"All Things New"

I knew the question was coming, I just didn't know when.

How much longer, Dad?

This is over a decade ago.

Jenny and I had packed our three oldest children into our van

and we were driving from Kenosha to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Three young kids, 16 plus hours in a car.

I can't think of a better illustration than the Christian life than that.

Well, I was anticipating the question.

And so I thought, well, I can do a countdown thing where I get the question

and I get to say, child, we have 16 hours left.

Oh, child, we have 15 hours and 58 minutes left.

Oh, child, let me answer.

We have 15 hours, 53 minutes left.

I was just anticipating maybe that's how I could answer.

But then I said, no, I'm not going to answer that way.

I, the visionary leader of our family, I will cast visions for my children.

So I was thinking, well, we get around Indianapolis,

my eldest daughter is going to ask the question, how much longer, Dad?

And then I would say, Abby, just imagine the ice cream smuggler,

that ice cream shop in Dennis, Massachusetts,

with the array of ice cream flavors.

Oh, sweetheart, I know you're now ready for the rest of the journey.

Then somewhere in western Pennsylvania, my oldest son would ask, Dad, how much longer?

And I would say, oh, Nathan, just imagine Mayflower Beach,

that giant beach with all the sand,

and we could play wiffle ball to our heart's content.

And he would be fine for the rest of the journey.

Then I imagine my youngest son, Mark, saying, Dad, how much longer?

We're in eastern Pennsylvania, and I would be like, oh, son,

Corporation Beach has the best tidal pools around.

There are hermit crabs right now waiting for you to discover them.

And he'd be good for the rest of the time.

But I had a nuclear button.

Just in case my wife was like, how much longer, honey?

I would be able to say the trump card.

Oh, dear bride, Aunt Linda is waiting for us.

The greatest cook on the eastern seaboard.

She has an aggressive affection.

You feel her affection.

And just imagine, sweetheart,

Aunt Linda's face coming at you with those puckered lips.

Doesn't it do your heart good?

Well, it turns out we weren't even 15 minutes away from our house.

Not even into Illinois.

We just got on to 94,

and one of my children says,

how much longer, Dad?

And then I realized right there,

this journey is going to be harder than I thought.

We're all on a hard journey, aren't we?

Maybe you didn't realize when you signed up to follow Jesus

just how hard following Jesus is.

And maybe you've come this morning,

and you're asking the question,

how much longer?

Maybe you're in a difficult marriage.

How much longer?

Maybe you're in a strained relationship.

How much more?

Maybe you are in a challenging season of parenting.

How much more?

How much longer?

Maybe your body is not doing what it's supposed to do.

You're in chronic pain.

You're just managing your symptoms.

You're just hoping for an accurate diagnosis

so you can get a prescription

that will bring you back to normal.

You're just like, how much longer?

And maybe if you're a Christian like me,

you're just following the Lord,

and you're seeing public opinion

turning against the things of God,

and you're starting to wonder,

what are the consequences going to be?

How much more?

We're all looking for hope.

We all want to be reassured,

hey, there's something good coming.

There's actually two kinds of hope.

There is the lowercase h hope,

which is a temporary hope.

It's a temporary fix to life's difficult challenges.

What do I need to get done this week

in order to get through?

I'm going to hope Friday.

Everybody is working for the weekend.

That's small h hope.

But then there's the capital H hope.

Ultimate hope.

A hope that transcends time.

It's a forward-looking faith

fixed on life's solution.

God's fulfillment of His ultimate promise.

When God Himself dwells with us in His place,

and we see Him face to face,

that is ultimate capital H hope.

When you have the eyes of your heart

set on the face of Jesus,

seeing Him one day.

So if you've come in asking,

how much longer?

When are we going to get there?

Revelation chapter 21 through 22.5.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

It's going to paint a picture for you

of what's to come,

so you can set your heart

on a capital H hope

that will never disappoint you.

It will see you through to the end.

