Finish the marathon

George Lim Jr

Ready - The Book of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Revelation 21–22

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Transcript

What’s the Big Idea: Running towards God’s promises is worth it!

Outline:

There is a finish-line (vv. 1-5).

God - I promise it’s real (vv. 6-7).

You feel like you’re running forever.

The epitome is what God’s always desired: God and man together; man and man in community; all surrounded by love (Great commandment) - That’s what the holy “city”

Also the moment when all pain ends. “I am making all things new.”

What causes pain:

Disfunction with God.

Disfunction with people.

The opposite of the Great Commandment.

This may not sound appealing to you - because it wasn’t written to you. It was written for you, but not to you. But 2000 years ago, this would’ve been amazing! It’s freaking amazing.

This is the moment we’ve been waiting for (vv. 9- 22:5).

God - I promise it’s everything I’ve said and everything you’ve wanted.

God - I promise you can finish the race (vv. 6-21).

Trust the process.

You’ve done the work.

You’ve followed your coaches.

You believe! If you will, you have faith. HMF - I can, I will. If the world knows how to have faith, how much more should we.

God is telling us: You can. You will!

The Holy Spirit - the active person and power of God on earth right now is saying “You can do it!”

The church is mission is to tell people, “You can do it!”

Time is limited and not everyone will finish the race - some won’t even run.

Everyone is in the race, whether they realize it or not.

Jesus coming back is the time limit on the course.

We finish the race by God’s grace.

What’s the Big Idea: Running towards God’s promises is worth it!

Intro:

Good morning! Welcome to TRC. Thanks for joining us this morning. As you’ve noticed, we’re celebrating today! Four years ago, God called our family to sell everything and move from San Diego to Glastonbury. And the primary reason for that was we believe God was calling us to start a new church here in this town. And on October 15, 2016, The RIver Church had its first service!

And it’s been a crazy journey! We’ve seen:

The church grow from 2 families to MANY families!

We’ve seen lives transformed by the power of God, as people are introduced to the love of Jesus.

And we’ve seen the Kingdom of God expanded here, in the town we love - and beyond!

And so, each year we like to celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness around this time. It’s been an amazing 3 years and we are looking forward to many more!

But for me and a few others in this room, it’s not the only thing we’re celebrating. Yesterday, was the Hartford Marathon. And myself, and a few other friends (in this room) finished our FIRST marathon!

It has been a crazy journey. Filled with both joy and pain. But on behalf of those wearing these medals in the room, I can tell you one thing for sure: It was all worth it!

Here at The River Church, we have spent the entire summer going through the book of Revelation. It too has been a crazy journey filled with both heavenly joy and serious warnings of future pains. But in Revelation chapter 21 & 22, one main theme is clear: For those willing to believe God’s promises, it’ll be all worth it.

It starts off this way...

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

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.”

Rev 21:1-

Exegesis:

You know, the activity of running has a lot with parallels with life. And not just regular life, but spiritual life too. Jon and I have had many conversations about this, being that both of us belong to the Glastonbury River Runners.

Running is hard. Life is hard.

Running takes endurance. Life takes endurance.

Running is a journey. Life is a journey.

Running can bring you joy - the feeling that it’s all worth it! Life with Jesus can do the same thing too.

I’ve been seriously running for a few years now. Slowly, I’ve improved in both speed and distance. But I’ll tell you one thing: I NEVER thought I’d run a marathon. It just seemed crazy! Yet, early this year I found myself agreeing to train for it with a group of my running friends.

Although I started already conditioned for a half marathon, it still took 15-weeks of training to prepare. And at times, it was brutal. Our running coach had us running 4-5 days a week. There was strength training classes, speed work, and super long runs on Saturday morning. And as the weeks progressed, so did the time commitment and distances. It wasn’t long before I found myself waking up at 4am to prepare for a 3-4-hours of running. Crazy!

Yet, early this year I found myself agreeing to training for it with a group of my running friends.

Then yesterday, my mental game had to be on-point! Do you know how crazy it is to run 6 miles (a 10K) and realize, “I still have 20 miles left! What have I gotten myself into!?!”

But as the hours passed, and I kept pushing, kept enduring, kept going, eventually I saw the sign that said 25.1 miles. And I can remember crossing that bridge into downtown Hartford - and running DOWNHILL! - into the city. Then, hearing the music, the cheering, and seeing the arch! And as I crossed that finish-line, I had two thoughts:

Thank you Jesus! I survived! It’s over!

But more importantly, it was all worth it!

That’s the hope God is giving us here in these final chapters. One day, our lives will cross the finish line. History itself, will finally cross the finish line. And for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, it’ll all be worth it.

Everything that was corrupt will be made brand new.

Everything that broke our heart will be wiped away.

And every good promise from God, that we’ve put our hope in, will be finally fulfilled.

