Revelation 21 to 22 verse 5.
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.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.
And God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.
And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.
Also he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.
And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues,
and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain,
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal.
It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels,
and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed.
On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
The city lies four square, its length the same as its width.
And he measured the city with his rod, twelve hundred stadia.
Its length and width and height are equal.
He also measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.
The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold like clear glass.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel.
The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx,
the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl.
And the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light,
and its lamp is the Lamb.
By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
And its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.
They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.
Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kind of fruit,
yielding its fruit each month.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,
and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
And night will be no more.
They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light,
and they will reign forever and ever.
Well, how have you experienced your world, our world, this week?
I guess I already know the answer to that question for every one of us,
and that is, we'd have to say it's a mix.
It's always a mix, isn't it?
So, on the one hand, you're aware of stunning beauty in the physical world,
yet incredible harshness and uncertainty,
climate change, devastating natural disasters, disease, plagues.
It's such a mix.
It's like the same in our relational world.
From time to time, we catch glimpses of the loving, secure, satisfying, selfless relationships
that each one of us crave.
But mostly, we're just struggling to keep our relationships together.
We're struggling just through dysfunction and brokenness.
Our brokenness and dysfunction impacting others,
and the brokenness and dysfunction of others impacting on us.
And I think it would be safe to say, without being called Eeyore this morning,
that I think most of us at the end of the week just feel a bit battered,
and bruised, and tired.
That's life, isn't it?
And then when we switch on our TVs,
if you still use a TV, or your iPad, whatever it is,
you get your news service on,
at global village level,
well, the picture's just the same, only much bigger,
much more severe.
Brutal conflict erupting every which way.
Hatred in countless forms.
Lies.
Ruthless exploitation.
We talk about man's inhumanity to man,
but that's just a cliche, isn't it, for what we see.
That reality, I think,
is very, very much to the fore in explaining why,
hope is basic to every person.
It's hope in the middle of a very, very heavy,
dysfunctional, broken world.
It's hope
that keeps a person from being stuck
in the awfulness of the past,
or the present.
Because hope gives promise of a better future.
Hope is such a powerful thing in each of us.
Hope is a really powerful thing in society.
In fact, it's so powerful
that I think it's not too much to say
that hope is the last thing we lose in life.
Once that's gone,
then it's gone.
Life's gone.
We cannot continue to live meaningfully
without hope.
It's that powerful.
It's that important.
Now, of course,
when we look at our world,
then we see
that the more hopeless people feel,
the more they experience that sense of brokenness
and dysfunction in the world,
as they observe it and experience it,
the more they demand hope.
And what we see in our world, I believe,
is that we keep recycling
the same old hopeless forms of hope.
Despair.
Black depression.
And that's an epidemic proportion
in our society at the moment.
Or, go to the other extreme,
there's escapism,
self-indulgence.
We entertain ourselves to death
at the old retail therapy,
binging Netflix,
endless entertainments,
home renovations,
personal pampering,
and so the list could go on and on and on.
It's all about escapism.
It's all about self-indulgence.
It's all about creating
a sense of paradise and security
and meaningfulness
in among the dysfunction and the brokenness.
And then there's bland optimism.
Our world seems to be
still holding on to that.
Positive thinking.
Hard to know how
after generations of war
and destruction.
But it seems like
a lot of people still,
contrary to all evidence,
believe that inherently
people are good.
And that if we can just deliver
the right educational,
economic, and social conditions,
then we can actually build
that earthly paradise
we all crave.
And that if we can just deliver
and that's more positive
in positive thinking
than I can manage,
let me tell you.
In sharp contrast to that,
there is Christian hope.
That is,
Christian hope is the past,
present, and future
connected in Jesus.
So the Christian hope,
as I introduce that term,
is just another way of speaking
about the Christian worldview,
which is spelled out
in the Bible.
And the worldview,
I've used this idea before,
the worldview is just like
a pair of glasses.
A worldview is the lens
by which we observe
and understand our world,
what our world is,
where our world came from,
and our place in the world.
The biblical worldview
gives us a framework
to understand
the frustration
and brokenness
we observe
in ourselves
and in our world.
The biblical worldview
gives us a framework
to understand
the sense of futility
and meaninglessness
which threatens
to overwhelm us
from time to time.
The Christian worldview
is a compelling
historical explanation
which guarantees
we're not stuck
in the past
or the present
because it explains
precisely how
and why
the future
will be better.
