May 22: The End

The foyer.

This is a we are about to start the final sermon in the sermon series. We've been doing it for the entire school year and I partly because we were doing Revelation. There's no more story to tell afterward. And also, I'm going to be gone next weekend for a conference and you can see information about it in your bulletin. It's at Camp winema, which is right on the beach to be like to spend the more of a weekend at the beach. This is one way you can do that. And the focus of the Explorers conference. This year is on dual, citizenship mean how we navigate life, as Christians are citizens of Heaven and the citizens of our nation. And so I'll be one of the speakers talking about what the Bible has to say about about Believers rolls, and politics. And then we'll have a historian named Doug Foster's, a very excellent. His story who's going to be presenting on how Christians throughout history since the church have answered those questions. So if you're interested in being part of that, Encourage you to register. As we move into this final episode, as you can tell by the title, we are completing the story that the Bible tells we've been going from, we started with Genesis in September and now we finally reach Revelation today and I'm going to try and recap that whole story for you before we dig into how the story ends. All right. So remember that we've been telling the Bible, the story this way it is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presence at every stage in the Bible. That is what God is working to do. At the beginning. He created the world and he put people in us and he created us for the purpose of ruling over creation on his behalf over last week. I use that metaphor or my kids at the Lego table and we gave them the Lego table and all my old Lego so that we could play together and build with it. And that's kind of the image that the new that the Old Testament gives us of what God, how God originally made the world. And then he came down to live with us on the seventh day. But the problem is that we don't really like to rule, according to God's design. And so instead, we started rebelling against him and setting up our own kingdoms and and it resulted in a lot of payoff. So we see through the first 11 chapters of Genesis. And so then in Genesis 12 gauge starts, his plan to restore his design through a guy named Abraham and Abraham's family Israel becomes an example to the world to show the world, what God's design is supposed to look like. So he gives that one people in particular place the land of Israel and he comes down to live with them in that place in the temple. And then he gives them the law of Moses to show them. The exact instructions on how they can accomplish their purpose, which is to reveal to the world, who got his. So, the law of Moses was very meaningful, set of rules that would have the world would have looked at Israel. Following those rules in the God's presence and it would have shown them who got is and what he wants for his people. The problem is that the Israelites weren't any better at following God's designs than the rest of us are until they continually failed and built their own kingdoms and did everything, but rule, according to God's will, until eventually, he sent him into exile to show the world. What they're doing is not what I had in mind. As the Jews started to come back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and rebuild the Temple. They ultimately ended up learning the wrong lessons from the Exile. Because what they learned was that they need to be hyper focused on meticulously enforcing all of the laws and that the Gentiles and the lawbreakers are a distraction for that. And we need to exclude them. We need to keep them out. We need to be the holy huddle and just stick to ourselves and and violently defend the law from other people, which is actually the opposite of what the laws for, because the laws meant to show the world who got who got is what he wants for his people. And so after about Five Hundred Years of them, trying to restore the relationship with God, by building these walls, both spiritual and literal is a real true slim Jesus appears on the scene and Jesus announces. The kingdom of God is coming, which means god is ready to fill his plan to accomplish the mission that he had with his real to restore his design. And he says, repent and believe mainly. Meaning that the Jews are going in the wrong direction. And if they want to be a part of what God is doing, they need to change direction. They need to be God's people in the way that Jesus is teaching them to do. So, Jesus goes around and he teaches this way of being God's people to the Jews. And then ultimately comes into the temple, and and prompt the juice to make a choice. You going to follow my way. Are you going to follow this this way of keeping everybody at arm's length and violently defending a lot. Did you choose to reject Jesus message? And they hand them over to the Romans and the Romans kill him. But then in the resurrection, Jesus returns to life to this new eternal life. And what that shows is number one. Jesus was right, all along about how we are supposed to go about being God's people number to, it shows that he really is the leader of God's people. And