Revelation 22:6-21 Joel Keller
Well, we've come to the end of the Book. We know the end of the story ... which, really, is only the beginning. I want to commend Bob for the great job done on leading/teaching us through the Book of Revelation. Not all questions were answered, but we knew that would be the case. I feel we, as a congregation, experienced communitas throughout this journey. So, here is my last stab at Revelation; certainly not a teaching - simply observations and comments. Thanks for your part in reading or contributing to this blog. It was fun.
If you know me, you understand that there is a melancholiac aspect to who I am. I take warnings very seriously. I'm a thinker. I ponder things. I was speaking to an intern at my work last week about this very text and this very warning.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Revelation 22:18,19
This chapter, for me is: good news, bad news, good news. Jesus tells John to tell the folks, "I am coming soon." (The study on the I AM's in the Gospel of John is enlightening. Jesus does indeed claim to be God...several times.) Then He gives the warning in verses 18 & 19. Then, again He says, "Surely, I am coming soon." My intern friend I mentioned previously, is a practicing Mormon. The writings of Joseph Smith in Mormon teaching, I believe, have "added to" the Bible & its teachings. We as believers, need to study the Word of God in order to discern truth. We are bombarded on a daily basis with messages - sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant - that do not line up with Scripture. We must begin to see life through the grid or filter of the truth in the Word of God. We are told to be prepared to give an account for the hope that is in us. I exhort you to know the Word.
Paul writes to Timothy in that same vein: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
II Timothy 2:15
As we enter the Christmas holiday season, I encourage you to bask in the truth and excitement of the coming King. Remember: He is coming soon!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Longing for a Better Country
Revelation 21:1-22:5 Eric Boberg
Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
One of the the great joys of my life is architecture. My shelves are overflowing with books featuring beautiful little houses and towns. I'm constantly on the lookout for that special dream town where the city fathers got some things right. A place of warmth and charm, unpretentious but with enough attention to detail to let you know that the builders and the people who live there really care. I have found a number of such towns and I've made a few special trips to experience them. If the sales of books and travel magazines are any indication I'm not the only one with this affliction. A large part of the population is looking for the same thing. That secret out of-the-way place, undiscovered by most. Sometimes it's not grand vistas or recreational opportunities as much as something from the past, something that has been lost in other places. We are looking for Mayberry. Old towns are almost always more beautiful than new towns, because old towns embodied a society that had many more shared cultural and aesthetic values and so had a much greater internal harmony. And that harmony, if it lingers on and is mixed with the love of people for their town and for each other, can contribute to the overarching sense of beauty we experience. We will long to be part of it ourselves. A number of years ago it occurred to me that this longing was really spiritual. This deep craving for beauty and harmony was really a longing for heaven and that new city.
In Revelation 21 John has a vision of a city that is also the bride of Christ. That means it is not only architecturally beautiful, it is beautiful because it is made up of people who are individually and collectively beautiful. They have shared values that are good, pure and loving toward each other and toward God. Imagine a place where everyone loves each other so much that crime is completely unthinkable. Most of the time the larger the city the more unsafe and insignificant we feel. But this city, which is almost 2 million square miles, is totally safe and totally loving. Another striking thing about this city is that it is modular; it comes down out of heaven made by God. It is recognizable as a city, but it is new, fresh, without any defects.
All the dream towns I have traveled to over the years have been interesting, but inevitably flawed and disappointing. Probably my favorite - Seaside, Florida - is strikingly beautiful. It was a grand experiment in what became known as the New Urbanism. A compact, traditional-looking town with everything necessary in walking distance. Picket fences, brick streets and front porches to encourage interaction with your neighbors. The only problem was that it was so beautiful that it became too expensive for anyone to live in for more than short periods of time. Seaside has over 350 houses and cottages but only 14 full time residents. Everything is for rent. So much for community.
