The Best is Yet to Come 1 Corinthians 2:9 by Pastor Jenner Becerra

Devotional

Day 1: A Baby’s Cry and the Promise of Unseen Wonders

The birth of a child cracks open our imagination to realities beyond earthly limits. Just as new life startles us with its fragile beauty, God’s plans for eternity defy human expectation. Heaven is not an upgrade of our current world but a re-creation—a place where tears, pain, and death dissolve into perpetual joy. Those who love Him will inherit a home where every shadow of sin is erased, and every longing finds its fulfillment in His presence. [01:00:00]

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV)

Reflection: What earthly limitation or pain do you most long to see undone in the new creation? How might this hope reshape your perspective on today’s struggles?

Day 2: Why Do You Stand Gazing at the Sky?

The disciples lingered, eyes fixed on emptiness where Jesus had been. Angels redirected their gaze: the promise of His return was not a passive wait but an active anticipation. Like them, we are called to live expectantly, laboring for eternity while clinging to the certainty that Christ’s restoration will eclipse every loss. The clouds that took Him will one day part again, not for departure but reunion. [01:01:30]

“And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” (Acts 1:10–11, ESV)

Reflection: What distractions tempt you to fixate on “empty skies” rather than laboring toward Christ’s return? How can you cultivate holy urgency today?

Day 3: A City Dressed Like a Radiant Bride

Heaven’s capital, the New Jerusalem, descends not as a sterile metropolis but a beloved bride. Her beauty reflects intimate preparation—every jewel, street, and gate crafted for communion. This is no distant paradise; God Himself dwells there, erasing the separation sin created. The city’s brilliance isn’t in its gold but in the unbroken fellowship it represents, where every heart beats in sync with the Lamb. [01:07:46]

“Then 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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:1–2, ESV)

Reflection: What relational brokenness or loneliness do you carry that the promise of unhindered fellowship with God and others might heal?

Day 4: Limbs Leaping, Tongues Singing, Earth Breathing

Restoration isn’t abstract—it’s bodies freed from decay, creation unleashed from futility. The lame will dance, deserts will bloom, and wolves will nap beside lambs. What seems irreparable now—chronic pain, environmental collapse, fractured relationships—will be rewoven into harmony. This is the inheritance of the meek: a earth healed, not abandoned, where work and worship intertwine without weariness. [01:22:17]

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6, ESV)

Reflection: What part of God’s creation (your body, a relationship, or the natural world) do you most yearn to see restored? How does this shape your prayers?

Day 5: The Stale Hay and the Shore of Home

Like sheep bleating for fresh pastures, our deepest discontent points to eternity. Earthly comforts—success, security, even relationships—turn stale when compared to the “freshly mown hay” of Christ’s presence. To belong to Him is to inherit not just a place but a Person. The new earth’s joy isn’t in its gold streets but in the scars on His hands, the proof that our home was bought with blood. [01:40:53]

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29, ESV)

Reflection: What “stale hay” have you settled for that keeps you from hungering for Christ’s presence? What step could you take today to fix your heart on your true inheritance?

Sermon Summary

John’s picture in Revelation gives God’s people a real future: a new heaven, a new earth, and the New Jerusalem coming down “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The promise reaches beyond a vague idea of going somewhere far away. God restores all things that sin stole from Adam and Eve: the garden home, the peace of creation, healthy bodies, meaningful work, and face-to-face fellowship with God.

Sin turned a perfect world into a place of sickness, violence, grief, anxiety, death, and slavery to self. God’s grace, however, never leaves humanity in the mess of its own decisions. Genesis 3:15 gives the first gospel promise, the seed of the woman who would crush the deceiver, and the whole biblical story keeps pointing toward that final restoration. God called Abraham out of idolatry, and Abraham waited for a city “whose builder and maker is God.” Faith looks past stale hay and longs for the fresh fields of God’s coming kingdom.

Isaiah and Revelation describe a place where violence is no more, where the wolf dwells with the lamb, where the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame leap like a deer. God’s new creation removes cancer, pain, sorrow, crying, and death. The former things pass away because Christ does not merely improve a broken world. Christ makes all things new.

The New Jerusalem becomes the capital of the new earth, and God Himself dwells with His people. The Lamb is its light. The river of life flows from God’s throne, the tree of life bears its fruit, and the redeemed build, plant, learn, travel, worship, and enjoy the work of their hands. Heaven is not boring, restricted, or disconnected from real life. Heaven is life fully restored because Jesus is there.

Jesus’ promise in John 14 settles the hope of God’s people: “I will come again and receive you to Myself.” The inheritance does not rest on birthplace, family history, or religious status. Galatians says that those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. The question is not merely whether heaven sounds beautiful. The deeper question is whether the heart is homesick for heaven, because heaven is about Jesus. When a person gets a smell of heaven, priorities begin to adjust. The Spirit and the bride still say, “Come.”