number three. It shows that his death really did deal with the sins of the world. So that God can forgive us and still let the world know that he's not okay, with sin, right? That it's not that he's just decided, send isn't a big deal, but he has dealt with since through the death of Jesus. Jesus ascends and holy spirit comes down on to the Jewish. Believers showing that they are the true people of God. They are the ones that are truly being faithful to God and carrying out his design and they begin to build these communities the community in Jerusalem. That is exactly what the law of Moses always had in mind is exactly the kind of community that God wants people to live in. But that provokes, the Jewish leaders to persecute them, which scatters the Jews into the known world and then something truly amazing happens as they travel throughout the known world people. From other nations were not Jews who are never part of this. This, this design of God or this plan start turning to him and start following Jesus. And following his way, what they realize is that God is reuniting Humanity in the church. The church isn't just the new Israel. The church is the new Israel and the new nations being united together as one people. And then last week, we saw how the last the end of act sets. The story on this launching Point as Paul reaches, Rome and is building a church right under the nose of Caesar and we see that the gospel has the potential to begin spreading all across the world and uniting people from all over. And that is where the Baton is handed off. To the next generation of Believers and kind of a... And and it's the Baton is handed off generation after generation until it has been handed off to all of you who are followers of Jesus and that's where the story before us ends. But God doesn't just leave them in the Bible with here's the Baton and I'll figure out what to do with it. The Book of Revelation plays a key role in the handing off of that baton. Because it teaches the, the following generations of Believers where the course is going to go. It shows them where the finish line is. Cuz if you're going to be in a race, if someone just walked up to you on the street and you baton, would you know what to do with it? No, you got to know where the, where is the race course? Where is the Finish Line? What's the goal? Should I be sprinting? Or jogging? You know, is this a 100m or a marathon? And so the Book of Revelation tells the church where they're headed, what to look out for and where the finish line is. So what we're going to do is we're going to start by reading the introduction to the Book of Revelation, which is a very unique kind of book is an apocalypse, which we don't really have modern apocalypse as we don't write in this way anymore. So I'm going to read the introduction and we're going to get our bearings from there. We're going to look for our coordinates. Remember that, as we read a story, We want to watch for, who are the gods, whose the story about? What is there? Where is their home? How can they meet with God? And what did God tell them to do? Ruby watching for those, we want to answer those questions as we launch into the story of Revelation, result starts John to the seven churches in the province of Asia Grace and peace to you from him, who is, and who was into his to come into the seventh and from the seven spirits before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness. The first one from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the Earth. By John your brother and companion and suffering, and Kingdom and patient endurance, that is ours, and Jesus was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God, and a testimony of Jesus on the Lord's Day. Yeah, I was in the spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice. Like a trumpet was said right on the scroll. Will you have seen and send it to the seven churches to Ephesus Smyrna, pergamum thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and laodicea. I turned around to see the voice in that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lamp stand among the lamp stands with someone like a son of man dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash across his chest when I saw him. So dead, then he placed his right hand on me and said, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last I am the living one. I was dead and now look, I am alive forever and ever and I hold the keys of death and Hades right there. For what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later the mystery of the Seven Stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lamp stand. Is this the Seven Stars of the angels of the seven churches and A7 lampstands are the seven churches. All right. So who is this story about? What Jesus is about to tell a story and it has the introduction? Who was that story going to be about? It is going to be about Jesus and the seven churches. This is very important as we read. Whenever you read a book in the Bible, recognize who's it, written by who's it written to? What is the context in this letter is written to seven churches in Seven Cities. These are real churches. That really existed the time that really received this letter and read it as address to them and it has meaning for them.

