They Will Reign Forever
Notes
Transcript
Intro & Review
Intro & Review
<<READ ENTIRE TEXT then PRAY>>
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
john 14.2-3
HOMESICKNESS?? - a place we have never been, but are meant for
HOMESICKNESS?? - a place we have never been, but are meant for
Advent/Christmas series 2019 - looking @ promises fulfilled in Jesus; today the last promises in the Bible
Themes from previous wks:
- God’s provision & promises to swallow death forever
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
- We saw that God’s Kingship gives us hope. asks
- We saw that God’s Kingship gives us hope. asks
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
ps 24:
The answer to those questions is the LORD Jesus Himself - He is the King of Glory, and the victory He wins over sin and death He gives to us, so that we can stand with Him in God’s presence for eternity.
- We can entrust ourselves to Him, b/c He is completely faithful, remains faithful even when we don’t, and He promises that if we endure, we will also reign with Him.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
We can entrust ourselves to Him, b/c He is completely faithful, remains faithful even when we don’t, and everything we need to endure to the end is a gift from Him. And He promises that if we endure, we will also reign with Him.
This morning - Reign with Him: , , ; , ; ; ; ;
Revelation
King / kingdom of priests reigning
Nature of kingship
Previously discussed “reign with him,” now explain what that looks like (cf. , , )
What Adam was given, and what we have all squandered, Jesus accomplishes perfectly and now waits for the day when He will hand over the dominion to His Father, when all is accomplished, thereby completing all of humanity’s task of reigning under the Father, and then we will reign with Him in Christ (, , , , , )
Reign with Him: , , ; , ; ; ; ;
Origin of the promise in OT - , ,
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.
But after the Fall, we exercise dominion in broken ways.
Illust: Note how temporary good government is - even in an exceptional nation, the lifespan of a nation is short - numbered in hundreds of years on the long side. Most successful nations in terms of longevity are often bastions of oppression
Illust: Note how temporary good government is - even in an exceptional nation (such as ours), the lifespan of a nation is short - numbered in hundreds of years on the long side. Most successful nations in terms of longevity are often bastions of oppression
Empires rise & fall, cover the earth not with God’s shalom but with human imitations
Pax Romana (just means “Roman Peace”) -
one of the greatest & widest-spread periods of peace in history, during which marvels of engineering, technology, learning, spread. Many scholars say that when the Bible says that Jesus came “in the fullness of time,” (, paraphrasing Jesus in ), one thing that made the time right was the fact that Rome’s peace was proctored by one of the greatest & best organized armies humanity had ever seen. The Roman Legions put down rebellion & maintained human peace.
But 2 problems faced the Roman peace - How do you move such masses of people and equipment efficiently enough to keep order? And if your armies are so effective, how do you keep discipline, order, and fitness in long periods of peace?
Problems provided their own solution: The Roman Roads. Massive infrastructure, 250,000 miles of highways, byways, and surface roads facilitating transit for the Legions. In times of peace, the Legions themselves built, expanded & maintained the roads and other public works, facilitating the expansion of the Pax Romana and keeping the Legions themselves occupied, fit, and disciplined. So well-built that some remain usable even now (slides?)
The Roman Roads had one consequence that was never intended by the Romans. It was God’s design, though. His apostles used that vast network of roads to take the Gospel further, faster than it could have been possible at any time before.
, commerce,
In order to move such masses of people & equipment from one part of empire to another, required methods of mass transit. Enter the Roman road. Many were so well-built that they remain usable now, 2000 years later.
And the Gospel outlived Rome.
The British Empire, Ottoman Empire, Kingdom of Spain, all exercised dominion over parts of God’s creation, but not with God’s shalom. Writ large, all of them have preferred prosperity over godliness, even the so-called Christian ones. All have produced a mixed harvest of good and evil fruit.
And all of them will eventually give way to the consummation of God’s intentions - the kingdom that will never pass away -
Q. Are you homesick for God’s Kingdom?
Org: Divide text into 2 parts - our eternal home & our eternal calling
I. God’s Eternal Provision in our Eternal Home (1-2)
I. God’s Eternal Provision in our Eternal Home (1-2)
The river & tree - perfect provision; restoration of Eden; fulfillment of promises, healing of the nations;
Key x-refs - , , ,
Questions answered: Will eternity be like time, with bodies etc? Note it’s a city with a river & trees. Will there be “nations” in eternity? Will there be the passing of time (months)
<<READ 1-2>>
When God created the first man and woman, He plants a garden in a land the Bible calls Eden. According to Gen 2:8-15, He started the work of cultivation, and then He tasked Adam and Eve with continuing his work. That’s a key part of how they will exercise dominion over the world along with their children, as He says to them in ,
When He created the first man and woman, He set them in a garden in a land the Bible calls Eden.
