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So I want to invite you this morning to Revelation chapter 21, as we’re going to be together today. Revelation chapter 21. I’m going to pray for us as we get ready to, to dive into this chapter. So let me lead us in prayer. God, we just want to pause our hearts before you as our king, recognizing the significance of what this week represents. And knowing Lord, it’s not only not only a story that’s to be told, but it’s a story you’re telling in our hearts. It’s a story that changes our life. Lord, it’s a story that reveals the greatness of who you are and your justice and your grace. And God, I just pray our our lives find its identity here. Our affections for you stirred this week. Not with just not with just an emotional excitement. Lord, I pray that’s a part of it. But God, deep within our soul, the richness of who you are made known. And so, God, I pray that we honor you in our worship gathering, that we encourage one another that we would continue to live the Easter story every day in our lives. And so we thank you. It’s in Christ’s name we pray. Amen. In Revelation 21, we’re going to find ourselves really at a place that’s culminating what this Easter story is ultimately representing. If you know anything about what the the idea of Palm Sunday represents, it’s this. It starts on the backdrop of a prophetic fulfillment in the book of Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine and ten, when the promised Messiah would come on the back of a donkey.
And here is in these final days of Jesus’s life, the final week of Jesus’s life. He’s journeying into Jerusalem for the last time. He’s he’s created this certainly this stir in the people and recognizing him as the Messiah. But their understanding of the Messiah was different than what Jesus ultimately came to fulfill. But Jesus nonetheless, he rides into Jerusalem on the back of this donkey. And this donkey is very symbolic. The idea of the donkey was an animal of of peace, an animal of humility. And when you when you’re in times of war, you would ride horses because they were seen as the the valiant warrior animals. But when you’re in times of peace, the tendency was to demonstrate that, especially in leadership on the back of a donkey. And this is Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem in a place of peace and humility in his first coming. That’s what Jesus brought for us. We’ve read about his second coming in the book of Revelation, where he comes in his, in his justice to rule in terrain, and he judge sin, Satan, and death. Ultimately, and we’ve seen this over the last few chapters of Revelation that we’ve read together. But here he is in the in the first coming on the back of a donkey. And not only was the donkey a symbol of peace and humility, but it was often used for the for the idea of an inauguration of a king.
When Solomon or excuse me, when King David inaugurated his son Solomon to take over the throne, he rode on the back of a donkey. Now here Jesus is journeying in the back of a donkey into Jerusalem as as the King of Israel. But more than that, the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the people, Recognizing the significance of this moment, they pull out the palm branches and they begin to celebrate. Because the palm branches are a symbol of victory, this triumphant king journeying into the city. And then ultimately, though, we find as Jesus gets into Jerusalem, people turn their backs on him and he is. They chant crucify! And when? When Jesus is brought on trial, they knew he was a king. So they asked him about his kingship. But he says something interesting to us. And in John chapter 18, verse 36, as he’s being inquired about his kingdom, he says this in verse 36, he says, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, I would tell my servants to fight, but my kingdom is not of this world. But Jesus is saying that he’s acknowledging something about who he is. He’s he’s saying to us, he indeed is a king coming to offer a kingdom, but not in the way that we think that that in his first coming, that Jesus is introducing us to his kingdom.
But his kingdom happens first, beginning in us spiritually. He transforms our lives in him because of what he’s accomplished on the cross, and he invites us to participate in his kingdom. That when Jesus comes, comes into Jerusalem. He’s offering this kingdom by giving his life for us, that we can be forgiven and freed and redeemed and renewed in the Lord, and and therefore belong to this king and this kingdom. So now that we walk in this world, we walk as people of of in an earthly presence, but we belong to a different place, a different king, a different kingdom, and therefore we live as lights in the midst of darkness. We represent this King and the things that we do, that God, that work that he did in us, he also desires to do through us. This is this puts us as God’s people, stuck in this place of in-between and this this moment of tension. I mean, even when Israel was celebrating the arrival of Jesus, they recognized man. Things are not as they’re supposed to be, that there’s brokenness in the soul, and and life is just not we’re not experiencing the fullness of what we know life should be. And so when they see Jesus, they see liberation. They see a messiah. They see the promised one, the one that’s going to bring them into the way that things should be.
