Revelation 22 The Eternal Day of Joy! Hallelujah!

Revelation 22

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There was once a very rich man who wanted to take his money with him to the afterlife. So he was buried with a huge sack of gold bars that he would take with him to Heaven. It was a massive effort, but he managed. Utterly exhausted, drenched in sweat, with blisters covering his hands, he arrived at the Pearly Gates. “Welcome,” said the angel. “But tell me, why did you bring a big bag of tar for the road with you?”

The point of the joke is this: what we experience now is nothing compared to what we are going to experience. The best in this world is a thousand times worse than the worst in the world to come. We’re not missing out on anything by choosing Jesus now! What we miss out on is Heaven’s rubbish. Gold is bits of tar (asphalt). The best in this world is cheap instant coffee - heaven is the finest beans. (Or “fruit-tea” against a cup of Ceylon tea from England)!

It will be this world version 2. Rebooted, recreated. Made new. Everything and everyone, including us. No sin! We will be where we’ve always wanted to be. Free from sin! No longer carrying the burden of sin. And so there will be no pain, nor sickness, nor sorrow nor death. Hallelujah!

Last week we saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem descended from Heaven. Spectacular, beautiful, majestic. V1-5 finishes that description, so before we get stuck in there, let me just remind us what we learned last week.

The city, descended from heaven is the Bride of Christ, the Church, the people of God. The city is vast, and covers the whole earth. And it is the Most Holy Place, the cube-shaped room in the temple that was where God lived. But now we all live there. We live with God. God lives with us. We are His people and He is our God.

The city is built on precious stones - the same precious stones that the high priest had in his priestly garments when he brought the people of God before the altar to pray God for mercy. God's mercy through God’s sacrifice on God’s altar is the foundation of the whole city. And God's sacrifice was God Himself: Jesus on the Cross. “Father, forgive them!” God’s grace and mercy flowing over us, his people, is what the City is built on.

The city is the fulfilment of all the promises of God given through his prophets. We see fulfilled prophecy from, for example Haggai 2:9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

Isaiah 65 and 66, for example 65:17 Is 65:17 Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth

Jeremiah 3:17 In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the LORD.’ All nations will come there to honour the LORD. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.

And basically most of Ezekiel 40-48!

The whole Bible, the whole universe, is aimed at, rejoices over, this day, this day of joy, which lasts forever. And central to all this is the cross. For without the cross we would be outside. Everlasting rejoicing and singing and dancing – and we would be outside. But because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - suddenly, all these promises, all these prophecies, are ours! Amen.

For

1. Jesus is the water of life

2. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word

3. Jesus will return - at any moment

Let's look at the final part of the description of the heavenly city.

1. Jesus is the water of life

Re 22:1–3 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. 3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.

In the very centre of the city is the river filled with water of life. Every city must have a water source. Without water, the city dies. No wonder, then, that the water source of the Holy City is God Himself. The water of life… flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

This is the fulfilment of God's promises. In Zechariah 14, God wages war against the army of evil and crushes it and in v8 says On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem… 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one LORD—his name alone will be worshiped.

In Joel 3:18 we read In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the LORD’s Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.
The day Joel is talking about there is Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came like a flood over his people, and still does today. The Holy Spirit is with us and in us.

And we who go to the Bible groups will recognize this as fulfilling the words of Jesus. For in John 7:37-39, Jesus says “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.)

The point is that the entire Bible meets here and finds its fulfilment here. The whole Bible flows from all different directions to Jesus, the Cross and the Resurrection, and from Jesus like a flood rushing to the Revelation and the new Heaven and new Earth. All the promises of God find their fulfilment in Christ. All. If you are Christian - if He is your Lord and your God - then you’re not missing out on anything! Everything good God has ever planned is yours – now in part, then in full. Everything is ours. In Christ, we have access to the living water of Heaven. Jesus is the water of life.

But how do we take part? How do we get this living water?

Well, did you notice the strong emphasis in this chapter on the Word? God's Word? Because that's the answer to how we take part, and it’s point number two. Jesus is the water of life and we take part in it, also now, through his word, the Bible.

2. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word

6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.” 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”

What God shows John is truth. Write this down, he says, for these are true words of prophecy. God’s word is trustworthy and true. And we know it’s true because everything he has spoken has actually happened. That’s why we have a book rooted in real history. We don’t have to wonder who God is: we know him through his actions and words, in his dealings with the nations and with Israel.

These words are trustworthy and true. Because those who wrote the Bible wrote what God wants. It is God who gave the prophets, including John, his Spirit. It is God who sent the angel to show them what will soon happen. The Bible is written by men, but what they wrote was exactly what God wanted them to write. They wrote what they wanted - and what they wrote was exactly what God wanted. We see this here: Revelation is written by John 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. But what John wrote was what Jesus had shown him. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches.

These are words of Jesus, written down by John, and guarded by the Spirit. These words are trustworthy and true.

Everything God says is trustworthy and true. We cannot say the same about what you and I say! Everything we say is full of mistakes and influenced by sin. Therefore, I am astonished when Christians - even whole churches - look for something other than listening to God's Word in the Bible. Particularly popular today are dreams and visions and so-called “prophetic words”. Why, when we have God's trustworthy and true words?

I grew up in a congregation with a heavy emphasis on prophecy. And I heard a “prophetic word” at least once a week. And out of probably 1,000 prophecies, do you know how many were really a word from God and not just vague drivel? One.

That's why we don’t waste time in this church with that nonsense. We need the word of God, not the word of you (or me). Because I also know that if God really has something on his heart that he wants to share with us, he’s not dependent on getting a special time in our service where he can speak (often with some music in the background and a little bit of a raised, slightly tremulous, voice). He’s God for goodness sake! He created all things with a word! A word! If He wants to tell you something, you don’t have a choice – you’ll hear it. That’s the testimony of the Bible, and that’s my experience too. Even if you want him to be quiet – you cannot shut him out...!

You know, we will not miss out on anything if we use our time to hear the voice of the Spirit here in the Bible. We most definitely will miss out on a lot, and maybe even be misled, if we spend our time instead chasing dreams and visions and so-called “prophecies” and “words from God” instead of the Bible. Jesus warned us of false prophets and false teachers. For this (the Bible) is the water of life.

(This morning got a helpful question: what is prophecy, aren’t we called to prophecy. From 1 Cor 14. Prophecy linked to gospel (only gospel has power to convict of sin and cause repentance, not “God told me to tell you to go to China”)! It is clear that much of what is called prophecy today is not what the Bible would call prophecy. If you get something you need to tell someone “From the Lord” please say “I think” not “God told me to tell you”.
Preaching is prophetic. Bible group prophetic. Because bringing Word to bear on our lives. Calling us to repentance. That’s what OT prophets did. Not future telling. And not buttering us up with lies about how important we are to God’s plans. That’s water from the toilet, from the sewer. We need living water.)

Psalm 1 says, Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

In this, the first Psalm, as in tonight’s passage, we see the connection between the word of God “the law of the Lord” and living water. The words of Jesus root us, so that we can bear fruit at the right time. We become like living trees, reflecting those in the heavenly city that have healing in their leaves because we carry the gospel in our words and our actions. We are the children of God.

That’s certainly been my own experience. The Word of God roots me. The more time I spend in His Word the more stable and rooted and simply holy I become. The Spirit makes the Bible alive when we read it and it’s food for the soul. Blessed, happy, joyful is he who delights in the word of the Lord. 7 Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.

A further warning for us not to rely on other sources for God’s word than the Bible and being careful to check everything against the Bible I v18 and 19. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

These verses are about the book of Revelation. But I do not think it's a coincidence that they come in the last book of the Bible. Do not add to the Bible - we do that when we make extra rules, we add obstacles for people becoming Christian. When we say things that the Bible does not say as “don’t smoke” “don’t gamble” “don’t watch this movie or that TV show” – now that may be good advice, but it's not God's law! Or to come to this church, you must be like this, or be that type of person, or be dressed like that. We try to keep things very informal here so that anyone can walk in and feel welcome. Come as you are!

