Vision of Eternal Rest

Good morning all. Great to be with you again on church and online.

Just let me add one more thing.

This is effectively the close off of Vision 2020

and what an amazing journey it's been.

Someone who's been with us that whole time has been Nick and Sam.

They've both been with us that whole time.

And it's quite appropriate that today is their last day

before they take seven weeks of long service leave

at the end of Vision 2020.

So thank you guys. Thank you for serving us.

In the next seven weeks, may you experience rest

as we launch into looking at eternal rest now.

Let me pray as we begin.

Gracious God, thank you for Nick, for Sam, for Isla, for Juddy.

Thank you for their contribution to our church life.

And I pray that these next seven weeks for them

will be a glimpse of heaven.

I pray that they will drink deeply from you,

that they will experience rest as a family

and especially rest for their souls in you.

So Lord, refuel them for the next stage of ministry.

And as we launch into your word now,

give us a vision, a clear vision of the end.

And I pray, Lord, that our hearts will beat,

that adrenaline will course

as we look forward to the day coming.

Amen.

And so as we close off Vision 2020

and as we close off Revelation

and our time of celebration,

we start looking to the future

as we've already started to do.

I want to begin today by,

as I've done on numerous occasions in the past,

drawing our attention to the life

of one of the greatest philosophical thinkers,

one of the sharpest political minds,

one of the most quoted individuals

and widely respected entertainers

of the past 100 years.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born

the son of a low-ranking Austrian police officer

and he was destined to be a nobody

until his hands wrapped around a barbell

for the very first time.

By the age of 18, he was traveling the world,

competing in bodybuilding championships.

And at one point, he's living in England

and his coach, Wag Bennett, said to him,

Arnie, what do you want to do with your life?

And Wag said Arnold's response

was phenomenal for an 18-year-old.

He said, I want to be the richest

and the greatest bodybuilder of all time.

I want to live in the United States.

I want to be an actor, a movie director.

I want to own an apartment block

and I want to have a political career.

18 years of age,

he saw the vision of the future

and that vision controlled his day-by-day actions.

One training partner,

living and in fact working with Arnie at that time,

said that Arnold was so focused on his future

that on one occasion,

we were doing reps with masses amounts of weight

and he said, I did one more than Arnie.

And he said, Arnie looked at me and said,

you'll never ever do that again.

And he said, no matter how hard I tried,

no matter how much training I did,

I could never beat him from that moment.

He knew what he wanted,

wasn't distracted,

he saw the future

and he went for it.

You see, whatever we think the future is,

it will determine

how we live in the present,

whether you're an atheist or a Christian.

Your future determines how you live.

So I want us to focus today,

Revelation 21, 22,

on a rock-solid certain future hope

that should control how we live right now.

As I said last week,

Revelation was not given to us

to satisfy our curiosity about things in the future,

but to open our eyes.

It's there to prod us

to become awake to the reality of what is

and to stimulate and reform actions in our lives.

It opens our eyes to the Christian worldview.

The crucified, resurrected Jesus

is the one who reigns in heaven.

His people suffer on earth with joy

while being threatened and seduced

by the powers and cultures of its day.

God, however, is in control

throughout the chaos of history

and he has determined

and he will come again

to judge all of humanity

and Christians are therefore called

to remain faithful to Jesus

and the good news about him

as we wait for his return

to wind up history

and to bring us into his perfect presence forever.

Last week, we saw the destruction of Babylon,

Babylon, the city which represents

the representation of idolatrous human societies

in all their forms

which are set against the creator God.

By the end of chapter 20,

all evil is dealt with and judged

and as we launch into chapters 21 and 22,

we're introduced to a new city.

And we'll notice a number of contrasts

between the two cities of Babylon,

the prostitute,

and Jerusalem, the bride.

Babylon seduced and corrupted the nations

but Jerusalem is a light to the nations.

Babylon is full of abominations and filth

but impurity and deceit

are excluded from Jerusalem.

In Babylon, wine intoxicates the nations.

In Jerusalem, there is water of life

and a tree of life

for the healing of the nations.

God's people are called out of Babylon

and they are called to enter Jerusalem.

And so before us today is an alternative city,

alternative Babylon,

a place of eternal rest.