And so that’s what they celebrate. And the same is true for you and for me. We recognize that there is some sweetness to life that we get to experience, but there’s also this tension within us that there’s still this brokenness that that life brings. And this is not the way that that life should be. It should be. And and we recognize, though, that we still represent this king. And and in representing this king, we’re this we’re in this tension point between this fallen world and and the kingdom that is to come. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today, the idea of living for what is coming. But but to recognize that it’s not this, this sort of anticipation where we all got to twiddle our thumbs and just wait till it gets here. I guess, you know, I’ve embraced Jesus. So now it’s just wait till heaven’s here. But but to recognize the the work of the kingdom is happening now in you and me. This is why the Apostle Paul writes to us in Ephesians chapter five, verse 15, that that he doesn’t want you to be unwise, but but wise and understanding that the God in the brokenness of this world, that you’re you’re representing something greater and something more in the Lord. That’s why the Bible refers to you as ambassadors for Christ in Second Corinthians five, your ambassador as your ambassador, you are called to to represent this king in the way that you go about in this world.
And Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter ten, I think it’s in verse 16, in your notes, where Jesus says, he calls you into this world as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Meaning he’s acknowledging that there is this brokenness in in life around us, but we can be victorious because that that King and His kingdom is at work in his people. And we are like, called to push back the darkness. I mean, Jesus, it says to us in the Bible in first John four four, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. That God has got a purpose not only in redeeming your life, but also a purpose for your life. And when we see the richness of who God is, it provokes the heart to live in light of that glory. And knowing this is not all, and my destiny is secure in Christ. And therefore, even though the day may be dark, I can wake up as a person of tremendous hope and joy because of what I have in Jesus, that my circumstances do not dictate who I am, but rather is determined by Christ and what he has already accomplished for me. Are we dead this morning? Do you hear what I’m saying? The significance of what this represents in our life? This is everything that we are as believers in Christ, which is when we think about what it means to live for what’s coming.
Let me let me give you a point, number one. And I want to unpack this a little bit more. But point number one, God’s promises. We’ve got to root ourselves here. God’s promises. A renewed creation and a redeemed people, a renewed creation and a redeemed people. This means a couple of things for us. One, the way that you live your life for Christ. You are not a bulldozer and trying to stiff arm people, and you’re also not a pushover and bowing down to the brokenness of this world. You rest confidently and firmly in your identity in Jesus, one of the great parables I think, that that helps us understand this is in Matthew chapter 13. The first few verses of Matthew 13 is the parable of the sower, and it carries the idea that God has called us in this kingdom, work to scatter the seed of God in this world. And it talks about four different soils on which that seed falls. And it’s to help us realize that as we walk in this dark world, God is still at work in the hearts of people. And God has called you to to to share about the richness of Christ as you’ve experienced him and the truth of His word, and and in your own heart, that what God has done in you, he wants to do in others.
And and sometimes God doesn’t work in places that we want him to, but he’s always working, and to look for the place where he’s taken root and and join God in that, in the lives of people, as we’re just scattering the seed of the opportunity to know Christ. I mean, this is what it means to to be a new creation. It’s what second Corinthians 517 says to us that you are a new creation. All old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This is actively right now in your life. We’re not twiddling our thumbs waiting that we experience the the, the touch of the kingdom now and ultimately one day in its fullness. But God has done this incredible work in my life, and I can’t think of a better place to do it than in Utah. The gift it is to wake up every day and and introduce people to the richness of who the biblical Jesus truly is, and the freedom that we have in him, and therefore the confidence that we get to walk in because of what Christ has done. And in Revelation chapter 21, I should probably dive into the text. It starts to unpack for us this this culminating of all things in him. And it says this. 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, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from his throne, saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more, and neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. For the former things have passed away. And what you’re seeing in this story is really the culmination of all of the Bible, the end of the story, written as as we’ve seen the beginning of the story as God. God created us in the book of Genesis for perfect relationship with him. And then the man rebelled against God. And because of that, we we experienced the destruction of sin every day and the way we walk in this world. But now you’re seeing in Revelation 21 all of it’s being eradicated, that all of creation, it tells you in Romans eight, is groaning, waiting for this day that sin will be removed and death will be no more. And all of it is made new in Christ. And as we look to this newness, this day, that it all culminates in Jesus, I want us to recognize that that God is still doing that work in us right now, that God is shaping us, that we’re not fully formed yet he’s continuing to churn the richness of who he is in our life, or at least I hope.
