Light on the Hill

Jane: The New Jerusalem, what will it be like? Find out next on Light on the Hill.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you because all I need is you. All I need is you.

Jane: A new world is coming, and it has nothing to do with the change in this world. A new time will come when God will create a new heaven and a new earth. What will that look like? Can we possibly know the answer to that? What does it all mean for us? Find out what awaits us as believers in Christ today on Light on the Hill. You can be sure what is coming is incredible. Here's Pastor James Kaddis.

James Kaddis: Revelation chapter 21, I love this chapter. I think this chapter is great. By the way, I cannot think of a better time than to be going over a chapter like this, especially considering the insanity that we are looking at right now and the world in which we are living. Revelation chapter 21 speaks of what God actually does best. What is it that God does best? He actually creates new beginnings for us. He is the God of new beginnings. What he does best is he is a God of restoration, he is a God of beauty, he is a God that restores to us something that is remarkable.

What I love especially about teaching Bible prophecy is virtually all of what I deal with when I talk about Bible prophecy brings us back to one very powerful, one unique, and one very important element, and that is this: we have hope. I have been saying so much of what I have been saying for so long, and all of it is beginning to materialize. A lot of the things that I have been saying over the last several years, people are not calling me crazy over those things anymore. Instead, they're saying it's crazy to see that these things are actually manifesting.

It was funny yesterday at my family gathering, there were family members that early, I would probably say three or four years ago, even five years ago, were getting very angry by the fact that I was saying a lot of the things that I was saying, especially from within the context of Bible teaching. They didn't really understand the discussion of Bible prophecy and what it means within the context of what we were walking into. Now it's really interesting at this gathering where I haven't talked to some of these family members in a long time, they're just looking at me like, "Yeah, you were right. Not only were you right, but we have to do something about this." I have been saying this for years. It's just not something that is a new concept.

The reality of it is, and this is the element that they're not quite seeing right now, but they're going to see it because of their newly sparked interest in all of this, they're going to see it very quickly. As doom and gloom as all of this feels like, as doom and gloom and crazy as all of this is, you have to understand that the culmination of it all when it comes to Bible prophecy is understood in what we know from the Psalms and understood from what we know in the Bible as a whole, and understood in the book of Revelation, and understood in what we know in the Old Testament. In the volume of the book, it is written of Jesus.

When we understand the idea that the very core, the very spirit of Bible prophecy brings us back to Christ, then you have to know and you have to understand that Christ was a man who lived a perfect life. He was then crucified, he was buried and rose again. The powerful part of the resurrection centers around the idea that because he actually took on our punishment, we get the opportunity to be able to get credit for the perfect life that he lived. That translates to us as a new beginning for all of us. Every single one of us has a new beginning. We are given a new identity by the Lord.

We have a new life that's been given to us by the Lord. We're not the same person that we used to be. In every mistake that we've ever made, there's reconciliation for it. There's the fact that we have a God that loves us so much that he is going to bring to us the type of restoration that we can't even begin to imagine what it's going to end up looking like. It's interesting to think about the discussions that relate to heaven and how so many people can't even begin to conceive what heaven would look like.

I oftentimes find some interest in listening to people talk about these near-death experiences that they had. Oftentimes, one of the things that happens with near-death experiences is there's an eye-opening moment where they recognize they're not going to die after actually realizing that they were going to die just a second ago. It causes them to think about something that is very different than they've ever thought about before. It causes them to think about the fact that there's something spiritual in front of them that they never actually considered. As a result of that, they begin to think about things they've never thought about before.

When you get to that point and you begin to understand that there's something more, there's something deeper than the very material life that we live in this day, you begin to change everything about your outlook. Actually, this is the reason why I am so irritated by these people that want to continue to make money off of trying to describe to you what heaven looks like and what heaven is about. We can't possibly know because there's nothing in the human language, and this is the Apostle Paul telling us this, there's nothing in the human language that could give us any real depth of knowledge as to what we're going to experience when we're in heaven.

Back in the day in my younger years, I spent a lot of time with guys that surfed a lot. That's the story of Calvary Chapel. Calvary Chapel Signal Hill doesn't have a lot of surfers here, at least in our church, but at Calvary Chapel Downey, every other person was a surfer. As a matter of fact, you never did a Saturday morning Bible study that was early in the morning or early morning Saturday prayer meeting because everybody was surfing. That was the way it was.

