Original subtitles

hello again one last time my name is

dawn Carson in this final session I want

to talk about the God who triumphs by

this title I mean to say more than that

this God is actually there and not just

a figment of our religious imaginations

and that he eventually triumphs over all

other ostensible gods that is doubtless

true but the last two chapters of the

Bible promise much more God is bringing

the world to a consummation the final

restoration what the Bible variously

calls a new heaven and a new earth or

the new Jerusalem not only will justice

be done it will be seen to be done the

final transformation of Christ's blood

bought people will bring about

resurrection existence and a universe so

renovated that no hint of death sin

corruption hatred and idolatry will lurk

there

biblically faithful Christianity

including the call to sacrifice for

others as we follow King Jesus does not

really make much sense unless it makes

eternal sense so Christians look forward

to the end even though we know that end

may be long delayed but we hunger for it

and we join Christians throughout the

ages who have prayed even so come Lord

Jesus we come now to the last book of

the Bible the last two chapters

revelation 21 and 22 I'm not going to

read right through both of them but I

will read revelation 21 and the first

few verses of 22 let me begin however

rather adjacently in the Sermon on the

Mount reported in Matthew 5 6 and 7

jesus said that we are not to lay up

treasures on earth

for ourselves where moth and rust

corrode where thieves dig through and

steal are where the stock market can

erode at all rather were to lay up

treasures in heaven where moth and rust

cannot corrode where thieves cannot dig

through and steal and where the stock

market has no effect whatsoever and then

he adds an astonishingly important

sentence he adds for where your treasure

is there your heart will be also

now note carefully what he says he does

not say guard your heart

he says choose your treasure now there

are other passages where we're told to

guard our hearts guard your heart wrote

of it are the Wellsprings of life yeah

there are texts like that but in this

passage in the Sermon on the Mount

that's not what Jesus says what he says

is your heart will follow your treasure

so choose your treasure or write in

other words if what you value the most

has to do with treasures down here

things which may in themselves be good

for which to give thanks things to

appreciate if nevertheless that is the

entire horizon of your treasure that's

where your heart will go part now not in

some sort of romantic or merely

emotional sense so often in the Bible

heart has to do with the the inmost

being of a human being who you are what

you think what you cherish and if what

you value out there has to do with

everything in this light and that's all

and that's where you heart will go

that's where your imagination goes

that's where your energy goes that's

where your creative imagination goes

that that's of what you think abouts

what you hope for and it may be if

you're a Christian that it's some sort

of deep but fairly insignificant Creed

level you also believe there's a new

heaven and the new earth but it doesn't

mean a blessed thing about how you live

because your heart has its treasures

here

if on the other hand though you can

thoroughly appreciate all the good

things that God gives us in this light

and there are so many of them yet what

you treasure the most has to do with the

new heaven and the new earth that's

where your imagination will go that's

where your energies will go that's where

your heart goes now Christians in parts

of the world where there is a lot of

persecution or violence or suffering

they have no difficulty understanding

that at all you meet Christians in the

Southern Sudan they understand that you

meet Christians in Iran they understand

that

but when we have so much in the West

then our heart follows so much here that

it's difficult for our hearts to go

pitter-patter and become really excited

about what's over there that means that

one of the things that we ought to do if

we're to take the injunction of the Lord

Jesus seriously is take time pretty

often to reflect from the Bible what the

new heaven and the earth are like what

the new heaven and the new earth are

like we need to fire up our imagination

so we we see what it is that the Lord

Jesus is commanding us to treasure to

think about to value to run after and

there are a few passages in all of the

Bible more calculated to do that than

revelation 21 in revelation 22 again

they're deeply symbol Laden and there

isn't time in the few minutes left for

me to go through every verse step by

step step by step there are good

commentaries out there if you're really

curious I'll name some afterwards but

nevertheless even at a superficial fly

past you begin to see what Jesus is on

about chapter 21 the seer John writes

then I saw a new heaven and a new earth

for the first heaven and the first earth

had passed away and there was no longer

any sea I saw the holy city the New

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from

God prepared as a bride beautifully

dressed for her husband and I heard a

loud voice from the throne saying look

God's dwelling places 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 he was seated on