So there's two moves this morning

from this text.

We're going to say two things.

The preparation for the bride.

That's 21.1 through 8.

And then the presentation of the bride.

And that's in 21.9 through 22.5.

And the surprise of it all,

it turns out it's all about God.

So if you're asking how much longer,

my prayer is that God would put capital H hope

in your heart this morning

to see you through for the rest of your life.

So let's look at this preparation for the bride

in 21.8.

21.8.

We've reached the point in the book of Revelation

where all of God's enemies have been defeated.

Babylon, the beast's whore,

the anti-bride,

was devastated in Revelation 18.

Her smoke was rising up.

Revelation 19, Armageddon,

the beast and the false prophet,

they're seized, thrown into the lake of fire.

At the end of Revelation 20,

after the thousand-year reign of Jesus,

the devil is grabbed by his scruff of his neck

and thrown into the lake of fire too.

The second half of Revelation 20,

the great white throne judgment,

Matt preached a great sermon on this last week.

All unbelieving humanity is raised up, judged,

and they too are thrown into the lake of fire.

Only those written in the Lamb's book of life

are able to stand on that day.

They've got his name written on his forehead,

on their forehead.

And here we are in Revelation 21,

and John is given this other vision,

then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,

for the first heaven and the first earth

have passed away,

and the sea was no more.

I don't believe John is seeing

the absence of all oceans and bodies of water.

This is more talking about the source of evil,

because remember in Revelation 13,

the beast came out of the sea.

What we're seeing here is the total decursing

of all of creation.

What we're reading in Revelation 21,

this new heaven and new earth,

it's the fulfillment of Isaiah 65,

17 through 25.

Brian is going to close the service by reading that.

In that passage,

God promises to recreate the heavens and the earth,

and in 2 Peter 3, 8 through 13,

we are given this preview of God

consuming all of creation

with this huge fire

in which he purges all of creation

of its sin and sin effect.

And what's left in 2 Peter 3, 13,

after this divine demolition,

you have a new heaven and a new earth

where only righteousness dwells.

Completely decursed.

Now, if you're listening right now,

and you're like, okay,

God's going to consume the earth

in a great fire,

and it's going to be destroyed,

but I just got a new kitchen put in.

What does that mean for my kitchen?

I just got a new car.

What does that mean for my car?

It means it's going to get burned up.

And you're like, what?

You're kind of missing the point,

because God's holy demolition

of the old earth

will usher in God's holy delight

in the new creation.

We've got better stuff coming.

The question I want to ask right now is,

why is God doing all this

recreative work?

He's preparing

a place for his bride.

In 21.2 we read,

And I saw the holy city,

New Jerusalem,

coming down

out of heaven from God,

prepared as a bride

adorned for her husband.

The new heavens and the earth

are established,

then comes down

the new Jerusalem.

And did you notice

the new Jerusalem

is described as a bride

adorned for her husband.

She looks great.

Great.

The new Jerusalem

is the bride city

of the Lamb.

It's both

a populated place

as well

as God's

treasured bride.

And remember,

this new Jerusalem

is in contrast

to the old Babylon,

the whore city

of the beast.

Babylon

was the rebellious

humanity

organized

in opposition

to God

that worshipped

the beast.

The new Jerusalem,

the bride city

of the Lamb,

is redeemed humanity

organized

in submission

to God

and worshipping

the Lamb.

And what we see here

is

a new heaven,

new earth,

and this new bride city

coming down.

What we're witnessing

here

is the long-awaited

coming together

of bride

and groom.

This should put

hope,

capital H,

hope,

into your heart.

My family,

we live in an old house.

It was built

in 1929

and the story goes

that

Mr. Fiorini

was a butcher

in Kenosha

and he built

this house

for his bride.

He wanted

his bride

to come

and live

in a place

of beauty

and safety.

But Mr. Fiorini

didn't build

this house

so that his bride

could live there

by herself.

