Take your copy of the Scripture now please and open it to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation 21 is kind of the end of the story but the beginning of a new year and that's what I want us to focus on. what this ultimate new beginning is going to look like. And so as you are turning there, I just want to say a thank you to Stephen and Maren for joining us this morning to kind of help lead us in worship. It's good to see you guys back again. I know so many of you are enjoying time with family or have been over the past few days, and that is a tremendous blessing. All right, Revelation 21. I'm gonna read verses one through eight, and then we will pray. Originally I intended to cover verses 1 through 8, but those of you who are regulars here know me. 1 through 3. 21, 1 through 8, we'll read to get ourselves in context. John writes, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away. there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he said, Right, for these words are faithful and true. Then he said to me, they are done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things. I will be his God and he will be my son. But for the cowardly and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and the sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars. Their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Our Father, this morning We are preparing our hearts for the beginning of a new year and new beginnings. As we do so, Father, we understand that there is going to be one new beginning that is coming in the future that is better than all new beginnings. Open our eyes to see that beginning this morning as we read it in your word and as we understand it by the word proclaimed. It's in Christ's name we ask it. Amen. Well, today is obviously December 31st and tomorrow is January 1st. It took me all week to study to figure that out. So nearly all of us are thinking about a new year and new beginnings. I am too and have been. Conversely, perhaps some of you are thinking this year is gonna be just like the last year. Not much difference at all. We don't see anything new coming. Either way, I want to assure you this message, this sermon is You need to hear this this morning. As a believer, we are people of new beginnings. We are people of new beginnings. ones who know new life in Christ when we came to salvation. We have new mercies from God every single morning, the scripture tells us. We have fresh provision from God in every way. We have new strength from God the Holy Spirit to do whatever God has commanded us to do, whatever He has called us, whatever He desires for us to do. And even when we sin, because we still have to deal with the old man that's embedded in our flesh, There is repentance and new forgiveness from God that comes with every single sin we commit. And when we sin, we're reminded that one day, even our flesh will be changed to be like that of Christ. And so there is a new beginning when we're with Him. And even now in our failure and in our sin, we're reminded of the great hope we have as we look forward to that new beginning. For the Christian, there is new hope every day. There is new joy in Christ. And so there is never a need for us to fear the world. There is never a need for us to become angry that things didn't go how we wanted them to. We're always aware that God is sovereign, that everything happens according to his plan and in his timing. We're never destitute. We are never despairing. We are never void of hope. And we are never, as Christians, distraught. And even if nothing happens in this life as we expected or we desire for it to happen, there is a new reality waiting for us when we see Christ. Those are bedrock truths that define our existence. Now that can be really hard for us to keep in focus, especially when we live in a world that's full of sin. It's hard for us to keep in focus when we live in a reality where it seems that justice is seldom done. It's hard for us to keep in focus when we live in an era where the persecution of Christians seems to be normal and increasing. It's especially hard for us to keep in focus when we live in a time where people disappoint and wrong us, whether that's people as dear to us as our spouse or our children, or people like our bosses or even our neighbors. Even people at church, as much as we love them, can hurt us at times. And all of that's because of sin we have in this life and everything in this sin-cursed world that is opposed to God and under the control of Satan. It causes us to lose our focus on that reality that we have. But this morning I wanna give you some great hope. And I wanna just start off by reminding you of several truths as we begin to narrow our focus down to Revelation 21. A couple truths to focus on. Number one is this, nothing happens outside of the sovereign purview of God. Nothing happens outside of the sovereign purview of God. As you begin to face a new year and think about what is coming, think about that and remember that. Nothing happens outside of his sovereign purview. Isaiah chapter 46 verse 10, this is God speaking. And he says, declaring the end from the beginning. That means he is declaring to us what the end will be from before there is a beginning. And from ancient times, things which have not been done. In other words, from the ancient, from the past, things which have not happened yet, he declares, he decrees. And then he goes on to say, my counsel will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure. Then the second half of the very next verse in Isaiah 46 verse 11, God says, truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass, I have formed it, surely I will do it. God has declared to us what is to come, even the end of all things, he did it from the beginning, and that does not mean that he can just see what is coming in the future, it means that he has actually planned and decreed the future. All of it, everything will happen exactly as our God has decreed. Second truth that I wanna bring to your mind this morning is that scripture frequently reminds us that we are to set our minds on things above, that is the things of heaven, because that is our ultimate reality. That is where every one of us that knows Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is going. That is your reality. It is far more real than the world in which you live now, and it is far more permanent than this world can ever be. The Bible tells us that heaven is where we are citizens. Philippians 3.20 says our citizenship is in heaven. It is our eternity. