Christmas is Just the Beginning

Do You Hear What I Hear?

There are a lot of interesting stories associated with the Christmas songs that we hear. One of those songs is Do You Hear What I Hear. In it the night wind asks a lamb if it is seeing what the wind is seeing – a star in the sky. In turn the lamb asks a shepherd boy if he is hearing what the lamb is hearing – a song being sung in the skies. The shepherd boy then asks the king if he knew what the boy knows – a child has been born and that he would bring goodness and light. But, more importantly, he would bring peace.

What I didn’t know about that song was that the writer, Noel Regney, had been asked many times to write a Christmas song but had turned it down because he felt Christmas had become too commercialized. However, America was in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis – a standoff between Russia and the US. Regney wanted to make a plea for peace and so, he wrote this song.

As we consider how Christmas is more than just a holiday, we really should spend some time thinking about how Christmas promises peace and much more. Some of the pagan religions viewed heaven as a place of bliss – I guess the idea of Valhalla (wine, women, and song); but for the OT, Jewish, and Christians, Heaven is a future age of peace ruled by God alone.[1]

Our Prince of Peace and More!

Each of us have favorite things about Christmas – your dessert (fruit cakes are not appreciated enough), carols, special memories, special moments (Eve, morning, breakfast…). These are all wonderful but ultimately meaningless without knowing the Prince of Peace. A beautiful prophecy was spoken in a dark time of the OT. Israel had been conquered and taken into captivity, but a promise of the Messiah reminded them that God had not forgotten them:

Isaiah 9:2–3 NIV

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This is our second week of considered the blessing of Christmas. Isaiah pointed the Jewish people to the arrival of the Messiah. For us, Jesus has come. He has taught us how to love God and love one another. He has promised His Return and eternal life for those who will serve Him.

Christmas is Some Much More

Several weeks ago, I felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to read from Revelation 21. As I read it, I felt the Holy Spirit affirming the promises of Heaven to me and to the people of God. In Revelation 21 and 22 we see the prophetic description of things to come. But just as the hundreds of prophecies of the OT were fulfilled, the prophecies of the NT will be fulfilled as well.

In the song Do You Hear What I Hear the writer asks if we see, hear, and know the things that are happening. In Revelation 21 and 22, John sees, hears, and understands amazing promises that are given to us, just like the gifts that are placed under our own Christmas trees.

Do You See What I See?

Revelation 21:1–2 NIV

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

A New Heaven, a New Earth, A Holy City

John sees a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem. Donald Trump’s campaign slogan of “Make America Great Again” or President Biden’s “Build Back Better” are insignificant in comparison to what God intends to do for Christ followers. In Revelation the physical city of Jerusalem becomes more and more corrupt. Fortunately, we have a new heaven, and new earth and a new Jerusalem in store for us. Our resurrection is only one part of the promise of things to come. The first-century Christians “who believed in resurrection did so as one part of a larger belief in the renewal of the whole created order.”[2]

A little girl who grew up in a home where no one ever spoke of God once questioned her father about the origin of the world. “Where does the world come from?” asked the three-year-old.

Her father replied with a theory about an explosion that initiated the universe. Then he added, “However, there are those who say that all this comes from a very powerful being, and they call him God.”

At this point the little girl began to run like a whirlwind around the room in a burst of joy and exclaimed, “I knew what you told me wasn’t true; it is Him, it is Him!” —Sofia Cavalletti, The Religious Potential of the Child(Paulist Press, 1983)[3]

How will we respond when we see with our own eyes a new heaven, earth, and holy city? When Sofia thought about the Creator she ran around the room. Can you imagine the majesty and beauty of what we will see?

Do you see what I see?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

The second section of the Christmas song is “do you hear what I hear?” In verse 3 of John’s description, he begins to tell us what he is hearing:

Revelation 21:3–7 NIV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 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 water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

A voice begins to speak wonderful and amazing things – God is with His people, all tears are done, there will be no more death. Paul described the mystery of salvation:

Colossians 1:27 NIV

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ in you, the hope of glory….in the OT He rested in the Tabernacle, in the NT He rested within us, in Heaven He will be physically with us.

Near the turn of the century Crandall Stone, fifty, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, engineer and freelance consultant, set up the site after a winter’s night of sipping brandy and philosophizing with friends in Vermont. The conversation turned to Big Bang theories of creation. Someone suggested that if everything was in one place at the time of the explosion, God must have been there too.

“It’s the one place where we could be sure he was,” Stone said. “We thought that if we could find that location and had a radio transmitter, we could send a message to God.”

