Auto Generated Transcript
Okay. I’m going to invite you this morning to Revelation chapter 22 is where we’re going to be together. Today, Revelation 22. And this is the last chapter of the book of Revelation, right? You have made it to the end. I don’t know if that means you need to celebrate or not. I feel like if you celebrate this, you’re like celebrating the end of Revelation because you didn’t like it. And that’s not what we’re trying to do here. We’re just celebrating that you’ve accomplished it, right? We’ve gotten to the end of the the book of Revelation. And, you know, as we get to the end of this, this last chapter together, we’re going to look at the first five verses of chapter 22 and the very tail end of this chapter. We’re not going to be able to go through all of it today, but I do want us to find captured in this chapter, really the the essence of what this chapter is about and how it challenges us in our own walk with Jesus today. But as we get to the end of this chapter and as some of you are already thinking, okay, well, what’s next then? If this is the end, you know, and just because we got to the end of the book of the Bible doesn’t mean that or the end of all of the Bible doesn’t mean we’re we’re done here as a church. So in the next few weeks, we’re going to be talking starting next week about the future of ABC.
You know, as we’ve we’ve seen together the way that our congregation has grown, it’s been a gift and a blessing to see. But we also know we need more space for our future. And we had a campaign this fall to secure property for us, which is on Main Street. It’s not a mystery. It’s four acres, 710 West Main Street. We hope to build our future facility there that will accommodate our growth into the future and give us a greater opportunity just reaching Utah for the Lord. And so looking forward to that. Our campaign, we broke up into three phases. Phase one was to secure the land to make sure we had a place for our future. Phase two will start next week, which is really paying off all of the land so that we have that asset which will give us more leverage for building. And so we’re going to start that campaign next week. We’ll do that for three weeks. Just so you know, we’re not going to be spending three weeks just talking about a building, okay? I don’t want you to be like, oh gosh, that’s going to be boring. We’re going to be looking into God’s Word. That’s what we’re going to be doing together, but we’re going to see how our future is going to play a part of that. The state of our church and the future for what God has called us to.
So we’re going to be looking at some meaningful passages of the Bible, encouraging us as we take these next steps. Because as I think about these next steps, I’m going to be honest. If God calls us to do things sometimes where we scratch our head and think, God, I don’t know how you’re going to do this because this looks challenging to me. But but here’s what I do know. It’s going to take all of God’s people. But when we do work together, God does some incredible things through through the body of Christ. And so we’re going to be looking forward to how God on the back end of this, we’re going to be celebrating how God just provides as we think about our next steps as a church. So we’re going to be doing that for three weeks. We’re going to be after that in the summer. We like to spend some time in the Psalms to reflect and worship in the Lord. Book of Psalms, a beautiful book. All the books of the Bible is really God speaking to us. The book of Psalms is is man speaking back to God. It’s really learning how to engage the Lord through, through, through who God is, what that means for us. So Psalms is a very worshipful book. We’re going to take some time in the summer to reflect on that. And as we get to the school year, we’re going to jump into the book of acts, which is the Spirit of God working through the people of God to accomplish the will of God in this world.
And we’re going to relate it to us. And so look forward to those those days ahead as we continue to dive into Scripture together. But today, we’re going to be in Revelation chapter 22, as we’re coming to the end of this book and and look at the in this book, we’re going to start to discover what really the perfect state looks like. And the very end of the book of Revelation is dealing with the perfect state. And some of us, when we talk about that perfect state, what is to come? I know some of us are like, you know, I know it’s going to be good. Whatever it is, we’ll just deal with it when we get there. But I want you to know, in understanding that perfect state, it helps us really reflect on what that means for me in the here and now. And knowing what is to come Helps me to determine my steps today. So this is important. So when you look at the book of Revelation I want to just encapsulate for us, if you’re new today what the Book of Revelation has been about. If if you’ve been here for a while, this is a good reminder for us. Many people, when they come to this book, they they look at this book very fearfully.