the throne said I am making everything

new then he said write this down for

these words are trustworthy and true he

said to me it is done I am the Alpha and

the Omega the beginning

and the end to the thirsty I will give

water without cost from the spring of

the water of life those who are

victorious will inherit all this and I

will be their God and they will be my

children but the Cowardly the

unbelieving the vile the murderers the

sexually immoral those who practice

magic arts the idolaters all Liars they

will be consigned to the fiery lake of

burning sulfur this is the second death

one of the seven angels who had the

seven bowls full of the seven last

plagues came and said to me come I will

show you the bride the wife of the Lamb

and he carried me away in the spirit to

a mountain great and high and showed me

the holy city Jerusalem coming down out

of heaven from God it's Sean with a

glory of God and its brilliance was like

that of a very precious jewel like a

Jasper clear as crystal it had a great

high wall with twelve gates and with

twelve angels at the gates on the gates

were written the names of the twelve

tribes of Israel there were three gates

in the east three on the North three on

the South three on the west the wall of

the city had twelve foundations and on

them were the names of the Twelve

Apostles of the Lamb I will skip down to

verse 22 I did not see a temple in the

city because the Lord God Almighty and

the lamb are its temple the city does

not need the Sun or the moon to shine on

it for the glory of God gives it light

and the lamb is its land the nations

will walk by its light and the kings of

the earth will bring their splendor into

it on no day will its gates ever be shut

for there will be no night there the

glory and honor of the nations will be

brought into it

nothing impure will ever enter it nor

will anyone who does what is shameful or

deceitful but only those whose names are

written in the Lamb's Book of Life then

the angel showed me the river of the

water of life as clear as crystal

flowing from the throne of God and of

the lamb down the middle of the great

street of the city on each side of the

river stood the tree of life bearing

twelve crops of fruit yielding its fruit

every month and the leaves of the tree

are for the healing of the nations no

longer will there be any curse the

throne of God

of the lamb will be in the city and his

servants will serve him they will see

his face and his name will be on their

foreheads there will be no more night

they will not need the light of a lamp

or the light of the Sun for the Lord God

will give them light and they will reign

forever and ever

some of us at Trinity where I teach in

introductory classes of what we call

biblical theology sometimes gives

students the assignment to work through

Revelation 21 and 22 and pick up every

single allusion to anything in the Old

Testament there are scads of them what

these two chapters do is pull together

so much from the Old Testament so much

of what we've seen in these 13 previous

sessions we can only pick up a small

part of them but they're wonderful what

does John see he sees what is new verses

1 to 8 what especially cymbal Laden

verses 9 to 21 what is missing verses 22

to 27 and then what is central at the

beginning of 22 so first what is new one

to eight what he sees is initially

nothing less than a new heaven and a new

earth well of course that's calling to

mind the opening words of Genesis 1 God

made the heaven and the earth so the

opening of the Bible connects with a

very closing of the Bible but now this

new heaven and new earth as we'll see in

the following verses is untainted by any

of the residue of sin of Genesis 3 it's

a new heaven and earth that's what he

sees a transformation of existence you

find this language new heaven a new

earth going all the way back to Isaiah

and coming forward from time to time in

the Bible it shows up for example in

one of Peters writings sometimes the

same thing is described in other terms

the Apostle Paul writes about this whole

world order

groaning groaning like a woman in in

pregnancy waiting for the final

transformation of God's people when the

whole universe will be transformed as

well and then it changes I saw a new

heaven and the new earth and then I saw

the holy city the New Jerusalem coming

out of heaven now we're not to think of

a new creation into which the New

Jerusalem comes rather this is simply

changing the metaphor apocalyptic is

doing that

the ultimate state can be thought of as

in you heaven at a new earth or it can

be thought of as a new city and you are

seeing different facets of the same

reality in the first case in you heaven

in the new earth the thing that John

comments about it is this there was no

more sea well for those of us who love

the sea that seems a bit harsh doesn't

it but what you must understand is that

Tim the sea so often for the ancient

