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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 86

TITLE: THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE

TEXT: REVELATION 22:1-5

INTRODUCTION: (1) AT THE END OF GENESIS 3, ADAM AND EVE ARE DRIVEN OUT OF PARADISE AS A RESULT OF THEIR SIN AND FALL.

* PARADISE WAS LOST IN GENESIS 3 AND THE CURSE WAS INVOKED UPON MANKIND.

** IN FACT, GOD’S RESPONSE TO THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE WAS A THREEFOLD CURSE.

*** GOD SPOKE FIRST TO THE SERPENT, 2’D TO EVE AND THIRDLY TO ADAM.

**** AND THAT CURSE IS COMMUNICATED CLEARLY IN GENESIS 3:14-19 WHICH SAYS:

(2) V. 14 – THE LORD GOD SAID TO THE SERPENT, “BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS, CURSED ARE YOU MORE THAN ALL CATTLE, AND MORE THAN EVERY BEAST OF THE FIELD; ON YOUR BELLY YOU WILL GO, AND DUST YOU WILL EAT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE:

V. 15 – AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN, AND BETWEEN YOUR SEED AND HER SEED; HE SHALL BRUISE YOU ON THE HEAD, AND YOU SHALL BRUISE HIM ON THE HEEL.”

V. 16 – TO THE WOMAN HE SAID, “I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY YOUR PAIN IN CHILDBIRTH, IN PAIN YOU WILL BRING FORTH CHILDREN; YET YOUR DESIRE WILL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND, AND HE WILL RULE OVER YOU.”

V. 17 – THEN TO ADAM HE SAID, “BECAUSE YOU HAVE LISTENED TO THE VOICE OF YOUR WIFE, AND HAVE EATEN FROM THE TREE ABOUT WHICH I COMMANDED YOU, SAYING, ‘YOU SHALL NOT EAT FROM IT’; CURSED IS THE GROUND BECAUSE OF YOU; IN TOIL YOU WILL EAT OF IT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE.

V. 18 – BOTH THORNS AND THISTLES IT SHALL GROW FOR YOU; AND YOU WILL EAT THE PLANTS OF THE FIELD;

V. 19 – BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR FACE YOU WILL EAT BREAD, TILL YOU RETURN TO THE GROUND, BECAUSE FROM IT YOU WERE TAKEN; FOR YOU ARE DUST, AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN.”

* NOW THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE CURSE.

** THE SERPENT WAS CONDEMNED TO CRAWL ON HIS BELLY IN THE DUST. AND IT APPEARS PRIOR TO THE CURSE THAT THE SERPENT HAD LEGS LIKE OTHER REPTILES.

*** THEN BECAUSE OF THE CURSE, THE MAN AND THE WOMAN SPIRITUALLY DIED THAT DAY AND WOULD DIE PHYSICALLY ONE DAY.

**** THE WOMAN WOULD BE AFFLICTED WITH PAIN IN CHILDBIRTH.

**** THE LORD ALSO TOLD EVE THAT SHE WOULD CHAFE OR BE IRRITATED AND ANNOYED UNDER HER HUSBAND’S AUTHORITY.

(3) AND THEN THE LORD TOLD ADAM HE WAS CONDEMNED TO A LIFE OF LABOR AND SWEAT, TILLING THE EARTH THAT WAS CURSED, TO WHICH HE ONE DAY WOULD RETURN TO PHYSICALLY IN DEATH-TO DUST.

* AND THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, ALL OF CREATION WAS AFFECTED AND INFECTED BY ADAM’S SIN-FOR ROMANS 8:20-22 SAYS:

** V. 20 – “FOR THE CREATION WAS SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY, NOT WILLINGLY, BUT BECAUSE OF HIM WHO SUBJECTED IT, IN HOPE

V. 21 – THAT THE CREATION ITSELF ALSO WILL BE SET FREE FROM ITS SLAVERY TO CORRUPTION INTO THE FREEDOM OF THE GLORY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD.