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Key Takeaways

1. Heaven is about Jesus first Christ stands at the center of the new earth, not merely as a feature of its beauty. The streets of gold, the homes, the gardens, and restored bodies are gifts, but God’s presence is heaven enough. Desire for eternity becomes spiritually healthy when it is desire to be with Christ Himself. [81:42]
2. God restores what sin destroyed God’s restoration reaches every wound sin has made in creation and in human life. Disease, violence, grief, fear, and death do not get the final word because God has promised a world where former things have passed away. Christ’s redemption is not escape from creation but the renewal of creation. [69:39]
3. Faith waits for a better country Abraham left visible comfort because God gave him a glimpse of a city with foundations. Faith does not deny the goodness of present life, but it refuses to make present life the final home. The heavenly country reshapes what a person values, follows, and is willing to leave behind. [77:30]
4. Belonging to Christ secures inheritance The promise does not belong to those who trust religious background, personal achievement, or outward identity. Christ makes His people heirs according to promise, and belonging to Him changes the whole direction of life. Obedience becomes a delight flowing from love, not a cold attempt to earn a place. [97:47]
5. A smell of heaven changes priorities The sheep refused stale hay once they smelled the fresh fields near the shore. Eternity exposes how stale many earthly attachments truly are when compared with God’s prepared future. Longing for heaven calls the heart to surrender drift, sin, hesitation, and divided loyalties to Jesus.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[60:00] - The Best Is Yet to Come
[61:09] - Jesus Will Come Again
[64:30] - A Perfect World Prepared by God
[67:19] - The New Heaven and New Earth
[69:02] - The Restoration of All Things
[71:48] - Sin’s Loss and God’s Second Chances
[76:59] - Abraham and the Better Country
[80:43] - No More Violence, Sickness, or Pain
[85:08] - Real Life in the Restored Earth
[89:25] - Jesus Prepares a Place
[92:08] - New Jerusalem, the City of God
[95:50] - No More Death or Tears
[97:47] - Heirs According to the Promise
[100:11] - A Smell of Heaven
[101:58] - Invitation to Surrender to Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Revelation 21:1-2
“Then 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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” [01:07:19]

Isaiah 65:17
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” [01:19:51]

John 14:1-3
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” [01:29:58]

Observation questions

In Revelation 21:1–2, what has passed away, and what new things does John see coming from God? [01:07:19]
What losses from Eden were named as results of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, and what parts of those losses are promised restoration? [01:12:38]
According to Isaiah 65:17 and the descriptions connected with it, what place do “former things” have in God’s new creation? [01:19:51]
In John 14:1–3, what does Jesus say He is doing for His people, and what does He promise to do again? [01:29:58]

Interpretation questions

Revelation describes the New Jerusalem as coming down from God rather than believers simply leaving earth forever. What does this show about God’s purpose for creation and for human life?
Jesus promises to prepare a place and receive His people to Himself. Why is being with Jesus the heart of Christian hope, rather than simply receiving a beautiful place? [01:30:12]
Abraham left a comfortable but idolatrous home because he was looking for a city built by God. What does his example show about the kind of faith that waits for God’s better country? [01:17:50]
The promise of inheritance belongs to those who belong to Christ, not to those trusting family history, religious identity, or personal effort. How does this protect a person from both pride and discouragement? [01:38:08]

Application questions

When you think about the future God has promised, what part brings you the most hope right now: no more pain, restored relationships, meaningful life in the new earth, or being face-to-face with Jesus? Why? [01:29:25]
Is there a present sorrow—such as grief, sickness, anxiety, brokenness, or fear—that you need to place beside God’s promise to make all things new? How can this promise strengthen you without minimizing the pain you carry today? [01:35:58]
What “stale hay” might be competing for your heart—an unhealthy habit, a pursuit, comfort, distraction, resentment, or attachment to this world? What would it look like to surrender that area to Jesus this week? [01:40:53]
In what practical ways can a longing for Jesus’ return reshape your schedule, spending, relationships, or use of technology this week? [01:41:06]
Jesus’ promise is personal: He prepares a place for His people and will receive them to Himself. Where do you most need to replace a troubled heart with trust in Jesus’ promise today? [01:29:58]
Belonging to Christ is the foundation of the promised inheritance. What helps you remember that obedience grows from love for Jesus rather than from trying to earn His acceptance? [01:45:12]

Sermon Clips

36s

#HeavenInGodsPresence

“not just a physical place, but this is a mindset, my friends. And that's why I want you to just to understand that heaven, yes, is a place and everything, but but we need to first be in our hearts, in our minds. It's about Jesus, and I wanna be with his presence. Being in God's presence is heaven enough. I don't need all these luxury things, but hey, it comes with it, so let it be. But Jesus and him as a person, that is what it is is all about.”

48s

#LongingForEternity

“Soon the fog lifted. The boat was a few yards off the Scottish coast. The sheep had smelled the freshly mown hay lying in the beautiful Scottish fields. They refused to eat the days old stale hay. Their owners tried to feed them. My friends, beloved brethren, when we get a smell of heaven, we adjust our priorities. When we get a smell of eternity, everything else fits into place. We long for another land. We want to be on eternity shore.”

54s

#JesusRestoresAllThings

“God truly has planned for us a beautiful, wonderful future. Yes, at the beginning, it was a failure, and we messed up. But Jesus, he journeyed along with us from all the way there. And we learned and we learned and we had to go through the process. And by the way, us being here at this part of history, we have learned. And trust me, we don't wanna go back to all that mess, and that's part of it. We have learned through experience. And Jesus, he restores, restores Adam, restores Eve. He can restore all of us if we simply decide to be with Jesus.”

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