Still, I can't help but applaud the effort and the creativity. You can argue that investing time and energy in building some paradise is selfish and impossible, but the impulse of wanting to find a better country goes back to Abraham. The building may be futile, but the searching and longing is Biblical. Rather than be frustrated by the flaws of dream towns, we might rather be thankful that they remind us this is just a shadow of something better (Romans 8:22).
Revelation 21:5 - 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.”
And let us be like Abraham, "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Hebrews 11:10
Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
One of the the great joys of my life is architecture. My shelves are overflowing with books featuring beautiful little houses and towns. I'm constantly on the lookout for that special dream town where the city fathers got some things right. A place of warmth and charm, unpretentious but with enough attention to detail to let you know that the builders and the people who live there really care. I have found a number of such towns and I've made a few special trips to experience them. If the sales of books and travel magazines are any indication I'm not the only one with this affliction. A large part of the population is looking for the same thing. That secret out of-the-way place, undiscovered by most. Sometimes it's not grand vistas or recreational opportunities as much as something from the past, something that has been lost in other places. We are looking for Mayberry. Old towns are almost always more beautiful than new towns, because old towns embodied a society that had many more shared cultural and aesthetic values and so had a much greater internal harmony. And that harmony, if it lingers on and is mixed with the love of people for their town and for each other, can contribute to the overarching sense of beauty we experience. We will long to be part of it ourselves. A number of years ago it occurred to me that this longing was really spiritual. This deep craving for beauty and harmony was really a longing for heaven and that new city.
In Revelation 21 John has a vision of a city that is also the bride of Christ. That means it is not only architecturally beautiful, it is beautiful because it is made up of people who are individually and collectively beautiful. They have shared values that are good, pure and loving toward each other and toward God. Imagine a place where everyone loves each other so much that crime is completely unthinkable. Most of the time the larger the city the more unsafe and insignificant we feel. But this city, which is almost 2 million square miles, is totally safe and totally loving. Another striking thing about this city is that it is modular; it comes down out of heaven made by God. It is recognizable as a city, but it is new, fresh, without any defects.
All the dream towns I have traveled to over the years have been interesting, but inevitably flawed and disappointing. Probably my favorite - Seaside, Florida - is strikingly beautiful. It was a grand experiment in what became known as the New Urbanism. A compact, traditional-looking town with everything necessary in walking distance. Picket fences, brick streets and front porches to encourage interaction with your neighbors. The only problem was that it was so beautiful that it became too expensive for anyone to live in for more than short periods of time. Seaside has over 350 houses and cottages but only 14 full time residents. Everything is for rent. So much for community.
Still, I can't help but applaud the effort and the creativity. You can argue that investing time and energy in building some paradise is selfish and impossible, but the impulse of wanting to find a better country goes back to Abraham. The building may be futile, but the searching and longing is Biblical. Rather than be frustrated by the flaws of dream towns, we might rather be thankful that they remind us this is just a shadow of something better (Romans 8:22).
Revelation 21:5 - 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.”
And let us be like Abraham, "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Hebrews 11:10
Friday, November 29, 2013
Three Identities…Telling of Love
Revelation 21:1 - 22:5 George
Badeaux
In Revelation chapter 21 God speaks to us about our identity in 3 different ways. Knowing our identity is important. We live out of our identity. It affects how we interact with others, including God Himself. We want to get this right. We want to start from the appropriate identity, not a false one. It is important to know the truth about our identity, and not walk in lies about ourselves.
In verse 3 it says, "Behold, the tabernacle of
God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His
people, and God Himself will be among them.”
We are already His people in a very
special way. But Revelation speaks of
the full expression of this identity, the final goal of God’s moving
progressively closer and closer through “Immanuel, God with us” to His ultimate
goal. His desire. Because He loves us.
In verse 7 it says, "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God
and he will be My son.”
Christians are already His sons.
But again, there is a higher expression of this at the end of time. He loves us in a very special, Father and son
kind of way. He uses one of the two
highest forms of love we know as humans to try to explain His love for us.
In verse 9 it says, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." We know from
elsewhere in the new testament that the bride of Christ is the church - the
church worldwide, all Christians. This
relationship is the main focus of chapter 21.