He built

that house

so that his bride

would dwell

with him

and he with her

in a place

of beauty

and safety

and that's

what we're seeing

in Revelation 21,

1 and 2.

And that's

what we see

in 21, 3.

There's this loud

voice from the throne

saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place

of God

is with man.

The new heaven

and earth,

this place

of beauty

and safety

where righteousness

dwells,

this is where

God will dwell

with his bride

city,

his people,

his church.

The Bible

is all about

God dwelling

with his people.

Starts back

in Genesis

in a garden,

God dwelling

with Adam

and Eve

and then

it moves

to God dwelling

with his people

in a fancy tent

called a tabernacle

and then

from the tabernacle

the tent

becomes a temple.

It's built

out of

incredibly expensive

materials

and God dwells

in the most

holy of holies

in the temple

among his people

and that most

holy of holies

was this

cube shaped room

and it goes

from the temple

then to Jesus

tabernacling

among us,

God dwelling

in our midst,

John 1.14.

And then if that's

not enough,

when Jesus leaves,

the Holy Spirit

comes down

and indwells

his people,

the church

and we become

the temple

of God.

We're a living

temple of God

and we live

that out

by faith.

But here,

what we're being

told in Revelation

21

is there's

coming a time

where faith

becomes sight

and we will

dwell with

God himself.

We will see

him.

We will be

with him.

God with us.

It's the story

of the Bible.

Emmanuel.

We read in

21.3 that

this bride,

this church

will be

his people

and God

himself

will be

with them

as their God.

it's covenant

language.

God with us,

present,

faith

turns to sight

and he is

there to

comfort us.

And one of my

favorite pictures

in the Bible,

we read in

21.4,

he will wipe

away every tear

from their eyes.

In the new

heaven and earth

where righteousness

dwells,

God will be

present to wipe

away every tear

from our eye.

Has anybody

seen the movie

A League of

Their Own

with Tom

Hanks?

He's the

manager.

There's this

one scene

where one

of his

female baseball

players is

crying and

Tom Hanks,

the manager,

looks at her

and says,

there's no

crying in

baseball.

Our God

will be

with us

to wipe

away our

tears in

the new

heaven and

the earth

and he's

going to be

saying essentially

that there's

no crying

in the new

Jerusalem.

There's no

crying in the

new creation.

There's no

God will

rid all

of creation

of sin

and its

effects.

He's going

to completely

decurse

creation.

And so he

says he's

going to wipe

away every tear

and then in

verse 4 we

read the

no mores.

I heard some

of you

amening this

when it was

being read

by the

Schneebergers.

He will

wipe away

every tear

from their

eyes and

death shall

be no more.

Amen.

Neither

shall there

be mourning.

Amen.

Nor crying.

Nor pain

anymore for

the former

things, the

old heaven,

the old

earth and

all that is

in them have

passed away

completely purged

and decursed.

Wednesday night

I couldn't

sleep.

I'm lying in

bed.

I couldn't

sleep.

Usually I'm

lying in bed

thinking about

a variety of

other things but

this time I'm

not falling

asleep because

I'm excited

about something.

I'm trying

to imagine

all the

no mores

of the new

creation.

here's some

of what I

came up

with.

No more

cemeteries.

No more

funeral homes.

No more

hearses.

No more

hospitals.

No more

pharmacies.

Your resurrection

body will not

need medication.

No more

prisons.

No more

minefields.

No more

war zones.

No more

Ebola outbreaks.

No more

background checks.

No more

securing buildings

to protect

children.

No more

terrorist threats.

No more

tsunamis.

No more

earthquakes.

No more

wildflowers.

Wild.

No there'll

be wild

flowers.

Not wild

fires.

No more

droughts.

No more

animal attacks.

No more

cats.

It's going to

be glorious.

don't send

me emails.

The new

heaven and

the new

earth.

God will

completely rid

all of

creation of

all sin and

effects.

And God's

going to be

saying there's

no crying in

the new

creation.

doesn't that

kind of make

you want to

go there

now?

