The Revelation 21:1 | Episode # 1180

April 24, 2026

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

The Revelation 21:1

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life. Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up

his word to you and allow you

to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus name.

I want to move a little bit. Okay. I want to go, I want to get going a little bit tonight because I do want to get to a passage. But one of the things that I do need to kind of, I guess the best way for me to say it is to lay it out for you is that we're going to deal with this idea or this understanding that is mentioned. If you take out chapter 21 of the Revelation, it's mentioned three other places in Scripture. And then in Revelation 21 there is a more, I would say a more in depth description of it. And I would say that, that there is some question, there is some question as to what it exactly means and how that comes about. Okay, and what am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about scripture where it deals with God making a new heaven and a new earth. Okay. And I'm not going to tell you that I, that I'm sure about this either way. Okay. But I'm going to give you the historical perspective on it. Isaiah 65 and 66. And then second Peter 3, I think it's. Verse 13 mentions God creating a new heaven and a new earth. And then in chapter 21 of the Revelation there is a in depth discussion of, of a new heaven and a new earth. Now the issue with it is this. It doesn't say Scripture is not clear as far as the words being used. There's one word that's used in Isaiah and then there's a word that's used in Peter and the book of the Revelation. It's not super clear as to what new means. Okay. And the reason I bring that up is because new can mean. New can mean changed in such a way that it's not the same anymore. It's new. Does that make sense? And if I just step back and I said from my whole understanding of Scripture and God's plan from, for his kingdom and his plan. Then I would say, just from my overarching, having studied through the Bible so many times, I would say that the new heaven and the new Earth is more than likely not. He throws away the heavens and the earth and makes a whole new, new one. Okay. I think that if I took it from that perspective, that God would be saying that he is regenerating, just like he does with us. A new heaven and a new Earth. Okay. I guess the best way you could describe it is. And we need to talk about these theological things a lot, and especially these deep theological issues that Star Trek brings up. Okay? All right. Y' all didn't laugh enough about that. Okay. All right. But in one of their major motion picture movies, when we were. When some of us were youth and then some of us were not at all, one of their major motion picture is they had come up with the. The Genesis device. Do y' all remember that? And they would fire it into a planet that was dying, and it would make the planet totally new and able to have life on it. And then Khan was trying to take it over. He's the antagonist in the movie. And if you haven't seen that, well, I mean, you don't really love Jesus, but now I'm just joking about that. But that Genesis device, and you probably could look it up on YouTube, the description of it, basically, they fire this thing and they'll plan it, and it makes the planet back to where it's supposed to. If all planets could contain life. But the truth is we don't know of any planets that have the ability to have life on them. Okay? And anytime they tell you. And I'm just say it again, because it does need to be said. Anytime. Anytime they tell you that there's a planet in a solar system not ours that has anything on it that you can for sure say it is. Just remember that there's also this giant planet in our solar system that they can't find. Okay? So if I can't find stuff in my pockets, it's hard for me to see the stuff in, you know, Vladimir Putin's pockets on the other side of the world. Are you following me? And when I say that the distance between that planet and us and just the nearest star in the galaxy is hundreds of thousands, if not millions of times farther away. All right? So I say that. I say that to tell you that as I read this, I want to think that God makes a new heaven and a new Earth, but when I think about what God says, he's going to do with us. And I think about, why do I need a new heaven? How's that? Messed up, you know? And the Bible says that the earth groans for his coming, which seems to indicate that the earth desires the redemptive work and the finished work of Jesus. Understanding that when John saw the people in heaven, he said he saw men from every tribe and nation. Okay? Well, that tends to indicate. When I look and I see people from every tribe and nation, it's not because they got written where they're from on their forehead, okay? If I said I was in a group of people and there were people from all over the world, the way you would know that there were people from all over the world is they would be ethnicities from all over the world. They'd be tall and short and they'd be black and white and red and yellow and different and different. Different backgrounds. You could tell it. You could see it, because you could see it in heaven. All right? So understanding that, I believe that when God gives us a new body, it. It is a. It is just like he has done for the spirit that should have existed in us, but did not because of Adam's death. I believe that you have the same genes that you