V. 22 – FOR WE KNOW THAT THE WHOLE CREATION GROANS AND SUFFERS THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH TOGETHER UNTIL NOW.

*** NOW CREATION’S FUTILITY AND FRAILTY CAME AS A RESULT OF ADAM’S SIN AND GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON THE EARTH.

**** BUT ONE DAY CREATION WILL BE SET FREE FROM THE CURSE OF SIN, THE FUTURE TIME OF THE MILLENNIUM AND SPECIFICALLY REVELATION 22:1-5.

(4) BUT UNTIL THEN EVEN CREATION GROANS FROM THE CURSE.

* WEEDS AND THORNS INFEST THE GROUND. INSECTS AND OTHER CREATURES HAVE OVERSTEPPED SOME OF THEIR ORIGINAL PURPOSES.

** NATURE ITSELF OFTEN BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE, WITH FLOODS, EARTHQUAKES, DROUGHTS, FAMINES AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS.

*** AND THAT IS WHY ALL CREATION GROANS WAITING FOR THE CONSUMMATION AND PARADISE TO BE RESTORED, WHICH WAS LOST IN GENESIS 3.

(5) WELL, IN OUR TEXT TODAY, WE SEE THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE AND EVEN THE TREE OF LIFE COMES BACK INTO THE PICTURE.

* FOR AS A PART OF THE CURSE ADAM AND EVE ARE DRIVEN OUT OF EDEN, OUT OF PARADISE AND NOT ALLOWED TO COME NEAR THE TREE OF LIFE.

** BUT WE SEE THE TREE OF LIFE RETURN IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, FOR BASICALLY IN THE FIRST FIVE VERSES OF REVELATION 22 WE SEE A RETURN TO EDEN, A RETURN TO PARADISE AND BEYOND.

*** FOR PARADISE IS RESTORED AND EVEN EXPANDED IN WHAT IT WAS IN GENESIS. WE HAVE PARADISE REGAINED AND RENEWED AND RESTORED.

**** THUS THE TITLE OF THE SERMON TODAY, “THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE.” AND THE RESTORED PARADISE IS SUPERIOR AND GOES BEYOND THE ORIGINAL ONE IN EDEN AS BEAUTIFUL AND MAGNIFICENT AS IT WAS.

(6) AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT GOD’S REVELATION, THE BIBLE BEGINS IN GENESIS WITH ADAM AND EVE IN PARADISE WITH THE TREE OF LIFE AND A RIVER TO WATER THIS GARDEN.

* BUT GOD’S REVELATION INCLUDES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION WITH A NEW AND IMPROVED PARADISE WITH A TREE OF LIFE AND THE RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING FROM THE VERY THRONE OF GOD.

** PARADISE IS RESTORED AND RENEWED.

*** WITH THAT SAID, IN OUR STUDY OF THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE IN REVELATION 22:1-5, WE’LL LOOK AT 5 POINTS.

**** NO. 1 THE RIVER OF LIFE, V. 1; NO. 2 THE RETURN OF THE TREE OF LIFE, V. 2; NO. 3 THE REMOVAL OF THE CURSE, V. 3; NO. 4 THE REVEALING OF THE FACE OF GOD WITH HIS NAME ON THE BELIEVER’S FOREHEAD, V. 4; AND NO. 5 THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS WITH GOD FOREVER, V. 5.

(7) SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE RIVER, THE RETURN, THE REMOVAL, THE REVEALING AND THE REIGN UNDER THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE.

* AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AND THEME IN MIND, LOOK AT REVELATION 22:1 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE RIVER.

I. THE RIVER, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW BEGINNING HERE IN V. 1 AND GOING THROUGH V. 5, JOHN IS GIVEN HIS FINAL VIEW OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

* AND UP TO THIS POINT, JOHN HAS VIEWED THE HOLY CITY EXTERNALLY, FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING AT IT IN REVELATION 21:1-22.