Israelites is associated with chaos they

were not a seagoing people I was born in

Canada but my parents were both born in

the UK and basically British people are

born with saltwater in their veins

they're an island community there are

seafaring people so their literature and

their poetry is full of this even as a

boy growing up in Canada with some of

this heritage I memorized poems like I

must go down to the sea again to the

lonely sea in the sky and all I ask is a

tall ship and a star to steer her by and

so forth but the ancient Israelites

learn like that they were a landlocked

people and the one time under Solomon

that they tried to build a navy in fact

the ships would have to be had to be

manned by people from seagoing pagan

ports up the coast so as a result

Israelite poetry

is full of negative uses of the seeds

full of chaos and danger and the like so

and Isaiah 57 the wicked are like the

sea which turns up muck and mire forever

you see and in that kind of heritage

what John says is I saw a new heaven and

the new earth and there was no more sea

this is not talking about the

hydrological principles of the new

reality whatever they will be it's

saying there's no more chaos no more

destruction

no more muck and mire the vision of a

new Jerusalem calls down old Jerusalem

which was supposed to be the city of the

Great King the city of the temple the

city where God manifested himself to his

people but now it's a New Jerusalem

without taint or corruption or being

taken over by the Babylonians or

anything like that that but it is a

profoundly social vision do you see so

much of us so many of us in the West

think of spirituality in highly

individualistic terms but this is the

people of God in a social context a city

I know that in some of our Western

literature the city can be seen as the

cesspool of iniquity but in the Bible it

can be seen both as a sink a reservoir

of evil and it can be seen as a glorious

place of beauty where God lives with his

people in fact some people of

tongue-in-cheek call the book of

Revelation a Tale of Two Cities because

in this book you have set out Babylon

with all of its symbolism and the New

Jerusalem with all of its symbolism and

then it changes again coming down out of

heaven

it's a city finally brought about by God

prepared us a bride beautifully dressed

for her husband you change it again the

city is now a bride if any of you young

chaps are about to get married I

strongly urge you not to say to your

wife

the first night oh you're such a lovely

city or you remind me of a big city or

any such thing because the aim here is

not typical of apocalyptic literature to

confuse the two metaphors but to leap

from one to the other therefore again

and again and again God is presented in

the Old Testament as the kind of

bridegroom of his people and it comes

along in the New Testament similarly

Christ is the fiance and the church is

his fiancee waiting for the final

consummation their final union the

marriage supper of the Lamb it's a

spectacular way of saying in effect the

joy the intimacy the pleasure the

missing together of soul and mind and

heart and body which we best know in our

small corner in a well-ordered marriage

is only an indication of the kind of

intimacy and joy when the church is

united with Christ forever the marriage

supper of the Lamb that's language that

is used a little farther on in the same

chapter 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 that language is

used again and again in the Old

Testament in Leviticus 26 the third book

of the Bible when the tabernacle is

being built for the ancient Israelites

in the desert and there is not even the

first land the promised land there is

not a temple they have a tabernacle

that's where God makes himself present

among his people

you read that God says I will put my

dwelling place among you I will walk

among you and be your God you will be my

people and then when the New Covenant is

promised in Jeremiah 31 God says I will

put my law in their minds I will be

their God they will be my people

have the same language but under the Old

Covenant it was bound up with God's

self-disclosure his manifestation in

that Tabernacle under the terms of the

New Covenant it's God's self-disclosure

his manifestation in Christ and in the

church among his people the same

language but the whole thing gets

ratcheted up and now in the last stage

the same language I will be their God

they will be my people the same language

but it's ratcheted up to such a place

now that the intimacy is so great God is

so much present with them that it is

unthinkable that any residue of sin or

decay or judgment or loss or death can

prevail anymore there is a ratcheting of

EPIK ratcheting up of expectations until

this consummation of perfection so we

read they will be his people 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 here eternal