I'll be on that. We should recognize first of all. It, there's meaning in the fact that he chose Seven Cities. You probably could have chosen more 7, is the number of completeness, which have been an indicator that this is the message of this is not restricted to just those seven letters. The fact that it's in the Bible, also tells us that the message is not restricted to those seven churches, cuz I'm sure they were a lot more louder than we have in the Bible that the ones that were just at that church. Those are the ones that didn't make it. Those are the ones that they didn't put in the Bible, but this is this book also has a difference for the church. But it's important to remember that is primary. Significance is to those seven churches. So it has to mean something to them. Sometimes it's revelation we act as if it only will matter to the last generation and the rest of us are just holding on to it until then but the Book of Revelation matters to every generation, but primarily the first Now, where is their home?

Their home is in Asia, which for us is a huge continent, but it back then it was This part of the Roman Empire is what turkey is guys. So that's what they mean by Asia and resuming on Asia, the seven churches that were talking about. All right here. So these seven churches are in a very specific place. They're actually very near the island of Patmos, which is just off the coast there. So where is their home for these Christians? Their home? Is Asia because that's where they live. But remember that at this point in the story. The agenda of the God's plan is to restore his design to the whole world because the church can be anywhere where there are believers. And so the ultimate agenda of the church at this stage is the world. He just is writing to churches who have been given the fields of Western Asia to till in. How can I meet with God? This passage gives us a really cool image of that. As you see, Jesus walking on the lampstand, and the lampstand are the, the lamp stands are the churches. That's the simplest needed. Jesus says, when friends are churches to Jesus is walking among the churches when John first season, which reminds us that the presence of God is in the church.

Then the presence of God, he's eating Christians. There isn't the temple one location on Earth, where you can go but any place where there are groups of Believers any place where there is a Believer, you can have the presence of God is with them and asked those Believers gather. There's a special emphasis on the church and the lamp stand. That, that that's where you can count it. So God had never been it before before the New Testament. There in God's presence had never specially been in Turkey, right? The place where they've been there was Sinai and there is Eden and there's Jerusalem, but now all the sudden any City where there's a church God's presence is there. You can spread over the entire world. Lastly, what does Jesus tell them to do now? We didn't read the passage where Jesus tells them what to do, because actually what follows is Jesus dictate 7, letters one to each City to tell them what to do, but there are certain things that do those letters have in common and they set us up to understand what's coming in the divisions. The story that John will tell, cuz the common thing to each one of them talks about is Jesus talks about the one who will be victorious. And there's one particular passage where he explains what it means to be victorious. This to the one who is Victorious and does my wheel to the end. I will give authority over the nation's. That one will rule them with an iron scepter and dashed to pieces, like Pottery, just as I have received Authority from my father. So the one who is Victorious, will be the one who rules which is being restored to God's plan. That's what human beings are made for, right? And to be victorious, means what? Doing the will of Jesus to the end. So the mission of the, the, the mission that the church has been given, here is to remain faithful to Jesus and his will. The rest of the story of revelation will be tied around the mission of Jesus to restore the kingdom and the mission of the church to stay faithful to Jesus.