** AND THEN JOHN STARTED TO SEE SOME OF IT INTERNALLY IN REVELATION 21:23-27.

*** AND HERE IN REVELATION 22:1-5 HE IS PERMITTED A FINAL LOOK AT IT INTERNALLY AND WILL SEE THE CENTRAL FEATURE OF THIS GLORIOUS CITY, THE THRONE.

**** AND IN VERSES 1 AND 3, WE SEE THE WORD THRONE USED, THE FINAL TWO TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION OF 42 USES.

1. AND I’VE TOLD YOU THE THRONE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION EXPRESSES GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY, HIS DIVINE CONTROL, HIS AUTHORITY, HIS POWER OVER ALL.

* AND THE THRONE IS THIS REPETITIOUS SPIRITUAL POP-UP THAT REMINDS US THAT GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL OF EVERY SITUATION AND THAT HIS PURPOSE AND PLAN IS UNFOLDING BEFORE US THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK OF PROPHECY.

- AND THIS IS SO PRACTICAL, LET ME ILLUSTRATE FROM AN E-MAIL I RECEIVED FRIDAY MORNING ABOUT THE TIME I WAS AT THIS POINT OF PREPARING MY MESSAGE (READ IT).

** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 1, THE THRONE IS THE CENTRAL FEATURE OF THIS PART OF JOHN’S FINAL VISION WHICH ENDS IN V. 5.

*** AND HIS TOUR GUIDE, AN ANGEL GOING BACK TO REVELATION 21:9, SHOWS JOHN A RIVER OF THE WATER OF LIFE COMING FROM THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB WHICH IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

**** NOW THE SOURCE OR ORIGIN OF THIS RIVER IS THE THRONE OF GOD.

2. SO PICTURE IT THIS WAY WITH ME IN YOUR MIND, THERE IS THE MAJESTIC THRONE SEAT THAT IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN WE CAN IMAGINE, AND FROM SOME POINT FROM IT PROCEEDS A RIVER OF WATER.

* IN OTHER WORDS FROM THE THRONE, WE HAVE THE BEGINNING POINT, THE SOURCE, THE ORIGIN OF THE RIVER, THE WATER GOES OUT FROM THE THRONE.

** AND THE WATER FROM THIS THRONE IS CALLED THE WATER OF LIFE, AND APPROPRIATELY SO, FOR THE ONE SITTING ON THE THRONE IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE, BOTH OF ETERNAL LIFE AND PHYSICAL LIFE.

*** FOR AS ACTS 17:28 SAYS: “IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND EXIST,” WE LIT. HAVE OUR BEING AND AS JOHN 15:5 SAYS, WITHOUT HIM WE CAN DO NOTHING.

**** BELOVED, THE ALMIGHTY IS OUR CREATOR, THE ONE WHO SUSTAINS US AND IS SALVATION, THE SOURCE OF OUR ETERNAL LIFE IF WE TRULY KNOW HIM.

3. SO HOW APPROPRIATE THAT THE RIVER OF THE WATER OF LIFE ORIGINATES FROM THE THRONE OF GOD, FOR HE IS THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE.

* BUT NOTICE TWO MORE THINGS BEFORE WE GO ONTO V. 2.

** NO. 1 THE WATER OF LIFE IS “CLEAR AS CRYSTAL.”

*** AND THE WORD CLEAR IS THE GREEK WORD LOM-PROS, FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD LAMP AND IT LIT. MEANS SHINING, BRILLIANT, TRANSPARENT SPLENDID AND MAGNIFICENT.

**** AND COMBINED WITH THE WORD CRYSTAL, THESE WORDS DESCRIBE THE RIVER’S APPEARANCE.

4. THEY SHOW THE RIVER AS A SHIMMERING AND SPARKLING STREAM OF WATER, IT IS CRYSTAL CLEAR AND BRIGHT, A DAZZLING SPARKLING NEVER ENDING STREAM THAT REFLECTS THE LIGHT OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CITY.

