Transcription

Chris
So, Jeff, have you ever heard the terms new and improved? Yes. And it’s wonderful, isn’t it? It is, because new and improved means. Wow.

Jeff
It’s going to be even better than the last one.

Chris
Yes. Well, today we’re talking about everything being made new and improved.

Jeff
That’s amazing. So he’s Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys. It’s so, Chris, today is.

Chris
A special segment.

Jeff
I was waiting for you. You usually introduce them. So today’s the day, man. Every Friday it’s going to be a good one. It’s either what made Chris mad this week, which is a delight, or what made Chris happy this week. And we just love the fact that you’re passionate about, well, everything. Well, so.

Chris
We’re passionate about, well, everything. Everything.

Jeff
That’s right. So, uh, today is what made Chris happy this week.

Chris
Yeah. Which I appreciate very much.

Jeff
Thank you. Is it kind of like back to back?

Chris
Thank you. Desiree. I think it is. Whoa. I think it is. Yeah.

Jeff
So Desiree listens.

Chris
Yeah, she did, she did. She’s the one. Uh, but by the way, as soon as I found out, what, a minute ago, a minute ago that this was the segment, and I immediately said, I have it because I woke up this morning with a text from my wife. So this story is about my wife. Oh, keep it clean. So it also involves my kids. Okay. So we’re good. Okay. Um, so she had a bad day at work. Uh, just doesn’t matter. She just had a bad day. And so then she comes home, and then. And then she then she she apparently had to buy this cake, and she was traveling all around. I think they must have went to. I’m not even kidding. It was a specific, like, yellow cake, white frosting, whatever it was. And I think she went to 7 or 8 places. Oh, wow. Wow. And so she was very, very frustrated. After a bad day at work, she was still in her, uh, scrubs. Right. And then she comes home and she says, I don’t want to talk about it, don’t ask about it. And she said, and, uh, we now have a membership to Costco. And I said, what? And so and by the way, it wasn’t even at Costco, so it ended up being somewhere else. So anyway, the point is, is that, uh, she’s overall just, you know, having a stressful time. And so.

Jeff
And this is what made you happy this week.

Chris
Uh, so I’m leading up to it. Oh, okay. So she goes up and goes to bed earlier than the rest of us. She’s got to get up early. And so we’re downstairs and my son, who’s usually not tuned in to, uh, what she’s going through, uh, says, I think mom can use some cheering up, so Stephen is the one that instigated it. And so it ends up, uh, within 20 minutes, all of us are not letting her sleep. She’s in the bed, the lights are out, but we’re all on the bed. And then the cats jump up. And so it’s quite literally all of us are on the bed, and we’re just teasing her, laughing or tickling her. And then, uh, and I ended up rubbing her feet and then and then she. And then and then Stephen said, uh, let’s all say something nice about mom. What, do you appreciate it? Because he said, mom, you had a bad day. Wow. So we go back downstairs to, uh, play, uh, Super Mario Brothers. Uh, and Liz texts us 10:35 p.m. and this is the text you guys gave me so much joy and happiness, and I’m just full of so much love. I can hardly go to sleep. Little teary dot dot dot, but that’s typical. I think I needed all that you gave me. Thank you. Three hearts. Wow. And so we go, Stephen. Right. Wow. So it was just a really great moment.

Jeff
Oh that’s so nice.

Chris
Yeah okay. And she’s crying listening to this. Yes.

Jeff
Because she well congratulations Liz. You deserved it.

Chris
Yeah. She, she listens to the Bible guys every morning.

Jeff
Yeah. That’s fantastic. Isn’t that sweet. So we get to see those I think I prefer the what made Chris Mads though. Yeah.

Chris
They’re more fun.

Jeff
Yeah. That was a little too sappy. Yeah. It was. It’s more fun when you’re. When you’re mad about something. That’s so funny. Hey, Desiree. Take note. Wait. This isn’t working for us.

Chris
Cut the segment. I hate sappy. Hahaha. That’s funny.

Jeff
Chris. Happy Chris doesn’t work for me. We want to go back to Mad Chris.