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17, talking about the rapture of the church, when we're all going to be taken to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, it says, And because it is our eternity, we are to fix our minds on the things above. Colossians 3, verses one and two, Paul says, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above. Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on this earth. This life seems long, doesn't it? And heaven seems like it's a long ways away. I'm here to tell you this morning, it's not. It's right in front of us. And in fact, some of you might be sitting in the pew right now saying, Pastor, don't tell me about heaven. That's not where I am now. But dear friend, you must understand what is coming so you can understand how to live right now. Because there is nothing in your life that is not impacted, not only by the God you serve, but the place that you are going to. and you are to live today, right now, as a citizen of that kingdom. Because you are far more a part of that kingdom than of the world that you live in now. So you need to reflect right now who you will be then. The third truth I want to bring to your focus this morning in this introduction is the fact of what everything is driving to, the fact of what everything that is in existence is driving to. And all of history, all of everything is driving to the kingdom of God. The reality that we live in now, the sin-cursed world is temporary. 1 John 2, 17 tells us the world is passing away and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. And the reality is this world that we live in, all the climate, Crazed people want to tell you that we've got to preserve this world forever because we have no place else to live. Well, let me tell you, let me give you a little clue. God's going to burn it all down. 2 Peter 3, verse 7. Peter says, but by his word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire. Fire. They think you got global warming now? Just wait till then. The present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. The universe is literally going to be, the entire universe, stem to stern, de-created in favor of a new heavens and a new earth that is the ultimate form of the kingdom of God. And that kingdom is eternal. And that's what we are driving to. This is where everything is pushing. In fact, we are inescapably hurtling through time to a certain future in the kingdom of God where he is the central reality of our existence and all things will be new. All things will be new. This is the best new beginning. And I wanna show you that this morning in five headings. Don't worry, only two of them are today. Three are next week, but five headings. Number one, we're gonna call this A New Place. A New Place. Look again at Revelation 21, verses one and two. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. Dear friends, this is a place like nothing you have ever seen or imagined is even possible. Paul begins verse one of chapter 21 by saying, then I saw, that's a technical phrase in the book of Revelation, to indicate a chronological progression. In other words, this is the next phase. This is what's coming right after what he has just described. And so it is good for us to understand where we're at at this time in history. And John is telling us, he's been telling us, if you read the book of Revelation, telling you all throughout the book of Revelation what is coming next, what is in the future for us. And so we want to just take a second and, our perspective from where we are right now, look very quickly, do a like three minute survey of the history of the future to get to the point that we're at in Revelation chapter 21. The scripture tells us that what is coming next, the next thing to happen in history on the prophetic timetable, will be what we call the rapture of the church. And this is where Christ comes to take His entire church, people from, every believer, everyone who's truly embraced Him as Lord and Savior, from everywhere in the world, out of the world to be with him. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 18, it says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. That is what we're looking for next. That is the next event on God's prophetic timetable is that the church will be raptured, will be taken out of this earth. The Lord will descend from heaven. He won't come to the surface of the earth itself, but he will come to the atmosphere around the earth and he will resurrect all who have believed in him from the time of Jesus' ascension until now. And then whatever Christians are alive, if we're alive at that time, we will receive our glorified bodies and we will be quickly snatched away from the earth to meet him in the air. and he will take us to be with him to heaven. That's a heavenly search and rescue mission, where he removes his church because the next event that's coming after that is a seven-year tribulation. And during that time, God is gonna pour out his wrath upon the earth for all its sin and its rebellion and its unbelief. Jesus talks about this time in Matthew 24, verses 21 and 22, Jesus said, for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. So this is the worst tribulation imaginable that could ever happen in humanity. He says, and unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved. In other words, unless God stopped the tribulation when he will in the future, there would be nobody who could possibly survive it. And then Jesus concludes, but for the sake of the elect, for the people of God, those days will be cut short. That's not a day of distress for the church. We're taken out before that happens. We're