Doesn't that

kind of make

you want to

be there?

That is

hope.

Capital H

hope.

The longing,

the looking

forward to

what God

has promised

to ultimately

do.

so if

you're asking

how much

longer,

there's no

crying in the

new creation.

He's promised

it.

In 21.5,

we hear

one seated

from the

throne.

From God

himself.

And I

believe what

God is doing

here, what

God is saying

in verse

5 and

verse 6,

is he is

explaining to

John, he

said to me,

what John

has just

seen.

The new

heavens and

the new

earth and

the bride

coming down.

He says,

behold, I'm

making all

things new.

What we just

read in

verse 4,

3, and

4, it's

all future

verb

tenses.

I will

wipe the

tears from

their eyes.

But what

we're reading

in verse

5, behold,

present tense,

I am making

all things

new.

This thing

that you're

seeing, I've

already begun.

How, you

say?

2 Corinthians

5, 17.

I'm a new

creation because

of what Jesus

has done.

You're a new

creation because

of what Jesus

has done.

He's already

started the

work.

He's already

started the work.

then he says,

write this

down for

these words

are trustworthy

and true.

Do you know

what he's

saying?

This is God

speaking.

He's like,

hey, write it

down.

Bank on it.

It's going to

happen.

I'm at work

already.

It's waiting.

It's coming.

It's coming.

There's no

crying in the

new creation.

And then in

verse 6, he

says, this is

striking.

And he said

to me, it's

done.

It's as good

as done.

The vanquishing

of all my

enemies, it's

as good as

done.

The great

white throne

judgment, good

as done.

New heavens,

new earth, good

as done.

Bride coming

down, good as

done.

It's good as

done.

How can

someone say

that?

How can

someone make

that kind of

promise?

Look what he

says about

himself right

after.

It is done.

I am the

Alpha and

the Omega, the

beginning and

the end.

I'm the A to

Z.

I'm the start

and the finish.

It's the way

God is

describing himself,

his sovereign

rule over all

time.

That's why he

can say it's

done and it

hasn't been

done yet.

See, I'm

reigning over

all.

Nothing will

thwart my

purposes.

You can

bank on

this.

My words

are trustworthy

and true.

You can

stand on

it.

You can

drive through

life no

matter what

you're going

to face and

you can

count on

it.

There's no

crying in the

new creation

and it's

coming.

God.

He then

goes on to

offer this to

all those who

are thirsty.

To the

thirsty I'll

give from the

spring of the

water of life

without payment.

It's a

reference to

salvation.

We're going to

actually get a

look at this

spring in just

a few minutes.

But what I want

you to notice,

it's without

payment.

This is free to

those who want

it because it's

been paid for

by the lamb.

It's a way of

describing our

salvation.

You want

salvation?

You want what

only God can

give?

He can give it

because it's been

paid for.

You don't have to

pay for it.

You receive it by

faith.

And then in

verses 7 and 8,

we have two ways

to respond.

Those who are

conquerors, that's a

familiar term

because it was

all over chapter

2 and 3 with

the seven letters

to the seven

churches, to the

one who conquers,

to the one who

conquers, to the

one who conquers.

And even there,

there's the promise

of the new earth,

the new Jerusalem.

So to the one who

conquers, the one

who is faithful to

Jesus, this is

their heritage.

But verse 8, to

those who compromise

the lamb, they

don't have that

promise.

They have a

warning.

And the

warning to you

this morning is,

if you're not a

follower of Jesus,

your destiny is

not the new

heavens, it's the

lake of fire.

So you need to

turn to Jesus.

Turn away from

your sin.

Turn away from

your compromise.

In chapter 21,

1 through 8, we

see God preparing a

place for his bride

to dwell with him

in beauty,

and safety.

Completely decursed.

No sin, no

effective sin.

There's no crying in

the new creation.

He's making all

things new, including

you.

At that time, you

will have no impulse

to sin.

