The first reading is from Revelation chapter 21.
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.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
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.
He who was seated on the throne said,
I am making everything new.
Then he said,
Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.
He said to me,
It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral,
those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars,
their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death.
One of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues,
came and said to me,
Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high,
and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel,
like a jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates.
On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.
The wall of the city had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city,
its gates and its walls.
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide.
He measured the city with the rod, and found it to be twelve thousand stadia in length,
and as wide and high as it is long.
He measured its wall, and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using.
The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.
The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third calcindony,
the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian,
the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz,
the tenth chrysiprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.
The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it.
On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it.
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
And continuing on.
Then 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 great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the 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 night, they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun,
for the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign for ever and ever.
The angel said to me,
These words are trustworthy and true.
The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.
Behold, I am coming soon.
Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.
And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.
But he said to me,
Do not do it.
I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with all who keep the words of this book.
Worship God.
And then he told me,
Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.
Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong.
Let him who is vile continue to be vile.
Let him who does right continue to do right.
And let him who is holy continue to be holy.
Behold, I am coming soon.
My reward is with me.
And I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
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.
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts.
The sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.
And let him who hears say, Come.
And whoever is thirsty, let him come.
And whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book,
if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy,
God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city,
which are described in this book.
He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon.
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.
Amen.
Will you join with me in prayer?
Gracious Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for your word
and that wonderful promise that brings the future into the present.
We pray that by your spirit, you might enliven that word in our hearts once again.
Amen.
Give us hope that we might put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to obey him.
We pray, Father, that your kingdom might come this morning as we respond to that word.
And we pray these things, Father, so that you might be glorified in your son.
And in his name we pray.
Amen.
We have been travelling through the whole of the Bible in the last few weeks
and we are close to the end of our journey.
You will recall that we have been looking at the story of the Bible,
which we have argued is the story of the kingdom of God.
And if you have been with us, it has been a great story with great ideas.
But if that is all it is, I want to suggest to us this morning
that it is completely irrelevant to us and to the world.
For if the Bible is simply a story, it would stand, as it were, against other stories.
It is not real.
But hopefully, as we read from the Bible, we have seen that it claims to be more than just a story.
It claims to be real.
It claims to be the history of God's dealing with the human race in time and space.
So if you were living in Ur 5,000 years ago, you would have met Abraham.
You would have heard of his encounter with God and the promises that were made to him.
The Bible is more than just a series of ideas.
It is not just a fairy tale.
But I also want to say that the Bible is more than just history.
For if the Bible is simply history, it is, again, just as irrelevant to us.
It is irrelevant for most of us that Victoria was the Queen of England some time ago.
It was relevant, perhaps, to her generation.
But to us now, today, in Australia, in Sydney, hundreds of years later.
The story of the Bible is history.
In other words, it is real.
It happened in time and space.
But it is history that has a future.
It extends into the future.
And therefore, it is relevant to us and the world.
Even those who might not be followers of Jesus.
Unless it has a future, let me reiterate that point, it has no relevance.
But because it has a future, it is deeply relevant to all of us.
I suggested in the first week that as we approach the Bible, particularly the Old Testament,
there are four questions that we can ask.
What is the story so far?
So it is an unfolding story, and we need to see it in its context.
We've read a part of the story, and we need to ask ourselves,
well, what is this particular part about?
But it's more than just description.
It tells us something about God and us and the world and the future.
And so we need to ask that question.
What does this, in the context of the unfolding story,
tell us about God and us and the universe?
And lastly, the question is, well, what difference does Jesus make to what we've read?
Well, the first question, I'll apply the same methodology to Revelation 21 and 22.
Well, the story so far, what is the story so far?
What is the story of the kingdom?
I like to characterize it as a story of tension.
It is a story of conflict.
For the world we live in is not right.
We, deep inside of us, yearn to have a better world.
We want the future to be better than today.
We yearn for a world where there is no tears, no pain, no mourning, no death.
The Bible explains that the reason why we live in this world of tension
is because at the very beginning of the history of the human race,
we decided that God is irrelevant,
that we would do a better job running this world and our lives than him,
that we would do a better job being the one who decides what is good and what is bad,
what is right and what is wrong.