blessedness is couched in negation that

is no tears no pain no bad stop that's

only the negative side of the glory to

come the positive side is depicted in

the imagery that still follows to be

with him in glory and splendor to see

the limitless perfections that all of

eternity will still not exhaust because

he is our God and we are dwelling with

him he with us forever in calculable

and then almost as if our faith needs to

be reassured he was seated on the throne

that is God Himself said I am making

everything new then he said write this

down for these words are trustworthy and

true he said to me it is done I am Alpha

and Omega the first and last letters of

the alphabet the beginning and the end

from creation to the consummation of the

new creation from creation and it's

perfection with this horrible dip of sin

and destruction and decay to the work

that I have done in the sending of my

own son and the pouring out of the

spirit now to the consummation I am

Alpha and Omega the beginning and the

end the turning point is Jesus and now

we arrive at the consummation to the

thirsty I will give water without cost

there's grace all over again water

without cost from the spring of the

water of life those who are victorious

and in this book those who are

victorious those who are overcomers are

simply those who persevere to the end

and confidence in Jesus that's what it

means to be victorious not to be the

kind of Christian who sails through life

with nothing ever sticking to them to be

victorious in the book of Revelation

simply means that you persevere in faith

enlist by God's grace to the very end

those who are victorious will inherit

all this and I will be their God and

they will be my children but the

Cowardly the unbelieving the vile the

murderers the sexually immoral those who

practice magic arts the idolaters and

all Liars they will be consigned to the

fiery lake of burning sulfur this is the

second death

so what is new the new heaven the new

earth the new Jerusalem the consummated

union between Christ people and Christ

spectacular then what is deeply simba

Laden in verses 9 to 21 here it would

take an hour just to work through all

the symbols let me just pick up one or

two of them I don't have time for more

than that we're told that the city that

john sees shines with a glory of God

that is the people the city coming out

of heaven this social entity it shines

with the glory of God let us be quite

frank the church here today even the

very best churches the churches that are

full of the gospel the churches where

there's discipline and accountability

where Christians really do love each

other we are a flawed Bunch the church

is also full of sin it's full of sinners

like you and me declare just yes but

that are still not not not yet perfected

not even close to what we will be but

one day the city itself will glow with

the presence of God no taint anywhere

the language is drawn from the Old

Testament when the Old Testament

prophets anticipated to Jerusalem that

would be built after the Exile looking

forward to the ultimate Jerusalem arise

shine for your light has come this is a

dress designed to Jerusalem and the

glory of the Lord

Rises upon you see darkness covers the

earth and thick darkness over the

people's but the Lord Rises upon you and

his glory appears over you that's Isaiah

60 and now you see God's glory has

manifested in the church in the New

Jerusalem then notice the strange

dimensions of this city verse 15 the

angel who walked with me had a measuring

rod of gold to measure the city its

gates and its walls the city was laid

out like a square as long as it

was wide he measured the city with the

rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in

length and as wide and high as it is

long now the significance of the 12,000

and 144 apocalyptic loves symbolism and

it's calling to mind the 12 apostles the

12 tribes of Israel it's the way of

saying all of the old covenant people

the new covenant people together

constitute this this unified people like

the book of Ephesians one new humanity

in Christ but a city built like a cube

even the most spectacular of our

high-rise cities doesn't look cube-like

doesn't this is simple Laden again so

you stop and ask yourself okay where is

there a cube in the Old Testament and

there's only one it's the most holy

place of the tabernacle or the temple

it's why I mentioned on the way by that

the tabernacle was built three times as

long as it was wide and 2/3 of it took

up the entrance part the holy place and

the last third Ark of the Covenant

perfectly cube like the blood of bull

and goat was poured out in the presence

of God on the day of atonement perfectly

cube like it was the place where God

manifested himself in his glory when the

blood was poured out and now we're told

the whole city is like a cube that is to

say all of us are forever in the very

presence of God we don't need any

mediating priest we don't need any blood

sacrifices it's equivalent to what we

discovered when Christ was crucified the

veil of the temple was rent and we can

be immediately ourselves directly in the

