Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Good Morning Everyone.
Wish I was a poet
I know I am more of a rationalist than anything else.
I enjoyed math and science more than I enjoyed literature.
I do enjoy a good book, a beautiful piece of art, and (man!) do I love good music.
However, I am not as good at those things as I am with things like reason and logic.
I enjoy thinking things through and trying to make sense of things; figuring out how things work.
All that said, there are times when I wish I was more of a poet.
Today is one of those days.
For as we talk about the beauty of our eternal home of heaven, I believe it defies out senses, our ability to reason, and our logic.
Topics like this are often done better justice by the songs we sing together than by the message I give.
Want us to Feel the Weight of Heaven
For it is my hope that we wouldn’t simply learn about heaven today, but that we would be moved by the reality of what is to come; that we would feel it in our souls.
Can’t Imagine It Though
Can’t Imagine It Though
How do you feel the weight of something you don’t understand?
That being said, I think a big reason we don’t feel it is because we can’t imagine what it is like.
We read passages like:
Sometimes we default to the idea that our minds are unable to even imagine it, so why try?
Sometimes we default to the idea that our minds are unable to even imagine it, so why try?
Passages like:
or
So, (we say) just trust God that it is going to be great.
And that is a good thing, but I don’t think that means we shouldn’t think about it.
Connect with John O’Dell’s message - It will be better, even when we think wrong
Yes, we may come up with a wrong idea.
Last week, John mentioned how the Biblical heaven is not the same as other views of heaven.
That can make is skittish to dream about it.
I believe those passages are simply saying that no matter how good you think it is going to be, God has even better in store for you.
That statement works whether you imagine rightly or wrongly.
If you believe things about heaven that are wrong, reality will be better.
For example, if I don’t like people and think heaven will be this wonderful place where we will eat pizza will be all that we eat, all of the time.
Whatever it is that I love about eating pizza will be satisfied in heaven that it is even better than I could have hoped for.
If you think you will miss hunting or competitive sports because there will be no death or losing in heaven, those desires will be more fulfilled in a better way.
Even the Things We Think Rightly
Of course, even the things we love and are right about heaven will be fulfilled in a way better than we hoped for.
We talk about being reunited with our loved ones.
No matter how much we yearn for that moment, the reality of heaven will be better.
No matter how wonderful you think it will be, the reality will be better.
Illustration - Even More and growing numbers
I remember being a kid and playing the game of trying to one up your friends with numbers.
You would start with I am a million times better than you.
Then it would go to billiion, then trillion, then zillion.
At the time, we learned that google was a number rather than a website.
However, after google, someone would throw in infinity.
But it wouldn’t stop there, it would end with someone doing infinity to the power of infinity plus one.
I think that will be a little bit like heaven.
Every time we think we have reached the pinnacle, we will realize you can still go further.
Clear Statements - God’s Vision
That said, the Bible is not silent about heaven.
actually gives us a pretty clear picture of what heaven will be like.
Unfortunately, because it is hard to wrap our heads around, we often read these passages like a dog listens to its master.
[Cartoon]
In this case, we read through this passage but only pause at those moments that speak to us.
Two Lenses - No More and Never Been
As I studied this passage, it helped me to think through two different lenses.
The first lens is the lens of “No More.”
This speaks to all the things that will be no more, never again, gone forever.
Closely related, but different is the lens of “Never Been.”
These are the things that are hardest for us to imagine, because we have simply never experienced them before.
There will be aspects of heaven that are completely new to us.
So, if you would, open up your Bibles to chapter 21 of Revelation, and let’s take a look.
Get Into the Text
If you look at that very first verse, you see both lenses in play.
You see both the new (what has never been before), and the no more.
Body
It is hard for us to imagine, but this world is all that has ever been
The Sea
Yet, what most people see is the comment about there being no sea.
That is a significant statement, but I don’t believe it is for the reasons many people think it is.
The most common comment about this passage is about how people will miss the ocean.
However, I don’t think that is what it means.
I mean it could mean that, but it doesn’t make sense to me.
Some would say that the sea represented the dark and unknown realm, which it did in ancient times.
However, I don’t believe that is what God is talking about here.
I think the point is far more profound.
Going Back to Earlier use the of the Sea
You have to go back with me to earlier in this same book where John is describing the throne room of God, when John is talking about the heaven that exists right now.
The Barrier
Obviously there is a lot of imagery in this passage.
John is trying to describe something that no eye has seen, no ear has heard.
Yet, what I want you to notice is that in his description, he describes a barrier around the throne.
Around the throne was a crystal sea.
Now, other than being beautiful to look at, this sea would have kept the throne separate; just imagine a moat.
The Separation and the Goal to Unite
When John says that there is no more sea at the beginning of chapter 21, this is the sea that I believe he is talking about.
Thus, he is saying, there is no more separation, no more curtain, no more veil around God.
It isn’t needed anymore.
If we remember, the barrier was for our protection.
God separated heaven and earth when He created, but that was not the goal.
It was necessary because of sin, but the goal was to be united.
That is what we are now seeing.
Heaven and earth, God and man, united.
Remember that God separated heaven and earth when He created, but that was not the goal.
The goal was to be united.
That is what we are now seeing.
Heaven and earth, God and man, united.
This is even more clearly stated just a few verses later.
This is the “Never Been” part of the passage
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