In fact, a lot of people, when they teach this book, they teach it that way. It’s like this. They want to talk about hellfire and brimstone, put the fear of God in you. And you know this. Everything’s coming to an end. You better repent and turn to God. And all those things are true. Like I’m not saying don’t repent. I think that that that is an important part of your relationship with the Lord, where you come to the end of yourself and you just say, Lord, I don’t know why I’ve been living for my glory, why I’m warring against you, why I follow a path contrary to you. But we we surrender ourselves to him, and we find his grace that is critical in the life of everyone that follows him. Alright, so and even even once you’ve given your life to Jesus, I mean, that is how your relationship with Jesus continues on. All is every day you should wake up and saying, God, I didn’t make me. You made me. And not only did you make me for you, but you remake me at the cross where you gave your life for me. That I could have freedom in you. And so, God, today I’m just surrendering myself to you. And whatever your purpose is for me, let me walk in that and enjoy the richness of a relationship with you.
I mean, the posture of our heart should be about that every day. Discovering what it means to know him and to make him known. Right. And as we look at the book of Revelation, I want you to know that the primary purpose of this book was to encourage believers going through adversity to find the joy of the Lord in their circumstance. Revelation is a worship book, realizing that in Jesus you’ve been victorious, no matter how difficult the day may be. It puts eternity into perspective in the temporal circumstances of life where we find ourselves. There’s a famous saying that says, you know, one day this world will pass, but what you have in Jesus will last. And so how do I live in light of that? And as you look at the book of Revelation, the first three chapters starts off very specific to the churches. In fact, he writes to seven churches. You see those seven churches in Revelation chapter two. Chapter three mentioned. But those seven churches, I would say for this book is not specific just for those seven churches. Rather, those seven churches become this representation of all of God’s people throughout time. And what you discover is you read those seven churches is that God’s people are all in different places, some in healthy positions in the relationship with the Lord and sometimes not. But it’s to encourage us to find ourselves in that healthy position in Christ as we journey faithfully with him.
So those first three chapters written to the church, and then when you get to chapter four and five, you find John weeping like a baby, and you ask yourselves, why is John weeping like a baby? And it’s because what you discover is this picture of a scroll, and John finds there’s no one worthy to open the scroll, and the scroll is going to tell us the end of the story. And because of that, John is realizing that that the story can’t be fulfilled and therefore all of his hope in the Lord is not going to be come to fruition. And so John is really finding the end of himself there. He’s coming undone. He’s thinking, who’s worthy to produce the end result that we all long for. And finally, you see Jesus step forth, the one who is worthy to open the scroll and break the seal and give us the rest of history. And and Jesus breaks that scroll. And so chapter six to chapter 16, you see the the judgment of God made known against sin and God’s wrath being poured out against what’s warred against his people. And in that you see the judgments of the judgments of the seals. You see the judgment of the trumpets and the judgment of the bowls. And then in chapter 17 and 18, you find the the judgment of the great harlot. This fallen Babylon, which we talked about, the Book of Revelation represents two kingdoms.
There’s the the kingdom of this world which is fallen, broken Babylon. And then there’s the kingdom of God. And I think it’s important to know that as we talk about the world, what we mean is the system of this world that is messed up, the sinfulness of this world and and really the curse of that, that it’s all going to come to an end. Now, it doesn’t mean God destroys the world. Rather, God will renew all the brokenness of life just like he renews us in him. When we give our life to him, God’s going to renew the heavens and earth in him. But he brings this judgment against this, this harlot which is fallen. Babylon is chapter 17 and 18 and then chapter 19 and 20. He returns and sets up his kingdom. And then in chapter 21 and 22, where we find ourselves today, we walk into that perfect state in the Lord. He brings the new heavens and the new earth, and we discover what that what that means for us. Now, when we we talk about the idea of this, this perfect state, and we ask the question, what does that look like? I want us to know that, you know, first Corinthians chapter two, verse nine tells us, no eye has seen, nor heart conceived what God has in store for his people. So no matter how much we’re going to dream in this moment, I want you to know none of us can really grasp how beautiful and glorious this will be.