God preparing for

God.

God is preparing for

us.

This should be putting

some capital H

hope into your

heart.

This, what God is

preparing for us,

bank on it.

He himself has

promised you this,

if you're in

Christ.

Let's move from

the preparation for

the bride to the

presentation of the

bride.

In 21, 9 through

22, 5.

I mean, this is the

moment we've all been

waiting for in the

book of Revelation.

Up until this point,

the church has been

under assault by the

enemies of the Lamb,

but they've been

cleared out.

And there's a new

heaven and a new

earth.

Now, finally, the

church, in her glory,

will be presented to

the Lamb.

Last Sunday, we, the

Salvati's, sojourned to

Iowa because we have a

dear family friends, a

family friends there, and

their oldest daughter was

getting married, and her

name is Anna.

And we were there, and we

were watching the

procession, and you've

been to these weddings

before.

It starts with the

grandparents being walked

out, and you're like,

oh, that's great, aren't

they cute?

And then the moms are

walked down, and then

the groom takes his

place, and yeah, he's

pretty cute.

I mean, that's what my

wife said.

And then the wedding

party comes down, and

it's kind of like, oh,

look it, they're

matching.

And then finally, you

hear the all rise, and

everybody stands up, and

they look back, and

there's Anna.

She's beautiful.

It was an outdoor

wedding.

And then, Iowa's son

beaming on her gown.

So she was brilliant and

beautiful.

Now, if at that moment,

you stopped the service,

and you went up to Anna,

and you asked her, hey,

Anna, why are you looking

so great?

Are you looking good for

the wedding planner?

She would say, no.

Are you looking good for

the minister who happens

to be your dad?

Not a chance.

Are you looking good for

the 150 people here to

witness your vows?

Nope.

Are you looking good for

the photographer?

Kind of.

Are you looking good for

Blake, your groom?

Absolutely.

Anna would say, I want

Blake to remember this

moment for the rest of

his life.

Here in 21.9 through 22.5,

the bride of Christ

is being presented

to Christ

in her glory.

It's a future description

of us

made new.

And ultimately,

it's for the one

whose face

we will see.

So I'm going to walk

you through

a bunch of these

descriptions.

There are these details,

glorious details,

that you've got to see.

It's a description of

the bride,

the church.

And what you're going

to see is you move

from general to specific,

from panorama

to close up.

So the first thing

I want you to see

is in 21.9,

one of the angels

who had the seven bowls,

the final outpourings

of God's wrath,

says,

Come, John,

I will show you

the bride,

the wife of the Lamb.

Let me show you

this babe.

And what does he see?

He sees a city

coming down.

Again,

what we're

designed to understand

here,

intended to understand

is we're to hold

simultaneously

the idea

that the church

is a people

in a place.

It's a populated city

and at the same time,

this people

is God's treasured bride.

The New Jerusalem

is the redeemed humanity

through the blood

of Jesus

that's organized

to submit to God

and worship the Lamb.

The second thing

I want you to see

is where the New Jerusalem

is coming from.

The New Jerusalem

isn't walking down an aisle.

The New Jerusalem

is descending

from heaven.

Behold,

look,

come,

I will show you

the bride.

And he carried me away

in the spirit

to a great high mountain

and he showed me

the holy city

coming down

out of heaven

from God.

Why from God?

Why from heaven?

God is presenting

the bride

to himself.

Sounds kind of weird,

right?

Until you flip back

to Ephesians chapter 5

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

where God commands,

he tells husbands

to love your wives

as Christ loved the church.

Verse 25,

and then chapter 5

of Ephesians verse 26,

that he might sanctify her,

speaking of Jesus

and his church,

having cleansed her

by the washing

of the water

with the word

so that he might

present the church

to himself

in splendor

without spot

or wrinkle

or any such thing

that she might be holy

and blameless

and without blemish.

She's coming down

from heaven

because God

has made her beautiful

by his grace.