The first time I went through the book of Revelation and we got to this part of the book of Revelation and we began to describe a little bit of what to expect into eternity, you'd have these surfers that would just lose their minds because there's no water. What does that mean? The one thing that I have to try to explain to people is here's the thing that you have to understand. I can't expect you to understand it because I don't understand it. None of us are ever going to understand it. If something is taken away from the description of heaven that you really enjoy here, just understand this: what you get instead is going to be something far greater than anything you've ever gotten out of the water.

I get this question a lot by people who lose their spouses, and they talk about the idea of what my relationship with my wife or my husband is going to be like when we're in heaven, or what my relationship with my child going to be like if they lost their child when they're in heaven. There's this massive amount of apprehension that comes with the idea that relationships are not going to be quite the same as they are here. A lot of people are worried. Parents are worried that they're not going to have the same bond with their children, or spouses are worried that they're not going to have the same sort of bond with their spouses.

Because it's not the same, they think it's not going to exist or nothing like that is even going to be. I can't begin to emphasize the fact that whatever is taken away in your understanding of what you're going to experience in heaven is going to be given back to you in a way that your very language, human language, cannot even begin to describe it. Do you enjoy the marriage relationship that you have with your spouse? Do you enjoy the relationship that you have with your children? Take every wonderful and blessed aspect of that relationship and multiply it so many times that you can't even begin to describe it, and there you have heaven.

This is a thing that's very difficult for people to understand because these are unfathomable concepts. These are concepts that we cannot really articulate in our own minds because there is no linguistic mechanism or structure to be able to describe it. It's far past our capacity or knowledge or understanding to recognize what that looks like. It's far beyond our capacity. When you live in a world where the very floors, literally the ground, the asphalt, is gold, you have to understand that means that gold is nominal in heaven.

When you look at the description of gold throughout the Bible, gold throughout the Bible is being viewed as something of great value and something that is a sign of the blessing of God in many contexts, and oftentimes is something that is associated with believers that God intends to bless them with. As a matter of fact, even in the Garden of Eden, you read the description of gold in one very specific context. Understand the idea or understand the fact that when you're in heaven, gold, one of the most valuable assets that anybody might have right now in this world, one of the most precious metals in the world right now, is literally asphalt.

Think about it. You don't look at asphalt and think, "Oh, that's so precious." I don't walk out on the parking lot and go, "Wow, that's so valuable. Give me a chisel and let me tear this stuff up. I could use some of that, I could save it." It doesn't work that way. People are not going to be that way because that's the way heaven is. Heaven is going to be spectacular. There's a few things that we have to understand. God is a God of new beginnings. God is a God that restores. Not only restores, but God is a God who goes beyond what anybody may even begin to expect with respect to restoration.

The description that God is giving us here and what he's telling us is remarkable because everything's done now at this point. The Millennial reign is over with. All of the things that were associated with God's judgment on a lost and dying world, the rebellion of mankind has taken place. You just look at it all and you just realize, "Okay, it's all over." Now we begin to see a description of what is actually going to happen. By the way, we're reminded of how God will treat unrighteousness in the very last verse that we're in.

When I was a kid, the very last verse that we're going to read today was a song, and it was never really understood. The depths of it was never understood. As a matter of fact, it was a song that people used to threaten me with when I was a kid, and it was a song that just always stuck in my head. You want to know how it went? It went like this. It went: Revelation, Revelation 21:8, 21:8. Liars go to hell, liars go to hell. Burn, burn, burn, turn or burn. This was a song Sunday school teachers would sing to you. They taught it to you when you were in class. This was a very normal thing. I kind of sing it every now and then to taunt evildoers, but I probably shouldn't do that.

The point is that Revelation 21:8, as you're going to find out at the end of this Bible study, really isn't designed to do that. It's designed to actually provide a reassurance of the depth of God's creation in the newness that we're going to experience of all that is him. That's a really important thing to understand that. Let's get into this because you're going to love what we read here. It's really encouraging and really exciting. Look at what it says in verse 1. It says this, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." This is where the surfers get upset. The sea is gone. What does all that mean? Wherever you see that happening in the context of heaven, well, there's no more of this. Whatever God puts in its place is so much better that no one's going to ever worry about anything like that.