But there’s something about the way that John shares that John wants us to understand, to shape our identity in this, to not only long for what is to come, but to help us understand how how it calls us to live in light of what is to come. Because you belong to something greater. And so what does that mean for you and for me? How does it end? That’s the first question we’re going to answer here. And I’m going to look at the first five verses. We’re going to focus most of our time on this. And then from this begin to extrapolate okay. Now what do we do in light of that. Right. So Revelation 22 verse one. 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 12 kinds 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 a curse, but the throne of God and of the lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. Verse four. Then they 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. Here is John drawing this story for us. And and it is critical to remember when you read the book of Revelation that John draws from this, this beautiful idea of if Hebrew imagery meaning. John uses all of these illustrations in this letter to, to help us understand what’s to take place, not by trying to project 21st century ideas. Like a lot of people get that wrong when they read Revelation, where they look at these thoughts and these concepts and they try to picture themselves in the here and now. And John looking forward and what these ideas would mean for us today. But in order to really understand Revelation, you don’t first need to go forward, but rather you need to go backwards and ask ourselves, okay, as John is drawing these images, he’s not just saying, you know what? God’s showing me heaven now and I see a tree. So let me talk about a tree. Oh, there’s a river. Let me talk about a river. But rather it’s important to understand, John is using these illustrations for a reason. And the reason he’s using his illustrations is he is going back all the way to the Garden of Eden, to that that perfect state where Adam and Eve found themselves in this beautiful, perfect relationship with God before sin cursed this earth and this Garden of Eden.
And in this Garden of Eden, this Garden of Eden was very much represented as this dwelling place of God, God’s presence made known. It was this tabernacle. I mean, if you remember when God created in the Garden of Eden, the Bible tells us that he created in six days. Eden didn’t take up the whole world, but it took up a portion of this world. And God gave Adam and Eve as he created those six days. He gave them this command to be fruitful and multiply and subdue. Meaning they were to take that garden and multiply it around the world, that wherever they went, that people would be blessed by their presence because they they had this, this direct relationship with their creator and this, this dwelling place of God, the Garden of Eden. And they were called then commissioned by God to represent Eden wherever they went to go into this world and spread its richness and its goodness, to be a blessing to all of life because of it. And the same is true for you and for me. But John is drawing the story together, and he’s saying, look, I want to take you back what this perfect state’s going to be like? It’s like what it was from the beginning when God created us to know him. And if you remember, on the seventh day when God created it, tells us he rested.
And he didn’t rest after creation because he was tired, because God doesn’t grow tired, but rather it’s telling us that God rested because the reason for which God was created is so that we can enjoy his presence forever. I mean that that should define us as as all creatures on earth, that we were made for a purpose, and we do not find our purpose until we find our purpose in him. God made you for relationship, to find your worth, your value, your meaning in life, not in the achievements of things that you do, not in the pursuits of this world, but the one that created you for him to know him, to walk with him. And what John is saying is that that perfect place, God has now been restored. And what what should what this should bring for us is this place of comfort and peace. To understand God is faithful. Everything that he has promised us has been fulfilled in him. And we’re seeing this through this description, through through the idea of of verse one, the idea of this river and, and in verse two, the idea of this tree. Because when you go back to Genesis chapter two, verse nine and ten, what you see there is, is this river made known, right? And, and this tree made known and, and God’s presence is there. You know, you may look at these first few verses and say, well, why is it the tree that needs to give life and why is it the river that needs to give life? And we could really fixate on the on the thought of this tree and this river as the as the primary point.
But I want you to know, this tree in this river is not the point. This tree in this river, rather are pointing us to to the point. And the point is God Himself ruling on the throne. Because what you discover in this passage is that the river flows from the throne of God, and the tree is made known from that river from which that the throne of God is proclaimed. And so you have this, this dwelling place of God, literally the tabernacle of God, just like the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle of God was. That was the Garden of Eden. God’s presence was there. When you think in terms of temple and tabernacle, what it represented to Israel, it was the presence of God. And in the Garden of Eden, in the original form, it was the presence of God. And now here at the at the end in Revelation, it is the presence of God. You know, this is why as, as as Christians today, we we don’t build temples. And the reason for that is because you are God’s temple. First Corinthians chapter three, verse 16. And in chapter six, verse 19, you are the temple of God, the presence of God made in you.