* IT WOULD BE BREATHTAKING. AND THIS PURE SPARKLING CONSTANT FLOW OF WATER PICTURES THE PERPETUAL CONTINUAL FLOW OF EVERLASTING LIFE FROM GOD’S THRONE TO GOD’S PEOPLE.

** ROBERT THOMAS IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION QUOTES ROBERT MOUNCE AT THIS POINT AND SAYS: “THE POINT OF THE PASSAGE IS TO TEACH THAT IN THE ETERNAL STATE GOD’S PEOPLE WILL LIVE AT THE SOURCE OF THE LIFE GIVING STREAM, THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD HIMSELF.” (END QUOTE)

*** SO GOD WHO IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE HAS THE RIVER OF LIFE COMING FROM HIS THRONE.

**** BUT LAST OF ALL BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO V. 2, NOTICE WE HAVE TWO PERSONS IDENTIFIED IN THE GODHEAD, IN THE TRINITY, SITTING ON THE THRONE.

5. WE HAVE “THE THRONE (SINGULAR) OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB” WHICH IS THE LORD JESUS, WE HAVE JOINT OCCUPANCY OF THE THRONE.

* MEANING WE HAVE THE FATHER AND SON SITTING ON THE SAME THRONE, BUT THEY ARE NOT TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES, TWO SEPARATE GODS, BUT ONE GOD.

** AND THIS TRUTH REPEATED IN V. 3, REMINDS US THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, WE ARE MONOTHEISTIC IN OUR BELIEF OF GOD, NOT POLYTHEISTIC, AND THAT ONE GOD HAS MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN 3 PERSONS AND TWO OF THESE PERSONS ARE ONE ON THE THRONE.

*** FOR JESUS SAID IN JOHN 10:30 (READ IT).

**** SO IN ETERNITY, WE SEE THE JOINT OCCUPANCY OF THE THRONE BY THE FATHER AND THE LAMB AS ONE GOD.

6. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT TALKED ABOUT IN THIS TEXT, BUT NO DOUBT AS GOD BEING HIGHLY INVOLVED IN THE ETERNAL STATE.

* BUT HERE SPECIFICALLY WE SEE THE DEITY OF CHRIST AS GOD AS BOTH ARE RULING ON ONE THRONE.

** AND CHRIST’S REIGN WILL NOT END IN ETERNITY, AS ACCORDING TO I CORINTHIANS 15:24 WHEN AT THE END OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM WHEN CHRIST “HANDS OVER THE KINGDOM TO GOD THE FATHER AFTER HE HAS DESTROYED ALL DOMINION, AUTHORITY AND POWER,” DOES NOT MEAN THAT CHRIST’S REIGN ON THE THRONE ENDS, BUT THAT IT WILL CHANGE ITS CHARACTER.

*** IT WILL TAKE ON A NEW FORM, HIS ROLE WILL BE DIFFERENT BUT OBVIOUSLY RULING ON THE THRONE WITH THE FATHER, FOR CHRIST’S KINGDOM IS NOT ONLY UNIQUE FOR 1,000 YEARS, BUT WILL BE FOREVER AND EVER.

**** FOR LUKE 1:33 SAYS SPEAKING OF CHRIST: “AND HE WILL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER AND HIS KINGDOM WILL HAVE NO END.”

7. AND THIS PICTURE OF ONE THRONE BUT TWO PERSONS SITTING ON IT REMINDS US OF THE REVEALED MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY AND THE GREATNESS OF OUR ONE GOD IN 3 PERSONS, THE ONE WHO IS THEY.

* ROBERT THOMAS SAYS IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION AT THIS POINT AND I QUOTE: “MAN IN HIS FINITENESS CANNOT GRASP THE TRUTH OF THE INFINITE BEING OF THE TRIUNE GOD.” (END QUOTE)

** AND THAT JUST REMINDS US WHY GOD IS GOD, AND INFINITE, AND WE ARE THE CREATURE AND FINITE. OUR GOD IS GREAT AND AS TWO PERSONS SITS ON ONE THRONE.

