The Consummation Of All Things
Antichrist - End Times • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Lawlessness, Antichrist, persecution, destruction, wrath, judgment, death
Gave way to a joyful celebration of the bride and her groom at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
And after the wedding celebration of the Lamb and his bride, Jesus brings the church, His bride, to our new home.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
There is one final piece to this series.
This is the final consummation of all things and upon which we base our hope.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
Today we’re going to look at that inheritance.
Interestingly enough we see three things from the beginning of Genesis brought to fulfillment and conclusion in Revelation that are all part of our inheritance.
Those three things are: Light, Glory, and Life
We’ll look at these three things as we set up the stage for the final, closing act of God on behalf of His people.
In keeping with the theater theme, we’ll look at this in four scenes.
While these scenes fit nicely into the 7 C’s of History we are learning in Sunday School: Creation, Curse, Christ, and Consummation, for today’s illustration we’ll look at the the 4 B’s.
Scene 1 - The Beginning
Scene 2 - The Banishment
Scene 3 - The Bridge
Scene 4 - Brought Back
Read: Revelation 21:21-22:5
Scene 1: The Beginning
Scene 1: The Beginning
Light
Light
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Light is a symbol of truth, moral goodness, and purity. These were the starting points for God in creating.
Light is also a symbol of fellowship. We had direct intimate fellowship with God. - I John 1.7
Light equals Love - I John 2.10
Light symbolizes peace and happiness. Is 60.1
Glory - Imago Dei
Glory - Imago Dei
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
1 Corinthians 11:7 (NASB95)
For a man...is the image and glory of God...
Glory is connected to God’s infinite perfection, divine majesty, and holiness.
action, position, character.
The glory of God, then, is what He is essentially.
The glory of man derives itself from that since we are created in the image of God.
The glory of man is the ideal condition of what we were meant to be in God’s mind.
In other words, in God’s mind you are the best version of yourself.
He sees you perfected in action, in position of royalty, and purity of character.
Life
Life
Genesis 2:7–11 (NASB95)
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Breath of life - also means wind and spirit
Tree of life
Pleasing to the sight
Good for food
See-food diet...
The Tree of Life becomes the focal point here and at the end.
By synecdoche
Garden of life - grow
River of life
Waters the Garden
Divides into four
The River
Water is a common metaphor referring to God abundantly supplying the spiritual needs of His people.
Water is frequently associated with the salvation of God and the life-imparting and cleansing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.
River brings joy and gladness, thanksgiving and singing
Wherever the river flows it brings life.
Scene 2: The Banishment - What Was Lost
Scene 2: The Banishment - What Was Lost
therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
Light Lost: Darkness
Light Lost: Darkness
Instead of truth, moral goodness, and purity: Darkness - metaphor of ignorance, wickedness, and disorder, blindness.
Instead of fellowship: Loneliness
Instead of love: Hate - I John 2.11
But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Instead of peace and happiness: anxiety and dread.
Light also reveals what is hidden. Now we hide from God like Adam and Eve did.
Glory Lost: Shame
Glory Lost: Shame
Glory is also the true apprehension of God.
Since we ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, our thinking of God is tainted, even worse corrupted.
Now, we can’t truly understand God.
Glory also means honor due or rendered.
Since we listened to God’s creation, the serpent, and gave him our loyalty and allegiance, we now worship everything but God.
and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Now, we don’t give God His full recognition.
As a result, we have fallen short of the image, character, and recognition of God.
All we have now is shame.
Life Lost: Death
Life Lost: Death
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Breath of Life removed.
God breathed the breath of life.
Again the Hebrew word can mean spirit and is applied to the Holy Spirit.
It’s why we call this a spiritual death.
When it is man’s breath without the Holy Spirit it signifies his weakness and frailty
Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
Scene 3: The Bridge - Jesus As The Fulfillment
Scene 3: The Bridge - Jesus As The Fulfillment
John 1:4–5 (NASB95)
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:14 (NASB95)
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB95)
...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Glory is spoken of Jesus with His royal majesty as Messiah, and thus as the true Imago Dei, Image of God.
“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Life
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Tree - The Cross
By Jesus choosing to die, he is in effect taking ownership of the cross. He is claiming that the tree of death is now under His dominion.
What we turned over to Satan through listening to him and giving him our allegiance, Christ has wrestled back.
Through His death on the cross, he destroyed the fruit of the Tree of death and can now give us access again to the Tree of Life.
Jesus chose life for us by dying for us.
Jesus became the curse for us.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
The River
The Holy Spirit is the living water.
We see the cleansing work through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
The Holy Spirit is restoring the Image of God in us.
The Holy Spirit is restoring life.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Scene 4: Brought Back - The Final Restoration Of That Which Was Lost
Scene 4: Brought Back - The Final Restoration Of That Which Was Lost
Our Inheritance
Glory - vs 21-27
Glory - vs 21-27
City of Gold (vs 21)
The street is pure gold. In fact the whole city is made of pure gold (vs 18).
The gold is not meant to give the impression of wealth and luxury, but rather to point to the glory and holiness of God. (cf. vs 10-11)
And ultimately is portraying the purity of the bride and her splendor in mirroring the glory of God.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Restored:
Our character - purity is restored.
We are able to once again be perfected.
Temple (vs 22-23) (Rev 21:3)
The glory of God filled the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem.
Shekinah Glory of God.
Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.
But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
Restored
We can now see the face of God. (22:4)
We will truly understand and acknowledge who God is and what He has done.
We will finally see His face shine upon us, and we won’t cower in condemnation, but we will beam with joy.
Relationship
Our Image - our glory is restored.
We are actually who we were intended to be the way that God saw us.
We are the best version of ourselves.
We are able to give God proper and perfect glory again.
We are able to worship Him as we were intended to.
Throne - 22:1, 3
Restored
Our royalty is restored.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Reign - (22:5) - A restoration of taking dominion and ruling over all of God’s creation.
Our work, our action our worship is restored.
We are able to give God the proper worship He is due.
We will reign with Him.
Light - vs 23-25; 22:1-5
Light - vs 23-25; 22:1-5
Artificial light vs. the real deal.
Restoration:
No more night. (vs 5) We don’t have to wander in the darkness groping for God.
No more stumbling in the dark.
No more uncertainty.
No more doubt.
Fellowship. We will be fully known.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
Knowledge - Since we’ll see him face to face, we’ll know Him better
Nothing unclean will ever enter the Holy City (vs 27)
Life - 22:1-4
Life - 22:1-4
Restoration:
The Tree of Life - vs 2
We can eat from the tree of life. No more barring the way.
Fruit - bears 12 crops of fruit, one for each month.
Leaves - healing - therapeia (therapist) - voluntary service, attendance, ministry and in the care of the sick - relief and healing
Healing - Transformation (22:2)
The Transforming work of the Holy Spirit beautifies us and transforms us into the image of Jesus, so that we can stand in the glory of God.
so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
No More Curse (22:3)
All the curses from Genesis 3 gone.
Name on forehead (22:4) - ownership and new life (ownership - bought from slavery and given a new name - a new title)
We can drink from the water of life (Rev 21.6; Rev 22.17)
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Conclusion:
Our Inheritance Reserved In Heaven
Light - full understanding of God
Fellowship, love, joy,
No more doubt and darkness.
Glory connected to God’s infinite perfection, divine majesty, and holiness.
action, position, character.
Priest - serve and worship, Royal - reign with Him, gold - holy, the perfect image of God.
No more hiding and shame, mourning or crying.
Life - Eternal, fullness of
peace, righteousness
No more curse, wickedness, disease or death
Closing Song: Hymn of Heaven
