GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 21 ~ ~ Revelation 21:1 ~ ~ “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more”

From the book, We Shall See God, with writings from Charles Spurgeon, Randy Alcorn, and, today, adding excerpts from the book “The  Wonder of Heaven” by Ron Rhodes.

“AND THE SEA WAS NO MORE” – Part 1

SPURGEON:

If you’ve ever spent a leisurely day on a golden beach or sailed across the vast ocean or observed the beauty of  God’s underwater creatures, you may be surprised that John, taken in a vision to the far future, says that on the new earth “the sea was no more.”  but when we take a closer look, we see that perhaps there will be great bodies of water there after all.

“And the sea was no more.”  Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean.  The new heavens and new earth are none the fairer to our imagination, if, indeed, there is literally to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores.

Is not the text to be read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Eastern mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times?  A real physical world without a sea is mournful to imagine;  it would be an iron ring without the sapphire which made it precious.

There must be a spiritual meaning here.  In the new dispensations there will be no division – the sea separates nations and separates peoples from each other.  To John in Patmos the deep waters were like prison walls, shutting him out from his brethren and his work;  there shall be no such barriers in the world to come  leagues of rolling waves lie between us and many a kinsman whom tonight we prayerfully remember, but in the bright world to which we go, there shall be unbroken fellowship for all the redeemed family.  In this sense there shall be no more sea.

The sea is the emblem of change; with its ebbs and flows, its glassy smoothness and its mountainous waves, its gentle murmurs and its tumultuous roarings, it is never long the same. Slave of the fickle winds and the moon, its instability is proverbial.  In this mortal state we have too much of this;  Earth is constant only in its inconstancy, but in the heavenly state all mournful change shall be unknown, and with it all fear of storm to wreck our hopes and drown our joys.

No tempest howls along the peaceful shores of Paradise.  Soon shall we reach that happy land where partings and changes and storms shall be ended!  Jesus will always keep us above water there.  Are we in Him or not?  This is the grand question.

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Ron Rhodes, in his chapter, “The New Heavens and the New Earth”

An incredible thing to ponder is that one day heaven and earth will no longer be separate realms, as they are now, but will be merged.  Believers will thus continue to be in heaven even while they are on the new earth.  The new earth will be utterly sinless, bathed and suffused in the light and splendor of God and unobscured by evil of any kind.

“Heaven” will thus encompass the new heaven and the new earth.  – and the new Jerusalem – the eternal city that measures 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1500 miles – will apparently be “coming down” from heaven and resting upon the newly renovated earth (Revelation 21:2)  this city will be the eternal dwelling place of the saints of all ages of time.

How glorious the new heaven and the new earth will be!  Even on our present earth, there are parts of the world untouched by human beings where one can behold the most glorious sunrise, and the scene is absolutely dazzling.  Some days seem to have virtually perfect weather, allowing one to truly enjoy the world of nature.

And yet, the finest earth day shall be as nothing when compared to the new earth.  For the new earth will be renovated to a state of absolute perfection – full of splendor and delight (1 Corinthians 2:9)

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Revelation 4:6

Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

Revelation 15:2

And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

(In studying this, I found that no two theologians seem to agree as to the details about this sea of glass.  My thoughts are, could it be a sea that is so calm, so beautiful, shallow and safe, so as to look like a sheet of glass, reflecting the beauty of heaven above, and nature around it?  I base that partly on the   verse below (Rev 5:13) which says that there are creatures  in the sea – assuming that is the new earth. – but this is just me thinking)

Revelation 5:13

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are IN THE SEA, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Psalm 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

Psalm 18:30

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

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