There are urban myths about heaven. For instance, when you die you turn into an angel, or your relatives who have died before you become your guardian angels while you're left on the earth, or you'll be sitting on a cloud playing a harp for millions of years.
We've covered that. You'll be bored out of your mind. Another one is that you don't go to heaven first.
You first have to go to a place to burn off all of your sins, and after a period of time then you are released to get into heaven. All of these are legends, and all of these are the product of our imagination. It's all made up. Fairy tales and the Bible actually have a lot of similarities and one major difference. Fairy tales and the Bible both tell a story of great love, a great evil trying to destroy that love, and of a bold hero who sacrifices all to protect and save that love so one day everyone will live happily ever after. The major difference between fairy tales and the Bible is that the story the Bible tells is all true. It's a fact, not fiction. And Skip Heitzig talks about that more today here on Connect with Skip Weekend Edition.
But first, this update from the Connect with Skip Resource Center. What would it look like if God threw a party? Well, the Old Testament shows that the Jewish calendar is anchored with regular mandatory holidays and celebrations, and the Book of Esther says that God wants his people to experience light and gladness, joy and honor at such times.
Sound like your family celebrations? Listen to this insight from Skip Heitzig about one of our own regular holidays, Valentine's Day. It's for God so loved. That's the essence of his nature. The Bible says God is love. Boy, that is so simple to say, and it's so hard for some of us to believe. Happiness, Holiness and Holidays is a four DVD collection of celebration messages from Pastor Skip, messages that could be a game changer for your family. Take holidays from toxic stress to celebrations of light and joy.
Here's a sample. You are loved by God, not because you deserve it, but because, just because. That is his nature.
It is his decision. Imagine that foundation for the next holiday on your family calendar. This selection of some of Pastor Skip's holiday teachings is our thanks when you give $25 or more to help connect more people to God's word.
Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy of Happiness, Holiness and Holidays with Skip Heitzig. We're going to move a little further into Revelation today. So open your Bibles to chapter 21 and let's join Skip Heitzig as he shares some urban legends with us. You probably by now know what an urban legend is. An urban legend is a modern story. It's folklore.
Parts of it may be true, but much of it is completely false or partially false because it's been retold so many times. And these come in the form, all sorts of different forms. Some of them are photographs.
For instance, this picture, which we're going to show is the picture of, look at that, how would you like to be that guy? This huge shark jumping out of the water to get this British naval officer in its training exercises. That's false. That never happened. It's circulated on the internet with the words, this is real, dude, check it out.
It's not real. That is an urban legend. Or like this next picture, you look at this, that's a moose up on a power pole. Pretty good moose, huh, to climb that thing? 50 feet in the air.
Now that happens to be true actually. What happened is they were laying the power cables. They do it on the ground. The moose got the antlers stuck in the power cables.
These huge machines lift up the cables for miles and that moose was partially raptured in the process until they had to get it down. And besides pictures, there are stories that are urban myths, false information, false claims that go out often by email. For instance, I came across one recently, the claim that an egg can be cooked by placing it in between two active cell phones. That's a myth.
Can't happen, has never happened. It's an urban legend, videos or no videos. And the idea is that if microwave radiation emitted by cell phones can cook an egg, imagine what it can do to your brain. It's a myth, urban legend. Another one is that Bill Gates is giving money away.
Trust me, that's a myth. The story says that internet users will be given cash if they forward messages to test Microsoft's email tracking system. Listen, Bill Gates isn't going to give money randomly to people who forward email messages to people.
In fact, his response to this whole fiasco is this, this is more annoying than spam. Now if people, here's my point, if people have misconceptions about life on earth, imagine what kind of misconceptions they have about life in heaven, urban legends about heaven. And we've seen a few of those. It's actually estimated that 40 percent of the people in one poll believe that heaven is a real place, while 47 percent believe that heaven is simply a state of being. Of those who believe in heaven, 25 percent say that those who are good get into heaven, 10 percent say everyone gets into heaven. And we've even discovered that among those who are born-again Christians, who trust that you have to believe in Jesus Christ in order to get into heaven, even among them there are urban myths about heaven.
For instance, when you die you turn into an angel, or your relatives who have died before you become your guardian angels while you're left on the earth, or you'll be sitting on a cloud playing a harp for millions of years, we've covered that, you'll be bored out of your mind. Another one is that you don't go to heaven first, you first have to go to a place to burn off all of your sins, and after a period of time then you are released to get into heaven. All of these are legends, and all of these are the product of our imagination.
