The Ultimate Ending
History of the Messiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsBecause of Christ our hope is sure.
Notes
Transcript
What do we celebrate at Christmas time?
Seek answers
Agreed! We celebrate the hope of Christmas, the joy, etc. Why? Well ultimately, it’s because of Jesus. As we read last week:
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
That’s what we really celebrate, isn’t it?
Series Slide
As we’ve gone through this series together, we’ve been seeing God’s great rescue plan unfold. When humanity sinned and fell, we lost being in the place of God, as the people of God, in the presence of God. We became spiritually dead - headed for hell. God in His mercy and grace promised to send a Savior: a redeemer and rescuer. Last week, we saw the beginning of that fulfillment in the announcement of Christ’s birth to Mary.
On Christmas Eve we’ll be looking at the narrative of Christ’s birth. Today, to close out our series I want to spend time seeing the other bookend of HIS story. Let’s take a few minutes to focus on the ultimate hope that we have in Christ - which we celebrate at Christmas - and how that hope is sure.
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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.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Big Idea: Because of Christ our hope is sure.
Now maybe you’re thinking: Why are we looking at the end of the Bible 4 days before Christmas?
Well, because the hope of Christmas is not about lights, trees, or presents. It’s not even about good memories and family. All that stuff is an aside to what really matters: Jesus Christ, who came to buy us back and give us hope and new life. The goal of our series was to see how the OT pointed to Jesus’ coming. Now, we’re going to see how the whole Bible is HIS story by going to the very end, and seeing how, in Christ, everything is made new.
How is our hope sure?
A Future Vision (1-4)
A Future Vision (1-4)
John has a vision of eternity in which we see the restoration of the three things lost in the garden: Place, people, and presence. Moreover, we see the total reversal of the effects of sin in v 4.
Let’s get a little context: Revelation is the very last book in the Bible. It functions as a letter to the early churches, as a prophetic book bringing a message of God to his people, and as an apocalyptic book, describing with symbolism a vision of end times, etc.
In our passage, we have a moment that is truly apocalyptic, in which John has a vision of the future reality of eternity. Directly before this passage - in Rev 20 - we have the Great White throne judgement. A moment in which all who are on the earth are judged, from the least to the greatest, along with Death and Hades. Notice what the defining factor is for your eternity:
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
How does one’s name get into the Lamb’s Book of Life? Faith, for the Lamb is Christ, and as we read:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Then we come to our moment. Notice how chap 21 starts:
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.
Can you imagine this? New here is a term that could almost be described as “new, and improved,” or “newly restored.” In light of the world in which we live in, filled with evil, despair, suffering, and a broken creation, how good it is to read that God will make this all new. Paul tells us something similar in Romans 8.
that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Creation itself is groaning as it waits for the day when it will be made new - restored totally.
But why no more sea? What’s wrong with the sea? To understand, let’s see how the sea is pictured in Revelation:
and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
We need to understand, especially for 1st century readers the sea represented chaos and evil. It was thought of as a demonic place. Really, it represents the realm of evil. Here John has a vision of the throne room of God. At the foot of God’s throne is the sea - chaos, evil - all of it. In other words, God is in control! He has authority over evil and chaos in our world. Yet now, as we look to the end, we see He has done away with the sea forever. So we have our first restoration: Now a new place is made: a new heavens and new earth. Totally restored. Totally free of all evil.
Next comes a people.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Next we get a picture of the New Jerusalem. Notice the descriptors: A holy city, coming down from heaven, adored as a bride for her husband.
What is this?
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Scripture pictures God’s people as Christ’s bride. They are redeemed, and set apart (or holy) for Christ. This city - or community of believers - are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life! While it is possible that New Jerusalem is a place, I personally think here we see a people of God’s own. The New Jerusalem people come to occupy the new heavens and earth! Wow!
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Can you imagine? Now we see it, this moment of beauty when it is declared “God now dwells with His people.” Remember in the garden of Eden at the beginning God used to walk with Adam and Eve? But when we sinned and fell, we became totally estranged from God. God chose to dwell - or tabernacle - with His people first in the tabernacle, and then a temple. Yet access to His presence was extremely limited. Now that Christ has come and made the way back to God clear through His death and ressurection, God pours out His Spirit upon us. We can be filled with His presence.