And early on in the history of God's dealing with the human race,
we read that God has promised that he would reverse that,
that he would reverse the cursedness, the world of tension that we live in,
and that he would do it through one man and his family.
And as we trace through the story of the Bible and the working out of that promise,
we see that the climax of this story is again in one man,
a carpenter from Galilee.
That the whole of human history and his resolution of the tensions that we feel
focus on this one man and his execution as a criminal
and ultimately his victory over death.
And yet I think the question that is raised through the story,
as we read the story, even now as we stand, is it true?
For we still live in a world of tension.
If God has made a promise that he would fix the world,
that he would reverse the effect of human rebellion and sin
and curse and death,
why do we still live in a world of pain, of tears, of death?
And if you experience it,
you might hear that this is the question that the rest of the world asks.
You claim that there is a God who has promised all these things,
but where is he?
Does he really care?
You know, that is one of the big questions against Christianity
and the claims of the Bible.
If there were a God and he's powerful and he's loving,
why does suffering exist in this world?
Does he really care?
How is he going to act to fix the world?
Even now, we experience that tension,
that world of evil and tragedy,
in a world that seems God is uninvolved.
And therefore, increasingly,
us who are worshippers of this God in the name of Jesus
become irrelevant.
That our voice disappears
because of the overwhelming,
I guess, nature of those questions.
The same question,
where is God in all this,
in this world of tension,
if he's promised to rectify it all?
I think this is the story of the Bible so far.
And this is the point at which we have come to.
And we come to this episode in Revelation 21 and 22.
And unfortunately,
we won't have time to look at every single detail.
It is a fascinating picture and a very encouraging one.
But I'll just draw out some salient points
from these two chapters.
Well, what is this particular episode about?
It is clearly a picture of the kingdom of God.
For what we are shown in, in this episode,
is the throne room of God.
We're taken to the very seat of God.
What do we see in this picture,
in the kingdom of God?
We see God and his anointed on the throne.
Okay, this is a world,
the world in the first century
is no different to our world today.
It is a world of chaos,
of sickness and evil.
What was shown to John,
who wrote this book,
is that God was and is still king.
Despite of everything that we experience
and that is apparent to us.
Well, what is this king doing
in this world of chaos and suffering?
Chapter 21, verse 5.
He's the pronouncement from the throne.
And this is what he says,
I am making everything new.
In the sovereignty of this God,
what he is doing is a recreation of the world.
Everything is being made new,
completely new.
And as part of that process,
he will destroy all the corruption
and evil of the old world.
And this is why in chapter 21, verse 8,
the new world is one that is without evil
or anyone who does evil.
There is no possibility in a new world
that it would be corrupt again.
He's a difference to the garden.
There is possibility in a garden
that there would be a fall.
In this new world,
in this picture of the new world,
there is no possibility.
The new world is described,
in verse 2,
as a city
and as a bride.
His picture language, of course,
he's seeking to capture
something of the experience
of this new world.
It is a beautiful bride,
a pure,
adorned for her wedding.
It is a magnificent,
glorious city.
A city not just made of bricks and mortar,
but of gold and pearls.
But of course,
a city is more than just brick and mortar.
What makes Chastwood a great city to live in,
if you live in Chastwood or elsewhere,
is not because of the building,
hopefully,
but because of the people.
A city is ultimately a network of relationship.
Here is God making a new city,
in other words,
a new human race,
for his new world.
A magnificent,
glorious people.
Pure.
A don for her husband.
But the most significant thing,
I think,
of this picture of the city,
isn't what is there,
we are told,
but what isn't there.
I don't know if you notice
the curious thing.
There is no evil.
Yes,
that is true.
But in verse 22,
did you notice what else is in there?
Have a look.
There is no temple.
That's right.
Now,
that might not surprise you,
but I think for a first century Jew,
it would be very surprising indeed to hear
that the new Jerusalem has no temple.
It would be like me saying,
I've seen a new Sydney,
in the new heavens and the new earth,
and it is glorious.
It is much better than the old Sydney,
except there is no harbour.
And there is no opera house,
and there's no harbour bridge.