presence of God and now the whole New

Jerusalem is built like a cube and that

brings me to the things that are missing

verses 22 to 27 number 1 I did not see a

temple in the city

because the Lord God Almighty and the

lamb are its temple there's no temple in

the city because the whole city is built

like a cube you're already in the most

holy place you don't have a temple

within the holy place the temple is a

mark of mediation or to change the

language just a wee bit God Himself the

one who sits on the throne and the lamb

are the temple the focal point the

mediating place the whole city is that

it is in the presence of God completely

always forever so you don't need these

mediating temples that have served us

across the millennia to teach us to

prepare us for the coming of Christ and

then we're told there's no Sun or moon

the city does not need the Sun or the

moon to shine on it for the glory of God

gives it light and the lamb is its land

now this is not a way of unpacking for

us the astronomical structures of the

new heaven and the new earth any more

than the absence of a sea is giving us

the hydrological Arrangements it's

simple Layton the point is that in the

ancient world when you have night in a

culture where there's no electric light

the night was the time when you shut

down the city gates that's when you had

some security you made yourself safe

because the night time was bound up with

danger and and wickedness and so the Sun

in the moon not only give us our time

spans but give us the cycles of life

when the gates are shut when there is

more danger and you hope for the coming

of the light it becomes symbol aid and

anticipating the coming of the ultimate

light the final light and now we're told

it doesn't need the Sun of the moon

anymore this city for the glory of God

gives it light and the lamb is its lamb

the nations will walk by its light the

kings of the earth will bring their

splendor into it on no day will its

gates ever be shut for there will be no

night there no day

sure no curse no sin no rebellion and

then more sweepingly

no impurity verse 27 nothing impure will

ever enter it nor will anyone who does

what is shameful or deceitful but only

those whose names are written in the

Lamb's Book of Life

have you ever tried to imagine what it

would like what it would be like not

only to be immaculately perfectly pure

but to live in a culture that was

immaculately perfectly pure it is so

hard to imagine what would it be like

never ever ever to have lied about

anybody or anything what would it be

like always always always to have loved

God with heart and soul and mind and

strength and your neighbor as yourself

what would it be like to live in a

society where that was true of

absolutely everyone around you don't you

see

that's normal

that's normal in God's mind it's the way

it was at the beginning

it's the way it will be at the end but

now with resurrection existence and no

possibility even of falling no impurity

ever allowed to enter there none no one

on the ship no greed no Homa costs no

hate no betrayal no jealousy above all

no idolatry completely and utterly and

totally and joyfully God centered

because it's the way it should be and

finding all of our supreme joy and

contentment and the God who is there

disclosing himself forever and perfectly

inexhaustibly before his own blood

bought people

so you come to the culmination what is

central in 22 one two five

- things are reiterated the water of

life flowing from the throne of God and

the land verses one two three language

is drawn in part from Genesis again the

angel showed me the river of the water

of life is clear as crystal flowing from

the throne of God and of the land notice

this throne of God and of the Lamb that

harks all the way back to the great

vision of Revelation four and five that

I mentioned in the last session in the

previous session that is the Lamb who

emerges from the throne

and is the one who brings all of God's

purposes to pass because he's the Lion

King it is a shared throne as it were it

is the throne of God and of the Lamb and

all that we need for eternal life comes

from his reign the water of life comes

from his throne utterly dependent upon

him with an immaculate supply down the

middle of the great city of Azusa Street

of the city on each side of the river

stood the tree of life bearing twelve

crops of fruit yielding its fruit every

month

the 12 months reminding us of the twelve

tribes one more time and of the 12

apostles all the people of God and such

a transformation that there's healing of

the nation's

no more sin indeed the most spectacular

part of the whole vision is found in

verses 4 and 5 it is sometimes called

the beatific vision the blessed vision

listen to these words they will see his

face and his name will be on their

foreheads there will be no more night

they will not need the light of a lamp

or the light of the Sun

for the Lord God will give them light

and they will reign forever they will

see his face

do you remember Exodus 32 33 34 where

Moses asked to see more of God's glory

