6. The vision of a new heaven

This sermon is translated from German into English. You can find the original video her

 

I would like to formulate the topic a little differently:
The vision of a new Jerusalem on a new earth under a new sky

1. The passing away of the old heavens, the old earth and the old Jerusalem
Both topics are in the Isaiah book. The old goes away and the new comes. To illustrate this a little, I would like to read a few texts. I start with the passing of the earth. That is in Isaiah 24. It also becomes clear why God lets this old earth go away. From verse 17 it says:
17 Terror, pit and net comes upon you, inhabitants of the earth.
18 And whoever escapes the cries of terror falls into the pit; and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in the net. Because the windows in the height are opened, and the foundations of the earth quake.
19 The earth breaks with crashes, shatters and crumbles.
20 The earth stumbles like a drunk and is thrown back and forth like a swaying hut; because her misdeed expresses that she has to fall and cannot get up again.
21 At that time the LORD will haunt the armies of the highest in the highest and the kings of the earth on the earth,
22 that they are collected as prisoners in prison and locked up in the dungeon and haunted after a long time.
23 The moon will blush and the sun will turn pale when the Lord Zebaoth is king on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his elders in glory.
You have noticed that, here is the reason why the earth goes away. It is not CO², It is not the issue of climate change caused by too much fire or the like. The topic is: Sin! God Almighty will make the old world go away because of the sin of the people who live on it. Because of the sin of all people, all peoples and what has accumulated. There is more information on this in chapter 24. There is talk of an eternal covenant that has been broken and that people have opposed God and opted for godlessness. And God cleans up. And that’s the bad news. But when I say this is the bad news, it is from the perspective of people who are godless. That is good news in and of itself; because who would have wanted Hitler to rule forever and conquer Europe and the world and the concentration camps burn without end. Who would have wanted that? The idea is that godlessness among the peoples reaches a point so strong that humanity is so infested with godlessness, hatred, incredible horrors, a ruthless being that runs over everything that is too weak, that the strong prevails that the rich get richer (this is also an issue in Isaiah), the mighty more and more powerful, that the power is so aggregates that in the end those who still believe in God will be flattened regardless of losses and that God must intervene to save his chosen people Israel. This is a topic throughout the book of how God pulls the emergency brake and judges the world, so to speak.
This is nicely illustrated here. I’ll take the verse that is so particularly pictorial: The earth stumbles like a drunk and is thrown back and forth like a swaying hut; because her misdeed expresses that she has to fall and cannot get up again.. Imagine someone who has drunk too much and is on the way home from the pub and sways so much that in the end he falls on his nose to never get up again. This is the image of the earth, that in the end, when the last days come, the earth really comes the very last days, that the earth is shaken back and forth like a hammock or like a drunk who stumbles back and forth, eventually stumbles and falls and breaks and is destroyed so that the old earth will never get up again. It is also interesting to note that it is mentioned in the context that God is not only waging war against the kings of the earth to judge them and to take them prisoner and to put them in prison, but that this is also mentioned in verse 21, at that time the Lord will haunt the army of high up. That means: it is a double dish. In this point we have the subject of the passing away of the old heavens, the old earth and the old Jerusalem which is also being judged and also the height. So the Bible does not only report that God lives on high and has his kingdom there. In the kingdom of God in heaven, or as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: „Your will will be done in heaven as on earth“, there are also areas with this multitude of heavens where in the heights, that is, in the heavens in a part of the plurality of heaven , Forces of evil dwell. On the occasion when the earth is cleared up, God will also clean up there and capture evil. Ephesians 2 speaks of a spirit that has his work in the children of unbelief that reign in the air, i.e. a bastion of spiritual power that controls from the air, this evil impure spirit controls the earth by doing and doing different things in people who are controlled like puppets to destroy themselves. This is also taken up in Ephesians 6, where Paul speaks of the powerful and powers with whom we have a struggle. We as believers have no problem with the physical, human external powers of this world. We don’t have a wrestling match with flesh and blood, he says there, but we have a wrestling match with powers and Forces. That is e.g. in Ephesians 6, 10 ff. and if you look at Chap. 2 and 6 connects, you notice, there is a dark realm. On the occasion, if God with wickedness on earth, he will also capture this army, this army in heaven from Satan, the „dragon“, the „old serpent“, as it is called in Revelation 12. All of this is borrowed from Isaiah. People often think that the dragon only appears in Revelation 12. No, here in Isaiah 24-27 there is this old serpent, there is this dragon. In chap. 27.1 he says:
At that time the LORD will haunt the Leviatan, the fugitive serpent, and the Leviatan, the serpent, with his hard, large, and powerful sword, and will kill the dragon in the sea.