When the history of the world begins, the world is full of plants, but there’s only one garden, and God is the one who planted it. According to Gen 2:8-15, He started the work of cultivation, and then He tasked Adam and Eve with continuing his work. That’s a key part of how they will exercise dominion over the world along with their children, as He says to them in ,
What’s the difference between a garden and an untended growth of plant & trees? Intentionality. Planning. Cultivation. When the history of the world begins, the world is full of plants, but there’s only one garden, and God is the one who planted it. According to Gen 2:8-15, He started the work of cultivation, and then He tasked Adam and Eve with continuing his work. That’s a key part of how they will exercise dominion over the world along with their children, as He says to them in ,
As He says to them in ,
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Weeks ago, we took time to look at how God set His Name on Mt. Zion, in Jerusalem, where the Temple was to be built. That is where He promised to meet with them, year after year. The Temple was a symbol of God’s eternal dwelling.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
gen 2.8
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Apply
What do we learn about the garden of Eden there? Where do rivers start? They start in the mountains.
Weeks ago, we took time to look at how God designed mountains as places to meet with Him. You remember? He met with Moses on Mt. Horeb, and brought Israel back to Mt. Sinai. And God told Israel that He would set His Name on Mt. Zion, in Jerusalem, where the Temple was to be built. That is where He promised to meet with them, year after year. The Temple was a symbol of God’s eternal dwelling.
But in the garden of Eden, God already dwelled with humankind for a time, and there are echoes of Eden everywhere you look in the tabernacle and later in the Temple. In the Most Holy Place, above the Ark, cherubim stand guard over the presence of God, just as they barred the way to the Tree of Life in Eden.
says that in the garden, God made every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food spring up for Adam and Eve.
The tabernacle is supported by huge beams of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, standing in rows like an orchard.
The lamp in the Tabernacle was made to look like an almond tree in full bloom, fueled by olive oil. The Garden was full of every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
When Solomon built the permanent tabernacle, the Temple, tells us that he had the interior lined with cedar and cypress wood, all covered in carvings of gourds and open flowers, and palm trees.
All the details point to the fact that Eden was the original holy place, the original Temple, the dwelling place of God with mankind. God’s great plan of salvation is to bring us back into His presence. That’s why the Temple was made to echo Eden. And that’s also why access to the Holy of Holies was so restricted.
The message of the Temple is that our sins, our iniquities, and our transgressions make it impossible for us to dwell with God unless He takes away our sins.
All the details point to the fact that Eden was the original holy place, the original Temple, the dwelling place of God with mankind. God’s great plan of salvation is to bring us back into His presence. That’s why the Temple was made to echo Eden. And that’s also why access to the Holy of Holies was so restricted. 364 days of the year, no human being was allowed in the innermost room of the Temple. And on the Day of Atonement, once a year, only the High Priest could enter, and only after atonement had been made for his sins, and only to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice over the mercy seat and in front of it. The message of the Temple is that our sins, our iniquities, and our transgressions make it impossible for us to dwell with God unless He takes away our sins.
The sacrifice that takes away our sins once and for all, the one that makes it possible for us to dwell in God’s presence, is the sacrifice of God’s own Lamb, our King, Jesus Christ.
And here, in , we find a tree and a river, just like Eden.
is part of bigger picture seen in the climax of Rev & climax of history:
Jesus has returned in ch19,
Satan is defeated,
29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
the dead have been raised in the Final Judgment, just as Jesus had promised in and in the par. of the sheep & goats
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Death has been destroyed forever as promised
Heaven & earth passed away & been renewed as the New Heaven and New Earth, as promised in
New Jerusalem has come down from heaven as the eternal home for all God’s people, and in we read
3 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. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Does that make you homesick?
In Revelation we see the final consummation of God’s plans. Revelation was written for us and for all of God’s people, to help us endure to the end, no matter how hard things get. Revelation ties together all the various threads of God’s great plan of redemption.
Revelation starts with Jesus as the one coming with the clouds. And just like , Revelation repeatedly refers to Jesus sharing the throne of God with His Father, and then sharing His reign with those who trust in Him.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
tells us that the New Jerusalem is on a great, high mountain, and there is no temple in the city because its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. There is no veil, no curtain, no separation between God and His people.
