Today, we come to the end of our
Advent series. It's been based on Jesus' bold statement: 'I am the Light of the
world.' Thus far we've looked at what Jesus has
done in rescuing us from the darkness. Today, we're going to look at what
He will do. Today, we look at our
future as disciples of Jesus. When Jesus returns, the Scripture's theme of
light will come to its climax and that will mean some astounding things for
believers. Before I read the text for the sermon, I want to let you know what I
intend to do. John is picturing your future. He uses some beautiful images to
do that. I'm going to pick a few of them and explain them and what they say
about your future. My goal is to help you to see your future and to see how that
future affects your present. The point of the sermon is about living well now because of what will happen then. Please listen as I read Revelation 22.1-5.
There are more than a few images
here, but I'm just going to consider three: the river of the water of life, the
tree of life and the promise of seeing God's face. I will touch on each rather
briefly.
First, the river of the water of
life. We've encountered the image of water before in the Gospel of John where
Jesus offers the rivers of living water. Our text describes the complete
fulfillment of Jesus' offer. And the thing to focus on is simply this. The day
is coming when you will no longer be thirsty. The day is coming when your soul
will be profoundly satisfied because you will drink deeply of the water of
life. I want to remind you about that word, 'life'. It's all about the life of
God. It's about knowing God and each other intimately, and being known
intimately. Life is all about full and deep relationships. So, life is all
about love. The contrast, death, is all about being alone, knowing no one, and
being known by no one. There is no love in death. I hope the image of hell as
absolute loneliness is clearly impressed upon your minds. Eternity, the new heavens
and earth, are the exact opposite of that. Eternity for disciples of Jesus will
be the full enjoyment of fellowship with God and with all His saints. So, the
thirst for life, the life of God, will be abundantly, completely and
increasingly satisfied - forever. That's the river of the water of life.
Then, there is the tree of life.
I want to focus on one particular aspect of this tree. 'The leaves of the tree
are for the healing of the nations.' Did you catch the assumption in that
statement? The assumption is that the nations - that includes all of you - will
need healing. Is that surprising? You live in a broken world, a world filled
with death, a world that leaves wounds. And you all have felt that, and still
do. You are among the wounded. And, at times, it feels as if it is more than
what you can bear. The promise of the age to come is that there will be healing
for all those wounds; all of them. They won't be merely forgotten but healed.
So, think of all the healing miracles of Jesus: those lepers, that woman with
the flow of blood, the blind, lame and deaf. Those are wounds of the body, and
they will be healed. But they are pictures of wounds that aren't about the
body, but wounds of the soul. Here, think of the words that have cut you, the
hopes that were raised and then dashed, the different bits of death that you
have suffered. There will be healing. The leaves of the tree of life will be
for your healing.
Then, there is the face. John
tells us that we will see God's face. Bear in mind what God had told Moses on
Mt. Sinai. 'No one can see My face and live.' But one day you will see God's
face. You will see and live like never before. I have a story from the old
days. This is before personal computers and iPads and Skype and Facetime. Linda
and I were engaged. But I was a student in north Jersey and she was at a school
just outside Philadelphia. There was little real 'face time' between us. So, we
wrote letters. You know, snail mail. She wrote about what she was doing, and I,
of course, wrote about what I was thinking. But every once in a while one of us
would scrape up enough money to take a train ride to the other, and we would
see each other's face. And that was so good. Much better than a letter. God is
with us, Immanuel. We communicate with Him, and He with us. But we do not see
His face. The day will come when we will, and that will be so good.
Now, these images, and the others
that I've passed over, all go together to explain what John meant when he wrote
this:
And night will
be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be
their light.
Jesus has come to be the light of
the world. He shines now, and you have tasted of that light. But the day is
coming when your experience of the light will be more than just a taste. It
will be beyond what you can imagine. The night will be completely gone. No more
evil or death or sin. Only light, the light of the life of God: thirst
quenched, wounds healed, knowing and enjoying God in a way that is presently
incomprehensible.
This has much to say not just
about then, but also about now. Let me mention a few things.