But even more dangerous is the temptation to remove things from the Bible. Things we don’t like. God's sovereignty. Our sinful nature. Hell! Forgive your enemies. Sexual ethics. Just skip over it, go quiet, or deny it. But if we choose only what we like - then who is God? We’re not worshipping God when we decide what we think is right or wrong in the Bible. We’re worshipping ourselves. This is an all or nothing package! Everything else is idolatry.

Listen to the Spirit. His words, the words of Jesus, give life.

Jesus is the water of life. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word. And it's worth it because

3. Jesus will return - at any moment

10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.

I had a work colleague called Paul who really wanted to be a Christian. He thought it was right and good and he believed in Jesus. But “not yet” he said. “I want to do my own thing for a few years, then I’ll settle down and accept Jesus.”
Dangerous, dangerous words. Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile. He thought that Jesus' words were a bit boring, a bit dry. God’s a killjoy. And Paul wanted to sin! And, yes, of course, it was about sex. He was a good-looking guy who wanted to play the field. He wanted to play with sin. That was 18 years ago, and the last I heard he was still no nearer Christ. Not yet. Not yet.

Jesus return is so close that there’s hardly time to repent. And when he returns, it's too late. That’s why those being vile (Bible-speak for ignoring God) those being vile will continue to be vile. Time is running out! If that’s you, if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour – do it now, today! Before it’s too late. Do you know the time of your death? Many have walked out the door in the morning “Bye, see you later” not knowing that they would soon be standing before the judgement seat of Almighty God

12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

We are judged by our deeds (our actions, what we do), and our deeds expose us as sinners. We have not lived the way we ought, none of us have lived like Jesus. The standard is so high and we do measure up. We don’t even measure up to our own standards! How often do we do things that we know are wrong and which we really don’t want to do - but do them anyway? It’s so frustrating that we’re so weak. We can’t even meet our own low standards, not to mention God's.

What a relief that Jesus says "Come!". Those who thirst come and wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb, taking part in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and washing your sins away.
Yes! That is the offer! All that wrong you've done, all that which is dirty and rotten and shameful. Washed away. Forgiven. Borne on Jesus' shoulders on the cross. A gift! What a gift! And what a gift that continues to be for it’s not a one-time deal. No, as Christians, we now live in realm of grace. It is forgiveness upon forgiveness.

Because Christ’s blood covers not only our sinful past, but also the sin we commit now, and the sins we will commit in the future. That’s why we confess our sins every Sunday. To remind us that we are sinners, yes, but also that we are forgiven! We are blessed!

Finally, note that those who were thrown in the lake of fire in 21:8 are here in v15 “outside”. Hell with its fire and brimstone is just a picture, a picture of eternity outside. Excluded.
We don’t want God, we choose to ignore him, to have nothing to do with him - and the most frightening is now he says, alright, I will give you exactly what you want.
Hell is a place outside of God's city, an eternity excluded from all that is good. If you’re not a Christian, that’s what you’ve chosen. Tonight, make a new choice. Choose Christ. Choose life.
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life

Jesus is the water of life. Receive him.
The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word. Listen to him.
Jesus will return - at any moment. Be ready for him.

20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.

A prayer of repentance:

Almighty God, I am a sinner because I have lived without you. I chose to ignore you. I chose Hell.
In your mercy, Lord, forgive me. Give me streams of living water. Wash me clean. Thank you Jesus that you died on the Cross so that I can be forgiven.

I don’t want to live for me any longer. From today I want to belong to You. Be my Saviour, my Lord, and my God! Amen.

A blessing:

4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Now the priest's blessing from Numbers 6:24-27 is fulfilled. The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

Easter Sunday 2015

We all have a sense of the divine. Of their being something more than just what we see or hear or touch. We can feel a greater purpose, a greater meaning behind life. This life is not all there is. There is more to our lives than just what we see.

