REV 21-22: “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT”

INTRODUCTION:

In 2007 a film was released called “The Bucket List” which tells the story of two terminally ill men on a road trip.  They have a wish list of things they want to do or see before the “kick the bucket”. I wonder: what would be the top 5 things that you wish you could do or see in your lifetime?

We live in a world which encourages us to “live for the moment”.  That’s because many people today have stopped believing there is life after death.  They believe that life in this world is all there is.  We’re told: you only live once, so enjoy it while you can.  But that’s not true!  For the Christian the best life is always yet to come!

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that there is life after death. So we shouldn’t LIVE FOR THE MOMENT, but LIVE FOR HEAVEN.  But I know it’s not easy to live for what you cannot see in a world filled with attractive things.  These other things excite our imaginations, obsess our thoughts, and we wind up loving these things more than God.  That’s why we spend more time and energy on them than God. 

That’s why God gives us a picture of what heaven will be like.  God wants us to use all our senses (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling) to imagine what it will be like when we are given new physical bodies and a whole new world to enjoy, filled with joys, delights, wonders, love, friends, satisfying work and unsurpassable fun.  God wants us to think of heaven and become more excited about it than we are about football or hockey, than television or computer games, than sex and parties…

Tonight’s vision is all about the wedding of God and His People (21:1-21) and Heaven and Earth (22:1-5). 

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope of:

(1) A PERFECT LIFE IN A PERFECT WORLD (21:1-8, 22:1-5)

When people think of Revelation they always think of the end of the world.  But actually it’s all about a new beginning for this world, when the wonders of heaven flood the earth, making all things gloriously new!  The vision begins “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1) and God declares “Behold, I am making all things new” (21:5).  That word “new” isn’t like throwing out an old dying laptop and replacing it with a new one.  Rather it’s like getting the laptop refurbished and upgraded so it is as good as new.  Satan ruined God’s good creation, but God hasn’t let Satan have the last laugh: “The art vandal doesn’t get the satisfaction of destroying his rival’s masterpiece.  God doesn’t throw away his handiwork and start from scratch – instead he uses the same canvas to repair and make more beautiful the painting marred by the vandal.”

If you want to know what heaven will be like, then it’s going to be a whole lot like this world, except without all the bad bits and with a lot of enhancements! 

In your booklet there’s a picture of the story of the Bible – it has two bookends: Creation and New Creation.  While humans have failed to live God’s way bringing sin and death into this creation; Jesus has succeeded bringing life and hope of a new creation.  While Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and died without access to the “tree of life”… Jesus brings a New Eden and we will eat from the “tree of life” (22:3).  Jesus is going to heal our broken bodies, heal our broken hearts, and heal this broken world.  We’re told flowing from God’s throne is “the river of the water of life” (22:1) which will bring healing to the world.  A similar picture was seen by Ezekiel centuries before and the river flowed into the Dead Sea which was filled with fish, because God is going to make all things right and well in our lives and world.

John notices that there are some things missing in haven.

• “the sea was no more” (21:1) – now does that mean no more swimming or surfing or sailing? Well, that’s not what it means.  The sea represents storms, chaos and danger - remember this morning we saw that an evil beast emerged out of the sea.  But when God in the New Eden, there will be no more evil, danger or chaos!  We’re told “No longer will there be any curse” (22:3), because sin and all the brokenness it has brought to this world will be removed.  Our world will be made perfect.
• “He will wipe 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” (21:4). Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a world without needing to worry about people stealing from you, bullying you, hurting you, causing you to cry, or having to worry about dying.  That’s the life we all dream about.  That’s what God is going to give us to explore and enjoy. Our lives will be made perfect!

All this is God’s gift for His people.  We got a glimpse of the future on Easter Sunday morning when Jesus was raised from the dead.  It was His same physical body raised to life and made better than before.  The resurrection of Jesus is a fact of history, and the proof that your hope of a new body in a perfect world is true!

For centuries this vision of the future perfect life in a perfect world has inspired Christians in how they live now.

• Because we know God will wipe every tear from His peoples’ eyes, today it’s good for Christians to care for the sick, comfort the hurting, feed the hungry, and help the homeless.
• Because we know that God will renew the earth, today it’s good for Christians to care for the environment and its non-human inhabitants.
• Because we know there will be no sin or sinners in God’s perfect world, today it’s essential that Christians share with their friends the good news of what Jesus has done to save us from our sins.