This gives hope. Sadly, that's a
word that needs to be translated, not because it's a church word but because
it's become a worldly word. If you mention 'hope' out there in the world they
will think that you are talking about something that you really would like to
happen. But who knows if it will? That is a worldly hope. It would be clearer
if people used the word ‘wish’ instead of ‘hope’. That’s what they’re talking
about. They are making a wish. But that wishing has nothing to do with what the
Bible means by 'hope'. This is real hope. God has made you a promise, but it's
a promise that He has not yet kept. It is yet future. So, you wait for the day
when He will keep His promise, and you wait certain that He will keep that
promise. So, while the worldly person is wishing into the darkness, the
disciple is simply being patient. One day - God knows when, you don't - He will
keep His promise. That's just a fact. All of this will be changed, transformed,
renewed. Jesus will return, and the new heavens and new earth will begin. God
will keep His promise. And all this about the water of life, that tree, seeing
God's face and all the rest, will no longer be a promise made. It will be a
promise kept. And so, you can tell yourself what I tell myself: one day all of
this, all that is wrong, all that confuses, all that hurts - all of this will
be over. One day, a time of deeply satisfying life will begin. No more darkness.
Only light. This is a certainty. God has made a promise and has staked His
reputation on keeping that promise. This is what we hope for. It is what we
expect. All we need do is patiently wait for it. God keeps all His promises.
All of this helps to answer a question
that I'm guessing that most of you have asked at one point or another. Why does
life hurt so? Well, it may sound odd, but much of the hurting is result of
being rescued. Listen to Paul:
And not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
While living in hope means living
in the certainty of what God has promised, it also means living with unmet
longings. If the time for a deeply and completely satisfying life is later,
that means it isn't happening now. We are not yet in the new heavens and new
earth. We do not yet experience the place where there is no night. We live in a
broken world filled with broken people, including ourselves. What is happening
here, all around us, is darkness, evil, sin and death. We live in this broken
world having tasted of the light, and so we long for more of that light. And
while there can be more light even now, the depths of our souls will not be satisfied
until later. And a good Bible word for this is 'suffering'. That word covers
lots more than just this, but this is certainly included. Waiting in hope as a
disciple, while dealing with a dark world, is suffering.
In light of all of that, I find
this next thought very helpful as I deal with this dark world. There is a
connection between your suffering here and your enjoyment there.
When someone learns to hope for
what God has promised it changes how he lives. It certainly affects his
longings for later. But it will affect more than that. The hopeful disciple
won't be taken in by the attempts at counterfeit hope that the world offers -
the wishing into the darkness. Because of that he will live differently, choose
differently, invest his life differently. People will notice that. And while
that will lead some to be curious and ask you questions about this hope, it
will lead others to react against you. People are threatened by 'different'.
Remember, they killed Jesus. He was too different. So, embracing this hope will
mean that not only the longing will be greater but so will the antagonism.
Suffering.
And that's where something Paul
wrote fits:
For this light
momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that
are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are
unseen are eternal.
Paul is saying that Christian
suffering has a positive result. It produces something good. It produces 'an
eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison'. It produces a greater
experience of the light in the age to come. The enjoyment of what John pictured
in our text will be that much greater for those who suffer more.
The Christian suffers because he
looks to the things that are unseen. He looks to the new heavens and earth that
God has promised him. That suffering is real, and as such, it is reminder that
the future enjoyment of the life of light is just as real.
All of this goes a long way to
explain Advent. Jesus has come. He has come to rescue us from the darkness and
to usher us into the light. Now, in this present age, we walk in the light. But
there is more of that light to enjoy. Eternity is coming, Jesus' Second Advent.
When He comes He will bring with Him a new heaven and a new earth.
So, as you celebrate the birth of
our Savior, spend some time looking back. Consider Bethlehem and what happened
there. Read Luke 2. That's a good thing to do. But also spend a little time
looking forward. Remind yourself of your hope. What is it that God has promised
you? Read our text from Revelation 22. John has painted a picture. Put yourself
in the picture. Imagine what enjoying all of that might feel like. Yes, try to
imagine it: a soul that is utterly satisfied, wounds that are completely
healed, seeing God's face as He smiles directly at you. Put yourself in the
picture. Later is going to be so very good. This is what God has promised. This
is what Jesus has saved us to. Advent.