Throughout history many have come claiming a revelation from God or a revelation about the spiritual or our greater purpose. Nitsche, Russel, the unknown founders of Hinduism and Shinto, Muhammad, Bhudda Guatama, Zoroast, and so on, to the modern TV evangelist who sees in your future that you will give money to him for his new jet....

But 2000 years ago a man came on the scene who did not claim a revelation about God or a revelation from God – he claimed to BE the revelation of God. To know him was to know God. Repent and believe he said, for the Kingdom of God is here. That’s how he started his ministry! What a ridiculous claim! God’s Kingdom is here. Ha. You? The King of the Kingdom? Ha.
But there was power – this man, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth – he had power. Power to heal, power over evil spirits. Power over even creation. Be still he says to a storm – and it was still. Have you tried that? He walked on water, he produced food out of thin air. This was no magic trick, some illusion that fooled the simple backwater peoples – no. The best brains from Jerusalem came down to find him out. Those who could sniff out a faulty argument or a false teaching – those who could spot a law breakers and a blasphemer from a mile away – keen minds, sharpened by years of religious inquisition… and they were stumped, nonplussed, amazed, confused. How can this be? They could not deny his power, but they could not agree with his claims- he saves sinners! He claims to forgive sins! He hangs out with the scum: law-.breakers and sinners, not good people like us. So they decided to kill him.

But that was expected. Jesus said so. Told his disciples that is why he came:- it was planned by the decree of God, as revealed to his prophets hundreds of years before: by his stripes we are healed.

And so he willingly went to his death – this man of power who merely spoke his name and the soldiers fell over, who had power to tall the ground to open up and swallow them – Jesus went willingly to his death. And he died

And it was all over.

The disciples, his followers, were all depressed. They thought he was the Messiah, the rescuer, but he clearly wasn’t. He was dead. Oh, he had said he’d rise again, but who believed that?

And then he rose from the dead. And that changed everything.

He had power... over death! He suddenly was not just a man, but clearly the Living God – the one from outside who had control over what happens here on earth. He had power over creation because he was the Creator. And the amazing message he came with was not that he had come to destroy us, but that he had come to forgive us. He had come to bridge the gap between us and him. He had come to make himself known so that we could KNOW God. And not only know him, but live with him as our God. The resurrection changes everything.

In 1 John 1:1 the Apostle John (apostle means a close friend and follower of Jesus), writes We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He [Jesus] is the Word of life.

But surely it was just a myth? It can’t actually be true. Can it?

Well, let’s examine some of the common objections to the resurrection.

Myth no. 1 “It was made up by Emperor Constantine in 325 at the Council of Nicaea, the first Church Council”. This is very popular – Dan Brown used it in his novels, and if you type it into Google you’ll get a massive amount of websites claiming this to be the SECRET TRUTH NOW REVEALED. The fact that they’re all wrong doesn’t stop them. It makes a great story – but doesn’t fit the facts. This theory was popularised in the early 1900’s and gained some ground because we didn’t have any documents from before the Council of Nicaea. So it could be possible, however unlikely, that Constantine managed to change the beliefs of 318 bishops plus all the Christians of the time who up until that moment had been willing to die for their beliefs (and over 800 000 had already died for their faith – the first 300 years of Christianity was martyrdom and persecution) but these people who had stood strong suddenly caved into the Emperor, claim those who like this theory. So, not very likely. Do you think Obama could call all the Christians in the US together and say “we’re changing Christianity”. How well do you think that would work?
And, anyway, in the last 100 years or so we’ve discovered nearly 100 manuscripts from before 325. And these manuscripts had exactly the same text as the manuscripts after 325, and indeed the same as our Bibles today. Oh dear.

So the theory that Constantine just made Jesus up to unite Rome is just wrong. The evidence points the other way. It is not possible for him to have made it up.

Myth no. 2 “The disciples made it up.”
Okay. Why?