So what the difference? We do not see God face to face. But we will! For we will dwell with Him, and He with us!
Do you see? Do you see the total restoration of everything that was broken? Do you see the reversal of all that went wrong at the beginning? How amazing!
To top it off:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Friends: sin’s entry brought death, sickness, suffering, and pain. All of this is a result of the fall. Yet God’s promise to all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is that there is coming a day when this shall all be done away with!
It reminds me of the song “What a day that will be:”
There’s coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky
No more tears to dim the eye
All is peace forever more
On that happy golden shore
What a day, glorious day that will be
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see
When I look upon His face the one who saved my by His grace
When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land
What a day, glorious day that will be
How awesome a hope this is. We ask, how is our hope in Christ sure? John is granted a vision of future glory, when God will remake everything! When all will be made new, and the reversal of sin, suffering, and death will be complete. God will completely restore, and we will once again dwell face-to-face with our God. What a day that will be indeed!
However, there is also a second “how” to our question:
A Guarantee (5-6a)
A Guarantee (5-6a)
The Alpha and Omega guarantees that this will happen. In fact, it is already happening as we live in the already, not yet.
Let’s keep reading in the chapter:
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Let’s stop for a second and see something important: Why does the text say “making” all things new? Why not “made,” seeing as we’ve just seen a vision of future glory?
This is where the NT principle of “Already, not yet” comes in. And this should give us great joy! Already, we live with the presence of the Holy Spirit filling our lives. Already Christ has come and conquered the power of sin and even the grave, so that we might live pleasing to God and not afraid of death! Already we experience tastes of eternity as we see God do the miraculous, as we live together in unity, and we see people set free by God’s sovereign working. In these senses, the kingdom is already here. We live as kingdom people: set free, different, counter-culturally. Because we are people of a different realm.
Yet the fullness of all that Christ is bringing is not yet. For we still wait with great hope for the coming of Christ! In the meantime, we see that God is already making things new. The kingdom of God - inaugurated by Jesus Christ - has broken into the kingdom of this dark world! Praise God! So God is already making things new, turning the fall on its head, even as we wait for the fullness of eternity to come and all we see described come.
We read that John should write down what he has seen, because these words are trustworthy and true. You can take it to the bank. Who is it who guarantees them?
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
God is outside of time. He is present at the beginning and end of the story, and at every point in between. That’s how great God is! This is HIS story. It is His purpose and plan that will come about. And as God almighty - the beginning and the end - He guarantees that these things are trustworthy and true. They will - without a doubt - happen.
Remember our big idea:
Big Idea: Because of Christ our hope is sure.
The second way we see this is in a guarantee statement. Not only do we already experience tastes of eternity when we see God do amazing things, or see people saved and set free, we also see that Christ will without doubt come back again. God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, has decreed it. This is all God’s story, God’s purpose, and God’s plan. He will not fail.
Now, a final “how” is shown:
A Choice (6b-8)
A Choice (6b-8)
If we are thirsty, God will give us the water of life - even as it was offered to the Samaritan woman! If we hold fast, we will receive this heritage - what is described in vv.1-4! Yet it is those who remain unholy, who forsake God even, that will have no share in this heritage. Who will you be?
How do we know our hope is sure? Well, we have a choice. We pivot in our passage back to the here and now for a minute:
To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Does anyone remember the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well?
Jesus shows up and starts talking to a Samaritan woman - which was highly taboo for the time. She’s drawing water, and he asks for a drink. She’s blown away, and asks why He is talking to her.
Jesus’ reason for talking with her was to offer her hope - to offer her something to quench the spiritual thirst we all have.
He says:
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Friends, for every person out there is spiritually thirsty. We all have need of God, who is the only one who can actually slake our spiritual thirst for a relationship with Him. He offers us living water! The question is simply this: Are you willing to admit you’re thirsty?
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average adult man needs 3.7 liters of fluids every day, and the average woman needs 2.7 liters every day. Have you ever noticed that sometimes when we are thirsty, we do everything we can to avoid drinking just straight water? Coffee, tea, milk, pop, juice, alcohol even. Problem is, not all fluids are created equal! Not all fluids actually properly hydrate you! Somehow, though, we humans often have an aversion to just drinking water!