And you think,
what is Sydney without the harbour?
It would just be Melbourne.
Melbourne.
And what is so great about that?
See,
each city in our world
have their own distinctive identification.
If I were to mention the Big Ben,
you would know which city I'm talking about,
or the Eiffel Tower.
If I were to mention the temple of God,
you would think Jerusalem.
The temple is what makes Jerusalem the city of God.
For the temple symbolises the very presence of God.
And yet, in this new Jerusalem,
there is no temple.
And we are told why.
Because there is no need for a temple in a new Jerusalem.
In a new Jerusalem,
the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are his temple.
For the Lord will be present with his people.
Again, I want to take you through
the story of the Bible so far.
Go back a little bit to Exodus 19,
you remember,
as part of our series.
Exodus 19,
Israel was being prepared to meet God face to face
on Mount Sinai.
There was lightning and thunder.
A terrifying picture.
And what they were told
is that don't come near.
If anyone were to even touch the mountain,
he or she or it must be put to death.
No one can come near into the presence of God.
Even in Israel itself,
there was the temple.
But people were excluded.
There were only a select few
who could come inside the temple.
And even when that were to happen,
there has to be a massacre.
A slaughter of animals
and blood were to be spilled.
But here is different.
In a city of God,
where all of the people of God is present
and God is in the midst of her,
people are to be in fellowship with God face to face.
It reminds us, of course,
of Eden and Genesis 1.
Of Adam and Eve walking, as it were,
side by side,
talking face to face with God.
Here it is.
Again, the future of the kingdom of God.
Where all of us, not excluded,
but in the presence of God,
never with the possibility of being excluded again.
Of course, what stands between Exodus 19
and the life Israel
and Revelation 21 and 22
is Jesus.
We know that.
Jesus is the one who has made the difference.
Do you remember,
as we go towards Easter,
you probably hear this passage again,
Mark 15,
at Jesus' death,
when he finally breathed his last breath,
one of the things that happened was
this enormous curtain in the temple
was torn in half.
Not so much that people now have access to God,
but rather God come
into the midst of sinful people.
Hebrews 10,
Jesus is the high priest
who has offered up
the sacrifice
of his own life
once and for all time
to give us access
to the throne room of God.
There has been a massacre.
There has been a slaughter
and a spilling of blood.
And it is God himself
who has died
in order to bring us
into his presence forever.
Never to be excluded.
And as a result,
chapter 24,
verse,
sorry,
21,
verse 4,
there will be no more tears,
no more mourning,
no crying,
no pain.
There is rather,
in contrast,
a life
in abundance.
Life
in this
new world,
in the kingdom of God,
is pictured
as a river.
to those who are thirsty,
verse 6,
God has promised
the water of life
without cost.
The image is expanded
in chapter 22.
He's a river.
Of course,
if you're living
in the Middle East,
in a desert,
you can really feel
the force of that image.
Water represents life.
No water,
no life.
Here it is,
life in abundance.
The people of God
has access
to the
true of life,
which is set
on either side
of the river,
bearing
12 crops.
In other words,
every month,
every year,
there is a crop
of fruit
from the tree
of life.
In other words,
there's life
forever.
The river flows
through the city.
In other words,
everyone in the city
has access
to the tree of life.
There is no curse,
verse 3.
The lamb
has overcome
the curse.
Those whose name
are written
in his book
can come
and feast
on the tree
of life
forever.
This is the picture
of the kingdom,
of God's rule,
of life
in abundance.
His people
resting in safety.
What the whole
of history
and the story
of the Bible
has been looking
forward to
and now
come to
completion,
the reality.
And what will
God's people
do
in this place,
in God's
kingdom,
in His presence?
Chapter 22,
verse 3.
They do
what they
were created
to do.
They
worship Him.
They
serve Him.
And in doing
so,
verse 5,
they reign
with Him.
It is true
to say
that heaven,
the kingdom
of God,
is going to be
one long
church service.
as it
should be.
In our
fallenness,
when we
think of
the kingdom,
when we
think of
the future,
we tend
to think
of us
in it.
That we
are the
center of
this kingdom.