The words in German practically correspond to the words in Hebrew which were then translated into Greek and then quoted in Revelation 12. That means: Isaiah already knows that mankind is controlled by a „backseat driver“ that the godless, anti-divine and anti-Israelite, anti-Semitic and anti-Christian humanity is controlled by currents, storms and winds from the background, where sometimes the corresponding human players have no idea what they are actually doing. Daily ideologies and zeitgeists seem to dominate the stage, and other powers and forces pull the strings in the background. What I read here in Isaiah 24 is that God takes the leading powers of hostility to God in high places, i.e. in the heavenly regions and kings of the earth, that he collects them and throws them into prison as prisoners and they locked up in the dungeon and haunted after a long time. Now Isaiah does not say how long is the time, but the strongest parallel to this text is in Revelation 20 where the number is given as 1000 years. The focus there in Revelation 20 is not the army in the height or the kings of the earth but the focus in Revelation 20 rests on only one person: Satan the dragon, the old serpent. The rest are not addressed at all. He is addressed in the context of Revelation 19: 10-21: 8, but the text, which has become famous because of the mention of the 1000 year, deals particularly with this personality who is thrown into a „high security prison“ High security wing where he cannot get out for 1000 years. That is already mapped out here in Isaiah. Not mentioned in detail, but here too the Spirit of God, who enlightens John, is based on the prophets in the Old Testament. It is therefore clear that the old heavens, the old earth and the old powers can no longer exist in the form. They must be removed before he gives that the new heavens, the new earth and the new Jerusalem triumph forever and ever.
Another text is Isaiah 34 from verse 1: There is something about the heavens now, so I am taking this text as a supplement to that of the old earth that falls like a drunk and does not get up and break and break. It says:
1 Come, you peoples, and hear; you nations, notice! The earth listen and what fills it, the earth circle and what lives on it!
2 For the LORD is angry with all the nations, and is angry with all their armies. He put the spell on them and gave them up for slaughter.
3 And their slain will be thrown down so that the stench of their corpses will rise, and the mountains will flow from their blood.
4 And all the armies of heaven will vanish, and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll, and all his armies will wither like a leaf withered on the vine and like a dry leaf on the fig tree.
Now, as I said, these verses are particularly about the mention of heaven. Do you see the sky fading? „If you would just kindly give me your song sheet?“ (The speaker asks one of the listeners, gets the sheet and rolls it up.) We have modern books in book form today. This is called in the technical term: „Codex“. The Codex entered the first four centuries of our era. It is interesting that over 90% of the first book forms are Christian literature. Question is why was that? The Christians probably didn’t invent it, but they quickly realized, much like the invention of computers in modern times, that was just something new. You can get to any place with the Codex within seconds, but not with the role. If you have a roll, 15 or 20 meters long, then you have to roll quite a bit until you are at the place you are looking for. This is much more difficult than with the Codex. That was a great invention. But here the picture from the scroll is used. The sky is, so to speak, rolled out and when the end of the sky comes, the following happens that God rolls up the sky and it is gone. Please remember that. The sky is rolled up and is gone! Therefore make a note of it, because of course there are also discussions about different understandings of texts of the Holy Scriptures. You have to understand that if the sky goes away, that the old skies go away, that it is rolled up like a scroll, then it is really gone.
That is quoted, I have already mentioned that there is recourse to Isaiah in the New Testament. Revelation 6 at the sixth seal. From v. 12 it says:
12 And I saw that when the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake, and the sun went black like a sack, and the whole moon turned like blood,
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the ground like a fig tree throws its figs when it is moved by strong winds.
14 And the sky departed like a scroll being rolled up, and all the mountains and islands were moved from their places.
We are here in Revelation 6, 12-13. Many Bible readers think that in Revelation the order of the visions (he often says: „I looked after it and see …“) is also the order of fulfillment. That is why they read the revelation so that they say: “Heaven and earth only pass after the 1000-year-old empire in Chap. 20. The passage here is overlooked. It is practically non-existent. But if one assumes that the order of the visions is not identical to the order of fulfillment, but that John repeats, seven times. In chap. 4-22 there are seven vision cycles after my analysis, after my understanding. I took that over from others, but it fits well. If you are ready to pay attention to the repetitions, then the end time schedule is suddenly thrown into confusion because you cannot say what will happen later. Here you can tell from the sixth seal: it’s over. That is, I personally expect that when Jesus Christ comes with the clouds of heaven, it is over. Before the new Jerusalem comes, the new heavens and the new earth come, the old must pass and that will pass when God comes. When Jesus Christ comes on the clouds, no little son of David comes. Then comes God, who has become man. What is in Revelation 20 when God comes, what effect it has, you can see in V.11: And I saw a large, white throne and the one sitting on it; before his face the earth and the sky fled, and no place was found for them.