The climax of Revelation comes in the final chapters. God metes out destruction upon the Beast, and the False Prophet, and the city John calls Babylon the Great, the city that epitomizes all the powers and principles of a self-obsessed, God-opposing life and culture. And in chapter 19, we see Jesus’s return. John calls Jesus the Lamb, he says that Jesus is called Faithful and True, and the Word of God, and King of kings and Lord of lords.
At His return, chapter 20 says an angel seizes Satan & locks him bound in a sealed pit for a thousand years, and Jesus raises the martyrs from the Great Tribulation, and then reigns with them on this earth for a thousand years.
Revelation shows us how God will
At the end of the Millennium, Satan is released from the pit, only to be thrown into the lake of fire forever.
Chapter 20 ends with the Final Judgment. All of God’s promises to bring perfect justice to the earth happens here.
And chapters 21-22 then show us what the rest of eternity will be like for those who have been saved by Jesus. Heaven and Earth pass away and are renewed in the New Heavens and the New Earth, with the centerpiece of it all in the New Jerusalem, a city built by God Himself. This is the fulfillment of God’s promises through Isaiah
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.
isa 65.17-18
This is where God completes His promise to wipe away every tear from His people’s eyes, and death shall be no more, neither mourning or crying or pain. The great proclamation comes from the throne in ,
3 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.
The New Jerusalem is the Father’s House that Jesus talks about, where there are many rooms, and Jesus is even now preparing a place for you and me, if we belong to Him.
This is the fulfillment of the words we read in - “The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Rev 21.5
tells us that the New Jerusalem is on a great, high mountain, and there is no temple in the city because its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. There is no veil, no curtain, no separation between God and His people.
And here, in , notice how the garden of Eden and the Temple of God find their final fulfillment in God Himself. Eden was watered by a river, but the New Jerusalem will be watered by the river of the waters of life, coming from God’s own presence - from His throne.
The river of the water of life is no ordinary river. says that in the day of salvation “living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem.” tells that in the day of salvation, a river of fresh water would issue from beneath the temple, rushing towards the sea and making all the waters fresh, and wherever it went, fruit trees would spring up on both sides, and all life would thrive in its waters.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
says that God Himself is the fountain of living waters.
And Jesus, in
So when Jesus
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
And later in
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The river of the water of life is pure, crystal-clear, life-giving water. For all of eternity, the presence and rule of God will be the wellspring of pure, bright, wonderful life.
Verse 2 says that the river will course through the middle of the city street, and the tree of life will be there.
Verse 2 says that the river will course through the middle of the city street, and the tree of life will be there. The text says the tree is on either side of the river, probably because says that fruit trees would line both sides of the river. We can imagine a single aspen on both sides of a river if its roots are deep enough, but probably the word “tree” here is singular to make sure we remember the tree of life in Eden. John has a way of choosing unusual forms of words to make us stop and think, and that’s what I think is going on here.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Tree of Life reason sent out of Garden - so they wouldn’t live forever in the corruption of their sin
The text says the tree is on either side of the river, because says that fruit trees would line both sides of the river. The word “tree” here is singular to make sure we remember the tree of life in Eden, but may point to the Tree of Life as a single kind of tree lining both sides
But now, w/ death, Satan, sin destroyed, eternal home is New Jerusalem & Restored Eden
But now, w/ death, Satan, sin destroyed, eternal home is New Jerusalem & Restored Eden
The Tree of Life is the reason Adam and Eve could not remain in the Garden of Eden once they had sinned - God says that if they ate from the fruit of the tree of life, they would live forever in the corruption of their sin, and so He sends them out of the Garden, but He promises to rescue them through the seed of Eve, the Messiah.
Fulfills
But now, the people of God have complete and unfettered access to the tree.
It gives a continuing abundance of fruit - there will never be a season without the life-giving fruit of the tree, and its leaves are said to be “for the healing of the nations,” which isn’t about healing wounds, since God will have wiped away every tear already, but about giving health in abundance for every people and tribe and nation.
The key fact in verses 1-2 is that God’s presence and rule are the source of life, and He provides in overwhelming abundance.
Have you ever wondered if we will perceive the passage of time in eternity?
God intends eternity to be full of blessing, without pause, without end, for everyone who is there.
Do you notice how earthy eternity is? No disembodied existence. No ethereal plane. We will walk along the shores of a river with people from every nation, feeling the grass between our toes. With God! Feeling the actual, sparkling, crystalline water of life splashing down our glorified, immortal throats and refreshing us forever. Eating the actual, abundant fruit of the Tree of LIfe.