After consulting with NASA scientists, the friends settled on M13 as the likely location. They chipped in about $20,000 to build a radio wave-transmitting website.

Newprayer.com says, “Simply click on the Pray button and transmit your prayer to the only known location of God.” The site claims it can send prayers via a radio transmitter to God’s last known location: the star cluster M13, believed to be one of the oldest in the universe.

Newprayer.com transmits about 50,000 prayers a week from seekers around the globe.

Note: Newprayer.com is no longer operational. —Judith Gaines, “Tapping into God,” Denver Rocky Mountain News (March 13, 2000)[4]

You can now send your prayers to God via a website.

Of course, these folks are very confused. We have the Spirit of God in us, and He knows every thought we have. But it shows the hunger to be where God is and one day we will be with Him. There will be no tears, we will be comforted

It is interesting to me that the new earth does not have any sea. Instead, it has a river of life that flows in abundance from the water of life. Earlier, springs of living water are promised to a crowd (throng) of martyred saints.

Revelation 7:17 NIV

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

It refers to the abundant character of eternal life and the blessings which flow from it and is a fulfillment of the invitation of Isa 55:1 as well as that of Christ in John 4:10,13-14 (Walvoord).

Do You Know What I Know?

Not only do we have things to see and hear because of Christ, but there are things that we should know:

Revelation 21:22–27 NIV

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Several weeks ago, when I read this, I thought about the fact that the city does not need any source of light except for the Light of the World, Jesus. There will be no night, no darkness. I thought about the many stories I’ve heard of night terrors – fear, memories, and anxiety that we experience here will be gone. We will be left with only comfort. The gates will be eternally open – there are no threats, no villains. Nothing shameful or deceitful is happening, there is no darkness to hide it nor is there a desire to do so.

Let’s skip ahead to the 1st 5 verses of chapter 22.

Revelation 22:1–5 NIV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 21:4 excludes the idea of sickness, pain, and death in the New Jerusalem, there does not seem to be any more need for a healing process. Two well-known Bible teachers agree,

Stanley Horton – “Therefore, the word “healing” can be taken to mean “health,” and that is surely its meaning here. It does not imply there will be sickness in any part of the new creation. Our new bodies will be immortal, not capable of death, and incorruptible, not capable of decay, sickness, or deterioration. The leaves of the tree indicate that there will be nothing in the new creation to bring any physical or spiritual sickness, weakness, or harm. They also remind us that we shall always be dependent on God’s provision for a fullness of life, health, strength, and happiness. (Horton)

John Walvoord - The word for “healing” is therapeian, from which the English word therapeutic is derived, almost directly transliterated from the Greek. Rather than specifically meaning “healing,” it should be understood as “health-giving,” as the word in its root meaning has the idea of serving or ministering. In other words, the leaves of the tree promote the enjoyment of life in the new Jerusalem, and are not for correcting ills which do not exist. This, of course, is confirmed by the fact that there is no more curse as indicated in verse 3 (Walvoord).

Christmas is Not Just About a Baby in the Manger but a Lord in Heaven

I believe that it is important that the believer realizes that Heaven is less about what it is than WHO is there. I believe the following statement by Jack Hayford helps our understanding:

The eternal state of the believer is LIFE through and with the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 John 5:11–12 NIV

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Eternal life is not merely existence; all men righteous and unrighteous will exist eternally. Eternal “life” refers not merely to the duration of life, but rather to the quality of life. The believer has Christ’s life (Gal. 2:20), because he has Christ within (Col. 1:27).

Life in Christ is the present possession of the believer as well as his future hope; it is spoken of as the future state of the believer only in the sense that when Christ comes eternal LIFE is beyond forfeiture (1 Jn. 3:2; Rev. 2:10).

Whether in Paradise, reigning with Christ in His millennial kingdom, or inhabiting the New Jerusalem, the believer will abide in the presence of Jesus in his Father’s house. Life in the Father’s house is assured by the promise of Christ to prepare a place for us there (Jn. 14:2, 3); the preparation that made a place for us was Christ’s Atoning Work on Calvary’s Cross (Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, 552).

Do you see what I see?

Do you hear what I hear?

Do you know what I know?

What I’ve shared this morning is extraordinary – but it is the truth. I hope that it is your truth.

Salvation call….

[1]Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Re 21:1–8). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [2]Mulholland, M. R., Jr. (2011). Revelation. In P. W. Comfort (Ed.), Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: James, 1–2 Peter, Jude, Revelation (p. 587). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [3]Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (p. 105). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. [4]Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (p. 305). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.