Let's talk about something that I think is very, very significant and something that is asked a lot by a lot of people and certainly a question that I would ask when I read a verse like this. I love the why questions sometimes. I actually think God likes the why questions. We've talked about this before. We don't go to the Lord and say "why" when in the imposition of such a question we're actually laying a charge on God. You don't go to God and say, "Well, Lord, if you really loved me, then why?" or, "God, if you really cared, then why would you allow?" Those aren't questions that are real questions. In essence, those are statements, very rhetorical statements, and they're accusatory in nature.

There's nothing wrong with saying, "God, I don't understand why you would do this, or why did you make this decision, or why would this happen?" Here's my big question. We'll get into the new heaven and new earth issue in just a second. Why in the world would God wait for the thousand-year reign to go by before he created a new heaven and a new earth? It doesn't make sense. It almost feels like this thousand years is like a redundant period because for a thousand years, there's bliss on the earth that takes place. It's really a very different time on the earth, much different than anything else anybody has ever seen.

Satan is bound up. Christ is ruling with an iron fist. There's a whole bunch of enforcers that are working with him. We're those enforcers. It's a very special time. Yet at the end of the thousand-year reign, there's still a rebellion. At the end of the rebellion, there is a massive arm of justice that is extended, and all these people that rebel against God die. So here's my thought. Why go through all that drama? Is that a fair question? Most of you agree with me. The other ones of you are either asleep or not paying attention, but that's okay. I understand that.

I think it's a reasonable question to ask. Why in the world would God let that happen? I had to think about it. I had to really deeply ponder the theological implications of why God would do something like this. Remember what I've told you. I've been saying it again and again. The answer that I'm going to give you is not something that is just new all of a sudden. There are some people who have taught this including very, very early on in early church history.

I'll tell you the reason why it doesn't get talked about and the reason why it isn't discussed. Number one, there's a lot of laziness in the pulpit and there's not a lot of guys that are asking this question. If they are asking this question, they're not taking time to answer it correctly, and they're not spending the time digging deep, and they're not taking the time to research it and understand it and get a really powerful grip on what's going on. That's one reason.

The other reason why, and I think this is also critically true, is that there is this weird stigma. Let's just call it a very spiritually oriented stigma, spiritual warfare thing that keeps people from studying stuff like this. The reality of it is, in a world and in a day right now where there's lots of guys that are using ChatGPT to actually write their Bible studies, you're never going to get stuff like this out. But if you stop for a moment and you think about this, you deeply think about it, let me bring you back to a statement that I've been making again and again. If you understand the Old Testament, then you are going to very much understand the book of Revelation.

The deeper your understanding of the Old Testament becomes, then the more aware you're going to be about the things that are being communicated in the book of Revelation. There's a perfect explanation as to why God would allow the thousand-year reign. It makes perfect sense to me. Absolute perfect sense. It goes back to God's desire to restore. It goes back to God's literal heart to want to restore things back to the way that they needed to be, and it was a requirement. This was a requirement of God to actually do. This thousand-year reign was a requirement of God to actually do in order to create the new heaven and the new earth.

There's no way God can create a new heaven or a new earth if there's not a Millennial reign. Why? Really simple. Shall we get into it? It's really easy. God's intent for Adam and Eve was to do what? God's intent for Adam and Eve, as he put them together as a married couple, his intent for Adam and Eve was to rule the earth. His intent for Adam and Eve was to be the God that would rule them as they ruled over the affairs of the earth.

Genesis chapter 1 says that we were created in God's likeness and image, and then God gives five very specific commands to Adam and Eve. He says number one, be fruitful. He says number two, multiply. He talks about the idea of not just being fruitful and multiply, he says subdue, have dominion over, and replenish. Five commands: be fruitful, multiply, subdue, have dominion over, replenish. Those are the commands that he gives in Genesis chapter 1. The problem is this: Satan comes in and overwhelms every single plan that God had in that moment successfully by allowing or by convincing or deceiving Eve to do something which eventually led to the rebellion of one man.

Nothing is new under the sun because if you stop for one moment and you consider the original sin that took place. Let me tell you what happened with the original sin. Man rebelled against God, but when it comes to the original sin, do you know what really took place? This is really important because part of man's rebellion against God centers around this fact, and please listen to me. Mankind chose to listen to the creation more than it listened to the Creator.