That we
are the
center of
our future.
I remember
having a
conversation
with my
kids in
the car,
and I
explained to
them what
heaven would
be like,
and they
were really
quite upset.
One of
them,
in fact,
said,
I don't
want to
be there.
Part of
the reason
is that
somebody has
told them
they thought
that the
kingdom of
God in
the future
would be
like
Lunar
Park,
endless
rides.
In our
sinfulness,
we have
sort of
deconstructed
and
reconstructed
kingdom
in our
image.
No wonder
the idea
of one
long
church
service
is so
unappealing.
The
kingdom,
the future,
rather,
is laid
out for
God,
and us
in the
proper
place,
worshipping
God,
enjoying
him
forever.
He is
the center
of the
future.
He is
Revelation
21 and
22.
The story
so far,
what this
episode,
but what
does this
tell us
about God
and us
and the
universe
and the
times?
Well,
one of
the realities
which the
Bible keeps
coming back
to is the
fact that
there is
the kingdom
of God
and Jesus
is the
king,
that he
is Lord.
That
Jesus is
Lord is
more than
just an
idea.
It is
real.
It has
happened in
time and
space.
when Jesus
rose from
the dead,
he was
crowned the
king of
the world.
And that
is what is
in store
for the
future.
In other
words,
there is
a future.
There is
a future
in this
world.
There is
a future
for all
of us.
The future
is not
hopeless.
I read
during the
week a
quote from
Augustine,
one of the
great theologians
of our
church in
the past.
He says,
there,
in the
future,
we shall
rest and
see,
see and
love,
love and
praise.
This is
what shall
be in
the end
without
end.
For what
other end
do we
propose to
ourselves
than to
attain to
the kingdom
of which
there is
no end?
A
kingdom
of rest,
of the
presence of
God,
of love,
of worship.
There is
a future.
It is a
wonderful
future.
Again,
I've been
reading a
little bit
about future
this week
and it
occurred to
me how
important it
is to
the present.
Unless you
have a
future,
you don't
have any
meaning in
the present.
Another word
for meaning
is a
point.
When you're
reading a
story,
when you're
watching a
movie,
there's an
allusion to
movie,
when you're
watching a
movie or
reading a
story,
it's all
very
interesting
but it
means nothing
unless there
is a
point,
there is a
destination,
there is an
end.
This is why
it's actually
quite difficult
if you're
in the
middle of
a story
to know
what the
story is
really about.
It's just a
meandering,
a putting
together of
facts.
Unless there
is a
destination,
unless there
is a
point,
unless there
is an
end point,
everything
that you
experience
in the
middle of
the story
doesn't
make sense.
This is
why it's
so important
when God
deals with
the human
race,
that he
shows us
a picture
of the
destination.
For the
destination
makes sense
of everything
that we
experience
now.
If you
know the
end,
you know
what everything
that you
see and
experience and
understand and
heard is
going towards.
The full
picture,
as Deb has
alluded to,
or mentioned,
has been
shown to
us.
It makes
sense of
everything.
But we
have to be
careful,
for the
present is
not the
future.
We read
of this
kingdom of
God,
of this
river of
life,
of life in
abundance,
of an
experience that
is without
tears and
pain and
mourning and
death.
And we
read that
Jesus is
Lord.
Is Jesus
Lord in the
present?
Yes,
he is
Lord.
And we
sort of
jump from
there into
the future
and we
confuse the
two.
And when
we do,
I think what
happens is we
become terribly
disappointed.
You know,
if we are in
the kingdom and
Jesus is
Lord,
surely our
experience as
the people of
God should
be won without
pain or
tears or
mourning or
sickness or
retrenchment or
divorce.
There should be
no sin.
we must
not confuse
the future
with the
present for
the future
is not
yet.
The future
is future,
the present
is present.
The future
has broken
in to
the present.
Yes,
we experience
the future
in a very
real way
by faith,
but it is
veiled
just like the
cross.
when you
look at the
cross of
Christ,
you see the
glory of
God,
you see the
Son of God
being crowned
as the King
of the world.
But what do
you see?
You see a
naked Jewish
man being
hung on an
instrument of
torture by the
Romans being
executed.