There’s nothing in it for them. They gain nothing by it. All of them were persecuted, tortured, rejected for it. They gained no power, no wealth. In the gospel narratives – which they are supposed to have made up – they look like complete idiots! Would you do that? I’m going to make up a story to give me power, but in the story I will look like an absolute fool, get everything wrong and even abandon my God.
This myth “they just made it up” has no plausibility. There is no motive for the disciples, no upside, no gain.

The other problem is that in their supposedly made up story everything happens publically. Their main character Jesus: his death happens in a major city - Jerusalem – not some deserted cave. And so does his resurrection! What’s more, they claim multiple people seeing Jesus after his resurrection – around 500 at one time! All it takes is going to speak to one of these people and asking “is it true” “no it was made up” -. And the whole thing comes crashing down

“Oh the disciples made it up” sounds good, but as soon as you start to examine it just falls apart. It fails the test of plausibility – where’s their motivation? It fails the literature test – because people didn’t write historical fiction like we do today. That style of writing has developed over hundreds of years – the gospel writers doing it would be astounding – in literary terms like discovering the atom 2000 years ago.
And if they were so clever they would have made it more convincing for their audience: they had huge cultural problems, like women being the eye-witnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection – women weren’t even considered reliable witnesses in a court of law at the time – so why would you have them as your first eye-witnesses in a story you’re making up – unless, embarrassingly so, it was the truth. I could go on – there are many such details in the gospel narratives that make it highly unlikely that the disciples made it up. They really did see Jesus die, and they really did see Jesus risen from the grave. As I read from John’s letter “We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands”.

Ummm, but maybe they hallucinated, or really, really wanted it to be true that they forced themselves to believe it. Or maybe Jesus just swooned on the cross, not actually died, and then reappeared to them….

Do any of those sound convincing? Sounds like someone desperately looking for a reason to reject Jesus other than the real reason: I want to be God in my life, and so I don’t like it when the real God makes himself known. So I block my ears and make up stories...

Mass hallucinations? Maybe once, for 11 guys in a room, maybe smoking some weed. Yeah, man, I see Jesus…. But Peter’s out fishing and Jesus calls to him. Peter’s given up, you see, as a failure – he betrayed Jesus before his death. So he thinks even if Jesus is risen from the dead, he won’t have me. He wasn’t wanting to see Jesus! So he goes fishing. And then a figure calls to him from the beach. “Peter!” And Peter rows the boat closer. It’s Jesus. And they talk, and have breakfast together. Later 500 people see Jesus. And later still they are all gathered together and Jesus rises up into the sky after telling them to make disciples. For forty days Jesus appeared to different people at different times – once on the road to Emmaus, a village a few hours walk from Jerusalem, and then immediately after that, to the disciples in a home in Jerusalem. How’d he get there so fast?

And his appearances weren’t like a man in the shadows speaking in a muffled voice saying “hey, I’m Jesus”. No, he was amongst them saying touch me, feel the scars in my hands and feet, he was with them in daylight on the beach eating breakfast, and he was with them on the mountaintop in Galilee when he rose up to heaven before their very eyes. He was not a ghost because they could touch him, touch his hands and feet. He was not a twin or some other weird trick – he really had died on the cross because here was the wound in his side where the spear had pierced him. Here were the scars from the nails driven through his hands. It was Jesus. The same Jesus who had died.

But, but maybe Jesus swooned (fainted) on the cross. Yes, and the Roman soldiers didn’t know the difference between a man who has fainted and a man who is dead? Oh, and they stabbed him in the side with a spear to make sure. And then they wrapped him in a burial shroud. So this theory means that you believe that a man beaten to a pulp, crucified, then stabbed and bleeding, regained consciousness two days later in a cold dark tomb, fought his way out of the burial cloths, rolled away the huge stone, overpowered the guards, then broken, bleeding, half dead, appeared to his disciples... and they responded “my Lord and my God”.
Then you must have great faith indeed. And if you then say oh, the disciples made it grander then the question is why? Again, they have no good motivation to tell this story unless it is the truth. The only plausible rational reasonable explanation is that this man Jesus truly was who he said he was: God Himself. Come from the outside to us to reveal God to us and to open the way so that we could know him.