It's all made up. That's why if you want to get the scoop on heaven, you have to turn, I have to turn to God's revelation about heaven. Not our imagination, God's revelation. Because in the Bible over 500 times the word heaven appears, over 700 times when you add the plural of the usage of heaven. And today I want you to look with me at eight verses in Revelation 21 at a message that I'm calling six things that will surprise you about heaven.
Maybe I should restate that. Six things that may surprise you about heaven. We've already seen a few surprises. One surprise perhaps that some of you have encountered so far is that heaven is not a one-stop shopping experience. That there are different phases and different stages to your eternal dwelling.
If you were to die today your spirit would immediately go into the presence of God, you'd be there in His presence, you'd behold His throne, you would await your bodily resurrection that happens at the rapture of the church. At that point you receive a resurrected body. After that at some point you will come back to this earth with Jesus Christ at His second coming and for a thousand years rule and reign with Him in the millennial kingdom. And then after that comes the eternal state, the eternal dwelling place of all of God's people. Well that's what we're dealing with here in chapter 21. Chapter 21 the rapture is passed, the tribulation is passed, the second coming is passed, the millennium is passed and now we enter to that final eternal phase called the new heaven and the new earth. Now some of you will remember Star Trek.
In fact I'm looking at a few people who are hardcore Trekkies maybe. So you already know where I'm going with this but how does every episode or how did it open up? Space the yeah and it's not. Heaven, the new heaven and the new earth is the final frontier. This is eternity after the millennial kingdom. So let's go to chapter 21 and and here's the first surprise that some of you may get regarding heaven. Number one it's going to require destruction. Verse one and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
So keep in mind where we're at. After 1000 years reigning with Jesus Christ on an earth that has been made over, that's the millennium, after all that is done then the entire universe will be destroyed. Everything in the created order as we know it will be gone.
Go back to chapter 20. Look at verse 11. This is now after the millennium. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. The earth gets uncreated, de-created, totally obliterated and there's a lot of references throughout the bible about this.
For example in Hebrews chapter 1 it uses a very colorful description. God will fold them up like a cloak to discard them and things will be changed. In Matthew 24 Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away. In other words this present universe will have an end. It's sort of interesting up until this last century the prevailing cosmology among many in the scientific community was called the steady state theory that basically said the universe is eternal. Never had a beginning, never had an end.
It just continues. Then we made discoveries. For instance the sun. The radiation from our sun is produced by the loss of the sun. By the loss of mass the sun loses four million two hundred thousand tons of mass every second.
What does that mean? Eventually there's not going to be any mass left. Eventually it's going to wear out, run out, run down. If it had an end then it must have had a beginning and so it is with all of the universe and this earth is designed to be temporary. It was made it will end and it will end when God wants it to end and it will end at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ.
So one of the questions is what holds it all together? Well Paul answers it in Colossians chapter 1. He says look Jesus Christ is the creator of everything in heaven and on earth visible and invisible. He goes on to say this Colossians 1 17. He Jesus is before all things. He's eternal and in him in Jesus all things that are created in heaven and earth all things consist. The word consist means they're held tightly together. They're they cohere because in Christ everything is held together.
So Jesus Christ took the chaos the unformed mass and made it into a cosmos ordered systems that we now enjoy and he holds it all together. We know that matter is made up of rapidly moving particles with opposite charges. However listen to Dr. Lee Chestnut who wrote a little piece called the atom speaks where he says consider the dilemma of the nuclear physicist when he finally looks in utter amazement at the pattern he is now drawn of the oxygen nucleus. For here are eight positively charged protons closely associated together within the confines of this tiny nucleus. With them are eight neutrons a total of 16 particles eight positively charged and eight with no charge. Earlier physicists had discovered that like charges of electricity and like magnetic poles repel each other and unlike charges or magnetic poles attract each other and the entire history of electrical phenomena and electrical equipment had been built upon these principles known as Coulomb's law of electrostatic force and the law of magnetism.
So what was wrong? What holds the nucleus together? Why doesn't it fly apart and therefore why do not all atoms fly apart? Well the short answer Paul would say is I know that Jesus Christ created it and he holds it all together it consists in him. Question what if he lets go? Answer he will and when he does everything will collapse everything will be destroyed everything will be destroyed. Now some of you might ask wait a minute didn't God promise Noah that he would never again destroy the earth?