When God comes visible, when the glory of God comes, and when Christ comes, he does not come as a little baby in the crib, where you can look a second time and see only the human being over and over again. No, when he comes, he comes so that the last guy, and the last Antichrist and the last godless will see him as what he always was before the foundation of the world. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word. This was with God in the beginning. All things are created by the same and nothing that is created is made without the same.
When Christ comes with the clouds of heaven, God Almighty, Lord Zebaoth comes! Then that which is in Isaiah 24 will happen: In the face of this almighty God, the earth, like a drunk, will no longer know the way. It will fall and never get up again in this form.
Another text from Isaiah. I read 34, it is particularly about Edom. With the offense from heaven, Edom is, so to speak, „screwed“ and demonstrated that Edom, the brotherly people of Jerusalem and Judah, has been judged, who has repeatedly used the hours of the powerful to drive genocide among the Jews to have his brother murdered and murder yourself. E.g. when the Jews fled from the catastrophe when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, they faced key ways and killed every Jew who fled there. This act is the theme in Isaiah 34. The Jews could say, “We are not. When God comes we will be lifted up and the others will be crushed ”, but it’s not like that. Therefore Isaiah 2 as a supplement: V. 6ff. . Isaiah 2 says the day of the Lord again, but now not about Edom and all nations but also about Israel:
6 Yes, you have cast out your people, the house of Jacob; for they are addicted to the customs of the East, and there are interpreters like the Philistines, and children of strangers have more than enough.
7 Their land became full of silver and gold, and there was no end to their treasures; their country became full of horses, and their carriage was never ending.
8 Their land also became full of idols; they pray on their hands the work that their fingers have made.
9 But man was bowed, man was humiliated. Don’t forgive them!
10 Go into the rocks and hide in the earth from the horror of the LORD and from His glorious majesty!
11 For all hopeful eyes are lowered, and the proud men must bow; but the LORD will be high alone that day.
12 For the day of the Lord Zebaoth will come on all that is noble and high and on all that is exalted:
20 That day everyone will throw away the silver and gold idols that he had made to prostrate himself before mice and bats.
21 So that he can crawl into the crevices and stone gaps before the horror of the LORD and before his glorious majesty when he will set himself up to frighten the earth.
Now imagine that it would be an idol (holds up an empty bottle). You know what people stand in the garden and what they can flow into the world religion in pluralism, in their personal European life. There you have something here and there you have something there and there you have a support. Now imagine, this day is coming, what happens? People have always sought inner peace and tried to find what they worshiped and made the center of their lives with these supports made of silver and gold and stone. Then someone will go to his house altar and pack and throw the thing away. This is the picture when God comes that all people lose and throw away their false idols, their false teachings, their false thoughts, angry at the stupidity to which they have fallen and that they want to hide away. Where’s the next hole where I can disappear like a mouse from Almighty God? This is also quoted in Revelation 6. Where I just started, I just keep reading. From chap. 34 in Isaiah is then transferred to Chap. 2 what I just read. Then it says in Revelation 6:15:
15 And the kings of the earth and the great and the supreme and the rich and the mighty and all the slaves and all the free people hid in the crevices and rocks of the mountains 16 and said to the mountains and rocks: Fall on us and hide us from the Faced with the one who sits on the throne and before the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their anger has come, and who can stand? The answer is: nobody!
That is, the image here in Revelation 6 is identical to the image in Rev. 20. So it was said: The earth and the sky fled from his face. The same escape takes place here in Chap. 6 instead. This is simply a repetition of the end of the world here and there and practical: the earth fleeing from the face of God does not only mean that the earth passes by, but everything that lives on earth wants to flee away from the face of the Almighty. You can see him! You can see his face, the face of the one sitting on the throne and you can see the face of the Lamb. This is of course extremely paradoxical, it beats everything. Why is he „lamb“ called? „Behold, this is God’s lamb that carries sin to the world.“ Also John Gospel, chap. 1, 28ff. John the Baptist says that. It is crazy that the one who loves you and me, who loves the Germans, and the Chinese and the Pakistanis and the Saudi Arabians, that the one who loves the whole world as we heard last Sunday who has sacrificed himself, who shed his blood to save everyone, who has wiped out the sins of all people, who then runs the time and gives people the chance to accept God’s good offer, they will not accept it. Then at the end, when the time runs out like Noah’s ark, when God closes the door, no penance will be possible. No one will then be able to storm into the ark in the last second, no one. Only Noah and his family who were ready came in. So even when the day comes, the (Israel is a special thing) people from the non-Israeli nations who have had the opportunity to accept and use the gospel for around 2000 years now and who did not, will Don’t just see him as the lamb, but the lamb is angry and everyone wants to get away.