Chris
Okay, happy Chris doesn’t work for me. That’s great.

Jeff
Okay, so hey, we are going to kind of, uh, we’re going to deal with what it’s all about in the end. That’s when Jesus talks about eternity. This is what we’re going to talk about today. So this kind of flips some of our traditional beliefs about heaven upside down, right? Uh, the naked babies bouncing from cloud to cloud, playing harps and, you know, that kind of stuff. Yeah, sure. Uh, this it’s very, very different. So let’s just talk about it. We’re going to read a lot of verses, but it’s because the Bible does a better job explaining itself than we do sometimes.

Chris
So yeah, all the time.

Jeff
Even though we are the Bible guys. Right. So here you go. In revelation chapter 21, we’re going to read all of 21 and then into 22 because it, it it’s all the same thing. I don’t even know why they put the chapter break there. Here you go. It says then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the old heaven. And the old earth had disappeared, and the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, look, God’s home is now among his people. He will live with them and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. And the one sitting on the throne said, look, I’m making everything new. And then he said to me, write this down for what I tell you is trustworthy and true. And he also said, it is finished. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings. And I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers and all liars. Their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, come with me. Jeff
I’ll show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. So he took me in the spirit to a great high mountain. And he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It’s shown with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone, like jasper, as clear as crystal. The city wall was broad and high, with 12 gates guarded by 12 angels, and the names of the 12 tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There were three gates on each side east, north, south, and west. The wall of the city had 12 foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb. The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1400 miles. Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216ft thick, according to the human standard used by the angel. The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with 12 precious stones. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth burra, the ninth topaz, the 10th Chrysoprase, the 11th Jacinth, and the 12th Amethyst. The 12 gates were made of pearls, each gate from a single pearl and the main street was pure gold as clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. And the city was no has no need of sun or moon. For the glory of God illuminates the city, and the lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of the day, because there is no night there, and all the nations will bring their glory and honor to the city, and nothing evil will be allowed to enter. Nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, crystal clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb. And it flowed down the center of the main street. And on each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer were will there be a curse upon anything? For the throne of God and of the lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him, and they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads, and there will be no night there, no need for lamps or sun for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever. And then the angel said to me, everything you’ve heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon. Dude.

Chris
So? So out of all the things we read these past two weeks. Yeah, either this is the most awesome thing that we could ever read. Yeah. Or John was high on something. Yes. The apostle John. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff
It’s just incredible.

Chris
Yeah. We, uh. Because. Right. Because this was after he was boiled in oil and exiled to the island. Yeah. I’m making a joke. And he was.

Jeff
100 and something years old at this point, right? Yeah.

Chris
But, uh, but the things that he saw, we believe are literal. Yeah. And we believe that this is the description for the New Jerusalem. We believe it’s the new heaven which which may be a little different than what people think of. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it’s a place. It’s a place with trees. That’s right. And, uh, you know, and rivers, crops, gates. And which means people are collecting crops there. They’re not just floating around in some ethereal, uh, cloudy place. Right? Uh, it’ll look very much probably like, uh, the earth that we are in now.

Jeff
Yeah, it’s a new heaven and a new earth. Right. And then so can I. I’ll give you my theory. Let me give you my theory on this. So the Bible describes this city as 1500mi³, 1400mi³, 1400 miles wide, 1400 miles long, 1400 miles high. And he says, the angel says, let me show you the bride. Who’s the bride? The bride is the church. The bride is all those people who are at the marriage supper of the lamb. This is like the limo bringing the whole church. And they they are contained in this 15, 1400 mile cubed city on a spiritual realm. And God is bringing them to the new earth. The physical realm. And do you remember at the very beginning in the garden. Adam and Eve walked with God every day, every day, every day in the cool of the evening, the Bible says. So Adam and Eve.

Chris
The Dew was still on the roses.