But when you
have the eyes
of faith,
you will see
that it is
there that
the Lamb
is redeeming
the world.
He is
washing us
clean by
that very
very act.
The present
is the
present.
The future
is the
future.
We do
experience
the future
but in a
real way
by faith.
The fullness
of the future
is still
to come.
Now is
the time
of now
and not
yet.
We must
not confuse
the truth.
What does
it mean
for us?
Yes,
there is a
future.
It makes
sense of
the present.
The present
is now.
What is
happening
now?
Well,
the first
thing that
we see
is,
I suppose,
the sobering
thought that
some will
not have
a future
with Jesus.
Chapter
20,
21,
verse 8.
There will
be some
who will
be shut
out,
excluded.
Their
destiny,
according to
this picture
of the future,
is the
second
death.
having a
future that
is coming
and imminent
carries a
warning.
Chapter 22,
verses 7
to 10.
Jesus says
he's coming.
It has
present
implication,
for the
present is
a moment
of opportunity
not to be
missed.
I'm doing
some study
at the
moment.
There is a
future.
It's the
first of
April.
One of my
papers is due.
The
opportunity to
get the
paper done
and not
fail the
course,
I have to
say,
is dwindling
and getting
smaller and
smaller by
the minute.
Every day
that passes,
that window
of opportunity
gets smaller.
It is with
Jesus.
Jesus is
Lord.
He will
come back
to establish
the kingdom
of God.
The
opportunity
to be
included
as that
part of
their kingdom
is getting
smaller and
smaller as
the day
continues.
Once he
comes,
that opportunity
is gone.
And so
there is
an invitation
in verse
17 of
chapter 22.
Take the
opportunity
while it
is still
available
to you.
If you
are one
who does
not know
of Jesus,
who has
no hope
of this
future,
what the
kingdom of
God is
taking you
and I
to,
is the
conclusion
that there
is an
opportunity
now.
And that
opportunity
has to be
taken while
it is still
there.
Take the
opportunity
to receive
salvation.
There might
be people
in your
life that
you care
about,
that you
might want
to avail
that opportunity
to.
Invite
them to
come into
the kingdom,
not to come
to church
per se,
but invite
them into
a relationship
with Jesus.
Invite
them to
be blessed
by God.
You know,
one of the
things that
we've been
saying in
the story
of the
kingdom is
that God
has promised
blessing to
the world.
You recall
that.
Well,
where's the
blessing in
this?
Revelation
chapter 1
verse 3.
Revelation,
the point
of writing
Revelation
is so
that we
might be
blessed.
We might
be blessed
by reading
this word,
this picture
of the
future.
This is the
time of
blessing.
What does
it mean to
be blessed
by God?
What does
it mean
when you
read this
picture of
the kingdom?
It's akin
to me
making a
very important
piece of
warning.
If I
were to
say to
you,
news has
come to
me that
there is a
bomb in
the building.
It's an
important piece
of news.
And there
are two
choices that
you have.
You can
either heed
that news
and start
running,
or you can
ignore that
news.
Here's an
impending
danger.
If you
listen to
the warning,
you will
be blessed
because you
will escape
the explosion
and live.
Here's a
picture of
the future
kingdom that
is coming.
And there
are two
responses to
it.
You can
either believe
that word of
the warning
and flee the
coming wrath
and hold on
to Jesus
for salvation,
or you can
ignore it.
And if you
heed that
word, you
will be
blessed.
Now is
the time
for blessing.
blessing means
heeding that
word, believing
what the
gospel says.
The second
thing now I
want to
mention is
that Jesus
is Lord.
This book,
along with
the rest of
the Bible,
have been
written to
the people
of God.
And one
of the
things that
you will
see in
the history
of the
people of
God is
that
consistently
they are
losers.
If you're
not a
Christian,
truth in
advertising,
you become
a Christian,
you'll be
a loser.
Consistently,
they look
like they're
defeated.
The world
is just
too strong.
The enemies
of God
are just
too clever
for us.
And we
get smashed
every time.
And if
you're a
Christian,
I wonder
whether you
feel that
all the
time.