Nope he never promised that. Read the fine print God said he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. That's the fine print never again with a flood but he will destroy it with fire. So turn with me from Revelation 21 go back to 2nd Peter chapter 3 just turn left go a few blocks you'll see 2nd Peter chapter 3. Boy I wish we had time to really talk about the relationship of 2nd Peter 3 and Revelation 20 and 21 we just don't I want to show you a few verses however. Verse 7 2nd Peter 3 but the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So we just got through saying in the first part of the chapter the earth was destroyed by water now fire. Verse 10 but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up therefore since all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
Boy that's a great question isn't it? Hey if everything material is going to burn up what kind of a person ought you to be? Certainly not materialistic right you should have an eternal focus since everything in this world will have an end. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the earth will be which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat and nevertheless we according to his promise look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. So whereas the first earth was destroyed by water during Noah's time and the millennial earth will then be destroyed by fire that's the recreated original earth it will be destroyed never to come back again so that may surprise some in heaven that it will require destruction. Number two this might surprise you heaven at this point will take on a whole new fresh design it's not a renovation it's not a recreation it's brand new. Verse one and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away also there was no more sea. Then I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So we got new heaven got new earth now we got new Jerusalem now look at verse five it's a summary statement of all this then he who sat on the throne said behold or check it out I make all things new and he said and he said to me write for these words are true and faithful. So you get the scope of things the entire universe as we know it will be obliterated and at that point God makes something brand new totally different. The word for new by the way is kainos in Greek not naos. Naos would mean new chronologically kainos means it's totally different than the other one totally different a new kind of fresh new totally brand new design not land improvement not renovation completely new materials new atmosphere. I heard about a scientist who was very arrogant and he looked up to the sky and he said okay God I know that you made life but you must feel very outdated by now because we have made so many advancements and we can like run the universe without you we really don't need you anymore we can do everything you can do. So God spoke to him and said I challenge you to a contest scientists said done God reaches down takes a handful of dirt blows on it an exotic bird is created flies away magnificent so a scientist closes his eyes takes in a deep breath realizing okay I've mastered all the principles of soil manipulation and biological cloning here goes reaches down gets a handful of dirt God goes not so fast get your own dirt you can manipulate what I've made but I've made it it's my stuff and all of God's original stuff will be de-created and in its place will come and in its place will come something new and totally different new all things new we love new things kids love new toys we grow up we still like new toys new homes new cars new clothes but the problem is everything we get now that's new becomes un-new very quickly right because we live in this universe that has the law of entropy and things lose their luster lose their shine break down decay there was a period in my early Christian walk I'll never forget it it was a couple months it seemed that every single thing that I got that was new got scratched or dinged or broken I was like on a losing streak I bought a new camera I'd saved up for first day home out of the car I get up it falls on the driveway and dings the prism still worked damaged goods get a new surfboard a week later first time I paddled out another surfboard hit it hole right in the middle of it a couple weeks later get a new guitar scratched the first week it's like God was saying see that's the future of this earth it's all going to burn it's all going to wear out this is a fresh design Isaiah 66 verse 22 the Lord says I will make new heavens and a new earth which will last for ever by the way this may surprise some the new heaven and the new earth the new Jerusalem it's real it's physical it has size texture color dimension it's not wispy ethereal spiritual where you run around in a disembodied spirit you'll have a spirit you'll have a body a physical body with new capabilities in a real physical world called the new heaven and the new earth so I guess the real question is are you going to get your piece of heaven the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ and I hope you're starting to see that there's so much more to heaven than most urban legends have led us to believe heaven is going to be far more wonderful and spectacular than anything you can imagine now would be a good time to get dibs on your piece of it through Jesus Christ now if you'd like a copy of today's teaching it's available on cd for just six dollars plus shipping or you can get the entire series from the edge of eternity for only thirty nine dollars plus shipping just call 1-800-922-1888 to place your order and we'd be happy to send a copy for you or for you to share with someone you know you can also order online at connectwithskip.com we'll talk more about these surprising elements of heaven next time so I hope you'll set aside some time to join us here in connect with Skip weekend edition a presentation of connection communications connection connection connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times
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