Jeff
hat’s right. So Adam and Eve were able to to live in both the spiritual realm and the physical realm as one realm. And then they died. And when they died, they died spiritually, right? When they sinned. And so then they lost the spiritual realm. They didn’t destroy the spiritual realm. We read about the dragon fighting against the woman and her child and all these things, all the spirits. There was war in heaven. All this stuff happens in the spiritual realm. But as humans, we only live in the physical realm right now. But what he’s doing is he’s bringing the bride, the church in the spiritual realm down and blending it into this new earth. He’s bringing us back to the Paradise that he always planned. But he had to make it new because we broke the old one, right? He’s bringing it back together. And I think the reason why it’s called New Jerusalem is Jerusalem is where Jesus died. Uh, just outside of Jerusalem is where, uh, Abraham was about to sacrifice his son when God stopped him to depict the fact that the father would sacrifice the son and that God would provide himself a lamb. I personally believe that probably somewhere, somewhere around there was where Adam and Eve originally sinned. And then it all comes back to he fixed it there and then he’s bringing it all back there. He’s bringing the church back to that place. And then we have the new heaven and the new earth combined. Because you can’t just smash a 1400 mile cubed. City into a planet. It causes problems, I heard. Yeah. You know, the physics of. That’s difficult. So what he’s doing is he’s blending the spiritual and the physical, and he brought us back to what he always planned. The garden was what he always planned. And that’s what he’s bringing us back to. Yeah, well, it’s pretty cool.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
And that’s all my opinion. But that’s what I believe is happening. Yeah. Well, I.

Chris
Was just going to say it fits regardless. That does fit regardless of the details of that. Yeah. Right. Because I think those details are cool to think about. But they’re sort of unimportant because well thank you.

Jeff
Sorry to waste your time.

Chris
That’s nothing.

Jeff
That was four minutes. That’s nothing. I got something even more important.

Chris
To waste everybody’s time with my nothing story.

Jeff
I know my opinions don’t matter in this class.

Chris
I had two wisdom teeth taken out. That’s nothing, I had four. Uh, so, uh. No, no, I just meant in the end, uh, it will not matter for you and for me is what I mean. No, no, no. Right. So, in other words, the information is not what I’m saying is unimportant because it’s important information. What I’m saying is, uh, our experience of being there, uh, regardless of how it plays out. I mean, how is that going to matter? Yeah. So, so so we’re we’re experiencing a new heaven. We’re experiencing a new earth. However that plays out. It’s a good day, right? Right. That’s what I was meaning. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Jeff
But but what you have is you have this holy city coming down from heaven and melding with this earth. And then what we know is that there’s there’s commerce, there’s kingdoms, there’s people coming and going. There’s all of the things of human society, um, are, are represented or referenced or hinted at in these things. He’s taken what was and he’s making them all brand new. It doesn’t say that it’s different. It’s renewed. Right. And so, um, when we get to heaven, it’s not just going to be a perpetual worship service, is what I’m trying to say. No worship is perpetually going to be going on, but there’s all of the things necessary for human society will apparently be going. It’s what the nations represent. Nations represent commerce. Nations represent, uh, uh, collective work, collective responsibility. God made humans to work all those things. They’re coming and going in and out of this capital city. Um, and so it’s not going to be this boring life. It’s going to be the life you are dreaming for. It’s the utopia everybody wishes they could make on this earth. But this earth is going to be destroyed. And he’s bringing us back to the full expression of humanity with God. I’ll be with them and they’ll be my people.

Chris
Right? Just the simple fact that it says, uh, there’s there’s 12 trees or there’s two trees, uh, bearing 12 crops of fruit once each month. And then it says the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And then he says, of course, there’s no longer be a curse upon anything but the fact that there’s leaves being used for something. Yeah, yeah, indicates that there has to be a harvest. Yeah, there has to be a gathering. Yeah. Then there has to be an application for apparently something. Yeah. Right. So.

Jeff
So we know there’s horses there. Jesus comes back on it, which means somebody’s got to clean up after the horses.

Chris
Right? Right. Or or hopefully that’ll all be eliminated. Yeah.

Jeff
Right.

Chris
No more.