I hope that we’re surrendered to him in that way, to experience the the goodness of of who God is. Meaning your Christian life is more than just simply trusting in Jesus and then just twiddling your thumbs. But to know what it means to give your life to God in full. Surrender everything that you are to him, because he has given everything for you. It kind of works like this that sometimes I know there are Christians, that they they might learn what the gospel is. They might learn okay, to I gotta trust in Jesus. And they they quote, take that step of of praying the sinner’s prayer, trusting in Christ. And that’s where their Christian journey ends. They think that’s the pinnacle. Or maybe, maybe we take a step further and say, well, I was baptized, right? That that that profession of faith. And I was baptized. And you kind of hit the pinnacle of that. And I would just say, no, that that is not the pinnacle of the Christian life. That’s just the beginning of the journey. It’s like this. It’s as if someone carried the idea that, you know, I want to get married one day and you meet someone and you go to get married, and you go to the wedding ceremony, and you stand before people and you share your vows and you’re like, okay, that’s it.
We’re married. We hit the peak and you could, man, if that’s your marriage, I’m sorry, but but but we know that that that is intended just to be the beginning of this journey of intimacy that you’re to enjoy together. Now, I know there’s bumps in the road for some of us and things like that. All of us. I’m being honest. There’s bumps in the road with that. Right? But. But it’s the idea of the intimacy and relationship. And it’s the same thing for you and for me in Jesus that that stepping in the gospel is not something I do once in my life. And I’m done. It’s it’s walking in the richness of knowing Jesus every day and what that means for your life and mine. And he paints that picture for us here in in verse one, when he talks about the new heavens and the new earth, because the first earth and the first heaven has passed away. Now what does that mean? And some people might read of this verse and think, does he annihilate the first verse? First heaven and first first earth? Does he obliterate it? Does it go into nothingness? I mean, what God? What’s God doing here? I’ll tell you, there’s a there’s another passage that relates to this, and I’m not going to have time to dive into it.
I’ll just reference it for you. It’s in Second Peter chapter three, verse 10 to 13, and in Second Peter chapter three, verse 10 to 13. It describes the same picture here, but it it carries the idea that God is refining the new heaven and new earth And what I mean is this when it comes to your life and mine, there will come a day where you will pass away. They say two things are guaranteed in life. You pay taxes and you’re going to die. You will pass away. But. And passing away. Does that mean you’re obliterated? That you become nothing? You’re annihilated. No. No. For the believer, really, it means we step into what real life is intended to be. Because my soul goes before the Lord, my faith becomes sight and the promise of Scripture my body will be resurrected too. I get to walk in a new me in its fullest sense, not just spiritually forgiven in Christ and new life in him, but in its complete sense, the fullness of life. I passed away, but I passed into this next life where I experienced the richness of God’s presence forever. And it’s the same thing with God’s creation. And he’s not annihilating it. He’s refining it into what it was intended to be. His presence forever, for all of creation, as it groans, awaits for this moment.
And then it goes on and describes this, this new city, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven. We’re going to talk about that just here in a little bit, what it means to to come down from heaven. There’s some, some interesting things people say about that. But but I want you to see the idea of this, this thought of New Jerusalem. You know, we’ve already got a city called Jerusalem. So why do we need a new one? Well, the thought of Jerusalem, the the word Jeru is this place of establishment. And Salem comes from the Hebrew word shalom, which is peace. And what he’s saying is it’s this established peace. This God is bringing this new heaven and new earth. It’s finally this, this, this peace in our hearts and peace on the earth and peace in the presence of God. Everything that the soul longs for, experienced before God. And then in in verse eight or excuse me, verse eight, verse three, 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. Experientially, it’s it’s that relationship that here today we we have a relationship with God. But one day we will see him face to face. I mean, that is what makes heaven heaven.
The presence of God forever. That God will dwell with us. I love the way he’s saying this, because you see, at the end of verse one, he talks about the idea of a sea, right? And you’re going to read here in the next few verses. He then goes on to talk about the water. But in verse one he says, there is no sea, like there’s no water. But then in the next verse he talks about the idea of living water. So which is it? Right? Because when I think about my perfect picture of heaven, it’s me on an island to myself. And there’s a there’s nothing but the ocean around me, right? It’s just me and a coconut lounging around. How can that be? And there’s no sea. I’ve got some issues I got to work through. Right. What is God saying here? Well, you know, I tell you, when you read Revelation, it’s important to think about how you interpret, right? You can interpret it literally or you can interpret it literarily. And when you read Revelation, this is apocalyptic literature. And understanding what the idea of see means to the Jewish people is important, because the thought of see to them was always this place of chaos. It was always this place of unordered ness. It was always this place, really, of of not experiencing the greatness of who God is because, well, it’s turmoil. And when God created in the beginning of Genesis, it tells us that the water covered the earth.