You sort
of win a
battle,
but you
feel like
you're
losing
the
war all
the
time.
What this
picture of
the future
kingdom shows
us is that
although we
live like
people who
seem defeated,
if Jesus
is Lord,
as he's
demonstrated at
the resurrection,
then the
future belongs
to him,
despite of
all that is
apparent to
us.
And if the
future belongs
to him,
it belongs to
those of
us who
belong to
him.
You
remember what
Jesus says
in Matthew
on the
Sermon on
Mount,
blessed are
the poor.
The world
does not
look like
they belong
to the
poor.
The world
belongs to
the rich,
the powerful,
the clever,
the articulate.
But the
Bible shows
us clearly
that if
Jesus is
Lord,
it belongs
to those
who belong
to him.
Even
though at
this time
we look
like the
poor,
people,
we look
like people
who are
grieving.
For in
reality we
are kings
and priests.
The third
point I will
make in
terms of the
implication for
us is now
and not yet.
We still
experience a
world of
pain and
suffering.
We still
experience
sin.
In
Revelation
21,
22,
it says
that the
future
kingdom of
God
belongs to
those who
are pure.
And for
those of
us on
this side
of heaven,
we yearn
to be
pure.
None of
us are
pure.
When I
look at
myself,
when I
look at
you,
I don't
see people
who are
pure.
I
experience
my own
sin.
But the
reality of
who we
are will
become
apparent
at that
time.
Now is
the time
of
now and
not yet.
When
Jesus
return,
you and
I will
be
transformed
into
his
likeness.
And at
that time,
we will
be
welcomed
into the
city because
we have
been
purified by
the blood
of Jesus.
In the
meantime,
we've grown
along with
the rest
of creation
for the
coming
kingdom.
Lastly,
where is
the kingdom
to be
seen
now?
Where is
the kingdom
visible?
If it is
veiled,
where can
we see
the kingdom?
I want
to suggest
that in
the kingdom,
what will
be the
people doing?
So what
will we
be doing?
We'll be
worshipping
God.
We'll be
serving
him.
We'll be
ruling
with God.
And that
is exactly
where we
see the
kingdom of
God at
work at
this point
in time.
We see
the kingdom
most
visible when
the people
of God
are worshipping
God,
serving him.
And that
is what we
have come
together to
do,
is it not?
We have
come together
in the name
of Christ
to sing
praises to
God and
to love
one another.
This is
the reality
of the
kingdom
now.
Ruling
the world,
the kingdom
of God,
isn't talking
about being
in charge.
We might
not have
any political
power,
but that's
irrelevant.
We
participate
in the
rule of
King Jesus
by worshipping
him,
by proclaiming
his kingship,
by deferring
our needs
for the sake
of others
so that they
might know
Christ.
When we
do that,
we experience
the kingdom.
When we
do that,
the kingdom
becomes
visible.
The story
of the
Bible
is the
story of
the kingdom.
It is
more than
just a
bunch of
good ideas.
It is
more than
just history,
although it
did happen.
It is
history
with a
trajectory,
with a
pathway
towards the
future.
It is a
certain
thing.
Jesus
is the
Lord.
He is
Lord now.
He will
come again
and the
kingdom will
be visible
at that
time.
In the
meantime,
he is
still
Lord.
We are
to proclaim
him as
Lord.
We are
to live
as people
of the
kingdom
with him
as the
Lord.
Let me
encourage you
with those
words.
Will you
join me
in prayer?
Gracious
Lord,
Heavenly
Father,
thank you
that Jesus
is the
Lord of
the
world.
Thank you
that you
have given
us a
hope,
a word
of what
the future
holds and
what reality
is now.
We pray,
Father,
that we
might live
in light
of that
hope,
seeing all
of our
life in
the context
of that
coming
kingdom,
the
priorities,
the meaning,
the
relationships.
We pray,
Father,
that in our
priorities,
in our
lives,
in our
proclamation,
in our
worship,
that the
world and
us might
see clearly
that Jesus
is Lord
and in
doing so,
all glory
might go to
him.
And we
pray this
for his
sake.
And we
pray along
with John,
come Lord
Jesus,
come.
Amen.