And I want us to see three things quickly

from this today.

And if you've got the St. Paul's app,

I encourage you to open that up

and you have those three things in front of you.

The nature of eternal rest,

receiving eternal rest,

and thirdly, living for eternal rest.

So the nature of eternal rest is in verse 2.

It says,

I saw the holy city,

this is chapter 21,

Isaiah 21 · chapter mention

I saw the holy city,

the new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God.

So the Bible describes here

a vision of the end of the world history,

the climax of history.

It's a picture of heaven.

And this vision is not of individual souls

rising up, escaping the world,

going to a white, fluffy, cloudy place

where we're playing harps.

That's not what we have here.

What you see instead is heaven coming down

and transforming the world.

That's what you see.

The climax of God's plan is a rewoven,

healed, perfected material world.

A world where even the good things of this world

are made to be infinitely better

than they currently are.

The Bible does not give us a picture of heaven

where we hover around with wings

amongst clouds, playing harps

and communicating via mental telepathy.

It's a real material world like this one

where people hug each other

and walk and run and laugh and dance

and kiss and eat and work and play.

It's a place like we've never experienced

in this world but it's also very, very similar

to this world.

The Swiss Alps will be the Swiss Alps

but perfected.

I don't know how that's possible

but it will be.

Maybe the less skiers or something.

I'm not sure what the deal is

but it will be perfected.

The difference is everything in this world

is broken.

Even the beautiful things.

There will be all pure, right and whole.

Every one of us,

every single human being

has this sense,

a longing for the perfect,

for the complete.

As good as this world might be at times,

it doesn't give us

the satisfaction that lasts.

Even the best marriages will end.

The best cars will rust.

The best holidays will be but a memory.

It all leaves us longing for the next thing,

the thing that will last.

It might be longing for a body

that we've never had,

the approval that we've never had,

the home that we've never had,

a beach or a wave that we've never had,

the family that we've never had.

Whatever it is,

these chapters say

that all of our desires

for fulfillment

and satisfaction

and contentment

is coming.

Verse 3 tells us

why it will be so right.

Why all of our hopes

and our expectations

will be fulfilled.

It says,

now the dwelling of God

is with people

and he will live with them.

They will be his people

and God himself

will be with them

and be their God.

Right at the beginning of the Bible

we are told

that's exactly what we were created for.

It's what God's plan has been all along

for him and his people

to dwell together

in perfect harmony.

We have that

at the beginning of the Bible

at creation

God dwells with his people

in the Garden of Eden.

They walk

and they talk together.

Everything is perfect.

In fact,

at the end of six days of creating

it says that God rested.

He wasn't tired.

Rest was the goal of creation.

On the seventh day

God rested.

You don't then

and then it was Monday again

he had to get back to work.

Rest was it.

The seventh day was it.

Rest.

All things in their proper order

in harmony with each other

for their joy

is biblical rest.

And here at the end of all things

God is again dwelling with his people

in heaven.

Rest.

God

has always planned

and desired

to be with his people

in a state of perfect harmony.

Rest is the goal.

But as we know

in Genesis 3

that rest was

totally

ruined

when we lost

our relationship

with God

through sin.

And on that moment

even our relationship

with our true selves

was broken.

Fell apart.

Adam and Eve

immediately began

to experience

fear and anxiety

and their relationship

with each other

fell apart.

Their relationship

with the physical world

fell apart

as the snake

tempted Eve.

They began

to experience

aging and disease

and pain

and death.

When your relationship

with God

falls apart

everything

falls apart.

restlessness

is the consequence.

Constantly

striving

for contentment

and satisfaction

is the consequence.

but when the relationship

with God

is put right

every other relationship

is put right.

Everything sad

and broken

and wrong

will be wiped away.

That is the day

that's coming.

For me

I'm a diabetic

I'm constantly

hooked up to a pump

and I've got

hearing aids now

and so

everything's breaking.

Everything's breaking.

But for me

that's not my major concern.

The thing that I look forward to

in heaven

is not a new pancreas.

The thing that I look forward to

more than anything else

is the weight

to be lifted.

The weight to be gone.

The weight of expectations

and the need to lead

and the constant feeling

of being a failure

as a disciple

and as a leader

and everything

to be gone

to be lifted like that.