have now, but they're perfectly. They're perfection. They're absolutely perfect. And so you don't have all the issues that you would have and that you've had growing up that would cause malformities and all kinds of things that you don't really know what. What you were meant to look like. You don't really know how you would actually be if you didn't grow up in a world full of sin, a world full of sickness, a world full of disease, a world that radiation from the sun messes up your DNA. And so I believe that just like he gives us a new heart, just like he gives us a spirit as we were supposed to have, he gives us a new body. But that new body is still us. It's still us, okay? And it's still us in our most. Well, our most perfect form. All right? Now, if that's the case, then that would tend to indicate to me that he's not gonna make the earth a new earth in that he's gonna get rid of the old one. I believe what he's going to do is make the earth as it was supposed to be. In fact, to make the earth as it's presented in Genesis in the beginning, okay? And it's going to be done right now. I tell you that because I want to read it to you. And I want us to think through it. He says, now, I saw anew. And one of the ways that you can translate this, that is translated this way numerous times using this word, is a fresh heaven and a fresh earth, or a refreshed heaven and a refreshed earth. Okay? Now the question is, is that talking about heaven where God lives, or is that talking about the heavens that is the universe? And I say that because why does heaven need to be refreshed? If we're talking about where God is, that dimension need to be refreshed? I would say, no, I don't think God dwells in an imperfect house. Do you? I don't think it's possible that you could say that. So as you think about this now, I'm teaching you how to think through scripture, okay? And, and to not always just go with. With what you. What you think it means just looking at the words, but go to the rest of scripture and say, okay, does this measure up with the rest of scripture? Now, could it be that God makes a totally new heaven and a totally new earth? Yeah, he could. And do I think that that's a. That, that's probably a good idea that he does. I mean, in the sense of that. That may be what these passengers are saying. Yeah. Yes, ma'. Am. Right. That's the one we can see. That's exactly. She. So she said, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord and, and, and the passage that talks about that. All right, He. She's right. You and God even said that you can clearly see his divine nature in what he created, even in its fallenness. Does that make sense? All right, now, knowing that, and I'm not telling you that it means either one, because I'm just telling you I'm not for sure about this. He says, now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away. Now, that doesn't mean it's been destroyed. It means it's transformed. That word past does not indicate a destruction. It indicates a transformation. It indicates a moving to something more and better. All right, now what. What is. What does that mean? I'm not sure. But he says also there was no sea. Okay? Now that's important because I actually believed originally that the earth didn't have oceans, Okay? I don't believe the earth was made with oceans. I believe that there was water under the earth and there was water in the firmament above the Earth. Okay? And that when. When the, when the, when the water from the great Depths burst forth, which is the description of the flood, and it pierced the firmament in the heavens, that the waters from under the earth and the waters above the earth came down and it, and it drenched for 40 days and 40 nights. And that's why you have these giant ravines. And by the way, I do believe in plate tectonics, and I believe that that was caught. What, what caused that were that the plates, the, the, the, the continental plates were split between them, and that's where the water came up. And by the way, if you kind of look at it, it makes sense. Makes sense that they moved away or they were driven together and the mountains were created. And, and, and because of the, because of the great amount of water, the oceans were created, okay? And by the way, there are giant oceans under the earth, under the, the crust of the earth today. And we know that, all right, there's vast, huge bodies of water under the earth, and, and some of it is close enough to cause aquifers. In fact, the area of the United States which is the most arid actually sits on one of the most, one of the largest aquifers in the world. Just several miles underneath what we call Death Valley is an aquifer that has fresh water that could fill the Great Lakes. Okay? And so we know that that's the case, that, that, that there is water under the earth. All right, now let's just get to the imagery real quick. There's no seas. What do the seas represent? The Gentiles. Why aren't there any Gentiles? Well, because you have the Jews, then you have Christ, who is the Jewish king, and then he has taken a Gentile bride. Okay, Just, just like, just like Boaz took Ruth. Okay? Those pictures are, are clear in scripture. He's taken a Gentile bride. So the Gentiles are no longer Gentiles. They've been engrafted in the body of Christ. They've been made a part of his body. We're one with Him. And so there's no seas anymore. There's no separation. We're all, we're all a part of, of the family of God. As you go today, I pray that

the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.