APPLY: To whet our appetites. Make us homesick for the Father’s House that we’ve never actually visited, where Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, so that we will long for Him to return to take us there. Where saints from every nation will be healed, and will be one people in God’s presence. Are you homesick for God’s Kingdom yet?
Apply
In Revelation
what do we find that marks it out as the original temple?
It’s where God met with Adam and Eve. It is absolutely full of wonderful things - says it had every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
How the garden is a Temple
Apply
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
II. God’s Eternal Kingship - Our Eternal Calling (vv3-5)
II. God’s Eternal Kingship - Our Eternal Calling (vv3-5)
Presence of the throne - God’s kingship absolutely established; no rivals; from points to God dwelling w/ & wiping away every tear; inheritance of the people of God; establishment of “on earth as in heaven” perfectly & forever
Lack of curse - points to , destruction of death,
Key x-refs - , ,
Questions answered: Will there be anything to fear or worry about? Will we experience God’s presence differently than in the present? Will we worship in eternity? What will we do in eternity (cf. Isa 66)?
Look in v3, and here’s our second point - <<READ v3-5>>
Look in v3, and here’s our second point - <<READ v3-5>>
“No longer will there be anything accursed” - Here, finally, in the New Jerusalem, every aspect of the curse that befell all of creation at the sin of Adam and Eve is undone.
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Every intended joy & wonder in God’s good creation has been touched by the Fall.
27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Work frustrates us. Relationships strain / break. Bodies strain & break. ALL goes back to that day in the Garden. But in the Last Day, “No longer...”
Once again, we see the throne of God and of the Lamb. The presence of God is both the source of life and the promise that for all eternity, things will be as they ought to be.
zech 14.11
In 3-5, THREE statements about our calling - we will see His face, we will bear His name, and we will reign with Him.
In 3-5, THREE statements about our calling - we will see His face, we will bear His name, and we will reign with Him.
Earlier in , we’re told that the nations will come into the New Jerusalem, and will walk in the light of God’s glory, but nothing unclean will ever enter the city, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
A. See His Face
GOOD NEWS - No chance that there will ever be a return to the fall.
III. God’s Radiant (4-5) - In NJ, the light of God’s face will shine on us forever
III. God’s Radiant (4-5) - In NJ, the light of God’s face will shine on us forever
This is the greatest blessing in eternity - to see the face of God. To look upon your Creator, to see your Maker. To know Him like you know your closest family.
Greatest blessing - to see His face, which will shine on us forever. Like the sun coming out from the clouds; His name reflects His favor & protection (cf. earlier in Rev), our status as His children, and our status as His priests forever (, ); His shining on us will be perfect fulfillment of , ; unlike Moses, we will behold Him with unveiled faces forever & will see His face without fear; worship = service = infinitely fulfilling labor
Questions answered: Will eternity be in His presence? Will eternity be different in any way from our present experience (no need of lamp/sun)?
<<READ 3b-5>>
This is the greatest blessing in eternity - to see the face of God. This is what Moses requested, to see God in His glory in . To see the face of God is to look upon your Creator, to see your Maker. To know Him like you know your closest family.
Remember in , the King of Glory ascends the hill of the LORD and stands in His holy place, so that He can bring us in.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
We cannot stand in His presence, we cannot see His face in our sins. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God responded,
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
But says,
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
And remember what Jesus Himself says in
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
And John, in
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Imagine the blessings of seeing God’s face -
Everyone who belongs to Jesus by faith will have the light of the eternal favor and joy of God shining on them.
B. His Name on Our Foreheads
36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
And v4 says His name will be on our foreheads - this is a picture of belonging and security. Note the priests, , turban/gold plate - “Holy to the Lord”
To bear the name of the LORD on our foreheads is to be declared set apart for Him. Holy to Him. Belonging to Him. As His children, we will forever be the objects of His love. As His kingdom of priests, we will forever be worshiping Him in love.
To bear His name also means that we will forever be secure. Earlier in Revelation, 144,000 Israelites were sealed with the name of the LORD as protection against the plagues that came against those who took the number of the beast. Because no one else has authority over what belongs to God.
Face/Name/Light (v5):
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
APPLY:
What if I told you that you could have that kind of belonging and security in the here-and-now? An unbreakable promise that you are a child of God and He’s never going to change His mind about you? So that no matter what comes in the future, you always have a promise worth holding onto, a hope that does not disappoint? You have that promise
In
21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 cor 1.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
God has made a promise to you and me in the here-and-now that everyone who puts their faith in Jesus receives the Holy Spirit as a seal and a guarantee of our status as children of God and our inheritance in eternity.