If you know Jesus, and therefore we become the representative of God, which I’ll get into a little bit more. But but I want you to see that in this story. The focus isn’t primarily about the tree and river, but but about the one who has been faithful, whose ruling from the throne, everything fulfilled in him. That what God has called us to in him, he has culminated in that that perfect Eden has been restored. And so let me give you point number one in your notes. How does it end? Number one is this Eden restored? Eden restored the perfect garden of God’s presence. His people made known and and to him. And verse three, we find there’s no curse anymore. If you remember, in the original Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, they were cast out of the garden. They were taken away from the tree of life, the river of life, because of the curse of sin. We’ve been separated from God because of the curse of sin, and now we’re seeing it all reconciled in in him. And then verse four and five, then you see the presence of God, the temple of God made known. And not not only do you see this perfect Eden. Right, this beautiful garden restored, but but at the same time, it tells you in, in verse two that there’s in addition to that, the idea of a city which I find a little bit conflicting in its in its thought shared.
I mean, which is it? Is it the perfect countryside of a great garden, you know, or is it the city? And and I think that it could probably even divide us this morning. When we think about that, there are some of us that are like, I don’t like the growth that we’re experiencing in Utah. You know, I want to snap my fingers and go back to the way it was, right? Like, I want a garden. I want a lot of land. You know, I want I want to just be off to off by myself and my perfect little state. That sounds refreshing to me. Garden of Eden. Bring it. And then? And then some of us read the idea of city. And it was like some of you like a little more population. You like to be able to, you know, journey not very far to get some things that you need. But some of us are like, no thank you. Right. I don’t want more people. I don’t want more of that. But but here he is describing this as a city. So what does that mean? And and for those that like the city, you’re like, I get tired of the idea of gardening. I don’t want to be pulling any weeds. Right. Just concrete my entire yard.
Will you please? Right. Like there’s this, that, that conflict. But but I want you to understand that as as he’s describing these things, the idea of city is a little bit more unique than the way we think about city. Because if you look at this, the way chapter 22 starts, it says, then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, right? So, so as he’s describing for us the idea of this perfect state that is to come. This is not the beginning of this thought. The idea of this perfect state started for us in chapter 21 and in chapter 21 when he’s describing it to us, remember, it talks about the New Jerusalem coming down that perfect city. That’s what it described in verse 22, or excuse me, chapter 21, verse two and three, this, this perfect New Jerusalem coming down. Right. And we described it last week, kind of like the Death Star. People think it’s this floating city that kind of comes down. We’re all going to have to live on this floating city. And in verse 16 it describes it as 12,000 stadia, which is really 1500 miles. And it says it’s in a perfect cube. So it’s 1500 miles by 1500 miles and 1500 miles tall, this perfect box cube coming down. And some people I told you last week do a lot of math with that. Some people like to get down with their calculators.
Like there’s some kind of nerd, you know, and they’re like, how many people can fit in this? You know, like they’re trying to figure out, like all Christians throughout history, like how many probable Christians there have been. So therefore, how much square footage do you get in 1500? Like they try to figure that out, right. Like. And I want you to know, I think the imagery there is is not so much about we’re going to live in a cube together. I told you, if we get space in a cube, you can have my cube spot. I’m just going to walk around on Earth, okay? But. But rather, the cube is representing something. And if you know anything about the temple. The temple had two rooms, or the tabernacle had only two rooms. The holy room and the Holy of Holies. And the Holy of Holies was the place where God’s presence was said to dwell. And that room was shaped in a perfect cube. And so when the 1500 mile city comes down, at that time in the world, the known world was about 1500 miles wide. And so what it’s saying is all of the known world in the presence, perfect presence of God in this cube. And so really, what it’s illustrating for us is this beautiful state of of Eden. And the idea of this new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem, literally means a place of established peace. And it was this picture of what Jesus would ultimately fulfill for us.
As Jesus went to Jerusalem, he gave his life so that we could have peace. And the ultimate peace isn’t discovered until this new Jerusalem. And so here in the story, it’s painting a picture for us of this garden city of perfect peace. It’s this incredible place to live so that when we think in terms of city, City today is different for us than than what we might think of in first century city or any city previous to that. By the first century you start to have some cities with some more population, but the primary thought of city was a place of protection, a place of resource, a place of influence. And certainly in this perfect city there isn’t this corruption of life. There’s no more thorns, there’s no more weeds. That was a part of the the curse of the earth. But rather we’re we’re entering into this, this perfect Eden garden city of peace, where, where we would dwell and and understanding that becomes critical for us because we realize from the beginning of the Bible all the way to the end, this never changed the mission of God’s people. That from the beginning, Adam and Eve, in God’s perfect presence in this tabernacle that was Eden, which was became a picture of the temple later. But this perfect presence of God. Adam and Eve were called to live their lives as royal priests representing their king.