He's going to present

this bride city

to the Lamb.

It's a presentation.

The next thing

I want you to see

is that this bride city

has the glory of God.

You see that

in verse 11.

Having the glory of God,

its radiance

like a most rare jewel,

like a jasper,

clear as crystal.

When we see

the descriptions

of this holy city

in just a second,

you're going to pick up

on a translucence

of the city.

This glory

is not her own.

It's not our own.

The brilliance

of the new Jerusalem,

of the bride city,

is God's brilliance

shining through us.

Just as the moon

reflects

the brilliance

of the sun,

so we will radiate

God who is with us,

in us,

this bride city

is radiant

with the glory

of God.

She's a radiant bride.

The next thing

I want you to see

is in verses 12

through 14.

First thing

that John sees

is it had a great

high wall

with 12 gates

and at the 12 gates

angels,

verse 12.

12 is all over

the place.

What's up with 12?

Well, it's like

the number 7

that we've learned of.

It carries a sense

of completeness

and fullness

and perfection.

Well, what's going on here?

Without getting

into too many details,

what I want you

to see is that

the 12 gates

had 12 names

of the 12 tribes

of Israel

and then there

are these 12 foundations

and on those 12 foundations

are the 12 names

of the 12 apostles

of the church.

this city

coming down

represents

all of God's people

represented by

the 12 tribes

of Israel

and the 12 apostles

of Jesus.

It means

all of God's people

that he had purchased

from all time

by the blood

of Jesus,

it's all of them

coming down together.

Radiant.

all Old Testament

and New Testament

saints

and it's a picture

of security.

Establishment.

The next thing

I want you to see

in verses 15

through 17

is that there's

some measuring

that goes on.

In verse 15,

the angel

busts out

a golden measuring rod

of Israel.

It's gold

because of its task.

It's like

a gold shovel

dignitaries use

to break ground

on a new building.

The size

of this city

is extraordinary.

This angel

measures it

in verse 16.

We learn that

it's four square

and then

in verse 16

we later

learn that

he measured

the city

with his rod

12,000 stadia.

A stadia

is the equivalent

of about

1,400 miles.

And my understanding

of this text

is that it's not

a measure

of the total

circumference

of the New Jerusalem

just one side.

And so what

that means is

just one side

is about

1,400 miles.

So in order

to help you

understand this,

let's think

about that

in terms of

the continental

United States.

I'm not saying

the New Jerusalem

is going to

fall down

into the middle

of the United States

because we are

God's country.

I'm not saying that.

What I am saying

is I want you

to help you

understand the scale

of it

based upon

our country

which you know.

so imagine

Green Bay,

Wisconsin

and you go

from Green Bay

to Helena,

Montana

and then from

Helena,

Montana

you go down

to El Paso,

Texas

and from El Paso,

Texas

you go to

Baton Rouge,

Louisiana

and then from

Baton Rouge

back up

to Green Bay.

That perimeter

is the perimeter

roughly

of the New Jerusalem.

it is huge.

It's massive.

Plenty of space

for God's redeemed.

But in verse 16

we learn of something else.

There's another dimension

to it.

It's shape.

We read

12,000 stadia

its length

and width

and height

are equal.

This starts

blowing

our categories

because

if

the New Jerusalem

is about

1400 miles high

that means

satellites

are bumping

into the top

of it.

The purpose

of it

is to get

a shape

in your mind.

A massive

shape.

A massive

cube

in your mind.

And

why that's

important

is because

it makes you

think of

the most holy

of holies

in the temple

and the tabernacle

which was

a cube

in which

God dwelt

among his people.

So this

new Jerusalem

is the new

most holy

of holies.

God dwelling

with us.

It's

breathtakingly

huge.

It's

awesome.

in verses

18-21

we get a

glimpse

of the

brilliant

building

material

used

in this

bright city.

Jasper

which is a

translucent

jewel,

pure gold

which is

again being

described as

somehow being

transparent.