It was chaos. But out of the chaos, he brought order. He brought land, he brought birds. He brought animals to walk on the land. He brought humans. Out of chaos came order. Same thing with the children of Israel as they were slaves in Egypt in Exodus. That God sets them free. And in order to do that, he brings them from the place of chaos at the Red sea. He parts the water and they walk through to the place of promise. When they get to the Jordan River, they’re wandering in the wilderness. God parts the Jordan River. They journey on the other side to the place of promise. When people are baptized, that’s what it’s symbolizing. Is this place of chaos that my life is apart from Christ, but the newness I experience and the richness of life in him. I die to the old self. I become something new in Jesus, and now he’s doing his work in me. It’s why the disciples marveled in Matthew 13, when Jesus calmed the sea and the disciples said, who is this one, that the wind and the waves obey him? The only one who does this is God. They were beginning to experience who Jesus really was. It was starting to strike them. They’ve seen this in the Old Testament. Who is this one before him? Guys, it’s the same for us that we would experience the richness of Christ and the way that he calls it.
Here is this idea of dwelling. Now, this is an important word to to think about in Revelation 22 or 21. It carries on beyond this. But Revelation 21 where he talks about dwelling, this is this is the word tabernacled. This is the word that was used in John chapter one when when Jesus dwelt among us, it says that he tabernacled among us. In the Old Testament you remember in the days of Moses, this is what Israel wandered around with in the wilderness was the tabernacle. Now the reason this becomes important to distinguish is because in chapter 21, if you were to skip ahead to verse 22, you see the word temple used. And here in heaven it says this about the temple, that there is no temple. Right. So why is it using the word tabernacle and talking about the presence of God but not the temple? And what is the difference between the two? And to be honest, there’s not a whole lot of difference between tabernacle and temple. There’s really there’s one significant difference I’ll talk about, but there’s not a whole lot of difference, because when you look at the temple and the tabernacle, the way that they’re both structured, they only had two rooms. There was the Holy Room and the Holy of Holies and the Holy of Holies. That’s where the God’s presence dwelled And but but the significance difference between the idea of tabernacle and temple is that the temple was something built by Israel that was permanent.
The Jews only had one temple, and if they wanted to, to get near the presence of God, they had to go to that permanent place where God’s presence was said to dwell. But the idea of of tabernacle, well, that is portable. God’s presence moves around. And so here’s what it’s saying to us. This picture of heaven is that God’s presence isn’t in one fixed location, but his presence is with his people forever, as God’s presence is made known in your life today. So for the rest of eternity, you will have the richness of God’s presence forever. And so he wants us to, to, to to understand the promises of God fulfilled everything, culminating together in here, that it’s restored and redeemed and the greatness of this God. And he’s going to wipe away all of that pain from our life. Everything terrible becomes untrue and the richness of God’s presence that the struggle of life is is just temporal and the the need for our life to, to to dive into the wealth of Christ becomes significant. In fact, we might ask the question, well, well, how is this possible? How do I know that I can trust that this is what’s going to be? And in verse five and half of verse six, he starts to help us understand that he says this.
And he who is seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. And 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 end. Can I just tell you, as you look at these words, what he’s saying is the reason he wants he’s saying to John, John, make sure this is written down is because he knows the the quality of this statement and the significance it’s intended to make in our life that that he wants this to just to be more than just words on a page. I mean, it’s important enough to write it down. You write down things that are important, but more than just important words written down. He wants this to saturate and embed itself in the core of who you are as a human being, to then find the the identity of your life in this thought. Because the richness of this determines who you are, because who he is determines who you are. And so therefore, your willingness to grab hold of this and root yourself in this will then dictate how you live your life. Is it a person of hope? Is it a person of joy? When you think about what the richness of Christ is, I’m not saying every day you just need to fake a happy smile.
I’m not saying that because sometimes difficult things happen. But to understand, no matter what, in every season of life and no matter the circumstance, that this life cannot rob you of ultimately what you have in the Lord. And it’s established on the, the the depth of who he is. And he gives us this statement that it is he who makes all things new. I am making all things new. Can I can I tell you that the the idea of this, this Greek word is in the present tense, which means this is not something we’re just waiting for God to do. This is something God is doing actively in me right now. This is the way that God is working in my life, that he’s not finished yet. And thank God he’s not right. I mean, for all of us, every day is this opportunity to step into the new thing that God wants to do with me that I can put yesterday behind me? Not not because it was this great day. It could have been a terrible day that could have really stepped all over myself. I could have made some terrible mistakes. I could have faltered in front of the people around me. But I get the opportunity today to do something new. And it’s not because of me, it’s because of him. It’s the richness of what he’s ransomed in his own life and redeeming me.
And so therefore, he he takes this idea of actively doing something new in my heart and getting me to long for what is ultimately new in him. And he builds it all in this idea as I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To understand this statement is significant for the Christian life because I would say for us as believers, everything that we are called to be wars with this statement, whether or not you’re going to trust it or whether or not you’re going to trust in something else. Jesus, in saying this, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He he’s referred to as the Alpha and Omega three times in in Revelation. He’s in Revelation chapter 21 and Revelation chapter one and Revelation chapter 22. He is the Alpha and Omega. This is a critical thought related to the Lord. And and sometimes you’ll see this in the form of a symbol. Anyone’s ever seen this. Some of you might even have a friend that has this as a tattoo, right? But what does this mean? Well, this this symbol is the richness of everything that we’re dependent to depend on as believers. It’s why we have confidence in anything that we do at all. And that the idea of that x and p there in the middle is the. It’s the first two Greek letters for the name of Jesus, the name of Christ in Greek, it’s the Cairo, the X is the Chi, the first letter in Jesus’s name, and the p is the rho, the second letter Greek letter, and in Christ’s name.
And so this, this is symbolic of Christ, and this is Christ speaking to us. He says, that’s me, I am. But what he’s saying is he’s also rooting the idea of I am into a broad understanding throughout Scripture because this this phrase I am is in Greek. It’s called ego eimi. And if you ever read the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ego eimi is the name of God. In the Old Testament, the the Hebrews would refer to it as Yahweh in the Book of Exodus, when when Moses is is out in the wilderness on his own, and God appears to him in a in a burning bush and says, go back to Pharaoh, who is the world leader at the time, and say, let my slaves go. Moses is like, yeah, right. Do you not know this is the world leader at the time? Like, who am I to just show up as this individual and demand the leader of the world let people go? He’s going to ask, on what authority are you saying this? Do you represent some kingdom I’m unaware of that you think is going to dominate me. And Moses says, how am I supposed to respond to that God? And he says to Moses, tell him, the great I am has sent you.
Yahweh ego I, me. And Jesus is saying in that story that the same God that worked throughout scriptures, that you’ve discovered the same God that worked those miracles over and over again. Yeah, that’s that’s me here now. And it’s the same God who is actively working in your life to make all things new. He became sin who knew no sin, that we might become righteousness in him. And because of that, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Second Corinthians five and first John four but but then he goes on and says, the Alpha and Omega, and that is represented by this, that two symbols on the side, the A and the one that looks like the horseshoe. But but an understanding Greek, you realize this is actually the first letter in the Greek alphabet and the last letter in the Greek alphabet. And what Jesus is saying is everything culminates in him and nothing happens outside of his sovereign control. The great I am has it all in his hands, including you and me. And this is the struggle of the Christian life. Do I believe this or not? Especially when you think about times in your life where you’ve failed. Because our tendency when we fail is is to struggle in that to think, but God, how can you love me? And we start fixating on ourselves.
And don’t you know what I did? And don’t you know how much? And don’t you know this? God and I need to do something to show myself that I’m worthy of your love. And to show you. Prove to you I’m worthy of your love. And God, I’ve messed up. And. And it’s to say to us again and again, look, it’s. Stop thinking about you. It’s never been about you, but about the richness of this God who has given everything on your behalf. There’s no amount of religion that you can pour into that, that can, that can add to the sufficiency of Christ. Christ alone is sufficient for your life, in fact, to try to add anything to that, to try to put any religion on top of that is is insulting to to what Jesus has done for your life, but rather to surrender your life to him is what he’s called you to do, because that is where God makes all things new. That is how God works in your life. It’s not by your strength, but by his made known through you. In fact, this this becomes the very thought that God turns to in these next few verses. So let me give you point number two, and we’ll look at this as you think about his promises. The next thing is our response living as people of the new creation. Our response living as people in the new creation.
I mean, the question is, what are you going to make your life about? Do you really believe Jesus is sufficient? Because we struggle to trust in that all the time. I mean, we think to ourselves, God, most of the time I think you’ve got it. Your promises are true for everyone. But for me, in this situation, I kind of want to take it back and kind of handle it on my own. And then I’ll give it back to you and then you find out, man, I get in my way all the time. I don’t make things better. What am I doing right? I need something greater to trust in. In verse, verse six. Look at this. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. So we had no seed, but now we’ve got water again. But this time it’s a different kind of water. He’s saying, here’s the way it’s offered to you, not because of anything you’ve done. In fact, while you’re an enemy of God, Jesus gave his life for you. It’s not about what you’ve done. It’s about what he’s done on your behalf. It’s the grace of God. It’s the freedom of Christ because of of the sufficiency that Jesus is. I find that I don’t want to say comical. Let me just say painful. How quickly we we revert to dependency on ourselves as people. And what I mean is, we put a lot of value here in America on what people think you do, you and what you believe.
And look, there’s a place for that. There is a place for that. And for example, in hearing your story, what’s brought you here this morning. And we’re incredibly complex people in our story, and usually a lot of things have intersected into our life to bring us to a place like this, where we’re gathered together, seeking the Lord. Sometimes good things, sometimes bad things. Sometimes people have influenced in our life, whether good or bad. But whatever it is, there’s there’s there’s some complexity there. There’s a part of your story that matters, but never to supplant the story of God in our lives. And sometimes we we even treat truth like that. And the Lord just said to us, like, write this down. Embed this in your life. This is what should dictate. But then we talk about, well, you know what’s true for me and this is what I believe. And it’s funny as people that we even want to give credence to that sometimes, because I think in living in Utah, when I first moved here, like Lehi was kind of a small town, little horse town, people sort of teased, but now it’s like, I go to bed, I wake up and there’s just a new road. I don’t even know where it came from. Right? Like new road, new road.
And then without even realizing there’s like 700 businesses, I don’t even how does this happen? And so someone’s like, I went to such and such, I’m like, oh yeah, like in Provo or something. No, we got it in your backyard. Now, I don’t even know when that happened. Right. And like you ask me to go there, I don’t even know how to get there anymore. We got so many new roads, I don’t even know. Like, I got to get anywhere in life. I got to get a GPS. I’m like, I could not tell you if it weren’t for GPS, I would. I would just stay home all day. Like, I don’t even. I don’t even know how to get barely to church now. It feels like with how these different roads pop up and I’m like, here I am as a creature, like, feeble in my understanding and like, I can’t even get anywhere without a GPS. Who am I to dictate eternal truths of life, right? Like what? Who do we think we are like? We can’t even get somewhere in life and we’re like, oh, don’t worry, it’s what I believe. Like what what what? How does that take precedent over God? To understand who he is, the Alpha and the Omega, the richness of Christ, and the freedom it is to give my life to him. And he goes on verse seven, the one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Look, here’s what he’s saying. Like you want to conquer. It’s not about you putting things on your shoulders. It’s to understand the victory has already been won in Christ, and I’m not trying to accomplish anything. I’m already just walking in the victory I’ve already received in Jesus. That’s what the Christian life is. I’m going to tell you, if you want to follow Christ in your life, it’s not about just inviting Jesus to get a little bit of Jesus into my world. Jesus, you’re my errand boy to do what I want. It’s to understand the call of the Christian life is to absolutely surrender who you are to the greatness of who he is. To get to this place where you just say, God, I am. You know I’m sick of me. I’m tired of doing it my way. I’m tired of sitting on my throne. But, God, you’ve made. You have made me for you. And it’s not until we find the end of ourselves that we begin to discover what this journey is intended to be to Jesus. That’s why the apostle Paul says in Galatians 220, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, it’s not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I live. I live by faith in the Son of God who gave his life for me. I understand it’s not me dictating anything, but I’ve died to self to follow him.