God uses the closest of all human relationships to help us understand
His love. And I believe that the
detailing of all the beautiful precious stones is partly to tell us how
beautiful He thinks His bride is. He
loves us! He loves you! He thinks we are beautiful!
This is our identity. The God who created the world, who created
us, who supplies the way for relationship with Himself, who has the power and
authority to throw Satan and all those who refuse His love into the lake of
fire - this mighty and glorious God loves us, thinks we are beautiful, and
desires to spend eternity in intimate relationship with us.
We are blessed. We are Loved.
We win!!!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Streets of Gold
Revelation 21:1-22:5 Joel Keller
Streets of gold. Yep, that highly sought-after item that seems to dictate decisions made around the world. Yes, God knows the value of gold, but He puts it into perspective for us by showing us how He will use it in heaven. It lines the streets upon which we will tread. Isn't that just like God? He puts life into perspective; shows us the things that are really important. Like eternity. Is there anything more crucial than where someone will spend eternity?
No more darkness. And God will be our light (Rev.22:5). We earthlings seek the sun. Some would say we worship the sun. We love the warmth in our joints. The light gives us the vitamin D we need to battle depression in our bodies. I know these seem like random thoughts ... because they are. Reading the details of the culmination of history, and reading the end of the story - it causes me to gaze off into the distance with a glazed look in my eyes. It's so detailed, so intricate, so specific, that I simply need to rest & say, "Daddy, I'm so glad You know what You're doing. I trust in You."
So, little ones, trust in Jesus today. You don't have to have it all figured out. He's got it all figured out already. He says, "I got this, JK." Rest today, in the knowledge that if you are His, He will take you home in due time. And we will walk together on streets of gold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlHUKY3jBv0
Streets of gold. Yep, that highly sought-after item that seems to dictate decisions made around the world. Yes, God knows the value of gold, but He puts it into perspective for us by showing us how He will use it in heaven. It lines the streets upon which we will tread. Isn't that just like God? He puts life into perspective; shows us the things that are really important. Like eternity. Is there anything more crucial than where someone will spend eternity?
No more darkness. And God will be our light (Rev.22:5). We earthlings seek the sun. Some would say we worship the sun. We love the warmth in our joints. The light gives us the vitamin D we need to battle depression in our bodies. I know these seem like random thoughts ... because they are. Reading the details of the culmination of history, and reading the end of the story - it causes me to gaze off into the distance with a glazed look in my eyes. It's so detailed, so intricate, so specific, that I simply need to rest & say, "Daddy, I'm so glad You know what You're doing. I trust in You."
So, little ones, trust in Jesus today. You don't have to have it all figured out. He's got it all figured out already. He says, "I got this, JK." Rest today, in the knowledge that if you are His, He will take you home in due time. And we will walk together on streets of gold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlHUKY3jBv0
Monday, November 25, 2013
Held By Heaven
Revelation 21:1-22:5 Kathy Carlson
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. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
The twenty-first chapter of Revelation centers around heaven coming to earth - God dwelling on earth to be forever with His own. What a magnificent glimpse into the wonders of heaven and the glory of our God’s dwelling place. God is at the center of it all. Everything described in chapter 21 is for God, by God and about God. But when I read chapter 21 of Revelation, in particular verse 4, all I can think about is my mom.
I don’t know how a person grieves without the hope of heaven. No clue. Grieving the unexpected loss of my mom almost broke me, and I have the hope of Christ. Saying goodbye to my mom after she suffered a massive stroke a year and a half ago was excruciatingly difficult. Accepting her loss and that she is truly gone has been a long, painful process. But for heaven I would have found a way to give up on life - the pain and loss were so overwhelming.
The truth of heaven helped pull me through a season of grief and give me hope for the future. One day a few months ago, out of long-held habit, I began to pray for my mom’s needs and realized I no longer needed to ask anything at all on her behalf. Every need she ever had on this side of heaven has been answered and completed. She is free from pain of every kind, free from the threat of sickness and death. She is in the presence of the Savior and would not trade it for anything at all.