This is something worth waiting and living for!

(2) A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (21:9-27)

Relationships may be the most important thing in life.  As a child you depended on your relationship with your parents to survive – you don’t go to work, you don’t earn money, you can’t cook, you need them to love and care for you.  As a teenager your friendships are very important to you: you want to be liked and accepted by your peers. As you get older you also might want to have a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend and get married.  God made us for relationships, not just with each other but most importantly with Himself!

Everything that Jesus has done to save us from our sins, has been in order to bring us home to live with, walk with and talk with God again – to know Him personally and fully.  When I got married to Kirsty 4 years ago I said to her: “all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you”.  God says the same thing as He shows us what it will be like to be reunited with Him as “The dwelling place of God is with man” (21:3).

 God coming to live with us is described as an incredible city that comes down from heaven to earth.  This is no ordinary city because it’s called God’s “bride” and “the wife of the Lamb” (21:2,9).  Sometimes in the Bible God’s people are called His “bride” and “wife” (Ephesians 5:27).  So this city is both a real place, and a picture of God’s perfect relationship with His people.  It’s a bit like my wedding ring.  It’s a real thing… but it’s also a symbol: it’s made of precious metal to symbolise the value of our marriage, and it’s a circle with no beginning or end which symbolises its permanence.  Likewise, this city is full of symbols but it’s the real place that is going to be our home, with God who loves us!

Let me take you on a guided tour of the wonders of the New Jerusalem:

• The walls of the city are very high (v.12) which means we will be safe and secure with God. Added to that we’re told that there will be no night (25).  A few years ago I remember walking home late at night and I walk pretty fast.  There was a girl in front of me but I didn’t pay too much attention to her as I got closer and got ready to overtake her.  But suddenly she started running and only stopped when she reached some people standing at a nearby bus stop.  She ran because she was afraid that I was going to hurt her.  Bad things can happen and hide in the dark – there’s a reason children fear the dark.  But you will never have anything to fear when you’re with Jesus in heaven.

• The streets are made of gold and gates of pearls (21), the buildings covered with jewels (v.18-21). All of these precious things appeared on the uniform of the High Priest in the OT.  Also the city is in the shape of a cube.  And in the OT the Holy of Holies in the Temple where God lived was shaped as a cube.  All these details remind us that this whole city is the place where God will live with His people, and Jesus is our Great High Priest who brings us into God’s presence by making the sacrifice for our sins.  We’re also told “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” (v.22).  All those things in the OT were like getting a postcard of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, they’re pictures of the real thing.  But you don’t need the postcard once you go to visit Paris for yourself.  So when we get to heaven we’ll meet with God face-to-face.  And we’ll get to experience His love for us as our Father and Friend directly without these other things.

At the centre of heaven is the throne of God and Jesus.  We were made to know God and enjoy Him forever.  And heaven will never get boring.  Because God is infinite, there will always be more to discover, see, learn and experience in our relationship with God and our adventures in God’s World.  He will continue to surprise us, interest us, and teach us new things.  He also has limitless resources and so there is no end to the good gifts He is able to give to His children to enjoy. 

CONCLUSION:

I love how C.S. Lewis finishes his Narnia books when the kids go to heaven: “They all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” This is what is really worth living for.  Don’t settle for things in this world that will run out and come to an end.  God wants us to enjoy Him and be with Him forever!

But I also need to warn you that there is another possible destiny: Eternal life in heaven or eternal death in hell. 

The story is told of someone being invited to their friend’s wedding and reception.  They got the invitation and on the bottom it said RSVP, but they were very busy and had lots of other things to do, so they didn’t reply.  They assumed everything would be ok!  The day of the wedding came and they went to the fancy hotel where the reception was being held.  They were met by the hotel staff who had a list of all the wedding guests and were asked for their name.  But they checked the list and their name wasn’t on it.  The person told them there must be a mistake.  But no, their name wasn’t there and so they were turned away.  You see they were invited to the wedding party but they didn’t RSVP so they missed out on it! 

Likewise, you are invited to the wedding celebration of heaven.  For many of you your parents have RSVP-ed.  But unless you personally respond to Jesus’ invitation to have your sins forgiven you will not have a place there.