We don't get it

but we'll go

with it.

In verses

19-20

John

spends some

time

describing

the

12

different

foundations

with

12

different

jewels

inlaid

in each

one of

them.

The idea

there is

to make

you think

of the

breastplate

of the

high priest

back in

Old Testament

times.

He had

12 stones

on his

breastplate

that represented

the people

of God

and his

priestly

duty.

This

bride

city

is a

city

of

priests

and when

we talk

about all

this

material

it should

remind

you

of the

temple

that was

built

in the

Old

Testament

the

first

temple.

Nothing

but the

best

material

was used

for it

because

God

would

dwell

there.

This

bride

city

is made

of priceless

materials

because

God's

going to

dwell

there

reflecting

his

glory.

In

22

through

27

this

new

Jerusalem

which is

kind of

like the

old

Jerusalem

but it

turns out

it's

missing

something.

I saw

no temple

in the

city

for its

temple

is the

Lord God

the

Almighty

and the

Lamb.

We

just

learned

that the

whole

city

is the

shape

of the

most

holy

of

holies.

This

whole

thing

is

God's

temple

dwelling

place.

He's

there.

Have you

heard of

sanctuary

cities?

This

gives

new

meaning

to a

sanctuary

city.

It's

the

most

holy

of

holies

God

dwelling

in our

midst.

He

is

our

dwelling

place.

no

temple.

The

entire

city

is a

kind

it's

God's

dwelling

place.

And then

in verse

23

apparently

there's a

whole new

lighting

system

in the

new

Jerusalem.

It

runs

by

lamb

light.

The

city

has no

need of

sun or

moon to

shine in

it for

the glory

of God

gives it

light and

its

lamp

is

the

lamb.

God's

glory

radiating

from the

land

lights up

the

entirety

of the

translucent

bride

city.

Just

imagine

the

light

shining

through

the

jewels

of

its

foundation.

Absolutely

brilliant

and

glorious.

All

sorts

of

different

colors.

Radiating

from the

glory

of

God.

God

dwelling

in

the

midst.

His

lamb

light

shining

through

us.

Radiating.

It's

about

him.

No

more

darkness.

This

is the

ultimate

fulfillment

of Isaiah

9.

People

living in

darkness.

Behold

light is

coming.

Emmanuel.

well.

We

learn in

verse 24

by the

light

its

light

lamb

light

nations

the

nations

will

walk

and the

kings

of the

earth

will

bring

their

glory

into

it.

The

last

time

we

saw

the

nations

gathering

in the

kingdom

promise in

Genesis

that God

will bless

the

nations

through the

offspring

of Abraham

Jesus.

All the

nations

gathering

together

under the

light of

the lamb.

Did you

notice the

angels?

Way back

talking about

the gates

verse 12

at the gates

12 angels

and in

verse 25

and its

gates

will never

be shut

by day.

Do you

remember what

happened in

Genesis chapter

Genesis 3:22–24

3 verses

22 through

24?

Adam and

Eve sinned

God kicks

them out

and he

posts an

angel at

the gate

of Eden

and says

nobody's

coming back

in.

Now we

have 12

angels

at 12

gates

with the

gates

fully open

welcoming

in the

redeemed

from the

nations.

I can't

wait.

Hey

archangel

Gabriel

how you

doing

baby?

walking

in

through

that

gate

it's

a

picture

of

life

gathering

to the

lamb

in his

city

his

people

from

all

nations.

this

brings

us

to

22

1

through

5

gates

are

opened

up

it's

the

reverse

of

the

curse

it's

the

reverse

of

Eden

being

put

out

this

bride

city

is

the

new

Eden

city

let me

help

you

see

some

things

in

Genesis

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

10

we

learn

that

there's

a

river

flowing

through

Eden

and

here

in

Revelation

22

1

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

there's

a

river

running

through

it

brightest

crystal

from

the

throne

if

you're

thirsty

for

this

spring

of

water