And so he’s painting this picture of what it means to be a conqueror, but it’s really stepping into the victory that Jesus has already called us into in him. And then he says this in verse eight, and I find this interesting, the antithesis of all of this, and of all the Bible verses that I have read in my life, which I’ve read the Bible over and over many times. But getting to verse eight, it’s this verse that I’ve always found just a little bit shocking. Every time I read, I’m like, wow. And the reason is because he’s going to talk about those that don’t experience life with God forever. Those in hell. But the way he starts would not be the way that I would expect to start. Because when I start a verse like this, I’d be like, let’s let’s just start off, you know, the easy ones. Hitler. Right? And then you just kind of go from there. But here’s how he starts, he says, but as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers and idolaters, and all the liars. Their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. And of all the people you could start with why the cowardly and typically the cowardly people are people that we often might empathize with, sympathize with, or maybe just feel bad for.
Oh, it’s okay, little buddy. You know, like, you don’t gotta be so cowardly. We’ll get a little heart for that lion. You know, like, just get excited. You know, like, we just kind of feel that. That sorrow for the cowardly. But here’s what he’s saying is you’ve never truly surrendered your life to Christ. You’ve let everything else in this world dictate who you were. But you’ve never let Jesus do that. You have let other people pressure you into what you should be. You’ve even let yourself. You’re the you’re the worst critic to you in life. You have told yourself more lies than anyone else will tell themselves. Right? Like you, you have done things to yourself and trusted in things that will not get you where Christ has called you to in him. And this is what he wants us to know. The faithless, the cowardly, as if to say to yourself, what is it you’re trusting in? What living water can you truly turn to? What is it you’re thirsting after? Where is your hope? That is the battle of the Christian life. Is Jesus enough? Does my life really demonstrate Jesus is enough? Do I really believe it? What have I wrapped my hope in? What am I finding my identity through? Do I do I think the mistakes that I have made in my life are really bigger than the price that Christ has paid for me? Now do I? Do I really feel like I’ve got to add something extra to what Jesus has done? As if as if that thing’s finally going to be what avails God’s love to me.
That Jesus is saying I was already in his enemy and he willingly died for me anyway. Is that not enough? When Jesus hung on the cross and said, paid in full, can that not be enough? Can I not just trust in that? Can I not just surrender my life to that? Why do why do I war against what Jesus has already done? Why do I not walk in this victory? And why do I not see with my eyes not only the miracle that God has done in my life and walk in the richness of it? But why do I not wake up every day invigorated to share this with other people? Why do I not live for a kingdom that is so much greater than anything this world could offer? Why? Why does the life of Jesus not matter to me the way that it should? Why? Can I tell you it’s because the soul doesn’t always buy in to the richness of who Christ is. I am the great I am has made himself known in your life and mine That we could walk in his beauty. Now, can I tell you when it looks, when we look at all of these sins that are listed here, all of them, it’s the same battle.
It doesn’t matter which one, it’s the same battle. It’s all the battle of trusting in the sufficiency of Christ or not. And I hope we consider the seriousness of it. Right. Because he’s talking about judgment here and what it is to pit myself against the Lord and not surrender to him when my life is made to belong with him. And we can we can try to find our identity in all kinds of things in this world. But God made you. Your your mind, your body, your soul. Everything is made to root its identity and who he is. And trusting in the sufficiency of Christ. And it’s not to say, look, it may be a struggle for you in an area of life that might be different from someone else, and it may feel like a stronger struggle. But even in that struggle, by trusting in Jesus, by faith, you’re saying God and at all. I recognize that you are alone are sufficient. So Lord, help me understand that even when I mess up, even when I blow it this past week or whatever, whatever might have happened to you this week, even when you might have faltered in front of your friends today, you get to wake up in the newness of Jesus because of what he’s done for you. Now I gotta move fast. So let me give you the last point here.
Our identity. Our identity is last part. Citizens of the Eternal City, right? And it’s just to say this to you. You live for a different kingdom and a different king. And that determines how you how you view your life and what you do in this world. You don’t belong to this world as as a follower of Jesus. You’re a pilgrim of the great things of Christ, and therefore you get to represent that king as an ambassador. And so what you do should reflect what you where you ultimately belong. And the rest of Revelation, which we didn’t get to, we’re going to just give you a summary of this, okay. But but you see in verse nine, the seven angels of the seven bulls. And this is a reflection back to chapter 17, when John was carried away into the wilderness to hide from the dragon, but now he’s carried back and he’s put on a mountaintop to see the greatness of who God is. And then you see in verse ten, Jerusalem coming down again from heaven and the glory of God made known. And I’ll tell you what that means in just a second. But but here is this Jerusalem coming down, and this beautiful glory of God made known. And the 12 tribes are there. It tells you in verse 12 and then verse 13, it talks about these gates. There’s three gates on every side of this, this tabernacle or the city of Jerusalem that’s described.
And and then it goes on in verse 14 and talks about the 12 apostles. And here’s what I want you to know. Between the 12 apostles and and the 12 tribes, it’s all of God’s people together. And and around this tabernacle there are three gates on each side. And when Israel would, would move through the wilderness, they would camp around the tabernacle, three tribes on each side. And the fact that there’s three gates is showing us that every one of God’s people are welcome into his presence. And then it goes on and says in verse 15, it gives you the description of this city. If you just skip with me down to verse 16, it says, the city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width and its. And it has. He measured the city with his 12,000 stadia. Its length, width and height were equal. The idea of 12,000 stadia translates into 1500 miles. And so what he’s saying is. Perfect cube of 1500 miles tall. Wide, deep. Here comes this. This description of a cube. And and many people take this literal. They think the New Jerusalem is going to float down. I illustrated it here on the screen as the Death Star. I made a cubed version of the Death Star, but people think it’s going to just kind of float down, right? And we’re all going to live in this cube together.
And some people have even calculated how many Christians have lived throughout history and determined how much space you’re going to get. And I’m going to tell you, if you plan on living in a cube, you can have my space. I’m going to stand on the earth. That’s just weird. But when it comes to this cube, here’s what I want you to know. I don’t think he’s meaning a literal cube is going to float down. We’re going to live in it, and everybody’s going to be with Vader, right? I think I think what he’s saying to us is the Holy of holies was a perfect cube. It was in the temple. The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube. And the known world at this time is about 1500 miles wide. And so I think what he’s saying is all of God’s people are welcome in his presence. I think this is what the illustration is intended to say. All of God’s people there. And he goes on to describe these beautiful stones which the high priest would wear on his breastplate, that represented God’s people. And it’s to say that we were always on God’s mind. And in heaven we see these beautiful stones to help us think heavenly of what’s going to be in the presence of God. And I just got to keep clicking here, but and then it describes this temple as this place with, with, with no sun or moon.
Verse 23. And the section describes the idea of light, and that light comes from the presence of God. And it’s as if to say this, that when you think about a candle candles are used in the midst of darkness, right? It’s kind of foolish to say, here I am in the middle of the day. I need some more light. Let me light a candle. You would never do that because it’s a waste of light. And it’s the same thing with the idea of the sun and the moon. It’s saying, look, God’s light radiates forever. You have no need of other light sources because his presence is with you forever. He’s like, he’s like seven, 11, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, right? It just never ends. There’s not come back to me in working hours. You’re in the presence of God forever. Because this is the kingdom that Jesus introduced to us. Let me just close with this. There is a man by the name of Bruce Larson. He wrote a Christian book that describes the idea of this, this Jesus journey that we’re on. He said, you know, when people are having a difficult time, one of the things I like to do is I take him on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and I take him to this sculpture of Atlas. And Atlas sits across the street from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and we look at the sculpture of Atlas, and we marvel at the strength of Atlas as he holds the weight of the world on his shoulders.
And then afterwards, I take him across the street to the sculpture of Jesus, which, I’ll be honest, that’s a creepy picture of Jesus here. But but it’s a little little baby Jesus. And then he says, you know, something interesting about this is Jesus is holding the world. But rather than being pressed down by its weight, he just holds it in the palm of his hand. And he says, this is how we often live our life, like Atlas. When Jesus calls us to him that he would hold the weight of the world. Why do we do that? It’s because we struggle with the sufficiency of trusting in. Excuse me? We struggle with trusting in the sufficiency of who Christ is in our life. But when we do the work and the power of the kingdom is made known in us and through us to lay our lives down because of who he is. When you think of Palm Sunday, this is the invitation for us. Because if you don’t know Jesus that you would surrender to him and as a believer that you would be reminded this morning the importance of the richness of Christ in your life.