It’ll be PERFECT.

And the remainder of Chapter 21 paints this picture of future perfection...

After the apostle John (who wrote this book) sees the vision of the new Jerusalem come down from heaven to the new earth, an angel then shows him around the city. And John uses a lot of symbolic language to describe its PERFECTION. For example, verse 21...

Revelation 21:21 ESV

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The street, the material we will walk on in heaven, is made of the material we value the most here on earth - gold. And if the street is made of the purest gold, how much better is everything else going to be?

I mean check this out...

Revelation 21:18–21 ESV

The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Rev. 21:

Now, I’m gonna be real. As a person living in 2019, I read this and get that it’s a bunch of fancy jewels and John’s describing the city as beautiful. But honestly, I’m like “eh...” It doesn’t really connect with me. I want to know what my iPhone is going to look like in heaven. Are there going to be cars to drive around on the streets of gold and can I pick a fast one? And forget the emerald and onyx, can Joanna Gaines come to my heavenly house and put up a whole bunch of shiplap?

But here’s the thing… Revelation wasn’t written TO me. It was written FOR me, but it was originally written to the church 2000 years ago. Back then, they would’ve been like, “WOW!!!!” And part of studying the Bible, requires us to understand:

Who the original audience was

What God was trying to communicate

And how they would’ve heard it.

Then, pulling application for our lives from that.

And the application for us to understand is, “Heaven is going to be stinkin AMAZING!!!” That’s what the original audience would’ve thought. That’s what God’s trying to communicate. And that’s what we need to understand.

It’ll be the place where we will finally perfectly satisfied. We actually see that communicated in verse 22 and 23.

Revelation 21:22–23 ESV

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The temple is the place where God’s people connect with Him. Where they get spiritually-filled.

The sun is the part of God’s creation that meets our physical needs. Without the sun, we die. We’ll have no heat, energy, or life. We need it to be physically-filled.

In the new heaven and earth, God Himself will be both of those things for us. He will dwell with us and fill our every need, directly and perfectly!

And, before we move on, I want to point out one more thing. In verse 9 and 10, the angel says he is going to show John “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Now, in Scripture, “the Bride” of God refers to God’s people. God loves his people and is relationally committed to them like in a marriage.

But here, the angel shows John a city and not necessarily a people. So, is “the Bride” a people group or a city? Well, like many of the paradoxes in the Bible, the answer is, “Yes!” The Bride is both God’s people and the city of God.

Because think about what a city is… simply put: It’s a group of people living together in community. And we have cities because it’s in our nature to find other people to live in relationship with. God created us this way. Runners get this.

We live in a lonely world. Even though technology has helped connect us like never before, many people still feel alone. Part of that has to do with our culture of isolation. We are so busy. We are so independent. And many times, so lonely.

The running community here in Glastonbury is simply amazing. And while we have a few really GOOD runners, the community isn’t amazing because of the elite athletes; it’s amazing because of the community. One thing runners know how to do is live in relationship. We support one another. We hang out with one another. We train together.

Many of you know I injured my achilles early on in the marathon training. I ended up taking 10 days off, which felt like an eternity! Then, I had to slowly ease back into it. But you know who was there for me the entire time? Encouraging me and supporting me? My running community. Helping me recover, not in isolation, but in community.

While many of them

Even yesterday. Look, 26 miles is a LONG way. And even when you sign up for a race with many friends, over 4-5 hours, you guys begin to separate, and I found myself running alone. It’s okay. I trained for this. I had my marathon playlist to keep me focused. But you know what really help? My running community.

At just the right time, I’d see a friend. And the relationship helped me keep going. Maybe it was another runner - and I’d run with them for a bit. Maybe it was a runner I was passing and we’d give each other a high-five. Our running coaches were stationed at different miles and seeing them cheering for me reminded me “I can do this! I had put in the work.” Even seeing runner-friends who weren’t running the race, but there to cheer for us, gave me strength.

Let me tell you about one person who gave me incredible strength during yesterday’s race. I saw my friend CJ 4 times during my 26 miles. And each time, he was cheering with all his lungs! He would scream my name or he’d run out into the street to give me a high-five. And it truly helped me. It made me press on, at just the right moments, so that I could finish! You’re one of the reasons I have this medal!

[pause…]

Runners know how to live in community and it helps meet a desire God created us with. God intended us to live in community.

And there were a couple of times on the course, when I almost cried. As I heard crowds of people cheering for us, I had the thought, “This is what heaven must be like.” Actually, I thought of this verse...

Hebrews 12:1 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The Bible says that right now, heaven is watching us. They personally know what’s awaiting us. And they are cheering for us telling us, “It’ll all be worth it! Keep going. Keep living for Jesus! We know it’s hard, but you can do it!” Because being a Christian is HARD! But we have a heavenly community cheering us on. And we get strength from that community. Why? Because God has designed us to live in community...