removed from it. It's a time, really a terrible time, of testing for the nation of Israel. Scripture calls it a time of Jacob, meaning Israel's trouble. Jeremiah 30, verse 7, it says, Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is the time of Jacob's distress. It is the time of Jacob's distress, not the church's distress, Israel's distress. And even so, even in the midst of all of that, there's gonna be a great multitude of people that are saved during that time, and many of God's servants then, during the Great Tribulation, will be martyred for the sake of Christ. Revelation chapter six, verses nine and 10 tells us that. And then at the end of that time is when we have what we call the second coming of Christ, where He will come to this earth. Revelation 19, verse 11, all the way through chapter 20, verse three, talks about that, and there, at that moment, the Lord Jesus Christ will defeat all of the armies of the world that have gathered together against him. He will lock Satan in a place called the Abyss, that's the bottomless pit, for a thousand years. And then Christ will reign on this earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords for a literal 1,000 years. That's Revelation 20, verses four to 10. And then you will have, at the end of the millennium, what's called the great white throne judgment. That's the last thing before we are in our text here in Revelation 21. It's just a few verses earlier in chapter 20, verses 11 through 15. Look at that with me. John writes, then I saw a great white throne and him who sits upon it. From whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them. So that's God decreating the entire universe. The earth doesn't exist anymore at that point. The rest of the universe is destroyed. That's what it means when it says the heavens, earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them. Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. These are the unsaved. And books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds. Again, this is speaking about those who haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The only thing that remains, the basis for God to judge them on is the basis of their own deeds. And every single person that hasn't embraced Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is thrown into hell. Verse 14, it says, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. That brings us up to where we are, the next new beginning. And this describes the literal destruction of the universe. The text tells us no place was found for them anymore. 2 Peter 3, verse 10. Peter says, So all the unsaved are judged. They're thrown into the lake of fire. Satan, who has committed All of his rebellion and acts of aggression against God is thrown into the lake of fire just before that judgment. Now we pick up in chapter 21 verse 1. This is the new beginning. And in verse 1 it tells us that God creates a new heaven and a new earth. God said he would do this, all the way back in the Old Testament, Isaiah 65, verse 17, and Isaiah 66, 22, he told us that he would create a new heaven and a new earth. The book of Hebrews tells us that the first creation will grow old, it will wear out, and the Lord is gonna roll them up, meaning all of creation, and cast them aside like an old garment. Listen to Hebrews 1, verses 10 through 12. Writer of Hebrews says, and you, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. And they all will wear out like a garment, like a mantle you will roll them up, like a garment they will also be changed. But you are the same. Your years will not come to an end. Now Hebrew text is a quote of Psalm 102 verses 25 and 26. The present heavens and the present earth wear out, they grow old, they're useless at this point to God. It says he will roll them up like you and I take off a shirt and roll it up and throw it away. But the new heavens and the new earth, that'll endure forever. Isaiah 66 verse 22, it says, In Isaiah chapter 65 verse 17, Yahweh said that the current creation will be forgotten. We won't even remember the current heavens and current earth. So this is an entirely new creation. The current earth and the current heavens are destroyed, they are gone, they are annihilated, if you will. As I said a moment ago, climate activists believe that they have a problem now with global warming, wait until God incinerates everything. But that's not a problem for us. That's not a problem for those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, because we serve a God who will just create a new universe. He did it as easily as speaking the last time, and he'll do it again. Sin corrupted the original creation. It will be restored to its original state during the millennial kingdom, during the thousand year reign of Christ. He will rule over it and it will all be in subjection to him. So what is this glimpse of the new creation look like? What does John tell us that he sees here in Revelation 21? Well, the first thing he tells us, the first major change that we see is that there is no sea. He says, I saw a new heaven and new earth. The first heaven and first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea. That's a major change. Two thirds of our present world is covered by water. It's covered by water. So if you no longer have a sea, you no longer have a hydrological cycle like you have here. And so the principle of life on this new earth that is, rather the principle of life on this earth now that's governed by water is gonna be completely different from what it will be then. Presently 90% of your blood is water. 