They were to go around in this world representing Eden, and multiply the beauty of Eden all over the known earth as as royal representatives, priests of the Lord. And the same thing is true for you and for me in the New Testament that we are called in first Peter chapter two. We are royal priesthood, verse nine. And wherever you go in this world, the, the, the world should be better off because of your presence made known. Because of Jesus’s presence, made known in you. You literally become the hands and feet of Christ in the way that you represent him in this world. Because your get this citizenship is not of an earthly kingdom, but rather you belong to an eternal king. And so you represent Eden in the way that you do things, because the Bible calls you royal priests, men and women. You represent God in the things that you do. And in addition to that, it also acknowledges that that you are a citizen of this kingdom. In fact, when you think in terms of a city and you look throughout the New Testament in the book of Hebrews talking about Abraham, if you remember the call of Abraham, it says in verse eight, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. So what it’s saying about Abraham is like God commissioned him to go in this world and influence spread even be that royal priest and representing your king, because the kingdom of this world will pass away, but the true king and his kingdom will endure forever. And so Abraham went out, and it represented really like a nomad in this land, because he knew that even though he he may find a temporal home in this world. This was not his ultimate home. And he longed for that, that great kingdom for which he was called, whose designer and builder was the Lord. And it’s the same for you and for me, that when we think about this, this beautiful garden city of peace, that that is where our citizenship belongs. It tells you in Philippians chapter three verse 20, so this, this helps us understand our calling in this world, the things that I do and why that it matters, because I’m representing a greater king and a greater kingdom. And so the way that I carry myself is critical and and understanding my own relationship with Jesus, and how that influences the way that I’m called to live in this world, it matters.
I mean, waking up each day and seeking the face of God and understanding Him and His word. That’s that’s that’s paramount for every follower of Jesus to lay my life down in order to know him and to make him known. I mean, we we as God’s people, we we should want to know the way this story ends because we’re seeing in this the faithfulness of God. I mean, you think the call of Christianity is to come and die, take up your cross and follow him? And more than anything, to want to do that faithfully. We want to know it’s going to work out in the end. And this is what John’s saying. This is the picture of what awaits us. Everything that we lost in Christ or in the Lord has been restored because of Christ, and he was faithful to fulfill it. And and therefore your calling in this life matters because you belong to this. This is who you are and the way that you represent. This is critical. And so if you’re going to lay your life down for for the cause of Christ, you need to know that Jesus will sustain you. And then as you’re thinking about the idea of the city, it’s not saying to us, look, there’s not going to be challenges in this world. There’s certainly going to be challenges. I mean, even this This past week I was around someone for a temporary moment, and I didn’t want to stay in that conversation very long because this individual was very critical and he really wasn’t looking for a conversation.
He was looking more for someone to pander to his negativity. By the way, no one here, but this individual was just complaining, complaining about all the changes they had seen in Utah, and they don’t like it. And, you know, it doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion about things, right? But he kept referring to what he was seeing in Utah become as Babylon, Babylon, blah blah blah, Babylon, blah blah blah, complain, complain, right? My mom used to say it like this. You’d always when I was a kid growing up, and if I would complain about anything, she’d eventually just say complain. Complain is all you did. I finally had to close the lid. It’s like I tell me I’m done listening to you. Right. And, you know, I just I heard I heard this cycling in my head as this person’s complaining. And I’m like, I just said, okay and just walked away. I don’t want anything nothing to do with it. And here’s why is because it doesn’t mean we have to ignore the problems of the day. But God has called us to so much more than that. And this particular person, all that they were interested in was being an armchair quarterback in life, where they’re just going to complain about everything and expect other people to do something about it.