*** WELL, WITH V. 1 OUT OF THE WAY, I NEED TO REALLY GET MOVING TO GET THROUGH V. 5, SO LOOK AT V. PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE RETURN OF THE TREE OF LIFE.

II. THE RETURN, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW JOHN MACARTHUR IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 12-22 SAYS AT THIS POINT AND I QUOTE:

* “THE PHRASE IN THE MIDDLE OF ITS STREET IS BEST TRANSLATED “IN THE MIDDLE OF ITS PATH” AND CONNECTED WITH THE FOLLOWING PHRASE, “ON EITHER SIDE OF THE STREET WAS THE TREE OF LIFE.” (END QUOTE)

** MEANING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER’S PATH OR FLOW, ON EACH SIDE OF IT WAS THE TREE OF LIFE.

*** AND THE WORD TREE SINGULAR CAN BE USED TO DESCRIBE COLLECTIVELY, LIKE AN ORCHARD, THE TREES ALONG EACH BANK OF THE RIVER WHERE IT FLOWS OR IT CAN MEAN ONE TREE THAT STRETCHES OUT OVER BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER WITH ITS BRANCHES.

**** BUT REGARDLESS, WITH THE RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING, THE TREE OF LIFE IS THERE, LIKE IT WAS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

1. BUT HERE IN PARADISE RESTORED IT WILL NOT BE GUARDED OR DISAPPEAR.

* AND ITS PURPOSE IS TO BEAR 12 KINDS OF FRUIT, YIELDING IT’S FRUIT EVERY MONTH.

** NOW IT DOESN’T SAY THAT PEOPLE EAT ITS FRUIT IN THIS CONTEXT, BUT IT DOES IN REVELATION 2:7 AS OUR LORD CONCLUDES HIS MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS WHICH SAYS:

*** REVELATION 2:7 – “HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES. TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL GRANT TO EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE WHICH IS IN THE PARADISE OF GOD.”

**** NOW THE NEW JERUSALEM IN A SENSE IS PARADISE RESTORED, AND THE PEOPLE LIVING IN IT, BELIEVERS OR OVERCOMERS, EAT OF IT AND OF COURSE, IN THEIR NEW ETERNAL RESURRECTED BODIES WILL NEVER DIE, BELIEVERS HAVE THE BLESSING OF ETERNAL LIFE, PICTURING THE ETERNAL LIFE THEY ALREADY HAVE, WE EAT AND WILL LIVE FOREVER.

2. NOW NOTICE THAT THE TREE OF LIFE BEARS 12 KINDS OF FRUIT OR 12 CROPS OF FRUIT, OR A TWELVE-FOLD HARVEST OF FRUIT.

* AND A CROP OF FRUIT COMES EVERY MONTH, WHICH APPEARS TO BE A FRESH CROP OF A DIFFERENT KIND OF FRUIT MONTHLY.

** AND SOME STRUGGLE WITH THE WORD MONTHLY BEING USED IN THE ETERNAL STATE, IN A PLACE WHERE TIME IS NO MORE.

*** BUT THE ANSWER TO THAT IS JOHN RESORTS BACK TO CHRONOLOGICAL DIVISIONS OF TIME TO EXPRESS TO HIS READERS WHAT OTHERWISE WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE.

**** I MEAN JOHN STANDING ON THE THRESHOLD OF ETERNITY HAS TO USE HUMAN WORDS, HE HAS TO EXPRESS HIMSELF IN TEMPORAL TERMS OF MONTHS.

3. AND SO WHETHER THIS IS JUST A WAY OF SAYING CONTINUAL FRUIT, A CONTINUAL HARVEST OR CROP, OR LIT. SAYING A MONTH, DOES NOT MATTER TO ME, FOR THE FACT IS THE TREE OF LIFE RETURNS.

* AND ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS THAT IS CONVEYED AT THE END OF VERSE TWO IS, ITS LEAVES ARE FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS.