Heaven is a place

of rest

of endless joy

happiness

freedom

fulfillment

beauty

love

contentment.

The future

for the inhabitants

of Babylon

is darkness

despair

and loneliness.

The future

for the members

of the new Jerusalem

the bride of Christ

the church

is light

joy

and intimate

relationship.

And that's what we see

in the second half

of chapter 21.

In verse 9

one of the angels

says to John

come

I will show you

the bride

the wife

of the lamb

and he carried me

away

in the spirit

to a mountain

high and great

and he showed me

the holy city.

So here's John

taken away

in a vision

to see the bride

the wife

of the lamb

and when he gets there

what does he see?

A city.

Now the details

of the rest

of the chapter

reveal

an unusual city.

It's huge.

It's a huge

cube.

2200 kilometers

by 2200 kilometers

by 2200 kilometers.

That's massive.

That's a lot

of stories.

Here to Townsville

and somewhere

further west

and I don't know

how many

Mount Everest

on top of each other.

An awful lot.

The measurements

and the details

here are symbolic.

This cube

echoes the most

holy place

in Solomon's temple

in 1 Kings 6.

The holy city

is now

the most holy place.

The place

where God

meets with his people.

In the past

it was only

the high priest

who could ever

enter the most holy place

and only once a year

and after very

specific preparation

the blood of Jesus

has opened the way

for every

single person

to now

be in his presence

forever.

The jewels

on the high priest

breastplate

which represented

the people of God

are now embedded

into the city walls.

The old temple

had one single entrance.

This one

has gates

on all four sides

welcoming people

from all four corners

of the globe.

The temple

was the symbol

of God's presence

with his people

and now that symbol

has given way

to reality.

It's not literally

2,200 by

it's not literally

a big cube.

These numbers

are significant.

This vision

of the John C

is so

magnificent

so incomprehensible

that he tries

to grab for language

and symbols

to try and describe

the beauty

and the magnificence

of it.

This is a city

that contains

all of God's people.

All of God's people

from Old Testament

to New Testament

that's what all the

specific numbers

are referring to.

That's the symbolism

of it.

And it's a city

about the size

of the world

as they knew it

at the time.

The thick walls

and the angelic watchmen

on each gate

which are never closed

are references

to its safety

and its security.

Perfect relationship

with God

perfect relationship

with all people

and perfect relationship

with the created order.

It's hard to picture.

But imagine

this world

with everything

negative

everything broken

sinful

evil

decaying

dark

destructive thing

every one of those things

taken out of it

so that all

that we have left

is the stuff

that's good

whole

light

righteous

loving

kind

and all of that stuff

being perfected

millions and millions

of times over

and you start to get

a glimpse

of what forever

with God

is going to be like.

Revelation 21

Revelation 21:4

verses 4 and 5

really just sum it up.

God will wipe away

every tear

with their eyes

that we know

more death

or mourning

or crying

or pain

for the old order

of things

has passed away.

He who was seated

on the throne

said I am making

everything

new.

That is the hope

of the Christian

and that is the nature

of our eternal rest.

So how do we get it?

The simple answer

is

you believe

in the death

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ

and you cling

to him

all the days

of your life.

Jesus' death

is alluded to

in verse 6

where it says

to him

who is thirsty

I will give

to drink

without cost

from the spring

of the water

of life.

As I said

last week

the John who

gets this vision

in Revelation

is the John

who wrote John's Gospel

and what's standing

behind verse 6

is John 4

where Jesus

meets a woman

at the well

and says

that he can give

water to her

that will mean

that she will never

ever be thirsty

again

and she thought

this is fantastic

you know

get me buckets

and I'll have

some of that.

She of course

thought he was

talking about

actual water

he was talking

about eternal life.

Jesus offered her

in that moment

a foretaste

of this new heaven

and this new earth.

The deepest longings

of our life

the longing

for love

the longing

for value

the longing

for life

to last

are satisfied

in and by Jesus.

Jesus says

that we can have it

for free

he offers it to us

it says there

without cost.

How is that possible?

How is it possible

that he can offer

that to us

without cost?

Well

at the end

of John's gospel

we have Jesus

on the cross.

That's how it's possible.

He's the one

who has taken

our sin

to the cross.