Jeff
Well, there’s leaves, so. Yeah. That’s true. There’s eating. Yeah, yeah, yeah I think that it’s I genuinely believe it’s not that it’s a different uh, uh, it’s not going to be a different experience. It’s going to be a sinless experience. I think it’s going to be life. Right. It’s not that God went, oh, you know what? I screwed up making humanity and the society that they were supposed to build. Uh, let me invent something else. He’s not inventing something else. He’s making it new. He’s renewing it. And I think that he’s bringing us back to this. So all the things that are necessary for human society are going to be. So what I’m trying to say is heaven’s not going to be boring. It’s not going to be just a big long church service. It’s going to you will fulfill your eternal purpose, doing and being who you were always supposed to be and do. Right. That’s great. Yeah, I love that. And then the description is phenomenal.

Chris
Yeah. So then.

Jeff
We’re going to be walking on gold.

Chris
Right. As clear as glass. Right. Which is scary.

Jeff
Pure gold. Yeah.

Chris
What’s underneath.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris
So uh uh, so then revelation 22 seven through 21, uh, I want to read this. Uh, these are sort of the final words, and it reminds us that Jesus is coming soon. Yeah, right. So this is, of course, John still writing. Um, and he’s not high, by the way. We believe that he’s John the Revelator. That’s right. Right. He’s getting revelation.

Jeff
Jerusalem coming down.

Chris
That’s what that’s right. That’s why that’s why it’s called revelation, by the way. Because there’s revealing information, right, right, right. And so it’s a revelation. So here’s how it reads. It says, look, I am coming soon. Blessed are those who obey the words of the prophecy written in this book. I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said, no, don’t worship me. I’m a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and and the prophets, as well as all them who obey what is written in the book worship only God. Then he instructed me, do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm, and let the one who is vile continue to be vile, and let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously, and let the one who is holy continue to live holy. Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all the people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes. They’ll be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat from the fruit of the tree of life. Outside the city are the dogs, the the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshippers. To all who live a life of a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star. The spirit and the bride say, come, let anyone who hears this say, come, uh, let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who drinks freely from the water of life. And I solemnly declare to everyone who who hears the words of prophecy written in this book. If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add that person the plagues described in this book, and if anyone removes the words from this book of the prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that is described in this book. He who is faithful, um, uh, witnesses to all these things. Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. Yeah.

Jeff
You know, the King James ends that says, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Right. What a great. Uh, it’s.

Chris
A great it’s a great ending. Yeah. And it’s a reminder to us, you know, and I think that it’s just an exclamation point because be reminded, revelation. There’s a lot of details, there’s a lot of discussion. There’s a lot of things that are, uh, you know, uh, physical, literal, metaphorical. Right? There’s all these different things that are mixed in with the book of revelation, and it never gives any indication when it’s talking about, you know, literal or metaphorical or symbolic. It doesn’t give any indication. So we’re left to discuss all these things. They’re all important. But keep in mind that it really comes down to just a few things, right? It points to a few things. Number one, Jesus is in charge of history. God’s. God’s in control, right? Right. It’s who God is. Yeah, it’s it’s it’s who God is. He’s in control of all things in history. Number two, he wins.

Jeff
Yes. Right.

Chris
He wins. That is it. Like there’s no question there’s victory, victory, victory. And then number three, we live like Jesus is coming. He’s coming again. Coming soon. He’s coming soon. And so, you know, regardless of when that happens on the timeline, uh, you know, Jesus, Jesus tells us, you know, just he’s coming soon. Live like it. Today we’re on mission. We’re telling people we’re living it out. Yeah, we’re living by example. And we look forward to the day of the new heaven and the new earth. Yeah, we.

Jeff
Started this series saying, Jesus doesn’t tell us these things to scare us. He’s telling us these things because he’s coming to save us. That’s right. Right. It’s going to be amazing. I’m looking forward to the day. I really am for sure. So, you know, I, I don’t like the negative sides of these things, but he’s given us a mission between here and there. To prevent it for as many people as possible by going and telling everybody we know about Jesus. So, uh, that’s it. We’re on mission between here and there, and he’ll come back on his good time.

Chris
Well, that about wraps it up. And, uh, hopefully we’ll see you on Monday on The Bible Guys.