Now, telling doing Revelation 21, sermon is tricky and the reason is because Revelation is an apocalypse and apocalypse is a kind of book that we don't have any more. We do not have a modern version of apocalypse and it can seem really complicated to us because we are more rationalistic than the ancient world was apocalypses are meant to reveal the true nature of the world end of the course of history to God's people through imagery. It's kind of like a special effects movie uses big powerful images to get a point across and it actually uses repeated image is one of the things that when you read Revelation, sometimes you'll end up with, you see those huge charts that have all these different things. Like there's there's like all these different events that will happen over this amount of time and there's seven things and that's not actually how Evolution works. If you'll get every other Apocalypse in the Bible. They will give you multiple Visions to make the same point and John is doing the same thing. There's there's, there's the seven Feels like it's broken and events that happened there and there's the seven trumpets to get blown in the seven bowls. And if you noticed each one of those sets of 7 and the exact same way and they summarize the same images. That's not 21, things, that happen. It's John making the same point three times. This is what we're going to do makes this point about what the Christians are to expect. Because it's the one that that has the most character development in the most narrative because it works for were telling the story. But this is really the main message of Revelation is to get this message across these expectations across with repeated imagery, so, We've already introduced the first mate, the first major characters Jesus and the church is so we're going to jump into Revelation 12 and introduce another main character. Another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon with seven heads, and ten horns and seven crowns on its head, its tail swept. A third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the Earth. Then war broke out in heaven. Michael, and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon, and his angels fought back, but he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven. The Great Dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the Earth and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice and haven't say now have come to Salvation in the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah, pretty accuser, our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before? Our God day and night, has been hurled down there for rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them, but woe to the earth into the sea. Because the devil has gone down to you. He's filled with fury because he knows that his time is short. Hi, this is only the third time, I think maybe fourth in the series that we talked about Satan, cuz he doesn't actually come up in the Bible as much as you might think. I will be fine at the story that the Bible is telling is not there. The story, the Bible tells about Satan is not. The one that we are most familiar with, which is actually heavily influenced by Pagan mythology. The Bible tells the story of Satan in Old Testament, Satan is God's prosecutor. He is the Divine agent who's in charge of making sure that everybody gets punished to the full extent of the law. That's what he's doing a job. That's what he's doing in Zechariah and that, that's his role is to punish people. Make sure they get punished. And that makes him ultimately an obstacle to God for giving his people because Satan the accuser doesn't want them to be let off because that wouldn't be punishing them to the full extent until we see in this passage. As we see that Satan Satan is thrown out of Heaven. It's important to recognize when this happens. It happens as a result of the ministry of Jesus. Not before it's not before creation or before Adam and Eve it is at the the during the ministry of Jesus and noticed, it says when he's thrown down, but now the kingdom of God Has Come Satan is thrown out of Heaven because there's no place for someone to accuse God's people when they've been finally forgiven by Jesus. But now he's in the earth and he's angry, and he's supposed to God's people that's out that serpent image. It does the Greek word. They're referring back to the Leviathan, which is this monster in the Old Testament. Who was opposed to God people in end, it talks about God destroying, Leviathan. We destroy the enemies of his people. So this is, this is a spiritual force that opposes God's people, that is real and active in the world. So, the first thing that this, the set of stories is telling us is that there is a spiritual Force at work in the world that opposes God's people. It opposes God's plan to forgive his people.

