Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5.              Our new home!!                 1/5/16

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. 

25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 

26 The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. 

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 

2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Yes, we are still living in the light of Easter and the wonder of all that that entails for us. Because of Easter so much changes that enables us to go forward boldly and confidently, in the midst of all of the troubles and heartaches of our world and our own lives. Life in this sinful world is far from easy and comfortable. When all we see is what is happening in our day to day world it is so easy to become disheartened.

However, here again this morning, we have another Easter message that enables us to lift our heads and live with a sure hope that is truly remarkable. This reading gives a glimpse of the world to come when our time here on earth comes to an end.

We have set before us a sure hope, that, because of Easter and our connection to the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be a part of that which is truly good and remarkable. Here we only have a glimpse of how good it will be; but it is enough to help us as we live out our days here on earth in the midst of the troubles and heartaches that are ever present.

Knowing the future certainty enables to go forward boldly and confidently, even if and when troubles, sickness and death surround us. In the midst of the sinfulness of humanity, and even our own lives, we can now look to God and what he has done for us in Jesus Christ and trust that he has something far better in mind for us.

Now at times we are tempted to think our lives and living here is pretty good. It is what we have got; and it is pretty much as good as it gets. We are sort of comfortable with it, even though we know it should be better. For most of us we prepared to put up with what we have here, rather than trust God when he says he has something far better in mind. We don’t want to think too far into the future.

Along with that we have many who have their fancy house, car, boat and you name it; and so they think that life is and should be pretty good for them. They think that they don’t need God or the future that he has in mind for them. Just as they think that they know better as to how to live their lives rather than follow God’s ways.

Yet more and more we are seeing the result of this thinking all around us. Loneliness, depression, lack of meaning and purpose to life, fighting, squabbling and alienation, to name a few; not to mention the final inevitability of death and Judgement Day. When we fail to take God and what he has to say and give seriously, we have all kinds of difficulties and problems, which we will never be able to overcome. When we do not have the sure hope that he gives for the future we will always be left floundering.

Even when it comes to the Christian faith we know and trust that Jesus is there, but can’t see him and so are prone to doubt. Or we trust in our own views of who God is and what he should be like, even though he has clearly written about these things in the Bible. Then of course we have modern medias efforts to totally reject God. So we have our doubts and uncertainties.

It is here again that God reminds us that beyond this life is something far better for those who are prepared to trust in Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us through his death and resurrection. And in this coming week we also are reminded of his ascension, where he tells us he is going to prepare a place for us in heaven.

This reading this morning tells us something of what this will be like. First and fore most we are told in this vision that:  I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. God himself, with Jesus will be that centre and the focus of everything. The place of worship will be himself, in person, in reality. There we will be left in no doubt what so ever as to his reality and importance.

There he will light up life for all: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. Beyond our comprehension, but absolutely extraordinary. We will be able to move around without stumbling or fear of losing our way. For God himself will be right there giving light to all.

Then even more: On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing will be locked up so that bad and evil can harm can be kept out, for there will be nothing of that there. We will not fear harm coming our way, for all that evil will be no more. So we can move freely and confidently. All that will now enter that place will be that which brings glory and honour.

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. There will be no need to be concerned about anyone doing harm to us or taking us down; for all those kinds of people will not be there. Only those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

But there is even more. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. So there we will drink and eat that which is pure, good and healthy for us: all laid on in abundance for us, without us ever having to fear going without. The tree of life will ensure that we will live for ever.

No longer will there be any curse. Remember the curse: if you sin you will die. Because there will be no sin, there will be no more, the curse of death; there will be no more separation from God. There will no more concern about measuring up in order to be acceptable.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. So now instead of the fear of the curse, there will be willing and ongoing worship of God and the Lamb. All will be able stand in his presence and talk freely with God as they did in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. There they will truly give him all glory and honour.

So with all that is bad and evil gone for good, now There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

What an amazing glimpse we are given here at what lies before us at the end of our time here on this earth. Remember this is only a glimpse because our sinful human mind at this time is unable to comprehend the magnificence of it all. It is impossible to our thinking here and now, but it is real.

This is not wishful thinking on our part. This is God’s revelation to us, so that we can be absolutely sure that there is a great future ahead for those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. God wants us to know this so that we can face life in a sinful and troubled world with confidence and certainty.

No matter what we face here; and even death itself, we can face it with eager longing for this great future that God has in store for us. Like Paul, we long to be there now, but in the meantime we get on with being the people he wants us to be here on this earth. We get on with sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people that we come into contact with in our daily lives.

So here again we have another aspect of Easter that enables us go on full of hope and joy. Because of the certainty of Jesus death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and his resurrection from the dead three days later, we can have full assurance that everything that he says in this regard is for real.

We can now lift our heads with boldness and confidence because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb have done and promise such great things for us. This God is truly great and awesome.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

To him be all glory and honour, now and forever. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish