Easter 5 C
New
Revelation 21:1-7
24 April 2016 – Redeemer
At the end of last week’s sermon I left you with a picture of how weird the holy Christian church appears on earth. The picture was this – imagine a bride, dressed in her wedding gown, standing in the midst of a horrific battle. Her only armor, her defense, her security and safety is her wedding gown. That is the Church on earth right now – she is in battle, but she is safe in Christ. As long as she is in Christ, wrapped in His righteousness, covered with His forgiveness, cleansed of her sins by His blood, she will escape the battle unscathed – sin will not soil her, death will not defile her, and the devil cannot demand her. In Christ, and only in Christ, are you safe and secure in this battle. For that, for Him, the world will continue to mock and ridicule the church, because indeed to proclaim Christ crucified appears as foolish as wearing a wedding dress in battle.
In today’s Epistle we see the end of the battle. Saint John’s revelation comforts us with truth of what eternity will be for us.
First there are some false teachings that we need to clear up about heaven – mostly because we tend to trust Hollywood and other humans instead of the Holy Spirit. In this Easter season the major false teaching that we need to correct is that everyone when they die goes to some better place, heaven if you will. If that were the case God would not have sent His Son into the world. Jesus would not have battled Satan or bore our sin or died on the cross. If everyone lives in some better place then there is no reason for the Christian church. We should stop talking about the cross of Christ, keep our offerings for ourselves and quit coming to church.
Secondly, we also have this mistaken notion that we are going to be free of our bodies in eternal life – that we will be angels or spirits or some other being. We falsely believe that our problem with life is our bodies, therefore we conclude if we are going to live forever we will be free of them. Jesus’ men, the Apostles, to whom He gave the Spirit, clearly wrote that when He returns, the dead will rise bodily. Those who believe will go into eternal life with their bodies and those who do not believe will go into eternal fire in their bodies. The very reason we Christians bury our bodies is because we believe there is a future for our bodies in the resurrection – if there was no future for our bodies we would just burn them up and scatter them to the wind.
So what does this Revelation given to Saint John then tell us? Well, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. That’s good news because we will have bodies in the resurrection and we’ll have a place to live – the new earth. Saint John also sees what we see every day – the first heaven and the first earth are passing away. You see that don’t you? As soon as you get something new it is old. What is working today is broken tomorrow. You buy some new gadget, tool, or phone and it has a one year warranty. Why? Because it’s going to wear out, break down, and eventually end up in a land fill. As part of that same creation, you yourself are also passing away.
Why is everything breaking, failing, and passing away? John himself heard Jesus our Lord speak the reason when Jesus told some Jews, “You will die in your sin.” Our sin corrupted and destroyed God’s good creation. Adam sinned and every breath he took after that was one less breath. Adam sinned and his family was corrupted – Eve’s love for her husband was tainted with envy and wanting his place. She would bring her children into the world in pain. Their family was so twisted by sin that brother killed brother. Read the Bible and you will see our human family is filled with sin and failure and pain and universally every sinner passed away. You too are passing away.
But John sees something new, something God makes without sin, something new that never gets old. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Because of Christ’s death to remove our sins we are forgiven and as Christs’ body rose, our bodies too will rise – free of sin, free of corruption, no walkers, no hearing aids, no braces, no cavities, no old sports injuries – the old made new. And that’s how it will be in the new earth. The earth will be new, made new, without the corruption of sin – no more floods, no more earthquakes, no more zika viruses.
Here we encounter a couple other problems with Hollywood theology. This past Friday was Earth day – and the worshippers of the earth told us it’s up to man to save the planet. Some earth worshippers even preach that it would be better for humans not to be born for the sake of the earth. They’ve got it backwards, but that’s what happens when you start with man and not God. The earth is going to be saved, not by man, but by God and it will be saved because of God’s love for humans. The earth will be saved for man – it will be made new and it will be our dwelling place for all eternity.
Another common sermon preached in movies and books is the description of heaven’s wonder and beauty with a goal to convince you that it is so great you’ll want to be there. Unfortunately such sermons appeal to our selfishness –in heaven I’ll finally see and experience what I want.
God’s Word preaches a completely different sermon. The most detailed descriptions of the new heaven and earth in the Bible don’t tell us what will be there, but rather what will not be there – death shall be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. No more death – no more tears at the death of a loved one, no more crying at the grave of a child or parent or spouse, no more pain as you suffer in this mortal world. God’s Word also never speaks of heaven in a selfish way – as if it is all about you. If there’s one thing John saw and heard and confessed in his revelation it is this — eternal life is life with Jesus and it is life with all who believe in Him. The new earth and the new heaven is without sin because only those who believe in Jesus, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, will be there. The center of eternal life is not you finally having time to fish or hunt or be free of all the responsibilities of this life. The center of the new heaven and earth is this “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (vs. 3)
At the center of the new heavens and new earth John sees the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. There’s the picture with which I began the sermon – the bride of Christ. Jesus prepared her for life. Jesus adorned her with Himself as He has adorned you. You are covered with His life, covered with His death, covered with His blood – this is what makes you beautiful and alive and looking forward to the bodily resurrection– you are adorned with Christ and that’s you plural, all of you.
Do you know another oddity that is common today about life after death? Even though it is a common belief that everyone goes to a better place when they die, if you ask people, “Are you going to heaven?” their common answer is, “I hope so.” And if you press them they are anything but certain. Jesus wants His bride to be sure, so at the end of this text He appends His double signature. “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (vs. 6) It is done – as finished as His work on the cross – sin finished, death finished, Satan finished, your entire salvation finished. How can you be sure? Because Jesus puts His signature on it. I am the Alpha and the Omega – the first letter and the last letter of the Alphabet –In God’s Word Jesus is God’s first and last Word to us. I am the beginning and the end – the world began with Christ, through Him were all things made that have been made, and the world ends with Christ – with God dwelling with man, with all who believe living with Him, He will be your God and you will be His son. That’s what life will be like in the new heaven and the new earth. That’s this week’s revelation in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
23 April 2014 anno Domini