65% of your flesh is water. You can't survive without that hydrological cycle going on. But the new heavens and the new earth are based on a completely different principle of existence. It's not water-based anymore. The second feature of the new creation is its capital city that John talks about. And this is incredible. This is the place from which God will govern the universe. The New Jerusalem will be a city unlike anything we have ever known. Chapter 21, verse 16 tells us that its dimensions, its length, its width will be 12,000 stadia, which if you do the math, that's about 1,500 miles long by 1,500 miles wide. And it says it's laid out as a square. That is a massive city. A massive city. Chapter 21 verses 17 to 21 tells us that it is constructed out of precious stones and metals. The walls are made of jasper. The city itself is constructed of gold so pure it's translucent like glass. It's a city made to reflect the beauty of the glory of God as it shines out from him and refracts and reflects through the gold and through the emerald and all of the other precious stones that are there. God is the builder of this city. It's the place that Abraham was looking for. 11 verses 9 and 10 it says, He's telling us that Abraham was walking through this earth in a A dirt environment while he's in his mind knowing that the city he's looking for and the place that he's going to in his future has walls of emerald and is constructed of gold so pure it's translucent. That was his focus. Is it yours? We also know that this city will never have sin in its midst. The entire new heavens and the new earth will never know sin. They will never have it present within them. The new Jerusalem which is part of that new creation is the place that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 14, verses two and three. And he said, when he said, in my father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there, you may be also. That's the new Jerusalem. This is God's central abode. This is the focal point of all eternity because it is where God dwells. It is the place of his throne because it's this city from which he will rule. It's the dwelling place where he will be for the rest of eternity. So understand that when John talks now about this holy city, he's not just talking about, even though we've begun to describe it just a little bit, he's not just talking about the city itself in the physical form, he's talking about the people who inhabit it. So this is a reference to both the physical city and those who dwell in it. It's both the place and its people. And the next language that he has here is stunning. And its implications go into the second part of our sermon. This is amazing. You need to see this this morning. John describes this city as if it were made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. That is stunning language. It is absolutely shocking. Think of this for a moment. In the Old Testament, Israel is described as Yahweh's bride. In the New Testament, the church is described as Christ's bride. That's two different people described as His bride, but the New Testament makes it clear that the church and Israel are separate, yet both groups are known as the people of God. And the Old Testament makes it clear that the millennial kingdom is the kingdom promised to Israel, yet the New Testament also makes it clear that the church gets to enjoy that kingdom because we are Abraham's descendants by faith. That's Galatians 3, verses 8 and 9. What's my point in describing all of that? My point is this. In the new heavens and the new earth, and really in the new Jerusalem, is the first time in all of history that all the people of God are dwelling in security, dwelling saved, dwelling with their glorified bodies. And all of us glorified and all together now as one people of God. So that for the first time, he refers to all of them together as one glorified, glorious bride. And what you need to understand about this is that throughout the Bible, the language of a Jewish wedding process is often what is used to describe how Christ will receive his people in his kingdom. This is an amazing thing. The Jewish wedding was derived primarily of three component parts. The first part is the betrothal. This is roughly equivalent to what we call an engagement in our day and time. But this was a betrothal where the husband and wife are pledged to each other by their parents. In other words, in the Jewish society, the parents choose who their children would marry. That phase for us, as part of Christ's bride, took place before the foundation of the earth, when God chose his elect to be promised to Christ. So the father chose who his son's bride would be. You got that? The second phase is known as the presentation. The presentation, that's when the Jewish bride was presented to the groom at a thing they called the wedding feast. All of history up to this point has been God gathering together this bride for the person of Christ so that he could present her to Christ at the wedding feast. And now, At this point in the book of Revelation, the presentation is what has been in the process of happening. That began when the church was raptured out of the world at the start of the tribulation. That part of his bride was taken out of the world and presented to Christ then. The church portion of the bride was complete then. And what remained was together the rest of the redeemed from Israel and the rest of the Gentiles who would be saved after the church age. And so it's only after that age and after the millennial kingdom and all the resurrections have been complete that the bride has been fully made ready and fully presented to her husband. That is this time when the new Jerusalem comes out of heaven from God to be given to Christ as his bride. At that point then, only the third phase of the marriage remains. And that was known as the consummation. I don't think I need to explain to you what that means. But this is where the bride and the groom know each other fully and intimately in an uninterrupted relationship. And this is when all of God's elect, all of the saved from all the ages, are now fully without sin. And so Christ will fellowship with them without hindrance. And they, meaning you who know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, can fellowship with Him without hindrance. And this is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12, when he says, For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then Face to face. Now I know in part, then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. God knows you fully now. He knows fully who you will be when you are the perfect version of