Or, we do what I have often done and think “ah, I don’t have time to drink water right now, I’m busy!” Then we wonder why we end up with headaches and achy muscles. Hmmm, maybe because you should have taken a water break??
Humanity is spiritually thirsty. Now there’s water for the thirsty soul - water in abundance even! Water that - once had - will never leave you thirsty again. But will you drink of it? So often, we’d rather have the sugary juice of TV, the pop of entertainment, the coffee of work, or the alcohol of sex to try and solve our spiritual thirst. Yet this cannot properly address our need for God. In Jesus is found living water! Through Jesus comes God’s presence, and in Christ we see in Revelation that living water is available for all without payment. Free in Christ is the water of new life!
Moreover, to the one who conquers, the heritage we just talked about, the eternity we just described shall be theirs! Yet how does one conquer?
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
In this moment in Rev 12, we see that the saints - God’s people - conquer over the dragon Satan how? By the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Because Christ shed His blood on the cross for us, the power of sin, Satan, and death is broken. Now, Satan’s just playing a waiting game. But he’s lost the war. So they who hold fast to the testimony of Jesus, even giving up their lives for the gospel, are more than conquerers, as Paul puts it:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
What are we more than conquerors of? This world - pictured as fallen Babylon in Revelation. Though pressure on every side to live as the world would have us and apart from Christ, we conquer by living rather according to the Word of God, and upon the first rock of Christ. Who - through His death and ressurection - gives us power to conquer! To us then is given the heritage as children of God! Eternal life: the new heavens and earth, dwelling as God’s people in the presence of God, forever. Free of suffering, sin and death. Again, what a day that will be!
Yet our section closes perhaps somewhat startlingly:
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
There’s a clear message here: Who’s side are you on? Will you receive God’s gift of grace, will you thereby be made clean, holy, set apart for God? Will you continue forward in that grace persevering in the sure hope of Jesus? Or will you reject Him and follow Satan and the beasts of this world?
It is interesting - many of these terms we understand, but focus on that first one: “Cowardly.” We often picture the cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz, crying because he’s too afraid. I think this is deeper than that: This word stands in contrast to the conquerors. Cowards are those who have given in and turned to the other side. Those who choose to forsake Christ, those who choose to indulge in this world and reject Christ will find themselves on the loosing side of this conflict, and without hope. Clearly there is a hell - a “second death.”
So there yet remains - because of God’s mercy - a choice: Which side are you on?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Big Idea: Because of Christ our hope is sure.
Friends, our hope in Christ is sure! Why? First, John sees a vision of glory, of eternity. And What a day that will be! Next, He receives a guarantee statement! God is making all things new - already we experience some of this as we wait with hope for the future! And we are left with a choice. To the one who thirsts is offered living water. To the one who conquers by accepting Christ in faith and remaining faithful, there is the heritage of eternity with our Lord! Yet the very real possibility of hell is also seen, so that we might heed the warning and accept God’s grace.
So again our initial question: why look at Revelation 21 just 4 days before Christmas?
Because the birth of the Savior is what we ultimately celebrate. But the birth of the Savior is bigger than just the stable and the manger. I heard someone say recently that Jesus grew out of the manger and went directly to the cross. Meaning that Christ’s coming - which we celebrate this season - points us to God’s promise of rescue and redemption. It points us to another moment in Scripture, where this same Lord hung, bleeding, dying, upon a wooden cross. Despised and rejected, He took your place, and mine. He did this out of His great love. So we read that Christ obtained us with His blood:
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Christ obtained a people for Himself through His Sacrificial death. He rose again, securing that hope of new life for us as He conquered death. So…
Big Idea: Because of Christ our hope is sure.
And that’s why we celebrate Christmas. Because Jesus came and brought hope. He came with a purpose: To be one of us and to die for us. To be raised again. So in Him, our hope for a total restoration of everything that was broken is sure. Praise God!
I hope you can see hope this Christmas, because it is there! Friends, as you go into this week, spending time with family friends, and probably turkey or ham, remember the hope you have in Jesus. Let it blow your mind with how good God is. Let the joy of what is to come fill your heart.
Maybe you haven’t said yes to Jesus yet. Will you choose now to accept the offer of mercy and and grace from Jesus? Will you drink of living water, and conquer through faith? I pray you too will know the hope I do.
Pray.
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