** AND AS I SAID LAST WEEK, THE WORD NATIONS CAN MEAN GENTILES OR JUST PEOPLES, AND I WOULD SEE IT MEANING THE PEOPLE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, ITS INHABITANTS, BELIEVERS.

*** AND THE WORD HEALING IS THE GREEK WORD THAIR-A-PA-A FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD THERAPY AND HERE IT LIT. MEANS HEALTH GIVING, LIFE GIVING CARE OR ATTENTION.

**** AND THE TRUTH HERE IS, THE LEAVES ARE LIKE GOOD VITAMINS THAT PROMOTE HEALTH, NOT TREATING SICKNESS. ILLNESS IN THIS PERFECT STATE OF BEING IS NOT IMPLIED BUT EVERYONE WILL ENJOY WHOLESOME ROBUST HEALTH, EACH PERSON’S WELL BEING IS IN MIND.

4. AND TO ADD TO THAT, JOHN WALVOORD IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION SAYS AND I QUOTE:

* “RATHER THAN SPECIFICALLY MEANING “HEALING,” IT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD AS “HEALTH GIVING,” AS THE WORD IN ITS ROOT MEANING HAS THE IDEA OF SERVING OR MINISTERING. IN OTHER WORDS, THE LEAVES OF THE TREE PROMOTE THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, AND ARE NOT FOR CORRECTING ILLS WHICH DO NOT EXIST. THIS, OF COURSE, IS CONFIRMED BY THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO MORE CURSE IN V.3.” (END QUOTE)

** SO LIFE IN HEAVEN WILL BE FULLY ENERGIZED, RICH, EXCITING AND WE WILL BE IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF WELL BEING.

*** AND ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS FOUND IN V. 3, THERE WILL BE NO MORE CURSE, SO LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR THIRD POINT, THE REMOVAL OF THE CURSE.

III. THE REMOVAL, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW PARADISE IS TRULY RESTORED IN THE NEW JERUSALEM BECAUSE THE CURSE CAUSED BY SIN IS REMOVED.

* THUS THE REMOVAL OF THE CURSE WILL MEAN AS REVELATION 21:4 SAYS: NO MORE PAIN, NO MORE SORROW, NO MORE TEARS, AND NO MORE DEATH.

** NO MORE CURSE FOREVER IN HEAVEN AND THAT TRUTH ALONE OUGHT TO MAKE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO IT, BEYOND ITS BEAUTY AND SPLENDOR AND GOD’S THRONE IS THERE, WHICH IS REPEATED HERE AS WE TALKED ABOUT IT IN V. 1.

*** AND THE QUESTION CAN BE ASKED AT THIS POINT, IN THIS PERFECT NO CURSE PLACE WHERE GOD IS ON HIS THRONE, WHAT DO WE DO?

**** WELL, THE LAST PHRASE IN V. 3 GIVES US THE ANSWER. HIS BONDSERVANTS-US, LIT. HIS SLAVES WILL SERVE HIM.

1. WE WILL SERVE OUR GREAT GOD, AND THE WORD SERVE LIT. MEANS TO MINISTER TO, TO RENDER HOMAGE, TO RENDER WORSHIP AND TO PERFORM SACRED SERVICES.

* AND IT WILL BE AN ABSOLUTE JOY, FOR BEING THERE AND REALIZING WHY WE ARE THERE BECAUSE OF HIS MERCY AND GRACE WILL LEAD TO AN EXPLOSION OF WORSHIP AND GRATEFULNESS, SERVING IN PERFECT JOY.

** AND I LIKE THAT THE WORD BONDSERVANTS OR SERVANTS IS USED HERE TO DESCRIBE US, FOR IT IS THE GREEK WORD DOULOS WHICH IS BEST TRANSLATED AS SLAVES.

*** AND SLAVES HAVE A LORD, A MASTER, A KING THEY SERVE. AND A SLAVE HAD TWO PRIMARY FUNCTIONS IN THE FIRST CENTURY, TO SUBMIT AND TO OBEY, FOR THE LORD, THE KOOREEOS DEMANDED THAT.

