of the Bible and see
what we can learn about heaven – the “Creation, Again!”

  1. New Earth, New Heaven, New City, New Circumstances


    1. Read Revelation 21:1. I get the idea of a new earth, but
      why do we need a new heaven?


    2. Read Revelation 21:2-3. What does this tell us about the
      old heaven? (It is no longer the place where God dwells.
      It is no longer the location of the Holy City.)


      1. What does this suggest about the reason for referring
        to a new heaven at the same time as we refer to a new
        earth? (The two seem to be combined. Heaven has now
        come to earth. God and His Holy City are now on the
        earth made new.)


    3. Read Revelation 21:4. What is the “old order” under which
      we now live? (That we get old and progress towards
      dementia and a nursing home. Death and pain, crying and
      mourning are our earthly destiny.)


      1. What is our new destiny? (Read Revelation 21:6. We
        drink from the fountain of eternal life. No
        deterioration.)


    4. Read Revelation 21:5. Do you like new things? (Yes! God is
      making everything new. Plus, God tells John the Revelator
      to write these things for our benefit so that we will rely
      on this promise!)


  2. New City


    1. Read Revelation 21:10-14. If everything is new, why all
      the historical references? (The New Jerusalem is tied to
      our experiences here on earth.)


    2. Read Revelation 21:15-17. Is any city in the world as big
      as the New Jerusalem? (Not even close. The New Jerusalem
      is like no city we know about. It is shaped like a cube,
      about 1,400 miles (2,200 kilometers) long, wide and tall.
      Since we learned it has three gates per wall, it is more
      than 450 miles (700 kilometers) between the gates. This is
      a little less than the distance between Denver, Colorado
      and Washington, D.C. – and that is just the length of one
      wall.)


      1. Revelation 21:17 tells us that the wall of the city
        is 200 feet thick. What do you think of the
        engineering of a 1,400 mile high wall?


    3. Is the New Jerusalem a hazard for air travel? (Yes! Planes
      fly at about 33,000 feet in the air. The city rises
      7,392,000 feet into the air! No wonder it needs twelve
      foundations.)


    4. The mind-blowing size of the New Jerusalem caused me to do
      some further research – thinking that someone must have
      done some further calculations on this. I found the
      following at www.remnantreport.com (I have not checked
      their theology, I’m just using their calculations.)


      1. The New Jerusalem contains 2.25 million square miles;


      2. It is big enough to accommodate one hundred thousand
        billion people; and,


      3. If the population is 10 billion, each of us could
        have a 14 square mile mansion with 100 foot high
        ceilings.


    5. Read Revelation 21:18-21. Are these pearls 1,400 miles
      high? How would you place the great street of the city
      that is pure gold?


      1. Is the city transparent? What do you think is meant
        by “pure gold, as pure as glass?” Or, “of pure gold,
        like transparent glass?”


      2. Put yourself in John the Revelator’s place. Consider
        his audience. What would be the grandest thing he
        could describe that they would understand? (Precious
        jewels and gold.)


        1. What is the grandest thing you could describe?
          (Can you imagine the technology of this place?
          The engineering of the super-thin wall
          (considering its height) tells us that God is
          doing something very special with the
          technology.)


    6. Read Revelation 21:22-24. When I think of a cube 1,400
      miles on a side, I immediately think it must be pretty
      dark inside. What is the light source of this astonishing
      city? (God. Remember, of course, the references to the
      city being like glass – so perhaps this is part of the
      lighting arrangement.)


      1. The Bible says that it does not need the sun or moon.
        Consider this, would the sun or moon be sufficient
        for a city like this? (No! Indeed, If they had a sun
        I think the temperature control problem would be
        extreme because of the height of the city.)


    7. Re-read Revelation 21:24. Do people live outside the New
      Jerusalem? (Apparently. For “kings of the earth will bring
      their splendor into it.” Notice that the city is a light
      source for the earth.)


      1. How far away could you be and still see the top of a
        7,392,000 foot high city? (Talk about dominating the
        landscape! Think of what it would look like since it
        radiates light.)


    8. Read Revelation 22:1-2. If the New Jerusalem is a 1,400
      mile cube, how does this river run? How is the “great
      street” laid out? From the top to the bottom? Is it like
      a waterfall beside a road descending a great mountain? How
      big is the tree of life? Is it 1,000 miles tall?


    9. Do you ever look at some grand home or grand condo and
      wish you could live there or retire there? Well, I want
      to live in this city! Forget the nursing home or my
      current house!


    10. Read Revelation 21:27. How do you sign up for a mansion in
      this grand place? (Your name is written in the “Lamb’s
      book of life.” I want my name written there! I need
      Jesus’ robe of righteousness covering me. I want to live
      in this place!)


  3. New Circumstances


    1. Read Revelation 22:3-4. What curse is being written about?
      (In Genesis 3:17 we read about the ground being cursed
      because of sin. In Genesis 4:10-12 the ground is cursed
      for Cain to the extent it will not grow anything. In
      Genesis 8:20-21 God speaks as if the flood were another
      curse upon the ground.)


      1. Instead of a curse, what glorious opportunity do we
        have? (We can see the face of God.)


        1. Do you think the “name on their foreheads” is a
          tattoo? (I think it means God will be on our
          mind. We will be His.)


    2. Read John 14:1-3. Are we like visitors, able to see God’s
      face and then we move on? (No. Jesus speaks as if we live
      with Him. We get to live in that great city with Jesus!)


    3. Read 1 Corinthians 15:26 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. What
      no longer exists? (Death. It has been defeated. It has
      been swallowed up in victory.)


    4. Read Daniel 12:2-3. How long will we be able to live in
      the presence of God? (Forever.)


      1. What do you think the Bible means when it says you
        will “shine like the brightness of the heavens?”


    5. Look again at 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Why do you think
      Paul uses the phrase “in a flash, in the twinkling?”
      (There is something bright about the new you.)


      1. Read Ezekiel 1:25-28 and Genesis 1:26. If God’s goal
        was to make us like Him, and God looks like fire,
        what should we look like in the earth made new? (It
        seems that we are going to look like light in some
        way. This suggests that Adam and Eve were light
        sources when they were created, thus explaining their
        post-sin concern about becoming naked. See Genesis
        3:7-10.)


      2. Read Revelation 4:5 and Revelation 15:8. Why would
        God’s glory create “smoke” and His throne
        “lightening” and “rumblings?” (We believe that the
        sun and the stars are burning. They have a power
        source that causes them to create light. The
        reference to smoke suggests that this is also true
        for God. Perhaps our light and brightness is the
        result of our being given a power source that allows
        us to do all sorts of things!)


    6. Read Revelation 5:11-13. What else will we do in the earth
      made new that we can start right now? (Praise God! Worthy
      is the Lamb who was slain! Worthy to receive power and
      wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and
      praise – for ever and ever! Amen!)


    7. Friend, do you want to be there? Is your name written in
      the Lamb’s book of life? If not, why not confess your
      sins, ask God to forgive you and accept the sacrifice of
      Jesus on your behalf? Then, praise God that He has made
      you a new creation!


  4. Next week: We start a new series of studies on the “minor
    prophets” of the Old Testament.