The New
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever watched a really high thrill movie?
If you have then you know the movie itself usually starts with everything going well, but at some point there is an event that happens that creates a huge conflict.
And from the moment the conflict begins, the main character in the story do all they can to resolve the issue
And most of the time the movie ends with the issue resolved.
And really today as I mentioned we are in the very last chapter of “The Story” series we have been in
And specifically we are in the last book of the Bible called Revelation.
But really as we have been through the Bible we seen something go wrong called “sin”
And as sin enters the world we see God’s perfect plan distorted
But despite sin entering the world and people choosing to walk away from God God is pursuing His people
And really we see this tension throughout humanity where some people are choosing to live a life for God and others are choosing to live a life far from Him.
And really this is the time period we live in
But today we are going to be fast forwarding a little bit, because while right now we live in a time where there can be turmoil and chaos, we get to look forward to the day where this conflict is resolved in a beautiful way.
And so like I mentioned we are in the book of Revelation and there are so many different thoughts and beliefs when it comes to interpreting the book of Revelation.
And I would love to talk about it a little more in a time when we are not covering the entire book in a Sunday, but our focus is going to be at the end, which is Revelation 21-22
And we will be starting in chapter 21:1-4
it says this:
1 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 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. 4 ‘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.”
You know I love what that first verse says, because this book is written one of the apostles named John and God has revealed all of this to John and as the book is getting ready to wrap up in these last two chapters John says He sees a new heaven and earth.
but it also says he sees the first heaven and the first earth pass away.
And its kind of an interesting thing to say right?
But I want you to note this because in order for the new to come, the old has to be cleared out right?
I mean this past week I cleared up my office
And has anyone been in my office?
It is always trashed, its chaotic and its easy to get lost. (show before picture)
but it was not always like that, it was nice when I moved in, but my choices brought me there
But you know God created the the world we live in and it is beautiful, but when sin entered the world it began to look messy (like my office)
and we see at the end of this story one of the first things we are told today is things are being made new.
The old is gone thee new has come.
And there are some really interesting things we are told about this new world right?
Because it does not give us a ton of details, but we are told at the end of verse 21 that there is no sea
And maybe you remember this, but I have mentioned that throughout the Bible and especially throughout the Old Testement water would usually represent Chaos.
Even in literal storys the water seem to always be a little Chaotic.
but the amazing thing is you always see God controlling the Chaos.
And so in Genesis you see God’s Spirit hovering over the water and begin to make order from the Choas
You see Mosses and the Isralites pinned against the Red Sea with the Eygptions chasing them and through God Mosses parts the Red Sea
We see Jesus walking on water
And the amazing thing is you get to revelation and one of the only details we are told is that there is no sea
And a lot of scholars believe this is a way of saying the Chaos of sin that has invaded the world is gone.
And it does not just stop there, but in the following verses (verses 2-3) tells us how now God dwelling place is no longer far off but it is among his people.
And what is so neat hear is that we are almost seeing a reversal of what happened when sin entered the world
Because in Genesis we see God literally walking among Adam and Eve, but then Sin began to build a barrier between them and God
And throughout the Old Testament we see God making himself know despite people choosing to sin
Then we see Jesus come and because of Him coming down we can now have Him dwell in us, maing it so we can have a personal relationship with Him
And really we see we get a taste of the heaven.
Its almost like if you have ever went to an ice cream place and one of the first things you do is you get the samples right?
And you taste it and its good but its not the full thing right?
And you you get the full thing
And really thats what is happening here, because its moving away from here is a sample to here is the full thing.
Its not just you get a taste of the kingdom of heaven, but God is saying when all is made new we get to experience God dwelling among us in full almost like we see in the book of Genesis.
And I want you to notice the verse that follows in verse 4, because it tells us how God is dwelling among us, but it does not sop here
Because God reveals to John that He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more death.
And I bring this verse up a lot at funerals, because it is a really amazing verse isn’t it?
Because we live in a world where there is a lot of pain and sorrow don’t we?
and God walks with us, but at the same time there is a day where the pain and sorrow will be gone.
Its kind of like how when I go to the doctors with Finn, he will get shots and its never a fun time.
But a lot of time when they are giving him the vacines I am holding him and trying to comfort Him and its a really short period that feels really long
But at the end of it the pain is over and I am just able to hold Finn.
And really thats what we see God doing because sin has been defeated and God has triumphed the pain and brokenness is gone and now God is wiping the tears and there is nothing seperating us from God.
It is a beautiful picture and as we get to the end of Revelation the picture gets better, because it says this in Revelation 22:14-17
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
So the paassage says those who have trusted in Christ and have been washed by Him enter, but then it says something a harsh right, because it shows people entering, but then it calls others dogs who are living these lives far from God and it says they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven
And I am a pretty inclusive person so I read that and go this does not seem very grace filled.
But you know we serve a God who has more Grace than we can ever imagine, but He is also a God that is just.
And these people who are not welcome its not neccesarally that God has rejected them, but it is that they have decided to reject God.
in fact in that last verse we read (verse 17) it even says for everyone who can hear come, everyone who is thirsty come, anyone who wants this free gift can come and receive it.
Even those who are far from God can recieve it.
And let me jump to Revelation 22:20-21 because this is the very end of the Bible and this is what it says:
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
So one of the last things that happens in the Bible is Jesus says “Yes, I am coming soon”
And its important to know that this was said over 2000 years ago but I can tell you that everyday we are closer than the day before to Jesus making everything new.
And the point of this is not to guess the exact day and time, but it is for us to be looking forward to this great hope that is coming.
Because we do not know when Jesus will make all things new in entirety
But we do know God can make us new now and give us a taste of what is to come.
And as we get ready to close I think its important for us to take a moment to center ourselves on this promise that God can make you new and ultimately we have a God who is in control and will one day wipe every tear.
Let me close on this because your first time watching a thrilling movie its intense, but once you know how it ends the thrill become a little less intense.
And really as we close out this series, I think about every story that is represented in the life of our church.
And there are some of us who have recently had a rough patch
There are some of us who lives where we somtimes feel overwhelmed
There are some of us who have lost loved ones recently
There are some of us who have been Christians almost our entire life
There are some who may not even consider ourselves Christ followers
But today the invitation is the same:
Come who are thirsty, come who can hear, come who want a free gift.
Because there is a peace about knowing how the story ends and it is that Jesus is coming.
And you are invited.
And we are going to sing a song called there will be a day, and it talks about this promise that Jesus talked about
And I don’t know your full story, but how drastically would your life look leaning into the full story of Jesus this morning. That Jesus is coming.
Will you pray with me?