And one of the

significant things

he says

at the end

of John's gospel

while he's on the cross

he said a number

of things

but one of the

significant things

he said

was

I am thirsty.

I am thirsty.

It wasn't just

a physical thirst

because straight afterwards

he says

my God

my God

why have you

forsaken me?

On the cross

Jesus

was experiencing

cosmic hopelessness

so that we could

experience

living hope.

On the cross

Jesus experienced

cosmic thirst

separation

from God

that's what

we deserve

so that we

could have

the spring

of the water

of life

instead.

On the cross

Jesus

took the curse

of God

for our sin

so that we

can experience

an eternal

future

of blessing

in his presence.

On the cross

the sun went

down at midday

darkness fell

so that we

could experience

an eternal

future of light

and glory

and safety.

He was nailed

to the cross

of death

so that we

can have access

to the tree

of life.

Jesus

left the rest

of heaven

came into

this world

so that we

could receive

eternal rest

with him

forever.

And he

didn't just

die

he rose

again.

His resurrection

his new

body

is the first

installment

of everything

being made

new forever.

It all hinges

on that.

It all hinges

on resurrection.

So if you're

sitting here

today going

pie in the

sky Steve

let's get

historical for

a moment.

Walk away

from here

and investigate

the resurrection

of Jesus.

Historical

resurrection

of Jesus

that is the

first fruit

of this promise

here of

eternal rest

with Christ.

If you need

help doing

that I'd be

delighted to

help you do

that.

his resurrection

is a promise

to us that

this world

is not

everything

and that

there is

hope beyond

death.

His resurrection

guarantees our

resurrection with

him and

therefore guarantees

our hope

and he invites

us to join him

in it.

So thirdly

how does this

future shape

our present?

What does it

mean to live

for eternal

rest?

You see

the person

who knows

that their

destiny is

glorious

and certain

because of

the radical

love and

the sacrifice

of a forgiving

and loving

God will be

free and I

mean set

free to

live the

most radical

life of

love and

sacrifice here

on earth.

You see

if someone

picture this

someone falls

out of an

aeroplane

you're flying

along right

someone falls

out of an

aeroplane and

they don't have

a parachute

on

you don't

go

I'll jump

out of the

aeroplane and

see if I can

rescue them.

There's no

point.

Two deaths

is not better

than one.

Doesn't make

any sense.

However

if the person

falls out of

the aeroplane

and you happen

to have a

parachute on

then you just

may in that

moment attempt

one of those

James Bond

kind of rescue

attempts where

you free fall

like a bullet

and you catch

them and

pull the cord

and you rescue

them.

You see

it is the

hope of

eternal

rest

safety and

love in the

end that

releases

radical

sacrificial

love right

now.

So the

book of

Revelation

and our

future hope

should cause

the Christian

to move

away from

lives of

self-centeredness

and flimsy

loyalties and

undisciplined

devotion and

presumption of

God's

patience into

people whose

lives are

consistently

living for

more than

self-preservation

self-praise and

self-fulfillment.

the Christian

is not just

the citizen

of this

city,

New Jerusalem

into the

future,

they're part

of it right

now.

And at the

very least,

what that

means is

that there is

to some

degree that

we can in

fact wipe

away the

tears of

our city

right now

through

acts of

selfless

love and

mercy and

justice.

The

Christian

hope is

a life

transforming

living hope

and not an

abstract idea.

These

chapters were

originally written

to people who

were suffering

terrible things.

they had

homes taken

away and

plundered,

as I said

right at the

beginning of

this series.

They were

sent into

the arena

and torn

apart by

wild animals

as the

crowds watched

and applauded.

Christians

were impaled

on stakes

while still

alive,

covered with

tar and

set alight.

They also

suffered the

daily struggle

of not being

seduced by

the power

and the

affluence of

Rome,

the daily

struggle of

not planting

their hopes

firmly in

a temporary

empire.

That's what

they faced.

What does

John give

them?

Free

tickets to

the Maldives?

No.

Great

career

advancement?

No.

He gave

them this

is what he

gave them.

He gave

them this.

He gave

them the

new heavens

and the

new earth.

He gave

them the

glimpse of

God's

plan of

the climax

of history

and it's

a simple

fact that

when he

gave them

this,

it worked.