In the Christian worldview,
history is linear,
not circular,
as in many
Eastern religions
and philosophies.
that is,
in the Christian worldview,
history,
or what we know
as space and time,
actually had
a precise start.
It was created
out of nothing
by God
when he created
our universe.
And history,
space and time,
will have
a precise,
finite ending
at some point
in the future.
Also determined
by God.
and in between
those two points,
history is us
moving inexorably
towards that
final point
in time.
And the Christian worldview,
most importantly,
explains to us
that we experience
the world
not as it was
created to be,
but we experience
the world
having been subjected
to frustration
and futility.
And that fits,
doesn't it?
That fits with our sense
of what we're observing
in ourselves
and experiencing
in our world.
We just think
to ourselves,
there's got to be
something better.
This can't be
what we were made for.
We see that most clearly
at death.
We just want to cry,
no,
this is not right.
We were made
for better things.
But equally true,
the Christian worldview
explains that God's future
is already breaking
into the present.
Both God's image bearers
and God's physical world
will be restored
to God's original design
and plan.
Because it is
God's design
and plan.
And Jesus,
we're told
in the biblical worldview,
is the center
of history
and the Bible.
Every aspect
of the past,
present,
and future
is tied
inseparably
to Jesus
and God's kingdom.
And
so as Christians,
as believers,
those in Christ,
we have the link,
the vital piece
that puts it all together.
That is the Christian hope.
And Jesus himself
was very much aware of this.
His mission in the world,
he says in Mark 1,
verse 15,
you can check that out
for yourself at a later time,
his mission in the world
was to establish
the kingdom of God.
That is,
in the context,
he's saying,
as God's Messiah,
as God's promised
king and savior,
I will do
everything necessary
to restore
the kingdom of God.
What's the kingdom of God?
Well, the kingdom of God,
we've seen over the last few weeks
from Genesis 1 to 3,
is
God's people,
God's special people,
in God's place,
under God's rule
and blessing.
God's
under God's rule
and blessing.
In John 5,
verse 39,
again,
you can check it out later,
Jesus is clear
that all scripture,
that which we call
the Old Testament,
all scripture
is written about him.
And in that context,
he actually connects that
to eternal life.
So if you want to know
how to find eternal life,
what eternal life is,
then you read
the Old Testament scripture
in the light of Jesus.
He brings it to fulfillment.
He makes it real.
He delivers
all those Old Testament promises.
The same in Luke chapter 27,
verses 44 to 46,
after his resurrection,
and he was walking
on the Emmaus Road
with his disciples.
And he reveals himself
and then tells them
that, again,
the same thing,
everything written about him
in the scriptures,
the Old Testament,
as we call it,
was about him.
Again,
he is the one
who fulfills
every promise
made by God
as part of God's
salvation plan.
So friends,
Jesus literally
is the key
to understanding
the whole Bible.
We can only
understand properly
what we read
in the Old Testament
when we understand
it through Jesus.
So for example,
if we just took
the idea of sin
we saw last week
in Genesis chapter 3,
we can see it's awful,
but it's not
until we see
what Jesus has to pay
to undo the effect
of sin
that we understand
how awful it is.
Nothing less
than the life
of God's own son
was going to be
sufficient to deal
with it.
And so,
things that we see
in the early part
of scriptures,
we actually see
develop throughout
scripture,
and then finally
the last piece
fits in place
and we think,
wow,
so that's
what it was
all leading to.
Jesus is doing
this.
Now it all
makes sense.
Every aspect
of Jesus'
ministry
is shaped
and defined
by the problems
and issues
of the past
as he
brings God's
future
into
time and space.
Jesus.
So,
in the remainder
of my time,
I just want
to have a quick
walk through
the Bible's
plot line
of God's
salvation plan
in Jesus.
And it's going
to be very quick.
It's actually
going to be
more like a gallop.
So,
over the past
three weeks,
we've explored
Genesis 1-3
and we've
explored that
under the headings
of explanation
for why we
observe and
experience the
world as we
do.
And we
started in
Genesis 1
with a notion
that God
created.
And we saw
there the
world as it
was designed
to be.
And we
just made
some notes
in passing.
The universe
is God's
created place.
The universe
is a home
for God's
glory.
Demonstrating
his creative
power and
goodness.
And it's
in Genesis
1 and 2
and 3
that we
see the
pattern of
God's
kingdom.
So,
Adam and
Eve were
God's
special people
in God's
special place,
the garden.
Created as
image bearers
to reflect
God's glory,
they were
the first
of the
human race,
set apart
from all
other living
creatures
to enjoy
unique
personal
relationship
with God
and rule
God's
world on
God's
behalf.
And they
were gladly
under God's
rule as
Genesis 2,
as they
lived all
of life
in obedience
to God's
word and
as they
lived all
of life
as worship
of God.
And in
turn,
enjoying the
good life
of blessing,
abundance,
and rest,
as it's called
in Genesis 2,
or security.
God was
created,
then the
next step
is that
God has
rejected
chapter 3.
And the
world is
subjected to
frustration and
futility.
So,
there you
have God's
people in
God's place
under God's
rule.
Well,
chapter 3,
God's
special people
choose to
disobey God
and act
independently
of him.
And the
consequences
were disastrous
both for
them,
Adam and
Eve,
and for
every generation
that has
followed them
since.
No longer
God's special
people in
God's special
place because
they've been
banished.
They were
shut out of
God's garden.
They turned
away from
God.
God turned
away from
them.
And they
were forced
into that
very thing
which they
wanted in
their action.
That is,
they wanted
to live
independently
of God.
That was
why they
chose what
they did.
And guess
what?
They got it
as God
closed them
out of the
garden and
locked them
out.
They were
forced to
experience life
independently of
God.
And we see
in Genesis
4 to 11
that that
life was
just horrendous
as the
depth and
nature of
sin spread
from the
generation to
the generation.
No longer
God's special
people.
No longer
in God's
special place.
No longer
under God's
rule and
enjoying God's
blessing.
Now,
they were
experiencing
God's wrath,
God's judgment,
albeit partial.
But they were
seeing an
aspect of
God's
character they'd
never come
across before
until they
disobeyed.
And their
life was
subjected to
restlessness in
comparison to
rest,
frustration in
comparison to
delight and
ease,
toil,
futility,
rebellion,
and most of
all and most
destructive of
all,
self-worship.
They stopped
worshipping God.
Who did they
start to
worship?
Themselves.
They had
put themselves
as creators.
They had
inverted God's
order.
God created,
God rejected,
and then God
mirac...
Oh, no,
I've lost my
word.
God provides.
Sorry.
I'm sorry about
that.
God provides
for his
rebellious
people.
I don't
know what
happened there.
God created,
God rejected,
and God
provides for
his rebellious
people.
The situation
at the end of
chapter 3,
on one reading,
just looks
hopeless.
But in
amongst all
the hopelessness,
we see that
God is
determined to
restore his
kingdom.
God is
determined once
again to
have his
special people
in his
special place,
gladly under
his robe,
and enjoying
the blessing
that comes
with that.
And so God
commits to
acting towards
his rebellious
people in
love and
undeserving
generosity.
And the
first promise
of that is
tied to
someone in
Genesis 2,
15.
Dave looked
at this last
week.
Again, go back
and check out
the verse.
I'm going to
call that person
the bruiser.
Because the
prophecy was
that this
descendant of
Eve would
come and
bruise Satan's
head.
But in that
action,
would himself
be bruised.
The bruiser.
What was his,
what was the
promise of the
bruiser from
the God?
Well, the
bruiser, at
considerable cost
to himself,
would defeat
Satan and
undo the
effects of
sin and
rebellion and
therefore restore
God's people to
God's place under
God's rule and
blessing once
again.
So that once
again, God's
world would do
what God designed
his world to do,
and that is
perfectly reflect
his glory.
perfectly demonstrate
his power,
his aloneness in
terms of his
being and his
presence in the
universe.
Now, as I said
before, Genesis
4 to 11 records the
horrendous consequences
as sins spread from
one generation to the
next, and they are
horrendous.
Look through those
chapters.
It just beggars
belief.
It's a
but then hope
surfaces again as
God promises Abraham,
Genesis 12 we're up
to now, he says one
of your descendants
will, essentially he
doesn't use this
language, but one of
your descendants will
be the bruiser.
That is, the promise
to Abraham was in
turn of land, nation
and blessing.
God's people in
God's place in
God's rule.
And so if you're
looking at the
second page in the
bullet and you can
see this little
schematic thing, the
diagram thing, we
see that Genesis 1
to 11, the whole of
the world is on
focus, it's on view,
and then in Genesis
12 with the promise
to Abraham, we sort
of narrow down and
for the next
generations we have
the history of God's
salvation plan as
it's worked out
through national
Israel, the Jews.