**** BUT OUR LORD, OUR MASTER IS NOT A HARD TASK MASTER, FOR WHEN HE PURCHASED US OUT OF THE SLAVE MARKET OF SIN, WHEN HE CHOSE US TO BE HIS SLAVES, HE DID SO IN RESCUING US FROM OUR FORMER MASTER OF SIN.

2. AND THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR OUR REDEMPTION FROM THE SLAVE MARKET OF SIN WAS HIS SON’S LIFE, HE RANSOMED US, HE SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US BELIEVER.

* AND EPHESIANS 1:7 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ ROMANS 5:9 AND MATTHEW 26:28.

** AND THROUGH OUR FORGIVENESS, OUR BONDAGE IS NO LONGER TO SIN, BUT TO THE SON AND IT IS A JOYOUS GRATEFUL SERVICE TO THE ONE WE OWE EVERYTHING TO.

*** AND THE REALITY OF THAT WILL ERUPT, IT WILL EXPLODE, IT WILL BURST FORTH IN CLARITY AS WE SEE GOD FACE TO FACE, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 4TH POINT THIS MORNING, THE REVEALING, LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

IV. THE REVEALING, (READ V. 4)

A. NOW TWO GREAT THINGS TO CONSIDER HERE, NO. 1 WE AS HIS SLAVES WILL SEE OUR MASTER FACE TO FACE, WE WILL HAVE ACCESS AND AUDIENCE WITH THE KING CONTINUALLY EVEN THOUGH BY NATURE WE WERE PEASANTS.

* BELOVED, THERE WILL BE PERFECT COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNION.

** AND NEVER AGAIN WILL GOD USE A MEDIATOR OR GO BETWEEN TO CONVEY HIS INSTRUCTIONS. IT WILL BE FACE TO FACE- I SHALL BEHOLD HIM, AND NOT DIE.

*** FOR TO SEE GOD IN HIS GLORY WOULD MEAN DEATH, IF GOD DID NOT VEIL HIMSELF IN SOME WAY BEFORE THIS, BUT NOT HERE!

1. AND CLOSENESS TO GOD AND THE LAMB WILL HIGHLIGHT THE PRIVILEGES OF THE SLAVES AND WE NO LONGER SEE GOD DIMLY, BUT FACE TO FACE, IN I CORINTHIANS 13:12 SAYS: (READ IT)

* AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS, HOW GLORIOUS CAN THAT BE? I MEAN THAT SURE HOPE ALONE SHOULD SPUR US ON NOW FOR LIFE’S TRIALS WILL SEEM SO SMALL WHEN WE SEE OUR GREAT GOD FACE TO FACE.

** BUT NOT ONLY WILL WE SEE HIM FACE TO FACE, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SLAVES, BUT ALSO HIS DIVINE OWNERSHIP OF US WILL BE MADE MANIFEST BY HIS NAME BEING WRITTEN ON OUR FOREHEADS – WE THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED.

*** AND IT DOESN’T SAY WHICH NAME OF GOD IS ON OUR FOREHEADS, SO I’M NOT GOING TO SPECULATE ON IT, BUT WE WILL WEAR IT PROUDLY, WE WILL LOVE THAT OWNERSHIP, THAT HOLY BRAND OF GOD ON OUR FOREHEADS.

**** FOR WE ARE HIS, WE BELONG TO HIM, AND HE WILL CARE FOR US FOREVER AS WE SERVE HIM FOREVER. FOR THE REIGN WILL BE FOREVER. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL QUICKLY SEE OUR LAST POINT, THE REIGN.

V. THE REIGN, (READ V. 5)

A. NOW AS WE LEARNED LAST WEEK IN REVELATION 21:23&25, THERE IS NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN AND WE WILL NOT NEED A LAMP TO LIGHT ANYTHING UP.

* NOR, WILL THE SUN BE NEEDED, FOR THE LORD GOD WILL ILLUMINE HEAVEN WITH THE LIGHT OF HIS GLORY.

