Beginning with the End

Intro

Do you ever think about the end?

When it’s all over...

Sure you do!

Ever been on a blind date that is going horribly?

You’re dreaming of the end.

How about when your in the middle of something miserable.

maybe school, a work project, taxes...

Can’t end soon enough

You are picturing, planning for it, can’t wait!

Of course we all want these kind of endings.. The end to things that we hate.

But what about other endings?

Most of us have an unhealthy relationship with Endings.

Just the thought of it brings fear, anxiety, worry.

So we choose instead to just not think about how it will end and just live in the now.

One reason life insurance is so hard to sell!

Is it the end?

I don’t really know.

There are signs.

Matthew 24:4–14 (NIV)

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains...

Jesus didn’t shy away from talking about the End.

Not to create fear to to create clarity of why we are living right now.

It’s important that we pause and think about it.

Because one thing is certain.

There is an end.

All of our lives will end.. 1 in 1 chance.

God has let us in on the unfolding of it all.

Just as there was a creation, there is an END times to this world as we know it.

BUT, there can be a healthy view of the END.

It doesn’t have to make us afraid and full of anxiety.

But can actually bring more clarity and health to our every day lives.

The End matters.

And instead of us avoiding the End, let’s actually begin with the end in mind.

WE do this all of the time.

when you’re going somewhere.

You don’t just hop in the car and hope you end up somewhere you’d like to be..

No you plan with then end in mind.

I’m going to the store, to every turn I take actually leads me there.

do it with all kinds of things…

Why would we live our lives any differently?

START WITH THE END TO CLARIFY THE WIN

When we stop to think about the end, we have to ask what will have mattered most then.

Too many people lay on their death beds with regrets because life wasn’t lived with the end in mind.

When we realize what matters most then, we will understand what should matter most today.

It will influence our passions, our decisions, our speech, everything.

Because I have a destination I’m going to.

How many of our daily decisions aren’t actually leading us closer to where we want to be at the end?

we are such a right now today people that we forget there’s a tomorrow

God has given us insight through his word into what the End times will look like.

We are movie people.

I like watching movie trailers of upcoming movies.

It’s a quick snippet of what the movie will look like, it doesn’t give all of the details but enough to understand to know what it’s about to build excitement to want to watch it.

We have a lot of details of the end times but not all.

We know enough through his word to know what will matter most.

One day Jesus is coming back.

One day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

One day there will be judging and sifting between those who knew and lived for him and those who didn’t.

One day when the dust settles Jesus stands victorious with those who stand with him.

One day there will be no more tears not more mourning, no more death.

One day there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

One day it all comes together for his purpose and glory!

The book of revelation is written as a preview into the grand finale of it all.

It is written as a picture of end times not to get in endless debates or even have all of the answers.

It’s no so that we will be afraid, but so that we can adjust our lives now to make sure it matches what matters then!

Revelation starts with a vision that is shared with one of Jesus disciples the apostle John.

When he was with Jesus john would have been in his early 20’s.

Now it’s been decades. He’s most likely now in his 80s-90s.

He would have seen or heard about all of his fellow apostles being killed for their faith.

He himself had been beaten, persecuted, history says he was but in boiling oil but survives and then is now banished to an Island called Patmos by the Roman Emperor with criminals to work mines.

Jesus begins by saying this.

Revelation 1:8 (NIV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Then he sees Jesus.

Not some weak Jesus.

But a powerful, warrior, conquering king.

A picture with flames and swords. an awesome sight.

Revelation 1:17–18 (NIV)

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Jesus looks at an aged John who had been through incredibly difficult time, who is probably very tired.

He places his nailed scared hands on him, tells him to not be afraid and reminds him who he is.

We know as end times begin to take place that it won’t get easier for believers in Christ. When life hits we can’t depend on a part time faith in a novelty Jesus.

Jesus tells us who he is.

He makes 3 I AM statements and one I HAVE statement.

These can change how we see the end and live today in light of it.

I HAVE: The keys to death and hades.

Jesus has full control. Not even the most powerful things we can fear are out of his grasp.

Life is like a massive tapestry. A tapestry is like a rug that hands but has incredibly intricate details and pictures.

Daily life is a lot like looking at the back of the tapestry.

(show pic) the front has the most intricate details, the back looks like a complete mess.

It’s easy to wonder why this sickness happened, that transition happened, why that turned out that way.

Jesus assures there is not one things I don’t have control over.

It make not make sense in the moment, but I’m weaving. I have the keys.

Revelation is God showing a glimpse of the other side of the tapestry (show pic)

It all comes together.

His nail scarred hand on you says trust me.

I AM: Alpha and Omega First and Last Dead but now Alive

Alpha and Omega - first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

He is the A the Z and everything in between.

Everything begins, ends and is complete in him.

Nothing is completed without him.

Colossians 2:10 (NLT)

So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

How often are we trying to write and complete the story of our lives without the one who completes it? trying to make him a side character when he is the alphabet!

First and Last -

He’s in every single moment and he knows what he’s going.

He’s never left, abandoned or forgotten.

Ephesians 1:10–11 (NLT)

And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

In the pain of the moment have we forgotten he’s got a plan for it all?

Dead and now Alive -

Nothing can stop him!!

Not even the great equalizer of death could stop him. Nothing will stop his love, nothing will stop his kingdom, nothing will stop his plan.

Romans 8:31–39 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing Stops him!

So we have to stop letting the world around us distract and stop us from putting our attention in his direction!

CONCLUSION

Don’t let the mess make you miss what matters most.

Knowing the End helps us to revaluate and adjust how we live today.

At the End Jesus stands victorious.

He holds the keys.

He is the alpha and omega, first and last, dead now alive.

Are there any adjustments you need to make?

Begin with the End.