Now, this spiritual force that has minions with a Minions that we normally think of are the little devil guys, that sit on your shoulder and tell you to cheat on your taxes and that kind of stuff, you know, like they argue with the angel in the end there or like the screwtape letters stuff. I love the screwtape letters. That's what we tend to think of his like, the tempter. Demon is the main minion. The Bible that has almost nothing to say about those kinds of demons, almost nothing. The Minions that the Book of Revelation calls out a very different, their beasts. You're the first Beast, the dragon, stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea had ten horns and seven heads with ten crowns on its horns. And on each had a blast with his name. The Beast, I saw was done with a leopard that had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like a lion. The dragon gave the Beast, his power and his throne and great Authority. One of the heads of the B seem to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound have been healed. The whole world is filled with wonder and follow the Beast. People worship the dragon because he had given authority to the Beast and they also worship the Beast and ask who is like the Beast who can wage war against it. Now, here's where you have to talk a little bit about how we read Revelation it, what Revelations meant to do, one of the ways that we misread Revelation is when we think that it is a code that that the Revelation in codes the truth, and we have to decode it to figure out what it's saying. So the idea is like there's some hidden truth about some future being that is going to arrive and we're supposed to decode the passage so that we know who it is. So I'd Martin Luther would have said I can decode this passage to tell me that the Beast is the Pope. Bad people throughout American history. Have found ways to Dakota to say that the current president is the Beast. Every president has been accused of being the Beast. And that's what we all think. Is that it is being coded true that we have to decode. The problem is that, then the truth of God is only accessible if I'm smart enough, right? Then, my wisdom becomes part of revealing, the truth of God, that's not actually how apocalypse worked in Apocalypse. The vision itself was the Revelation because there would have been no question to the original audience, reading this letter. Who the pieces? The imagery is not subtle. It's the Roman Empire. The pieces of Roman Empire if you decode the images. There, it's very very obvious that he's referring to the Roman Empire, especially sent describing it as a beast points, back to the visions of Daniel where he describes the empires that ruled over Israel, as a series of Beast. So soon, as you say, Beast, people who are familiar with the Bible, think Empires was very clearly, the Roman Empire. So here's the point. The point isn't that the beast in codes Rome's identity cuz that's obviously the point isn't to say. Oh, the Beast is actually wrong. The point is for the audience to say, Oh, wrong is actually a beast. That's the Revelation for them. To recognize that this force that they encounter every day is in truth. A beast that opposes God and did you see the things that the Beast does? You see the ways in which the Roman Empire? At that time opposed to God? So what is actually revealing is that this political entity? This Empire that is trying to control their lives and is trying to make them devote their lives to the Roman Empire. That is a beast that is opposed to God. There's a second opinion, as well. Then I saw a second beast coming out of the earth that had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. It exercise. All the authority of the first piece on its behalf because of the signs. It was given power to perform on behalf of the first Beast, it deceive the inhabitants of the Earth. In order them to set up an image and honor of the Beast who was wounded By The Sword and yet live. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first Beast so that the image could speak and cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, Great and Small, rich and poor free, and slave to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads. So that they could not buy or sell, unless they had the mark, which is the name of the Beast or the number of its name. Again, this is not a place where we speculate on. What what is the see if we going to be and what is The Mark of the Beast going to be? Are we going to get our way to get barcodes on our hands on our foreheads? Cuz the first middle and last number of every bar code is six little little creepy. Is that what's going to happen? That's not how they would have read this. Because these people already encountered, the mark of the beast. They already encountered with being described here because in the Roman Empire is hard for us to understand, just how much religion was involved. The worship of the Gods was involved in the Roman culture. If you were a Roman citizen, your family had a God or Son of God that you were expected to worship. Or if you are slave, you were supposed to worship the gods of your family. If you were, let's say a stonemason. There was a god of stonemasons you were supposed to worship. When you got together with the guild. There was a god of your city. If there was a god of the Empire, the emperor himself was a God. These every facet of your life would have involved, worshiping Gods at some point when you went to buy food, Most of the meat had been sacrificed to Idols before it was sold. I guess this is part of everything. And so they experience a daily reality where you have to, you have to participate with the religion and the culture of the time, just in order to be able to buy and sell at the marketplace. Right worshipping? The gods with the cost of participating, in Roman society. Is so this second beast, what it describes as all of these cultural and social and economic systems that pressure people to be 22 CO2. What's the run looking for good form to this culture to this Society? It's not just the political person as much as the threat of being executed, the pressures people to give up their faith, but it's also the social and economic pressures at the fact that you can't succeed as much in your job. You may be ostracized by your family is all these other things that happen to pressure. People to give up the faith. It so what these images are meant to show us is that the political economic and cultural forces of this world tend to be Beast demand our worship and loyalty. And it is because they demand our worship in our loyalty that they are Beats. If not, not necessarily what the rhetoric they use, or what their stated goals. It's it's when whenever anything tries to push our loyalty away from God, it is behaving as a beast and these passages are meant to open our eyes to that reality. That there are beasts in the world. This is the most troubling part of this passage of chapter 13, is the length that God will allow these beasts to go to because we might hope that God is going to defeat the Beast. Every time they rear their head, the guy just going to let you know Play-Doh that that game of the arcade with the alligators have to smack them. It's like Doug, we want God to do that to just smack down, the emperor of the Empire, whenever it arises to SmackDown, the enemy's whenever they come up, but Revelations, specifically tells the churches. That's not what's going to happen. But this is the first piece. It says, the Beast was given the mouth to other proud words and blasphemies and exercise its Authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to blaspheme God and to slander his name and his dwelling place. And those who live in heaven, it was given power to wage war against God's holy people into conquer them and it was given authority over every tribe. People language in nation. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people. What state is it? What it's saying? Is that God is allowing these beasts to do what they are trying to do. He is giving them room. He's not going to smack them down. He's not going to defeat them yet. Why what Peter tells us that God is waiting to bring Jesus back in order to leave time for repentance repentance. Is a choice for us to return to God, and we have the choice to return to God that we have the choice. Not to write, which means that we have the choice to serve, the Beast into serve the dragon. Until there is this time. In which God wants to bring as many people as possible to the gospel. And that does mean allowing other God will allow the beasts of the world to oppose and persecute the church.

