The Alpha and Omega - The God who Provides
Notes
Transcript
Middle school camp
Middle school camp
Weather
Structure
4 Statements
Descriptions of the Bride
12 Gates, 12 Foundations, 12 Size, 12 Stones, Temple, Light, Nations, River, 12 Tree, Leaves, No curse/Throne, No night/ Face
4 Statements
3 Coming Soon
3 Blesseds
Written by God
God will provide what we need to dwell with him eternally, enjoying Him forever.
God will provide what we need to dwell with him eternally, enjoying Him forever.
1. God provides comfort
1. God provides comfort
“Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.”
― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Comfort - opposite Babylon
Loss and Change
Don’t expect completed comfort now.
“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—
is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the
friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and
all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties
you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no
human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with
heaven, if Christ were not there? ”
― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself
2. God provides access to an inheritance
2. God provides access to an inheritance
To the thirsty
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
To the conqueror
Israel and the Church
Gates after Israel - Christ’s people, even after failure - Promises of Grace
Foundations after the apostles - Witness to the Truth
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Do you believe you are with the King by being in Him?
3. God provides permanent holiness
3. God provides permanent holiness
Cube - Holy of Holies
Mt. Everest - 5.5 mi high
Driven out of the Tabernacle and Temple
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Your permanent home
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Next steps: Are you laying up treasure in heaven?
Are you seeking holiness? With your finances? With your time? With your talents?
Community Group questions
What comforts from Rev.21:3-4 are you most looking forward to and why?
Clearly in Rev. 21:6-8 people have a choice between going to God for provision of eternal life and creating their own sense of identity and destiny. Talk about how the picture of God providing what we need for eternal life lines up with the details of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Who do you need to pray that God will make them thirsty for eternal life?
How can we live in joy anticipating our permanent holiness?
How are you grateful to God for providing access to the Holy of Holies eternally?