The early

Christians took

their suffering

with such

peace.

They sang

hymns as

the beasts

were tearing

them apart

and they

forgave the

people who

were killing

them.

But the

more the

Christians

were killed,

the more

the Christian

movement grew

and expanded

because when

people watched

how Christians

were dying,

it became

obvious to

them that

they had

something

different.

They

obviously

had a

living hope.

Us

human beings,

we are such

hope-shaped

creatures.

Our hopes

and our

aspirations for

the future

determine how

we live

right now.

Imagine for a

moment that I

offered two of

you a job

starting tomorrow.

Two people

here offered

a job and

the job was

I'm going to

sit you at

a table with

an uncomfortable

chair in a

damp, dark,

smelly, windless

room for 10

hours a day,

six days a week

and your job is

to screw widgets

onto wadgets.

And if you

don't know what

they are,

neither do I.

Same room,

exact same

situation.

But I

take one of

you aside and

I say at the

end of this

year I'm

going to give

you $5,000.

That's your

job, give

you $5,000.

The other

one I take

aside and

say at the

end of this

year I'm

going to

give you

$10,000,000.

One will

quit before

the year's

out and the

other will

whistle while

they work.

They will

experience exact

same circumstances

in utterly

different ways

because what

they believe

about their

future.

Do you

believe that

this world is

all that there

is and that

when you die

you rot?

Or do you

believe in a

new heavens and

a new earth

and a judgment

day when all

wrong is put

right and all

right is made

even better?

depending on

which one you

believe you're

going to live

in two very

different ways.

People from

every language

culture, people

from every

people group

have taken

this living

hope of a

glorious future

with their

created God

into the

center of their

lives and

they have

triumphed over

the most

harshest of

circumstances.

That is what

the hope of

eternal rest

does.

And so for

the Christian

who's hearing

this right now

here in the

room on the

screen, mark

the concluding

message of

Revelation from

the mouth of

the Lord Jesus.

I am coming

soon.

Three times

we read

these three

words, those

words, four

words in

Revelation 22

Revelation 22:7

verse 7,

verse 12 and

verse 20.

The unveiling

of the scroll

has now

happened.

The scroll

has been

opened, the

destiny of

humanity has

been revealed,

the message of

Revelation is

complete and

he says to

us just

wait a

little longer.

Just wait.

Verse 7 he

says, I am

coming soon

therefore don't

disobey this

Revelation.

May the message

of this book

shape your

values, your

priorities and

your life day

by day.

Verse 12 he

says again, I

am coming soon

therefore don't

hide this

Revelation.

This is not a

book that gets

put back on

your shelf.

These words are

to be read,

they are to be

proclaimed.

This Revelation

must remain

open until

Jesus returns

and that all

people get a

chance to see

and believe

this final rest.

Verse 20

Jesus says, I am

coming soon,

therefore do

not meddle

with this

Revelation.

These words

are final.

There is not

a better

message,

there is not

a newer

message,

there is not

a supplement

to this

message.

Everything we

need to know

about human

destiny has

been revealed

in this

Revelation.

Every single

one of us

here in this

room on

screen is

living for

the future.

Every single

one of us.

That is,

there is not

a single human

being who lives

for the present.

It is a

nonsense when

people say,

I am living

for today.

No, you are

not.

No, you are

not.

You are

living for

today because

of what you

think about

the future.

So what is

the future

that has

determined

your life?

Christianity

declares

there is no

other, no

greater hope

than Jesus

Christ, billions

of people around

this world

have discovered

it in the

last 2,000

years.

And the

closing verses

of Revelation

also has a

message for

those who

have not yet

embraced Jesus

Christ.

Chapter 22

verse 17

is an invitation

for you,

the non-Christian.

The spirit

and the bride

says,

come.

And let the

one who

hears

say,

come.

Come.

Let the

one who

is thirsty

come.

Let the

one who

wishes take

the free

gift of the

water of

life,

come.

Come now

to Jesus

and find rest

for your

souls.

Come to

Jesus and

find eternal

rest.

Come to

Jesus and

receive from

him life and

satisfaction and

hope.

Come to

Jesus and

get a future

that's worth

waiting for and

working for.

Amen.