But but the Lord’s called us to more than that in this world, to represent the richness of who he is and the way we carry the grace of God wherever we go doesn’t mean you have to be content with things, but it does mean more than just complaining. God’s called you to be a blessing in life. And when I think about the the children of Israel, they at one point were literally carried into the land of Babylon. You read in the book of Revelation, it describes, it compares and contrasts the idea of God’s kingdom to the thought of Babylon. And when they were carried into Babylon, they had the question, I mean, what are we going to do in broken, terrible Babylon? Right. And they didn’t have any love for Babylon. I mean, Babylon made them slaves, and Babylon killed their friends and family before their eyes as the one, as some were carried off into slavery. Now that they’re in that land, I’m thinking, what are we? What are we going to do in Babylon and forget Babylon? Let’s just complain about Babylon, and we’re just going to sit here and wait. Finally, one day for the destruction of Babylon, and then we’re going to cheer about it. That was kind of their attitude. But here’s what God said to them in Jeremiah. In verse four it says chapter 29, verse four, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them.
Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives, and have sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters a marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its welfare you will find your welfare. I mean, here’s what he’s saying. Thrive and be a blessing. You live your life. Do what God has called you to do where you are. Plant yourself where you’re living to make a difference for the greater kingdom for which you belong. Don’t just sit back and complain about the way things are. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. See the story of redemption be made known and again and again in the lives of people around you. I mean the grace of God that you have discovered in your own life. Jesus wants to use you, that others may discover that grace too. In fact, when Jesus talked about it in terms for us, I don’t know if I gave you point number two. Let me give you this real quick, and then I’ll tell you what Jesus said. A city of peace. There you go. So you have this Eden restored.
City of peace. That’s the picture of eternity. And when Jesus described that picture, he talked about us this way in Matthew five verse 14, you are the the light of the world, a city set on a hill. It cannot be hidden. I mean, think about what that picture represents, about you and me belonging to this greater king and his kingdom, right? If you were a traveler back in the first century and you’re journeying from one town to the next. And you might be thinking to yourself, man, how much further do I have to go? And I’ve got to get indoors soon because I don’t want to be left outside in the middle of the night, to marauders or to wild animals and looking for that city, and all of a sudden you come across a corner and you just see the beacon of hope shining on the top of that hill. It’s this place of direction. It’s it’s this encouragement for endurance. You know, it’s this place of solace and protection. It’s a place of of resource and all that that city represents. This is this is who God’s people are called to be in this world, that city, inviting people in to discover the richness of the resources that are possessed there. The the truth in which it guides you towards like, that’s that’s what the city is for this first century. That’s what God’s people are called to in this world that we live in, and helping people Belong to who Christ is, its direction, its safety, its influence.
It’s its encouragement. It’s this. It’s this beacon of hope. That’s that’s what’s represented here. So when we think in terms of the idea of this, this city, it’s more than a city. It’s also a garden. It’s this place of perfect peace. We’re we’re citizens. We belong to it, as royal priests called to represent this in this world. And so this is all the imagery that that John is giving us in this passage. But he’s he’s also doing more than that, because at the same time, while he’s using these descriptions of this, this tree and this river and, and the throne of God, and he’s he’s also stirring our affections for Christ. He’s helping us understand the richness of what we have in Jesus. And let me let me just give you a few illustrations. Let me go back for a minute. I’ll give you a few thoughts as to to how he paints this picture. Each one of these verses, as you go through verse 1 to 5, is really painting a picture of a fulfillment that that Jesus has achieved for us. And the reason I say that is when you look at verse one, you see this river, right? But when you remember Jesus’s life on earth, and in John chapter seven and John chapter four, he refers to himself as the living water. And the reason you and I can partake of that living water is because Jesus at the cross was willing to thirst.
He took on having no water so that you could take on the living water. And at the same time, the reason verse two you have the tree of life is because Jesus was willing to climb the tree of death in first Peter chapter two, verse 24, that you could have the richness of the tree of life. And then when you when you look at at verse three, it tells us that there is no longer a curse. But we’re reminded in Galatians chapter three verse 13, Jesus took on the curse so that we could take on the blessing of him through him becoming that curse. We have the richness of God made known. And then in verse four, it tells us that we have the presence of God. We’re experiencing personal relationship with the Lord and the idea of of his his name written on our foreheads as belonging to him. But we’re able to experience the presence of God because Jesus was cast from the presence of the father. It tells us in Psalm chapter 22, verse one, and then in verse five you see the light of God’s presence made known. But the reason we’re able to walk in the light is because Jesus stepped into the the darkness for us. Meaning was Jesus hung on the cross. We recall in Scripture.