So I had to say that first.
Then as the last text from Isaiah 66 on the subject the old heavens pass, the old earth and the old Jerusalem, as far as it does not submit to God, is judged. It says in Isaiah 66: 15-16:
15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire and his chariots like weather, that he will repay in the fury of his anger and with scolding in the flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will judge by fire and by his sword all flesh, and there will be many who are killed by the LORD.
So we mentioned fire and the sword. The sword is the word of God. So that’s also in Isaiah. There in chap. 11 the Messiah is the one who makes a judgment with the breath of his mouth that takes effect immediately, and if it’s a death sentence even his greatest enemies just fall over, done. In Chapters 49, 1-2 comes the same picture that he is like a sharp sword or like an arrow that God has in his quiver like a secret weapon that God draws on his day and then Jesus Christ comes as the secret weapon of God. 19, 11 ff. And storms the world, and he alone decides this fight.
Peter not only picks up the new heavens and the new earth in 2 Peter 3. The words here are borrowed from Isaiah 65 and 66, but he also picks up fire. He says, the fire is going to be so huge be that all the old earth and the sky that the elements will melt away from the heat. So we have to be prepared for Jesus Christ to come with the clouds of heaven and for him to come with fire. This also says Paul and Peter says: On this day of the Lord this world as we know it will pass, but at the same time, and that’s the great thing, Nand now I finally come to number 2.

2. The good news of what God replaces the old sets, that’s incredibly huge.

This is mega and there in the creation or bringing of the new the whole goodness and kindness and love of God is revealed. God is reshaping the world. He brings a new heaven and a new earth in which justice lives. I read that in Isaiah 65, 17-19. He says to those who are addressed that they should be happy because He is bringing a new heaven and a new earth in which justice lives. This is then quoted by Peter in the new testament. In chap. 66, from V.22 so in the last chapter on the subject of new heavens, new earth:
22 For as the new heaven and the new earth that I make exist before me, saith the LORD, so shall your generation and name endure. 23 And all the flesh will come one new moon after another and one Sabbath after another to worship before me, says the Lord. 24 And they will go out and see the corpses of those who have broken away from me; for their worms will not die, and their fire will not go out, and they will be an abomination to all flesh.
The pilgrims in the new Jerusalem from all nations who regularly come to God’s presence on the new moon and on the Sabbath do not come only to worship. There they also have a look at the rejected, at the enemies of God. Jesus quotes this verse 24 to describe hell: „Where her worm does not die and the fire never goes out.“ That is, Isaiah already speaks of an infinite suffering. This is not the picture of a wood fire that burns for 2 minutes and then goes out. Daniel 12, 1 ff. Also takes up this verse with disgust and atrocity, this word that is here, and says there: “Those who will be resurrected will be resurrected to eternal ignominy and shame. Then this word comes again. That means: the resurrection bodies are eternal with everyone! The redeemed are redeemed with their resurrection body. There is only joy. The people whose sins were redeemed by Jesus on the cross, but who have not repented of their sins and have not asked for forgiveness, can do so at the last moment and are still saved. God’s will to save is so infinite, think of the thief on the cross. If God gives grace, he can be averted from eternal ruin even in the last two minutes of their lives by the blood of Jesus Christ, the grace of God if he believes: „Jesus, think of me when you come to your kingdom“ This sentence has enough to save him. God wants to save, but there are people who hate God. The rejection of God is so strong that they will not be converted. They will not ask for rescue and will grind their teeth. They want, as in the picture from point two, they will throw away their idols and want to hide somewhere in a hole, but they will not, as in Joel 3, call: „Lord, save me.“ Therefore they go under forever.
This may be absurd for many of us, but what is this dish? God’s judgment is also a revelation of his righteousness. There will be no wrongful justice and people who have beaten others down and harmed them, men who have abused their wives without ever repenting, will taste the fruits of their actions forever. They will experience the mistreatment of others who have done it second by second. Your worm will not die and the fire will not go out.