you, when you stand in his presence. And it is them when you are perfect. that you will have perfect fellowship with Him. That's what John's talking about. Now hold on to that thought. We're going to come back to that shortly. Now guess what else is happening here. At this point in eternity, all things are in subjection to Christ. He has conquered it all. He has conquered sin for those who belong to Him by paying the full price of the Father's wrath upon the cross. He's conquered the unbelieving world by their defeat in the tribulation. He's conquered Satan and now imprisoned him in the abyss and now ultimately then delivered him into the lake of fire. And now all of the redeemed of all the ages are fully subject to Him as we will have no more sin to hinder our fellowship with Him ever. All the unsaved of all the ages are also submissive to his judgment because they are in hell with their father, Satan. And Christ has caused literally everything everywhere to be made submissive to him. And he is reigning as king over every millimeter of the universe. Everything at this point is in full submission and obedience to him. And so now he as king then hands the kingdom over to the father. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 24 to 28. Paul writes, then comes the end, when he, meaning Christ, hands the kingdom to the God and Father. When he has abolished all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says all things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is accepted who put all things in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him, then the son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. This is the son having taken everything, placed it into the subjection to him, and then him handing the kingdom back up to the father. He has defeated every enemy. He has handed the kingdom over to the father. And what is left, I ask you for the son to do at that point, but to enjoy his bride. That's our new place. Second, I want you to see our new existence. Look at verse three. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them. Do you hear the repeat? The beginning of verse 3, John says, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold. That's a statement of shock. Look, see, behold. You can't miss this, in other words, John is saying. This is a wondrous sight. And the wondrous sight is this, that God Himself has been waiting thousands of years for this moment. This is the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 verse 24 where he says, That's the prayer he prayed on the night before he went to the cross to redeem everyone who would ever belong to him. Everyone that you've given me, everyone that I'm about to die for, Father, I desire, I long, that's what that word means. I long to be with those that you've given me so they can experience my glory in full. He's praying, Father, give me my bride. I want to know her fully and for her to fully know me with no hindrance. And you say, but pastor, those of us who are saved, we come to faith in Christ. We have a relationship with him now. Yes, you do. But even after salvation, you still sin, don't you? Even after you've trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you still sin. And it's sin that prevents us from fully knowing Christ as we should. But then, and then and forever, we will never be hindered in that way again. Never separated. There will never be a lack of full, unhindered fellowship with Him. Again, look at the language he used in verse 3. The tabernacle of God is among men. He will dwell among them. God Himself will be among them. Three times in one verse. And He does that to show and to accentuate the oneness of Yahweh together with His beloved. And He is and always will be among them. That is God's glorious presence with us. That's the fulfillment of all of Christ's desire in that prayer that we just read from John 17. And it should be the fulfillment of your desire also. It's what Asaph craved when he wrote this in Psalm 73, verses 25 and 26. He said, whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is my heart. God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. It's what Moses craved in Exodus 33, verse 18, when he asked of God, when he begged Him, it says, then Moses said, I pray You, show me Your glory. I want to see You. I want to know You. I want to know You in the fullest possible measure that I possibly can. It's what the sons of Korah wrote about in Psalm 42, verses one and two, where they wrote, as the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? There is nothing else, nor is there anyone else. in this universe that can fulfill that desire. Only God can fulfill that longing. And it is when you try to fulfill that desire for God in anything or anyone else that it becomes idolatry. Your fulfillment is only in Him. Your full fellowship is only in Him. To be known fully and to know Him fully, that's only in Him. It doesn't come in any other way or through anybody else. And that's why God is so jealous for you. And you seeking fulfillment that only He can give in any other thing. You are His, like a husband and wife belong to each other, but in a far deeper way. Marriage is just the illustration of it, isn't it? I mean, think back to the imagery of the Jewish wedding that we were talking about earlier. This is, as we've talked about, described as the consummation because it is the full, unhindered embrace of God with those He loves. And this relationship between Christ and His people is the most intimate relationship that there could ever be. And that's why marriage, as wonderful as it is, is just the illustration, it is the shadow of this relationship that is to come. This is God and His bride. with no barriers between the two of them. Both one with the full embrace of the other. Both will know and enjoy full fellowship and joy with each other without the hindrance of sin in the way. This is the relationship that the intimacy of marriage is the illustration of. The one flesh union between a man and his wife is just the shadow of how wonderful this future union with God will be. But does that help you