It tells us from the sixth hour to the ninth hour of the day, there was darkness over the land. And as Jesus experienced separation from his relationship with the father, Jesus took on the darkness so that we could have life. And then in verse five, it tells us this, that we will reign with him forever and ever. The idea of reigning forever, ever is again the thought of royal citizen priesthood, but one of the one of the thoughts I want us to just reflect on as we look at this is, is to remember that this idea of forever and ever is to help us put into perspective all of life. Meaning, when you come in this morning, sometimes we we walk in our this door bearing, bearing the burden of this world, the struggle of life. And sometimes those problems can feel overwhelming. And and you look for light at the end of the tunnel and then and then you read a verse like verse five that tells us you will reign forever and ever. And it helps us put into perspective the struggles of this world. That the affliction that we face is only momentary in light of what we will be before Jesus forever. So no matter how great the struggle may be, it’s just a blip on the radar for what eternity has for you and for me. Now, it doesn’t make your struggle unimportant, but it helps us to be mindful from an eternal perspective.
The hope that we ultimately have in Christ, and we should choose rather to let that dictate the way we move forward, rather than the temporal struggle that life might be. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay. And so when we look at the the picture of this eternity in light of where we are today, it says every day that I wake up, there’s meaningful purpose to my life because of who Christ is and everything that awaits for me. And it becomes then this, this opportunity to to share the richness of of who God is. It’s like this. If I use this illustration, I know I got to close this fast. I’m going to use this illustration and just get through these last points real quick. But there was a there was a woman who who had a family heirloom that was passed on to her. It was a piece of jewelry, and she appreciated the jewelry and what it represented to her family. She didn’t really wear it because it wasn’t her style. And every once in a while, she would toss it in her jewelry drawer and pull it out and look at it and reflect on it and just kind of toss it back in there. But one day she thought, you know, I should get this appraised. I don’t even remember any history to this. It’s been in my family for a while. So she took it to a jeweler and got a praise and and and the jeweler puts it under that little magnifying glass, you know, that they wear and and and examines the jewel.
And after looking at it for a while, he kind of puts it down and his face is just shocked and bewildered. And he says to the lady, do you understand what you have here? And she said, not really. It’s been in my family for a while, but we’ve kind of lost perspective as to what this even is. And he said, this jewel is so precious that we even lost in history how to even recreate this? This jewel is priceless. And then all of a sudden, that woman realized in her possession all this time was something that would really change the trajectory of her life on this, in this world that she, the way she had been treating it, was undervaluing the wealth in which she possessed. But now that she starts to understand what this is, she knows her life is changed forever because of it. Guys, it’s the same thing in your relationship with Jesus. The richness of who Christ is should change your life forever, and the way you choose to live, rather than clinging to the things of this world as if it gives worth and value to who you are. You discover the wealth of of knowing Jesus and what it means to walk with him. That that the idea of this river.
You think it’s this picture of a sanitary water, meaning throughout centuries that your water source was critical to your life. I mean, this is kind of an exceptional time period where we have places where water is piped into your home and it goes through the sanitation process and, and you have the opportunity to drink it. But even thinking about how you get it, it’s got to come through pipes and all this elaborate system. But but up until this day, I mean, your your water source. I mean, that was vital to, to you living. And then not only that, the idea of a tree that produces fruit 12 kinds of fruit forever, it never runs out. I mean, no tree ever does that. Like to think that the the life source never ends for you. And the idea of 12 fruits is indicative of 12 tribes, which was a picture of all of God’s people, as you see in Revelation. So it’s saying that all of God’s people find their satisfaction, their source, their sustenance, and everything that God will provide for us. This is this is helping us understand the uniqueness of your own personal journey with the Lord, that you have access to him every day, that there’s no longer a curse. But all of that curse has been lifted because of what Jesus has accomplished for you, and you have the privilege of walking in that light, the light of knowing God, that there is no longer any darkness for us.