to see God's face God said no one can

see my face and live the closest we can

get before the consummation to seeing

God as as he has disclosed himself in

Christ Jesus in the god man but now in

this splendor we have been so

transformed ourselves that our

sinfulness as it were has been burned

away the last stages of the old nature

and it's sinful desires all gone and now

in God's grace we have the privilege of

looking at of gazing at transcendent

holiness

we sometimes sing these things and

scarcely understand them face-to-face

with Christ my Savior face-to-face watch

will it be when with rapture I behold

him Jesus Christ who died for me only

faintly now I see him with a Darkling

veil between but a better day is coming

when his glory will be seen

the wonder of the new heaven and the new

earth is not in the first instance that

you may be linked up with your mama who

has gone on ahead undoubtedly there will

be a reunion of the people of God

undoubtedly but the Bible says pretty

little about that actually compared with

how much it says about the sheer

god-centered spectacular unimaginable

glory that will be ours forever in in

ceasing sweep of glory for all eternity

as we contemplate God in His perfections

and all the other biblical language

about the work we'll have and the

responsibility we'll have and the worlds

that we may well supervise our cities

that we rule over or whatever it's all

there in biblical descriptions of one

sort or another but at the heart of

everything and the heart of everything

is the sheer cut hood of God which

consumes us and empowers us and leaves

us perpetually transformed part of my

job takes me to many different parts of

the world

I fly far too much but once in a while

I'm closer to home and then I Drive and

when I Drive I bring lots of music and

my music tastes I have to tell you are

painfully eclectic not too too long ago

I was listening to Roger Whitacre a Kiwi

by origin New Zealand er a kind of New

Zealand folk singer who then starts

singing the folk songs of many different

parts of the world and he sang a folk

song from Canada which immediately

perked up my ears he's saying a song of

a Canadian part of the world came Breton

a song of Cape Breton and the last

stanza puts it this way

if my time could end perfectly I know

how I'd want it to be God's gift of

heaven would be made up of three mile of

Cape Breton and me and I thought to

myself my dear Roger you just defined

hell because Roger and his love would

breed like rabbits

sinners still and you'd have Cain and

Abel all over again and another cycle of

a downward spiral God's gift of heaven

would be made up of three he's still

thinking in self focused terms how much

I like the geography of Cape Breton and

how much I love my love God's gift of

heaven is first and foremost consumed

with a centrality of God such that for

the first time without any footnotes any

taint we will know experientially what

it means to obey what Jesus calls the

most important commandment to love him

with heart and soul and mind and

strength and we will so be transformed

in this beatific vision that will know

experientially what it means to love our

neighbors as ourselves and so Christians

in every generation in every century in

every country all over the world have

learned to come together and pray in

words drawn from the end of this chapter

yes even so come Lord Jesus

let us pray

how constrained is our vision how

inadequate our words how paltry our love

for you Lord God in the wake of all that

you have done and in the wake of all

that you have disclosed of yourself in

your son in your word fill our hearts

with joy that we may not only be ashamed

of sin and loathe it but also be drawn

to your own dear son to holiness all

secured by Christ and his cross work on

our behalf

draw us on to the new heaven and the new

earth precisely because that will also

make us better stewards of your grace

year granted even now it may be so in

our experience that the Holy Spirit is

the downpayment of the promised

inheritance the anticipation of what

will one day be

so shape our lives by gratitude and

adoration give us courage and stamina

and with it holy joy and a love for the

transcendentally holy open our eyes to

see Jesus the costs that he bore the

grace that He pours out upon us till we

are ravished by his beauty consumed by a

heart full of adoration for Jesus sake

amen

[Applause]

hello my name is dawn Carson I thought

it might be appropriate to come back one

more time to thank you for staying with

this series to the end

my dearest hope and prayer is that the

series has begun in you a lifelong habit

of humble and careful Bible study

perhaps some of you have become

Christians in the course of the series

please please attach yourself to a local

church where God is reverenced where the

Bible is well taught where Jesus is

loved where the cross and resurrection

are central and where Christians are

growing in maturity and godliness you

will also find a lot of useful resources

to help you all free on the website of

the gospel coalition that's the gospel

coalition org god bless you

you