There is no reason to fear. By faith in Jesus, we know God truly as savior and Lord. We know Him truly, but in part. But in that day, we will know Him face-to-face.
Christian, be encouraged as you consider your eternal future as a child of God. Take heart, He has overcome the world in His death and resurrection.
C. We will reign with Him (v5)
Christian, be encouraged as you consider your eternal future as a child of God. Take heart, He has overcome the world in His death and resurrection.
IV. God’s Reign in Us (5) - In NJ, we will eternally fulfill our creative calling to reign for and with God over a perfected New Earth
IV. God’s Reign in Us (5) - In NJ, we will eternally fulfill our creative calling to reign for and with God over a perfected New Earth
To reign with Him - it will never cease to be amazing, grace. For eternity, we will know and bask in the fact that God created us, rescued us from sin through the death of the Lamb of God, and loved us so much that He welcomed us into His presence as His children to reign over the perfected/restored creation with Him. Will never stop being cause for worship
And this takes us to our final point, in verse 5.
<<READ 5>> - Our eternal calling in vv3-5 begins with worship & continues into eternity reigning with Him.
Notice why night will disappear - once again, it is the presence of God that makes all the difference. He’s the source of life, and joy, and peace, and belonging, and security, and now the source of light.
Closely connected to v4 -
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Consider all the things that the priests were praying for in these verses - for God’s blessing, for security & protection - the LORD keep you. For grace, and peace. To have the name of the LORD upon us is to be blessed in the most complete sense of the term. To be promised God’s favor, His saving presence, just like we see in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.
When God is your light, you see everything the way it was meant to be seen. His Name and presence are the source of life and light. His perfect knowledge and wisdom will shine everywhere we look. His glory - His infinite worth and perfection - will shine in all that He has made.
And the text closes, “And they will reign forever and ever.”
What does our eternal reign look like?
The Bible gives us glimpses.
NOT domineering, but cultivating
Demonstrates rather than usurping God’s sovereignty over His creation
The WORSHIP of the servants of God isn’t an eternal church service so much as a never-ending exploration of the statement in - Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
To bear God’s image - His name on our foreheads and His likeness in our holiness - everywhere we go. To perfectly reflect His wonderful intention for us.
To reign like Jesus, who reigns with His Father, and yet perfectly surrenders to His Father’s will. Reign that is characterized by love & service.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil 2.5-10
This is a vision of the future that is worth abandoning every other ambition for. There are a lot of good things to long for, but this one is better. There is no grand and glorious lifetime achievement that should grip us like this one.
Not only that, but as we come to the end of the book, there’s another calling. For the present, awaiting eternal calling. 17 and 20-21.
Conclusion: Do I Yearn for His Return? (17, 20 - Present Calling)
Conclusion: Do I Yearn for His Return? (17, 20 - Present Calling)
2 parties say “Come” - Spirit & Bride call to the thirsty. Bride = People of God who will live forever in New Jerusalem.
When we invite ppl to come to Jesus, source of water of life, echoing what the HS is saying. Right here and now, when we respond to this word, “Let the one who hears,” that’s you, and me, right now as we read it, this calling to say, “Come to Jesus,” we are already beginning to participate in our Eternal calling. When we call the thirsty to Jesus, we get to join our Great Prophet in speaking God’s word.
Echo Lord Jesus - , “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” We get to speak our Lord’s words - , “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
The world around us has a vision of the future that will be frustrated, because it will end in death and judgment. But let the one who hears say “Come.” Because you have a better future to offer in Jesus. In anticipation of our eternal calling, let’s join the Spirit, as the Bride, to say, “Come.”
If homesick for that eternal home, one last thing. Another invitation/summons. Not directed to Lost, but to Lord. We’re meant to long for His return, because every day that passes until then is marked by brokenness. In that day, nothing shall be accursed. But we’re not there yet. And so, when Jesus tells John in verse 20, in the very last promise of the Bible, “Surely I am coming soon,” John’s response is our model. “Amen,” he said. “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” People who are consumed with God’s great plan for Eternity pray like John: “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
I’ll be the first to admit that my own plans for the future often take priority in my heart, and that shows in my prayers. But the beauty of Revelation is that it doesn’t just tell us we should long for the New Jerusalem - it shows us. Through John’s words, we’re drawn into this vision that is so much grander than our own. So that we will be captured by the vision, and caught up in that Heavenly, earthy, city-garden vista, we too will be moved to plead, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
Our calling: To endure, long for His return, rejoice in these promises