But we see God as he desires to make himself known. And so as you get to the the end of Revelation, let me jump ahead, because I got to conclude. So let me give you just a few thoughts here as we think about, okay, what does this mean in light of who God is? How should I respond to knowing I represent this king, this kingdom, this, this garden city of perfect peace, where Revelation ends with with these few thoughts. Number one, it encourages you. This is a first blank to be invitational, to be invitational. Verse 17 the spirit and the bride say, come, and let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. And let the one who desires to take the water of life without price, and saying, Jesus offers this freely. It’s because it’s because he has paid the price for us on the cross. And so, as you’ve experienced the richness of Christ, you get the opportunity to offer that to others. And and so he’s inviting us to partake of it, like here this morning. If you don’t know Jesus, that’s the invitation to embrace Jesus and what he means for us and finding freedom in him because of what he’s done for us on the cross and for you and for me. Like if we truly believe in what Jesus says, there should never be an empty seat in our church.
I mean, we should be freely offering the wealth of Christ to know him. And then in verse 18 and 19, the next point is this be faithful. Be faithful because he says, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in the book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city which are described in the book. I mean, John, Jude tells us in the book of Jude, verse three that he has once and for all delivered to the saints the truth of God. Right? So he’s saying, or the faith of God saying, the reason we don’t look for any other book of the Bible to be added is because the story has been written. Jesus has fulfilled what he said he would fulfill. And so now we put our hope in him. And I don’t know why it is with people that we feel like we’ve got to add to or take away from God’s Word to make him sufficient. Jesus is sufficient alone and to take the Word of God and to realize the gift it is to know God, saying, be faithful to this every day. Find your life invigorated and the richness of Christ to walk with him.
So not only are we invitational, but we want to be faithful. Third is to be bold. Verse 20, he who testifies it says to these things, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. So the idea of being bold is really urgent. It’s saying, look, this world is temporal and it could pass away at any moment. But you have the greatest gift you can offer people. Why sit on that? Why not utilize that now? Being bold or urgent doesn’t mean be a jerk, but rather it means be confident. Be confident in what you have in Christ and how this endures, so that in the next verse, verse 21, we want to be humble. It says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. We can be humble and we should be humble. And the reason we’re humble is that we we don’t receive Christ because we’re great. We get the opportunity to receive Christ because he’s great. And then we have the privilege to point people to him. We are only where we are because of the grace of God. Even if you don’t know Jesus today, the very thought that you were able to wake up and breathe. It’s only by the grace of God because we are sinful creatures, and the only thing God truly owes us is judgment. But in his grace, he’s given us opportunity to know him.
So when we come to people, we can come to people humbly because we’re confident in who we are in Jesus. And through that confidence, then we know that we can serve others because we don’t need them to to affirm us in what we’re doing. We have all the confidence that we need in Christ, but rather we also understand that the only reason we have what we have is because of Christ, and therefore we can offer it to others. Understanding where all this is going is critical for us, not just in looking forward to it, but also in the way that we live today. And God has blessed us in a way that we can continue to be a blessing to the world around us, even knowing this world will pass away. Why? Because we’re citizens of a greater king and a greater kingdom. I’ll close with this. There’s a man named William Carey. He’s known as the father of modern missions. And the reason he’s known as the father of modern missions is. Is because during his time period, they started to believe. Matthew 28, verse 19 and 20 other verses were only written for the apostles. And if you know Matthew 2819 and 20, it says, go in the world, make disciples. But they said, well, that was just specific to Jesus’s immediate followers then, not to us today. And William Carey said, that is not true. God calls us to be his his priestly citizens wherever we go, and we should be willing to go to the ends of the earth to help people know him.
And so William Carey, he he practiced what he preached, and he went out to, to places around this world proclaiming the gospel. He went to India and lived for 40 years just sharing the gospel. He wanted people to to know him, and he really became one that embodied what it means to be a representative of this heavenly, perfect garden city of Peace. And he lived that with his life. And some people during his day referred to him as a hero. And he said, I’m not a hero. Rather, he was one who just simply read God’s Word and believed God would be faithful to fulfill it. He trusted God’s presence was with him wherever he went. And he said this about his life. He said, if he gives me credit for being a plotter, he will describe me justly. I can plod, I can persevere in any definite pursuit. Guys, can I just tell you that’s what Revelation 22 is? As you think about what you belong to, you then set a trajectory of your life to glorify the God and the kingdom for which you were called. Lord, help me know you and in knowing who you are, help me to live for something greater than this world.