The older I get, the more I long for heaven … for the presence of Christ in His full splendor, for the broken to be made whole, for peace without limit, for an eternity with my Jesus. And this hope: heaven holds my mom. One day, for the both of us, the shadow of suffering and death will be no more as we join for an eternity of time spent together in worship of the King. Held by heaven. It’s the beautiful promise for every believer who puts their faith in the person of Jesus Christ.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Infinite God
Revelation 20 Eric Boberg
Last week I was toiling with the difficulty of understanding a future universe without evil or perhaps even the possibility of it. As you might recall, weeks earlier I had concluded evil could not be allowed to run on forever - there must be an end game, a day of judgement. While I don't want to minimize my emotional anxiety in wrestling with these matters, I also hope I didn't cause anyone undue discouragement or to lose hope.
As I continued to wrestle this week, I was thinking about levels of knowledge and how we know what we know. Obviously our personal understanding of this world and the universe changes as we grow. I was trying to think of some visual representation of the process. If we would construct a simple bar graph of people's knowledge-base, we might note that a baby enters this world knowing very little. But at age one that knowledge has increased 50 times; at age five perhaps another 50 times and on and on without a setback, unless you consider the teen years (but that's another story). In the full flower of adulthood that knowledge has increased thousands of times. For some, the growth of knowledge has been spectacular to such an extent that we might dare to call them wise.
But it's not just our individual knowledge that increases as we grow and mature; collective human knowledge is also increasing. Science writer David Russell Schilling notes, "Buckminster Fuller created the 'Knowledge Doubling Curve'; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II, knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple, as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average, human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours."
I think the rate of increase has a lot to do with the number of processing units, living things, people, computers, and the number of connections - internal and external - they can make. Yet, one really has to wonder about the usability of knowledge that is expanding so rapidly. It still has to be interpreted, filed and used. It is possible, I think,to be bogged down and killed by information-overload, much like one who dies of thirst floating on a life raft in the ocean. Water, water everywhere ... and not a drop to drink.
But what about God? How could you even dream of trying to graph His knowledge-base? He not only has a vast amounts of information (all of it!), He has a system to sort through all of it. Consider the things He knows as the Creator and because He has existed forever. Then there are those connections He has with every part of the universe and all the people in it. And it's not just little temperature probe, hot or cold connections, but rather every intimate detail. Any graph for God would extend off the page and up through the atmosphere, past our space junk, the moon and planets in our solar system. It would go on through galaxies we can only glimpse - and beyond. God's knowledge is more infinite than the universe, if that is even possible ... to be more infinite than infinity. It's mind-blowing. And remember, just going by what we know right now, when we get to the farthest star that we can see with our most powerful telescope - God not only knows about that star, He knows its exact chemical composition. More than that, He knows about every part of it, every grain of sand!
So back to last week, when I consider my logical difficulties about questions surrounding a universe without evil or contrast, they seem small in a relative way. I'm finding that usually God does not answer my difficult questions, rather He overwhelms me with His largeness and His brilliance.
This week I find a passage that is startling - shocking really - when I consider it in light of the infinite knowledge of God.
Revelation 20:4 (NIV)
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
People, yes mere people, who by their very nature know so very little compared to God; they are allowed to judge and reign with Christ. Relatively, they know little; yet there are certain truths and ways of seeing and understanding that open the door. God provides the filter, the way to sort through all the information and get to what is essential. Realizing their lack and accepting the righteousness of Jesus, they are qualified by their simple faithfulness, perseverance, suffering and finally by death. They follow the example of Jesus, who was made perfect by suffering. Hebrews 2:10
I find this deeply mysterious and incredibly beautiful. With all the big and evil entities clashing and crashing in the book of Revelation, it is comforting to know that simple spiritual disciplines - things we can practice every day - will eventually win the day.