And then when we get
to Jesus, then we
open up and the
whole world's back on
view again.
And finally we get to
the end.
And so it's
symmetrical.
But the rest of the
Old Testament is
basically God working
out his plan of
salvation that once
again he would have
his special people in
his special place
under his rule and
enjoying his
unrestricted blessing.
Now, how do we see
that?
Well, if I had another
three or four hours I
would take you through
all the different
genres of literature in
the Old Testament, but
I'm not going to do
that this morning.
I just want to, at
risk of being
simplistic, and this
probably will annoy
some of you, just
talk about this
massive period in a
couple of sentences,
a few sentences, and
say it, cast it like
this.
So the pattern from
Genesis 12 until we
get to Jesus is a
pattern of waiting for
the bruiser to come.
And so what happens
is this.
As we track through
and we get introduced
to the next big
character in God's
salvation history,
then the anticipation
soars.
Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, each time the
anticipation soars.
Perhaps this one is the
bruiser.
Perhaps he'll do what
nobody else has been
able to do before him,
undo the effects of sin
and restore the
Garden of Eden
conditions, bring
God's people back
into God's place and
under God's rule.
And the expectation
soars and then
crashes.
Because we see that
successively, each of
these big figures,
although they do
great work for the
Lord in that sense,
each of them is still
part of the problem.
Sin.
And sin trips them
up and we crash
and burn again.
And we wait again
in history for God
to bring the next
one.
Expectation soars
and we crash and
burn.
And so the pattern
continues right
through until Jesus.
Finally, we get to
Jesus.
And once again, hope
surges.
Now, if you read in
the early chapters of
Luke's gospel, you'll
find people like
Zechariah and
Elizabeth, Anna the
prophetess and others
who are described as
people who are
faithfully waiting for
the consolation of
Israel.
That is, they were
people who were
living in hope, hope
of the bruiser
finally coming, hope
that God would
finally send his
Messiah, the one who
would undo the effects
of sin and restore
the world to what
it was meant to be.
They too were feeling
bruised and battered
and tired.
And they couldn't
wait for God to act
and send the bruiser.
Expectations were
soaring again.
Anticipation was
soaring.
Only this time, we
stay up there.
There's no
disappointment.
No crash and burn.
Jesus was the bruiser.
Finally arrived.
And he got busy doing
what was promised in
Genesis 2.15.
But he did it in the
most surprising of
ways.
The redemption of
God's people, that is
the restoration, the
undoing of the effects
of sin and bringing
God's people back into
perfect relationship with
God, that's what
redemption is.
The redemption of God's
people came as he was
bruised on the cross
and in death.
But his death did undo
the effects of sin.
His death did restore
God's people to God's
special place, that is,
in Jesus.
Relationship, personal,
intimate relationship with
Jesus.
It renewed them from the
inside out so that once
again they're delighted to
live all of life under
God's rule, to live all of
life as worship and to
enjoy all the blessings of
being in God's family, in
God's place, in the Lord
Jesus, as they were created
to do.
But not even Jesus brings the
story to the end, in that
sense.
Salvation or redemption as we
experience it is very much
real.
We already have God's future
reaching into the present
now.
We are in Christ.
We are holy in Christ.
We are in relationship with
Christ.
We are already being made
perfect, made suitable for
heaven.
But it's not yet complete,
we're told, in the New
Testament.
We are a new creation in
Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, 17.
Ephesians 1, 1 to 14.
We have every possible
blessing in Christ.
Our inheritance is real.
But it's not yet fully
experienced or appreciated or
enjoyed, is what we're told in
Ephesians 1, 12 to 14.
So in spite of the fact that we
already experienced so much
renewal, restoration and
blessing in Christ, in spite of
the fact, therefore, that God's
future has already come into us
in the present, then I can tell
you this morning, my friends, and
I'm excited about this if you're
not, the best is yet to come.
The best is yet to come.
And to think of the best being
yet to come takes us to the end
of history and the new heavens
and the new earth.
And those, whatever else they are,
are just pictures of renewal and
complete restoration.
For all the points we might trip
over some of the details of the
pictures, just come with me at that
point.
It's just a picture of complete
restoration where once again we see
what it will be like to be God's
special people in God's special
place under God's rule and enjoying
his blessing in a way that's no
longer restricted and inhibited by our
finiteness and by our remaining sin.