So, how do we accomplish our mission? How do we help in the goal of bringing people to Christ in this time that we have before Jesus returns? Well, I'll tell you what the most satisfying thing to tell you would be. I really wish I could tell you that. We are supposed to go out and be dragonslayers and be Slayers and we're going to tear them down with her own hands. That's not how the Bible describes the mission of God's people. Here's one of the many places where the Bible describes God's people wear Revelation describes God's people. This is right after the vision of the Beast that says, then I looked and there before me was the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000, who had his name, and his father's name written on their foreheads. These are those who did not defile themselves with women for they remain virgins. They follow the land wherever he goes. They were purchased from among Mankind and offered his first fruits to God in the lamb. No lie, was found in their mouth. They are blameless. 100% lamb is Jesus, the 144,000 are his people and what does it say about God's people? It says that they are virgins is says that they remain blameless that uses imagery. Basically, to say that they have resisted the beasts in a way that maintains their integrity that they have stayed faithful to God. They have not given into the pressures of the Dragon of the Beast. The other interesting things about this Army, it never goes into battle. Know where in Revelation. Does this Army go into battle. In fact, it's usually all this done as it's described like this as having kept itself, pure as having resisted, the pressures of the dragon and the Beast and then the story just moves on. Cuz this is not a dragon slaying Army. How does this Army win the battle? It's actually the interesting thing is, at this point. They have already won. If we rewind we look at what the the voice says, when the dragon is throw down to earth. I skipped over part of it. Here's what it says. It says they the Saints who triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from Death. How did they Triumph didn't kill the Beast? The Beast is still around. You actually see this. Daniel has the same vision where the 4th piece, tries to kill people in and they don't actually win and tell the the one, like a son of man sets up there and read Daniel 7. Same thing with the point is that they win simply by enduring with integrity, and during the persecutions of the Beast, and the dragon and staying true to God's word. The church triumphant over the Beast by remaining faithful to the way of Jesus in the face of persecution. Because at the point of that Gap in time, is to bring as many people to the gospel as possible. Then what people? And if God is in control the whole time, he is only because he says, so that the Beast is allowed to be active at all. Then what people need is not someone to defeat the Beast ahead of God's plan. What they need is people just point them to the gospel. Are they need people to show them who the B Star? And to show them that God is actually in charge.

Because ultimately our job is through the way we behave through the way we interact with the powers of this world to show them that we know that those beasts are already defeated. We know that their intimidation is not worth giving in to, we know that their seduction is not worth giving in to because they can't actually win in the end. So that means if we are with God, then they can't defeat us. And if we're with them, then we can't win. So, we testify to the world through how we respond to the powers and how he stay true to the message of God, that Jesus has already won.

That the beasts and the dragon are living on borrowed time.

Because ultimately, the Beast and the dragon do get defeated, but it's not by us. It's not by the Earthly. Army is not by the church in Revelation, 19. It says, I saw heaven standing open and there before me with a white horse, whose Rider is called faithful and true. With just, as he judges and wages War, his eyes are like, blazing fire. And on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him, that no one knows, but himself. He's dressed in a robe. Dipped in blood in his name is the word of God. The armies of Heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean coming. Out of his mouth, is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nation. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He Treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, on his robe. And on his thigh. He has this name written king of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the Rider, and the horse on the horse and his army, but the Beast was captured and with it. The false prophet, who perform the signs on his behalf, with these signs, you deluded, those who received the mark of the beast and worshipped His Image, the two of them were thrown alive into the fiery Lake of burning sulfur. See you at some point, their head, there has to come a time when our option to choose end because of that never happens. Then God's good design is never restored. At some point, God has to have the final word. And when that time comes, Jesus will return and defeat the forces that oppose his plan once and for all. The forces that distort, this world, that making it something other than God's design, that, that lead the world in Rebellion, against him, that we'll all get defeated.