...and that’s why we see “the Bride” described as a community (a city filled with God’s people).

And that’s what we’re building here at The River Church. For 3 years, we’ve been building a community that loves Jesus and brings joy to others. Some of our biggest core values revolve around authentic relationships. Why? Because God created us for community.

And so, what we’re building here is a small taste of eternity. And that’s why we are celebrating today. We’re excited about what God is doing here in Glastonbury, because we believe that God’s promises are coming to pass in our little community!

When we’re lonely

And as Revelation closes, we see a few key principles communicated:

In heaven, part of the perfection involves community. With God and one another. We get this in running too.

Again, we are reminded that it’ll all be worth it. What we are working towards, what God’s plan of redemption is working towards, will all be worth it. We read...

Revelation 22:1–5 ESV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

And in verses 6-14, we are told that these future promises are all true. That we can take them to the bank. That if we will just hold onto God’s promises that we find in this book, all of THIS is in our future and it’ll all be worth it.

And the book closes with this...

Revelation 22:16–21 ESV

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

And while there is a lot here, I want to focus on one thing: The invitation.

If you’ve ever been around a runner, you’ve probably heard this, “Hey, you should come run with us sometime.” Runners love to invite people into their community! Runners have a culture of invitation. And it’s not because “misery loves company,” it’s because we know that as hard as running is, it’s all worth it!

Christians should have the same culture. Jesus invites us into community with Him. They Holy Spirit and the Bride (the church) have the same message… it’s “Come!” Come join us! It’ll all be worth it!

And here at The River Church, we have the same message! We invite you to follow Jesus and join His community (His church). If you will, come run with us. Run the race of life with us. It’ll be hard, but it’ll be worth it. And you’ll find life, purpose, and truly satisfaction. And one day, you’ll cross the finish line - with medals way better than this - and enter into the perfection that Jesus promises here.

Response:

Again, we are reminded that it’ll all be worth it. What we are working towards, what God’s plan of redemption is working towards, will all be worth it. We read...

Revelation 22:1–5 ESV

Rev 22:1-

And in verses 6-14, we are told that these future promises are all true. That we can take them to the bank. That if we will just hold onto God’s promises that we find in this book, all of this is in our future and it’ll all be worth it.

And the book closes with this...

Revelation 22:16–21 ESV

Rev. 22:

And while there is a lot here, I want to focus on one thing: The invitation.

And here at The River Church, we have the same message! We invite you to follow Jesus and join His community (His church). If you will, come run with us. Run the race of life with us. It’ll be hard, but it’ll be worth it. And you’ll find life, purpose, and truly satisfaction. And one day, you’ll cross the finish line - with medals way better than these - and enter into the perfection that Jesus promises here.

As I call the worship team up, let me leave you with a few things:

Let’s be ready to celebrate today! God is doing BIG things! He’s moving in our lives so that He can bring about His perfect promises into our future. Here at TRC, there’s good reason to be EXCITED!

As Christians, let’s be ready to have a culture of invitation! Invite people into the community of God so they can find LIFE the way God intended it to be.

Let’s be ready to JOIN the COMMUNITY. Let me invite you to join the local church. If The River Church is your home church, then be a part of the community. It’s important! God created us to live in community - we need this!

If you’re new to The River Church, pray about if this is where God is calling you. And if it is, join us!

But regardless of where you live or go to church, let me invite you to follow Jesus.

If you’ve never done that before, don’t wait. Do that today. As we know, life is short. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don’t know what will happen in 10 mins! But what I do know is none of us are here by accident.

Each time we come before the Word of God, Jesus is giving us an opportunity to make a change in our lives. And the two main messages for this morning are:

Keep running the race. It’ll be worth it!

More important, “Come!” Jesus is inviting you to be part of His community. Sin has separated us from God. But Jesus died on the cross to pay for that sin. And the gospel (the good news) is, if we will turn away from our sin, believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for it, and rose from the dead 3 days later, that God will forgive us and bring us back into relationship with Him. He will bring us back into perfect community the way He intended it to be.

If you need to do that today, don’t wait. Call out to Him!

Are you ready to follow Jesus this morning? It’ll all be worth it!

Christians should have the same culture. Jesus told us to.

Come run with us. We’re building and experiencing something that God has promised us in the future. It’ll be hard. It’ll require sacrifice. But it’ll be fulfilling. And you won’t be alone. And it’ll all be worth it.

Maybe you’ve didn’t know you were in the race?

Maybe you’ve gotten injured?

Maybe you’re behind pace.

Maybe you’re nervous.

Maybe you’re tired.

Jesus will come and and run with you. He promises to get you across that finish line - He’s been there before. (Coach?) Cathy.

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