** BELIEVER, THE GLORY OF GOD WILL SHINE AND PROVIDE THE ONLY LIGHT THAT IS NEEDED AND THE RIVER AND THE CITY PROPER WILL GLISTEN, WILL IT. BE ABLAZE WITH HIS GLORY, THE RADIANCE OF HIS DIVINE PRESENCE.

** AND THEN CLOSING OUT HIS FINAL VISION IN REVELATION TO REMIND US THAT WE AS GOD’S SLAVES, WE WILL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.

*** AND SLAVES DO NOT REIGN IN NATURAL TEMPORAL CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT WE AS GOD’S SLAVES AND NOW FRIENDS ACCORDING TO JOHN 15:14&15, WILL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER, LIT. “UNTO THE AGES OF THE AGES.”

**** AND THIS EXPRESSION AND WORD IN THE GREEK IS THE STRONGEST WAY OF INDICATING SOMETHING THAT IS NEVER ENDING OR UNCEASING, WE WILL REIGN FOR ETERNITY, FOR THE REIGN OF GOD WILL HAVE NO END AND WE REIGN WITH HIM.

1. AND HOW WE REIGN IS NOT GIVEN, BUT IN REALITY IT IS NOT NEEDED, FOR TO BE THERE, BEHOLDING GOD FACE TO FACE IN THIS PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOREVER IS ENOUGH FOR US NOW.

* AND IF WE HAD ALL THE DETAILS, WE PROBABLY COULDN’T STAND IT AND WE MIGHT BE SO HEAVENLY MINDED THAT WE WOULD BE OF NO EARTHLY GOOD. BUT REMEMBER AS SLAVES, WE WILL SHARE IN ROYALTY.

IN WRAP UP: (1) I’VE ALREADY GIVEN SOME APPLICATIONS TODAY WORKING THROUGH THIS TEXT.

* SO I CLOSE WITH A QUOTE THAT TAKES US BACK TO MY INTRODUCTION TODAY AND THE TRUTH THAT PARADISE IS RESTORED.

** THE QUOTE IS FROM ROBERT MOUNCE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION, IT SAYS:

*** “IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE, OUR BIBLE ENDS WITH THE ULTIMATE RESTORATION OF THE ORIGINAL CREATION. PAUL TEACHES THAT ALTHOUGH THE CREATION IS CURRENTLY IN BONDAGE TO DECAY, IT NEVERTHELESS EAGERLY AWAITS THE TIME WHEN IT WILL BE LIBERATED FROM THIS BONDAGE. THIS WILL TAKE PLACE WHEN THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE BROUGHT INTO THE GLORIOUS FUTURE PREPARED FOR THEM (ROMANS 8:19-21).

**** ALTHOUGH SIN HAS MARRED THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE, GOD HAS, THROUGH THE REDEMPTION WROUGHT BY HIS SON, SET INTO MOTION A NEW HUMANITY. IN THE PRESENT AGE HE RULES THE HEARTS OF ALL WHO HAVE TURNED TO HIM IN FAITH: IN THE AGE TO COME THAT REIGN WILL FIND ITS FULL COMPLETION. SIN WILL BE FOREVER REMOVED AND THE DESIGN OF EDEN WILL BE TOTALLY REALIZED.

(2) THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS THE FINAL CHAPTER IN GOD’S ETERNAL PLAN FOR HIS CHILDREN. IT PORTRAYS IN IMAGERY OF THE MOST EVOCATIVE KIND THE GLORIOUS FUTURE OF ALL WHO RESIST THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND TURN IN BELIEVING FAITH TO THE LAMB. IT BRINGS US FULL CIRCLE TO THE ORIGINAL DESIRES OF GOD IN HIS CREATION OF ALL THAT IS.”

* BROTHERS AND SISTERS, BE GLAD TODAY AND REJOICE IN OUR GREAT GOD, FOR OUR FAITH WILL BE SIGHT ONE DAY AND THE BETTER DAY IS COMING.