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We've all heard numerous ways of dividing everyone in two or more types of people, right?? Well today's message theme divides people in to 2 categories -- "Spoilers" and "Non-Spoilers". We probably all know someone who just needs to skip to the end of the book or look up the end of the movie online. These people find it easier to engage in the rest of the story if they know the ending. Personally, I abhor spoilers!! Just ask my ex-husband, who literally pre-dreamed an entire movie!!* The first time I see a movie, all I want to know ahead is enough to inform my decision to watch. That's it. Period. End of the story. I prefer uninterrupted silence if at all possible.
This morning's "side-story" involved Pastor Matt's first viewing of Sixth Sense. Now it needs to be understood that Pastor Matt is as "die hard" of a "non-spoiler" as I am, and that his wife is a total "spoiler". They're sitting around with friends and start watching the movie. Suddenly, Pastor Matt has one of those "Aha!! Moments" about 10 minutes in, and his thought inadvertently "fell out of his mouth"* out loud!! LOL Now, in the true spirit of the "non-spoiler", I'm not going to spill the secret, just in case there's anyone left out there who hasn't yet seen it at this late date. ;)
So what does all of this have to do with today's message?? Well, it only makes sense to wrap up a series with the true ending, so today's question is this -- "Where Does it all Lead??"
Over the past 11 weeks, we've explored some of Life's Biggest Questions from a Biblical perspective. Quite literally, the origins and meaning of life and how it should best be lived. And now we ask the inevitable question of where it all takes us. And of course, the answer, in our case, is found at the end of The Book. Turn with me to Revelations 21:1-8 --
As we mentioned above, sometimes knowing the end helps people engage in the story. In our case, it may help some better engage in the journey toward Heaven, or encourage some to join it. It's like going somewhere for the first time and it may feel like it's taking "forever" to reach the destination, but then coming back or going again feels shorter. You know what I mean. I'm sure we've all experienced that "first trip "time-warp"". lol
Knowing the end can bring hope. And that's the focus of today's message. God inspired John to write Revelations because the Early Church was under severe persecution. (sounds familiar, right.. ;/ ) God wanted to encourage them that better days were coming.* While The Church is still waiting, we can join them in being encouraged in the ending we all look forward to in Christ. For those who have lost hope, God's Word restores hope.
Revelations 21:1-8 is another passage that we may tend to skip through by virtue of its familiarity speaking of the New Heaven and New Earth, but you may find a whole new perspective on it in today's message. I know I did, and I've been in Church my entire life!!
Just for emphasis, I'm going to share the entire passage here and you can see everything at once --
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 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 water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (yes, I copied and pasted -- ssssh!! Don't tell anyone!!) LOL
As we explore this passage, there are a few things that stand out, and one of these was the new point for me. (yes, I'll let you know when we come to it) ;)
First, (although it's in verse 6) we see that God refers to Himself as the "Alpha and Omega, Beginning and The End." Literally, the "end all, be all" of the entire universe!! Nothing exists outside of His power and intention. As Pastor Matt also brought out, He could have said, "I am the A to Z", but it just doesn't have the same impact. Alpha and Omega packed a much heftier punch to the readers of the day, being in that region of the world.
As we know, hope can fade out or "leak" over time -- sorrow, monotony (marriage, job, loneliness) Even comfort and peacefulness can cause one to lose hope. Building a life that feels "just right for one" can fade our hopes for change. It may even reduce our desire for it.*
Secondly, God starts talking about the New Heaven and New Earth and how amazing it's all going to be. And this is the point that was new to me -- going back to the end of verse one we read, "and there was no longer any sea." I've honestly never noticed that piece before, but wait until you find out what that means!! God was referring back to Creation with that statement. Remember how in Genesis we read that "...the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters..."?? The beginning of Earth in Genesis 1:2 was chaos. Now read Revelations 21:1b again -"and there was no longer any sea". God's new Earth will have no chaos!!! No Evil in the New Creation. And everything flows from God's intentions of love and restoration. From His power and goodness. Another peek back to Genesis shows us that, "... on the 7th day, God rested..." If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll remember that that means God was literally, "settling in" because the job was done. Just like when you move into a new home and everything is unpacked and put away, and the last picture is hung on the wall. What do we do?? We sit and rest and take in the results of our efforts. We "settle in" and rest.
In verse 5, we see where God says, "I am making all things new." The first impact of that truth is found in the Resurrection of Jesus. His defeat over sin and death brought a new reality to mankind, and in turn, a new hope for the future. God's restoration and redemption of mankind to Himself reveals His character of love shown by His consistent desire to be present with us. We've seen the pattern brought out in prior messages here, but for the "uninitiated", or "less-familiar", you can look back to God's creation of Adam and Eve as He joined with Adam in breathing life into the dust of the Earth. You can look at the Cloud and Fire in the desert with the Israelites, The Temple, Jesus, and currently, the Holy Spirit. God started, man built, then God will build again that "house not made by hands, eternal in the Heavens".*
Verses 3-7 describe the experiences of the New Earth. No tears, death, or mourning. No thirst. Either physical or spiritual, because while we all experience a need to drink on a regular basis, we can also find our spirits thirsty for "something more" or "something new". Our eternal presence with God will eliminate both types. We can drink freely and deeply of all we could ever want. And this all happens because as Christians, we are His Children, His heirs. He is the Father of us all.