What is the great thing about the new heaven and the new earth, as Peter says in 2 Peter 3, in which justice resides? It says in Isaiah 25: 6-9:
6 And the Lord Zebaoth will make a rich feast for all nations on this mountain, a feast of pure wine, of fat, of marrow, of wine, in which there is no yeast. 7 And on this mountain he will take away the covering with which all the peoples are covered, and the covering with which all the nations are covered. 8 He will swallow up death forever. And the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces, and will lift up the disgrace of his people in every country; for the LORD said it. 9 At the time, it will be said: » Behold, this is our God upon whom we are hoped that he would help us. This is the Lord we hoped for; let us cheer and be happy about his salvation. «
You have a fantastic picture here: God makes a festival. This is taken up several times in the New Testament. This is taken up several times in the various parables in the New Testament. Jesus speaks of a huge festival being celebrated for various reasons. People are invited. Some come, some don’t, they have better things to do. And now you see here: For whom does God make the feast? And the Lord Zebaoth will make a rich meal for all peoples on this mountain, a meal of pure wine, of fat, of marrow, of wine, in which there is no yeast: For all!
That is also in Isaiah. In Isaiah not only Israel is saved, here is the part for all peoples. God sets the table, there is something to eat here, there is something to drink and it is interesting: „On this mountain“ means the mountain Zion, that means the mountain in Jerusalem. Isaiah predicts that there will be a day, when God will show on Mount Zion that he has overcome death. Jesus Christ rose there on the third day after his crucifixion. The sacrament, that is the wine and Jesus Christ says: „Whoever is my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, he does not come to judgment, but celebrates the sacrament over and over again and he offers this: „People, come. Whoever takes this cup and drinks it in faith in Jesus Christ: The blood of Christ is brought to him and he is cleansed of all sins and he is before God as a man who is redeemed, who is a candidate for the resurrection.
It is fantastic how Christ extends the image in the Old Testament into the sacrament. Now imagine you come there, you died, you came from stupid situations, you take your suffering with you and howl in heaven. Then God the Father takes you on his lap like a mother. That is in chap. 66: I want to comfort you like a mother comforting you. You come with all your suffering, everything you have suffered on the last few meters, you take all your misery with you, howl again and God takes you on his lap, takes his big handkerchief and wipes away the last tears. After that, all suffering is over. Is not that great? God is fantastically good. You would be stupid if you did not accept this salvation offer.
When you are in God’s presence, the following texts tell us what is happening there: There is no more suffering and no shouting, no death. God swallowed up death. The tears are wiped away. There is only eternal joy (Isaiah 35:10).
Justice lives on the new earth, as Peter says, because the Messiah (Isaiah 11: 1 ff.) Empowers with the Spirit, has a justice that is absolutely just. He is merciful too. He redeems those who want to be redeemed, but those who oppose him can judge with a word of authority. Isaiah 11: 9 says that people will no longer commit sin on God’s holy mountains, because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the land or the whole earth like water covers the seas. New heaven, new earth, knowledge of God and then peace encompasses all creation. In Isaiah 11: 6 ff. It says: “The wolves will live with the lambs and the panthers will camp with the goats. A little boy will keep calves and young lions and fattening cattle together. Cows and bears will graze together and their cubs will lie together and lions will eat straw like cattle. An infant will play at the hole of the otter and a weaned child will put his hand into the snake’s den. That is, with Adam’s sin (Romans 5) death came into the world. But when Adam is redeemed, creation will be redeemed from the principle of eating and being eaten. The most dangerous predators are switched to vegetarians. Cool! All vegetarians are happy. They only get annoyed when Jesus, as the Risen One, is still the fish. Romans 8:18 ff .: Because I believe that suffering at this time is not worth the glory that is to be revealed to us, because the fearful wait of the creature is waiting for God’s children to be revealed. The creature is subject to impermanence without its will, but for the sake of the one who has subjected it to hope. Because also creature will be free from the bondage of the transitory being to the wonderful freedom of the children of God. This is the day we are looking forward to.
Now you can see here how Paul says it: All creation looks forward to the day when the children of God will be revealed. Colossians 3: 1-4: The Day of Revelation of the children’s of God is, when Jesus Christ returns on the clouds of heaven with great strength and glory. Then we too will be revealed as children of God in a powerful resurrection body. Then all of creation, not just earth, will perish in fire, but in the process of perpetration, God will „upgrade“ the whole system and the new heaven and earth will come immediately. In Revelation there is a picture of the new Jerusalem coming down like a bride, decorated for her husband. That means that the new Jerusalem will not be created on this day, it has been there for a long time. Hennoch went there, Elijah went there, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are there and the resurrected ones from Matthew 27 and you and I if we should die before Jesus comes again. Then practically the new world comes with the center of the new Jerusalem, comes down to earth and in the encounter of these parallel worlds the old world passes and the new world comes. So if you say: „Hallelujah“ I can no longer help you either. Lord Jesus come soon! Amen