07 5th Sunday of Easter Revelation 21.1-6 outline
1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
In Jesus, we have life and forgiveness, salvation and we enjoy the presence of our God. Now it may be tempting to say that our hope is knowing that we will go to heaven when we die.
For the scriptures speak of the hope that is in us as being the hope for restoration and resurrection.
It is a hope that promises life not just after death, but before it as well.
Of course this is a very difficult thing to write about. How do you describe something that there are no words to explain? I mean even when there are words to describe something, it can be difficult for everyone to come up with the same picture.
Let’s try this with a little illustration.
It is not an easy task is it? Now imagine trying to explain something for which there are no words to explain it. How do you explain a God who is beyond words? So John gives us pictures, because a picture is worth a thousand words, and those pictures communicate to us what John wants us to know.
So what does John communicate to us with his pictures? Let’s look at the text. Go ahead and grab your celebrates and let’s look at that second reading. John writes, “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.”
There is that hope that we talked about the restoration and the resurrection.
Now, we want to be careful that we don’t not get distracted by the logistics of this.
Another picture then comes into view, “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
And then I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their
Now since we are dealing with something that is beyond words, it is easier to describe what is not there, than it is to describe what is there. There will be no more tears, or death or mourning or crying or pain.
Can you see the strength and comfort and encouragement that comes from these verses.? They are really a nice summary of what the entire book of Revelation is all about.
Because this book is not about the end of the world.
Rather this is a book that is an encouragement to remain faithful in the midst of persecution.
The book of Revelation is a book of worship.
And the book of Revelation is a book that reminds us that it will not be long before our Lord returns, so we should do the work that he has given us to do, while we have the time to do it.
Do you see how the pieces of this picture are fitting together. It really is beyond words. It is truly awesome and will leave you full of awe. It is something that brings us to worship and praise and give thanks to our Great and Awesome God.
This life that we have with our God does not begin with our death. Rather it began at our baptism. We are not talking about a life that is only after death, but we are talking about a life before death. We have it right now. Not in all of its fullness. But we have it. We live now in God’s kingdom. We experience his presence in our lives. And we get to live that out.
The hope that we have saturates our lives and moves us to great actions in faith.
God is here and he is active. Don’t be a passive observer. But be an active participant in this whole thing. with and loves us.
All this we have because our God who loves us so much that he became a human being, suffered, died and rose again. In him is life, and that life is eternal. It is a life that is before death, and not just after it. It is a life that moves us to say, “Our God is truly awesome and worthy of our praise and thanks and the very best that we have to offer.” God bless us as we live in the hope that he has given to us. A hope that is beyond words. Now and always. Amen.