Last week I was toiling with the difficulty of understanding a future universe without evil or perhaps even the possibility of it. As you might recall, weeks earlier I had concluded evil could not be allowed to run on forever - there must be an end game, a day of judgement. While I don't want to minimize my emotional anxiety in wrestling with these matters, I also hope I didn't cause anyone undue discouragement or to lose hope.
As I continued to wrestle this week, I was thinking about levels of knowledge and how we know what we know. Obviously our personal understanding of this world and the universe changes as we grow. I was trying to think of some visual representation of the process. If we would construct a simple bar graph of people's knowledge-base, we might note that a baby enters this world knowing very little. But at age one that knowledge has increased 50 times; at age five perhaps another 50 times and on and on without a setback, unless you consider the teen years (but that's another story). In the full flower of adulthood that knowledge has increased thousands of times. For some, the growth of knowledge has been spectacular to such an extent that we might dare to call them wise.
But it's not just our individual knowledge that increases as we grow and mature; collective human knowledge is also increasing. Science writer David Russell Schilling notes, "Buckminster Fuller created the 'Knowledge Doubling Curve'; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II, knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple, as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average, human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours."
I think the rate of increase has a lot to do with the number of processing units, living things, people, computers, and the number of connections - internal and external - they can make. Yet, one really has to wonder about the usability of knowledge that is expanding so rapidly. It still has to be interpreted, filed and used. It is possible, I think,to be bogged down and killed by information-overload, much like one who dies of thirst floating on a life raft in the ocean. Water, water everywhere ... and not a drop to drink.
But what about God? How could you even dream of trying to graph His knowledge-base? He not only has a vast amounts of information (all of it!), He has a system to sort through all of it. Consider the things He knows as the Creator and because He has existed forever. Then there are those connections He has with every part of the universe and all the people in it. And it's not just little temperature probe, hot or cold connections, but rather every intimate detail. Any graph for God would extend off the page and up through the atmosphere, past our space junk, the moon and planets in our solar system. It would go on through galaxies we can only glimpse - and beyond. God's knowledge is more infinite than the universe, if that is even possible ... to be more infinite than infinity. It's mind-blowing. And remember, just going by what we know right now, when we get to the farthest star that we can see with our most powerful telescope - God not only knows about that star, He knows its exact chemical composition. More than that, He knows about every part of it, every grain of sand!
So back to last week, when I consider my logical difficulties about questions surrounding a universe without evil or contrast, they seem small in a relative way. I'm finding that usually God does not answer my difficult questions, rather He overwhelms me with His largeness and His brilliance.
This week I find a passage that is startling - shocking really - when I consider it in light of the infinite knowledge of God.
Revelation 20:4 (NIV)
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
People, yes mere people, who by their very nature know so very little compared to God; they are allowed to judge and reign with Christ. Relatively, they know little; yet there are certain truths and ways of seeing and understanding that open the door. God provides the filter, the way to sort through all the information and get to what is essential. Realizing their lack and accepting the righteousness of Jesus, they are qualified by their simple faithfulness, perseverance, suffering and finally by death. They follow the example of Jesus, who was made perfect by suffering. Hebrews 2:10
I find this deeply mysterious and incredibly beautiful. With all the big and evil entities clashing and crashing in the book of Revelation, it is comforting to know that simple spiritual disciplines - things we can practice every day - will eventually win the day.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Christ's Book of Life
Revelation 20 Peter Nordell
We are going to watch the final battle between God and the forces of evil, the Devil - Satan. The angel comes with keys and chain and binds up Satan for 1000 years. Satan is put into the abyss and sealed to protect the nations.
John then sees the thrones with the martyrs / saints serving God and Christ; they shall be priests of God and of Christ and reign for 1000 years. Satan comes with his army, surrounds the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire come down from heaven and the evil is devoured forever and ever.
The next scene is the great white throne, the book of life is opened and those not found listed in the book are cast into the lake of fire.
What an ending and a reminder to us all that God will list his followers in His book. We must be ready to remind our fellow friends that the most important book is Christ's book of life. Choose His salvation and His forgiveness. We are to be washed in the Blood of the Lamb.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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