The devil spoke through a created being. That created being, that snake in essence, that serpent, came and spoke to Eve, and the very moment Adam and Eve chose to disobey what God told them to do in their initial responsibility, rule over and have dominion. If you're ruling over and having dominion and you're subduing and you're replenishing and you're multiplying and you're being fruitful, you're not going to take the time to talk to the creation that you're actually supposed to subdue and have dominion over. You're not.

Instead, they chose to create a dialogue between God's creation and themselves and they listened to the creation more than the Creator. They worshiped creation more than they worshiped the Creator and it ripped them off of what God intended for them. What happened here was that God intended for them to rule over and have dominion over. God wanted them to do it, but they were disqualified from it.

That was the first Adam. The Bible in the book of Romans calls Jesus Christ not the second Adam. The second Adam wouldn't make sense. The book of Romans calls Jesus the last Adam. I want everybody to make that connection. He's referred to as the last Adam. Why the Millennial reign? Because the last Adam, like the first Adam, will have an opportunity to rule over the earth with his bride.

The first Adam was given an opportunity to rule over the earth with his bride, and his bride was deceived by Satan and he chose to disobey. The last Adam will rule over this earth for a thousand years with his bride, the church, while being subjected to the will of the Father. That will be done successfully. When it is done successfully and the rebellion ensues that's led by the serpent, and we as God's church will not listen to that creation anymore, then the serpent will be destroyed, thrown into the lake of fire with everybody that rebelled against God.

At that point, when God has finally executed the purpose that he intended to execute for the earth, the one that we live in right now, then he'll completely wipe the earth out as we know it, completely destroy the earth and destroy the heaven, and create a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more such influence, where there could be nothing like that. Do you guys understand now why the Millennial reign? If you begin to understand the reason why, then you also begin to understand the fact that it is also part of God's job, God's desire, God's responsibility, God's effect in doing something really important, and that is this: making sure that we will no longer see the effects of sin and death.

You understand the effects of sin and death still exist during the thousand-year reign. There will be people that will die during the thousand-year reign. There will be rebellion. We have to understand the idea of sin and death being obliterated can only be obliterated if the heaven and the earth is obliterated and a new one is actually created. God cannot do that unless he is able to successfully accomplish the original purpose in which he created the heaven and the earth for. Only then will he destroy the existing heaven and the earth and create a new heaven and the earth. For those of you that actually believe that there's no way that that would be the reason why he would create a new heaven and a new earth, wouldn't it be interesting to consider or think that we're about to read a verse that tells us he'll wipe away every tear?

Jane: You're listening to Pastor James Kaddis on Light on the Hill. Pastor James is back with us now. Do you think this New Jerusalem exists right now? And is it possible Christians who die now are living there, or do they go somewhere else?

James Kaddis: No, I think the New Jerusalem is something that's going to be built and created by God by his hands at a future point.

Jane: That's amazing. Thanks, Pastor James. As we go through this study of Revelation, there may come a time when you miss a message or would just like to hear a program again. If so, visit lightonthehillradio.com and click on radio or listen through our app. We have a Light on the Hill app available for iPhone and Android users. Just search for Calvary Chapel Signal Hill. Here's Pastor James once again to share something very exciting with all of you.

James Kaddis: Exciting that is, Jane. I got to tell you, this is a project that has been three years in the making, and we are excited to bring it to you. It is called The Last Book. Yes, it is my writing on the book of Revelation, and I am excited to bring this commentary. I am going to educate you through the Old Testament, all of the passages that are relevant to understanding this powerful New Testament book, and I can tell you this right now, you are going to be blessed.

In this book, we go through the first 11 chapters of the book of Revelation, and about six months from now, you will see the other book coming out. We've already been working on it. We've been working on it for years, and I'm thrilled to give it to you because I know based on what the Bible says, you will be immensely blessed for studying it. It is the only book in the Bible that actually promises you directly to be blessed for studying it and for doing what it says. It is my hope and my prayer that God will be honored and you'll be blessed.

Jane: The Last Book by Pastor James Kaddis is available on Amazon, at lightonthehillradio.com, or jameskaddis.com. Light on the Hill is heard all around the world and it takes a team to bring these shows to the radio and internet. With your help, we're able to reach people with the truth of God's word at a time when they really need to hear it.

You can donate today at lightonthehillradio.com. You can also give through our Light on the Hill app. Our study of Revelation will continue next time on Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis. Remember as a Christian, you are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you because all I need is you. All I need is you.