And it's a picture that's tantalizing,
to say the least.
So turn with me now to Revelation 21
and 22.
These are pictures and they are
profound pictures and yet clear
pictures and I say to you, let's not
make them too complicated.
I think they're just meant to be
simple pictures.
And notice we do that, that we
started the Bible, this series in
Genesis 1, with God's word.
The first page of the Bible is God's
word and creation.
The last page of the Bible is God's
word and new creation.
And in between that is Jesus.
God's word and Jesus working out God's
salvation plan.
Now that's a worldview, my friends,
that is so, so good to have when we're
feeling battered and bruised and weary.
Mark Twain said history never repeats
itself, but it does rhyme.
He was even more Eorish than me because
what he was really saying.
That was meant to be rhetorical, Liz.
What he's saying is that, look, nothing
ever changes in history.
It just goes round and round and
round.
That's a dreadful place to be.
In Revelation chapter 20, very difficult,
complicated things.
Christians have argued over this for years
and will continue to argue that in the
generations.
But let me just touch you down very briefly
in Genesis 20, verses 11 through to 15.
Essentially this, that Genesis 20, 11 through to 15,
and you can read this for yourself, is God's
final action in history.
That is the final judgment.
And again, that parallels Genesis 3.
God brought a first judgment, but it was only
partial.
There was always going to be an expectation of
a second, final judgment if God's justice was to
be displayed in God's glory.
Well, that second, final judgment that brings
history to an end is talked about in Revelation
20, 11 through to 15.
But what then?
That was an event that had no fear for Christ's
people because their names are written in the
Lamb's book of life, as John talked about.
It was a momentous occasion.
It will be a momentous occasion, sorry.
But it has no fear for God's people.
But what then?
Well, remember the structure of Genesis 1?
Six days of action by the Lord on the seventh day.
It didn't end.
Revelation is structured in the same way.
I don't think, coincidentally, I think it's
deliberately by John.
He works through six scenes or six cycles of
history.
Each has a start.
Each has a finish.
It's a perspective of God's world over the
ages.
But then this last scene doesn't end.
It continues.
Theoretically, it should end at the end of
chapter 20 because that's the end of history.
But no, it continues.
What's left after God's final action of history?
God's people in God's place under God's rule.
It's a picture of heaven.
And what a picture it is.
All the things lost and spoiled by sin and rebellion
now restored and perfected by Jesus
so that they can never be lost again.
So the Bible starts with the Garden of Eden.
And it ends with a picture of the Garden of Eden.
But far better than the first Garden of Eden.
We'll get to that in a minute.
Far more secure.
Finally, the picture, as we move into these pictures,
finally as Christ's people will experience in full what we
long for daily.
Revelation 21, verses 1 to 8.
I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and earth had passed away.
And the sea.
By the way, here the sea represents a chaos
and disorder in the world.
But there won't be any of that in heaven.
So the sea doesn't exist.
It's picture language.
Remember that?
And I saw the holy city.
New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven for God.
Prepared as a bride.
Adorned for her husband.
The new city is actually a community.
People.
The church.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them.
And they will be his people.
And God himself will be with them as their God.
God's people.
Names in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Redeemed people.
In God's place.
Right there with God.
As he walked with Adam in the garden.
We're back to that picture again.
Under God's rule.
The good life.
The eternal life.
The abundant life.
He will wipe away 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.
Friends, don't we just long to be free from the awfulness of life?
The older I get, the more I long for it.
Don't we just long for a new home.
A place of security.
A place that's deeply satisfying.
A place that's restful.
A place that sin.
And I speak about my own sin or the sin of others.
That can't intrude.
It can't spoil.
Nor do we need to be anxious about it.
Intruding or spoiling.
That's the picture of heaven.
Heaven will be perfect.
There will be none in heaven, verse 8, who seek to live independently of God.
And heaven is God's place of security and beauty.
And blessing for God's people.
In verses 9 through to 27, there's a series of four, again, pictures.
John is showcasing God's people.
Christ's bride.
The holy city.
The new Jerusalem.
And all of these are different symbols and different pictures of the same thing.
That is, they're all describing God's people in every edge.
And so, John uses these pictures, I think, to describe what he knows to be indescribable.
It's beyond his finite ability just to capture it.
And so, he's just searching for things and piling them up.
And so, he starts by saying, verse 11 and verses 18 to 21, he uses the imagery of precious stones.