to see why marital intimacy is so sacred to God? Because it's the picture of His union between Him and His people. And when it's broken by something outside of marriage, or when it's hindered by abstinence in marriage, then it ceases to function as the picture of the union between Christ and His people. Marriage matters to God. Now, in the day in which we live, in the present age, in our time, we have moments of fear in our relationship with God because of sin, don't we? But at this point, that will never happen again. Both God and redeemed humanity will have full transparency with each other. We will enjoy fellowship as God intended it to be forever. And just as Genesis 2.25 described Adam and Eve's unhindered relationship with each other as naked and unashamed, and they could be unashamed because they had no sin at that point, so our relationship with God will be. Unashamed, nothing to hide. Nothing to hide. We have no sin and thus nothing to be ashamed of or to try to hide from him. And we will be in full fellowship with God without having to fear his holiness. We'll never recoil from his presence again. Do you see why he chose marriage to be the perfect picture of the relationship between Christ and his church? Just as there's no hiding what you are from your spouse, in the full giving over of one spouse to the other in the intimacy of marriage, so we will know and be fully known. There is nothing in us that we will be afraid to fully show to God. There will be complete confidence and transparency in our intimacy of fellowship with Him. And that's what the intimacy of marriage is to be too, isn't it? Why? Because it reflects, in a much lesser way, the perfection of the union that our union with Christ will be. Now to be clear, God knows fully who you are now. And as His people, we understand that, but we also understand that Christ took the penalty for our sin and He took our shame as well, but the reality is that we still sin, and so even though our sin is paid for and our shame is removed, we still sin and that hinders our fellowship with Him. But when we get here, there's never going to be any of that ever again. Never a reason for you to try to hide anything from God. Even when you try it now, it's about as effective as Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves together to try to hide their sin from God, isn't it? It didn't work for them, it won't work for you either. So what do we do with this? What are a couple ways we can apply all of this? Other than saying I crave that day. Well, number one, let me ask you the question. Do you long for the fellowship that you have with God in heaven? Or do you love the things of the world more? Do you crave that time when you can finally be with Christ without sin? Do you cherish him above every other thing that there is? every other relationship that there is or could ever be? Do you crave heaven? Second, and this should be an obvious application, is obedience. Obedience. See, if that marvelous fellowship with God that we're going to enjoy in heaven is the result of us being sinless and perfectly obedient, then then this is an obvious application of this, isn't it? The more you can be obedient to him now, the more you will understand the amazing intimacy that you will have with him then. And I hope that that gives you new context to Jesus' words in John 14, verse 15, when Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Oh, and then listen to this, just six verses later in John 14, verse 21, listen to these amazing words of Christ. He said, he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. You said, well, he just told us that. He did, but he goes on, listen. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him, watch this, and will disclose myself to him. That's not talking about in heaven, that's talking about right now. Your love for Jesus is seen in your obedience to him. And when you obey, when you are more like what you will be in heaven, guess what Jesus does? He discloses himself to us. The word disclosed means to lay open, to be able to view, to make visible. The more we're obedient, the more that we are driven by a heart of love, the more that Christ will reveal of himself to us now. The more obedient you are, now listen to me carefully, not as a legalistic prescription to try to impress God, but the more you obey as an expression of a heart of love, the more your life will be now what it will be like in heaven. The more you obey from a heart of love, the more you're craving to know Him will be fulfilled. And yet at the same time, the more it will long for that perfect fellowship that's to come, that you will only know then. A new place, a new existence. I have three more points. I am out of time. But I'm going to show those to you next week. But for today, Is it enough for you to start your new year longing for the best new beginning to come? Is knowing that this is what's in store for us enough for you to make it through one more year? Paul told us this in 2 Corinthians 4 verses 17 and 18. He said, for momentary light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. He's talking about what you will experience, what you will know of God when you are with him in heaven. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Hold on, beloved. The best, by far, is waiting for us when we see Christ. Obey him from a heart of love. And this is just a glimpse of what is ahead. And what a joy that we can begin to see a taste of even now. Let's pray. Father, we long to be with you. We long to be with Christ. And we long to be with you and with Christ without sin so that we can fully enjoy you and know your joy in fully enjoying who we are. And the glory and beauty of being able to do that and to know that for all eternity. Father, help us to have the heart of the psalmist that says, as the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you. This is our longing. We can't wait for that day when you'll make it real. Not just something that we hope for in the future, but something we'll realize. That's the best new beginning we could imagine. Thank you for it, in Jesus' name, amen.