Verse 8 is often used by Legalistic types as a "checklist" of sins that eliminate people from Heaven. This is just wrong, both morally and in the true context of God's love and mercy. God would never "throw someone out" for anything in this verse if they truly belong to Him. He only intends it as a way to bring an awareness to us for how we are living our lives. He knows we're not perfect, but He just wants us to pay attention that we're making an effort to put Him first in our lives, and so when we inevitably mess something up, we can ask forgiveness and try better tomorrow.* The verse is only talking about being for God or against Him, it's not meant as a means for us to judge others' worthiness to enter Heaven. Notice that it mentions Hell as, "the 2nd death". This makes it clear that those referred to in these sins are against God because they are clearly not Saved. If they are already dead spiritually, then Hell is just there to "seal the deal" as it were and determine where they spend eternity.
The New Earth will be complete order and perfection. No anger, no racism, no sexism, no lies or deception. Just truth, mercy, grace and love. Amazing!!!*
So how does Hope help us navigate the journey now?? It gives us perspective in several ways
Suffering -- Our current situation will be nothing compared to the Eternal Glory we'll experience later. It will be, "but a drop".
Our Ambition/Success -- everything loses significance compared to life with God. Our grasp tends to loosen on Earthly things.
Wisdom -- Hope gives us a "wake up call" to how we live our lives. It anchors us in trouble (see last week's message), it brings order, it helps our relationships. This is all in opposition to a "flippant" attitude that it doesn't matter how we live because, "it's all going to burn anyway."
Releases the burden -- It's not about our efforts, abilities, or control. We can't fix the World, only God can. We just follow Him and what He tells us to do for our part. As I explained about my personal viewpoint last week, "Yes, what's going on is horrible, but I've read the end of the Book, God wins, the rest is details." I honestly believe that if others don't share that perspective, they'll go bat-$#!7 crazy... or depressed, or what have you... To a certain point, if you don't care, it doesn't matter. Bottom line is, God's got it covered.
Courage -- No "cowardly dogs" here!! LOL Hope gives us the courage to stand in God's love and protection. In His forgiveness, we have courage to forgive others. In His love, we find courage to love our neighbors.* Jesus is King and we are His.
The final thought Pastor Matt left us with was this -- and, again, as an adamant "non-spoiler", I'm sorry if anyone has neither read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" from the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis; nor possibly seen the movie, but it's such a great example of hope -- Narnia is the fantasy land these 4 British children have discovered by means of playing Hide and Seek in their uncle's house after having been placed there for safe keeping during WW2. Anyway, at the beginning of their time in Narnia, it's always Winter, but never Christmas (rather like New Hampshire in January lol) This is due to the influence of the Witch, but as the story develops, small, but clear signs of Spring start to show up. A trickle of water from a waterfall, a crocus here or there. And the children, along with their animal friends, realize the truth that "Aslan is on the move!!" In the story, Jesus is represented by a lion. He's not here yet, but He's definitely "on the move"!! What we're doing matters!! -- God Bless!
Footnotes --
The movie my ex-husband pre-dreamed was "Blue Streak" with Martin Lawrence. I mean, I realize some stories are predictable because that's just the "nature of the beast", but seriously, an entire movie!!?? As you may guess, I've never let him live it down!!! LOL
"Fell out of my mouth" is my personal expression. It literally "fell out of my mouth" several years ago when I was talking about something. I liked it, so I've held onto it.
There are those out there called "Preterists" who believe that Jesus' return took place at the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. They think that all Bible prophecy has been fulfilled. But when you consider the facts that John wasn't even exiled to Patmos until 96 A.D., and the fact that there is still mourning and tears... No. It just doesn't make sense. ;p
"Building a life that feels "just right for one..." This speaks to my personal experience. As you know if you've read my Introduction post, I've been amicably divorced for 10 yrs. now. During that time, I've been in and out of more than one relationship. Also, during that time I've built a life for myself. This blog is actually the most recent addition to that life. My life, has, at times, sapped my hopes for future relationships, and more recently even reduced my desire for any. But as we all know, God has a sense of humor... He gives us things sometimes when we least expect them. Over the past coupe of years, since my last major relationship was "demoted" back to friendship, I've made an intentional effort to focus more on "getting life right", and that has led to more Bible study and book study, and finally, to this blog. Who would have thought that my next relationship would have developed in my own building over the past year and a half of increased seclusion and loneliness!! Rob is far from whatever image I might have had for my next romance, but at the same time, there are things about him that couldn't be more perfect!!
"House not made by hands..." 2 Cor. 5:1-2 -- this verse also puts me in mind of an old Steve Green song some of you may remember (excuse the grammatical errors in the video, but it's the only one there is with lyrics) -- Enjoy!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h34mZHkoyGA
1 John 1:9 -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And remember, it's about trying better tomorrow. It's not a "Gospel of Grace" that allows us to do as we want because, "it's all forgiven anyway." No... just... no. That's not what the Word says.
Personally, I've always pictured an eternal summer day by a stream with a picnic under a tree. :)
Our Church has been recording messages of different members either reading the scripture for the day and/or sharing what God is doing in their lives through the struggles of the past year. Some are also connected to projects or missions the Church is involved with. Today's video was from a missionary to Malawi Africa. He's been involved at our Church since it former days under the original name in 1985. (3 yrs before I graduated) I actually remember hearing his name around school. Anyway, he's involved with a ministry called Goodsoil.com . As I taught the 3-5 yr. olds back in my Sunday School class years ago -- Our neighbor isn't just the person next door, but the next street, the next town, the next state, the next country... Eventually, the entire world is our neighbor. Help or pray however you can!!
This is close to my personal image --
I've decided to start sharing some of our worship music as well. I haven't really mentioned it before, but music is actually a huge part of my life -- a community chorus and karaoke!! :D
May you have a hope-filled week!! God Bless!!
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