And so, he sort of visualizes God's people as just this massive, massive chasm full of the most precious stones you can imagine.
Everywhere you look, God's people are sparkling.
Why do they sparkle?
Because Christ has made them new.
He's restored them to true image bearers.
What a beautiful picture to crave and long for.
And then, verses 12 to 14, he goes on and uses what you might call a more military metaphor of picture.
He describes God's people like a fortress.
And this is an amazingly huge fortress.
You can't dig under the waters, the walls, because there's 12 foundations.
You can't knock the doors down because they're miles thick.
You can't get over the top because it's so high.
It is a perfectly safe, secure place.
And it dominates the horizon.
Why?
Because it's God's people in God's place enjoying the blessings of God's rule.
And he goes on then to use a mathematical picture.
God's people are like a perfect cube.
You know, the same this way, this way, and that way.
It was just seen to be perfection in that day when it was written.
And he describes all these things.
And then, verses 22 through to 27, he's sort of still despairing.
He just can't quite get it.
Like an artist who can't quite capture what's before him.
And then he sort of backtracks and says, well, actually, let's just go back to what's really simple.
Heaven is God's people gathered around Jesus.
Those people who've been thirsty all their lives.
Verse 6.
To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The Samaritan lady was so thirsty when she came to the well.
She thought she was thirsty for water.
But Jesus told her, no, no, no.
Behind that thirst, there's an even deeper thirst.
You're thirsting for life.
You don't know where to look for it.
But I do.
Look to me for life, says Jesus.
And your thirst will be quenched forever.
Can you imagine that?
Well, that which we can only sort of grasp for in the depths of our minds with as many pictures as we can imagine,
that will be the reality for us in the future.
That is God's future that we now enjoy in part, but which will be delivered in fullness to us in the future.
All right, I've got carried away here.
I need to stop.
So, heaven, in summary, then, is Eden restored, only much better.
In chapter 22, verse 1 to 5, you can see the pictures of Eden again.
Once again, the river of life flows freely.
Once again, it's a land of abundance and beauty and delight.
Once again, the tree of life is available with no restrictions.
The tree of the fruit of good and evil isn't there anymore.
And I presume that's because there'll be no more craving independence that everybody will be happy to live under the Lord.
And gladly so.
Once again, God looks at what he's created and says it's good.
Once again, there's uninterrupted blessing and fellowship between the Lord and his people.
How is it better than Eden?
Because our righteousness and obedience is now sourced from Christ's work on our behalf.
And in God's Spirit who has taken up residence in us.
We have the genetic code of the second man.
The last man.
The true Adam.
Adam.
Friends, knowing the end from the beginning is the basis of the Christian hope.
Make it more personal.
Knowing our end from our beginning is what gives us hope for the future.
And it's only when we have hope for the future that we have the capacity to live well in the present.
to live well now in this broken, dysfunctional world
with broken, dysfunctional bodies,
knowing that what we have in Christ is real,
but the best is yet to come.
And the question then as I wind up,
do you believe that?
Do you believe that is your inheritance?
Do you believe this is your identity?
Do you crave God as your ultimate expression of beauty?
This is what we shall be in the age to come.
This is what we are in a very real sense,
this is what we are in a very real sense already now.
So the question then is,
why would we look longingly at the things,
the hopeless forms of hope our world offers us?
When true hope that understands our world
and understands our brokenness
is to be found in relationship with Jesus.
In the terms of Genesis 1-3,
why would we keep trying to build our own paradise
here in this earth under our own resources
to try and answer the deep thirst of our soul
when Jesus says,
come to me and drink freely
with no payment.
Friends,
let's set ourselves this week
to live in the light of heaven,
not to live as those were stuck in the past
or the present
in our brokenness and dysfunction.
Pray with me, please.
Lord,
we thank you for pictures.
Pictures,
as they say,
paint a thousand words,
capture a thousand words.
And the pictures of Revelation,
Lord,
capture many, many more words than that
and yet we can scarcely even
comprehend the pictures.
Lord,
our thirsty souls
do long for that
soul-satisfying water of life
that you've already poured into us
in the Lord Jesus Christ
and in your spirit.
And we long for that, Lord,
to be topped up to full measure
in the age to come.
And so, Lord,
in the brokenness
and the dysfunction of this world
and in my own brokenness
and dysfunction,
knowing the best is yet to come,
I just simply say,
come, Lord Jesus.