To pave the way, for the restoration of God's design. And that's what we see in some of the most beautiful imagery in the Bible right here, at the end of the story Bible. The story ends with us going to heaven. That's not how the story ends. Cuz, remember, the point is, about the point of God's plan is the place where God's people live out, their purpose in his present. The story ends, not with us, going to heaven, but with Heaven returning to Earth,

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. There's the place and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling. Place is now with people and He will dwell with them forever. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. That's a present. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, are all be no more death or Mourning or crying or pain for the old Order of Things has passed away. I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are at the temple. The city does not need the Sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of God gives it light. And the lamp lamb is its lamp. The Nations will walk by its light in the kings of kings of the earth, will bring their Splendor into it. I know they was Gates. Ever be shot for, there will be no night there. The glory and honor the Nations will be brought into it. That's people Nothing impure will ever end to it and enter it nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful? But those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Ultimately, God's presence will return to the Earth and he willfully and finally restore his design to the world.

John goes to Great Lengths to demonstrate that. The story has come full circle that everything humanity is done to destroy the. The design and destroy the garden has failed because we end up right back in the garden. Look at how he continues to describe. He says, 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 street of the city, on each side of the river, stood, the Tree of Life, very 12, crops of fruit yielding, its fruit every month and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation 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 9th. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the Sun. For the Lord. God will give them light. The tree the river, those are all Eden images. And here's how the story ends here is the last sentence of the story of the Bible. There's a few verses after this, but this is the last time you see Humanity in the story of the Bible and they will reign forever and ever.

The way we might say it now, is they rained happily ever after? Notice that humanity is right back in the position. They were supposed to be at the beginning. that the goal of humanity is not simply to just sit on a cloud and play Harps and sing songs for eternity but to rain Personally, what I, I see our Eternal existence as just a perfected version of our current existence, which is funny because what that reminds me is that I'm the one who's going to have to get retrained. I think, in the new worth, there's going to be there to be Farmer's, there's going to be Architects. There's going to be construction workers, knew you people doing all kinds of useful things. The other people who won't be useful the pastor's, I'm going to have to get retrained. I'm going to have to go to New Jerusalem, community college, and that got some skills. So I can be useful in the new worth. Because God wants us at that, Lego table playing together Building Together ruling together. It is good creation. And ultimately, that is where we will return. And here's the best part. You're the best. How long it takes to come back a million years to come back. So that's the amount of time that sin has rained on the earth and and reigned over God's good creation. But how long does the restored creation last? Forever. Write what percent of Eternity is a million? 0. It is 0%. Do it, or how long it takes for Jesus to return. The amount of time that sin has dominated. This world will ultimately end up to be 0%. Because his plan will be restored and it will endure forever. And that's how the story ends. It is important for us to know that, that's where the story ends because that tells us where the finish line is, as we run our race and we learn from The Book of Revelation where we're going and what we need to watch out for. So you're the first thing I want to learn from Revelation. First of all, there are beasts in the world that work to seduce and intimidate us into giving our loyalty to them, instead of Jesus. And the challenge is to not give into that intimidation to not, give in to whatever. It's going to cost you to stay true to the image of God. What's harder to identify is the ones that are trying to seduce us. The ones that are trying to tempt us. into worshipping them, just a little Especially because today worship, it's not as obvious. They aren't telling you to go to a temple in and kill a pig that are ways of worship are much more subtle. And they're harder for us to recognize, but there are beasts out there that we need to watch out for that are trying to pull our tentative. Pull our Allegiance away from God, and we need to watch for that. When we identify those beasts, we need to remember also what our mission is. Because again, the satisfying thing would be to become Dragon Slayers, right? But the church's mission is not to slay the dragons but to Faithfully witness that Jesus has already defeated them. To try and slay them is to basically agree with them that they have power that needs to be ended.

But that's not true. Ultimately, they have no power to change the outcome, and our mission is to testify to the world. That that is the case. That Jesus has already won and whatever power they have is temporary.