In the gospel of Luke, Luke writes to his sponsor, Theophilus “Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2 They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. 3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honourable Theophilus, 4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.”

Any other questions?

What’s your objection? Because you do have one. You must have one to explain it way because otherwise you are forced to consider the truth. That Jesus really is the revelation of the living God. That he made you. That you belong to him. And that the only rational, logical thing to do it to serve him.

You know when a building is demolished, there’s the moment when the demolitions guy presses the button and you hear whooom and see a bit of smoke – and then nothing happens. There’s a pause. The building’s foundation has been blown away but it’s still standing, just for a moment. And then WHOOOOOMFFF it collapses in a huge pile of rubble and dust.

Well, the cross was that explosion on the foundation of this world. Jesus’ death and resurrection blew out any ideas we might have that there is no God. And we live now in the pause, the pause before the fall – before Jesus returns, this time not as Saviour, but as Judge. We live in the pause before the fall. And in this pause, we have an opportunity to be rescued. To know God, and to serve him living a life of great meaning and purpose.

Two implications, two results of Jesus’ death and resurrection being true:

1. We can know God!

I started off by saying that we all have a sense of the divine – of there being something or someone out there. Something more to life. Well, Jesus confirms that. “Here I am” he says. “You cannot reach me – so I have reached down to you.” And through his death and his resurrection we can know God – personally. Each of us.

Because the reason we can’t know God is because we have sinned against him. Like a barrier between us and God, my rebellion, my sin, my pretending to be God and ignoring the real God, means I cannot know him. I am cut off from him. I cannot reach him. Even if I try to be really really good, the Bible says it is no use. He is perfect. I am not. He is holy, I am unholy. Religion is a waste of time. Being good is useless. We cannot know God

Praise God that he then did what we could not. He bridged the gap, broke open the barrier, so that we could know him.

Every other religion or worldview says do! You must do this or do that to achieve a higher consciousness or be a better person or please God or the gods. Christianity does not say “do” it says “done”. Christ said on the cross “It is finished” it is done – and then proved it by rising from the dead.

Because of what Christ has done, we can know God! He has wiped away our sins, covered over our filth (like the donkey on Friday, remember?), paid the penalty for our rebellion of God and our ignoring Him. It is done. We don’t have to do anything to try to win God’s favour – it is done. He did it. It is His gift to us.

We can know God. You can know God.

2. Our life has great meaning and purpose

The fact that there is a God means that our lives are not just lived out here, on this stage, and we die to be eaten by worms and eventually forgotten. Jesus reveals that our lives are lived before Almighty God: before Him. He is raised up, seated on the throne in Heaven. Everything we do reflects back on our relationship – or lack of relationship – with him. We are eternal creatures, created with a spark of the divine – we are created, made to be with God. And so what we do here matters. In the movie Gladiator the main character Maximus utters a great line just before they ride into battle “What we do in life echoes in eternity”
“What we do in life echoes in eternity”
It’s true. What is your life echoing into eternity? Are you bringing glory to God? Is every moment of your life consumed with Him, honouring him, bringing him glory, doing what you were created to do?

Or are you in rebellion against him? Ignoring him? Bringing glory to you and your petty and small ambitions?

Because everything is done. The way to know God is open. But just like getting married or having kids - or even getting a dog - changes your life, knowing God changes things completely. You now live life in a different reality. The reality of heaven and hell. Ter reality of eternity.

Be warned, dear friends. Heaven and hell are real. The resurrection shows that. Jesus went through the pain of death – to rescue us from HELL. He believed in Hell. He knows it. Where is your life leading you? What is your echo in eternity? Heaven? Or Hell? Are you trusting and obeying Christ? Or yourself?

And are we telling others this? This is real, this is urgent! People around us are dying and going to hell! Jesus came to DIE in order to rescue people from Hell and we claim to be his followers yet can’t be bothered to even tell people. Risk inviting our neighbours to church because ooo they might think I’m weird. On that Final Day when we see them condemned to Hell will we still be worried about what they think of us? I say this to myself, to increase the pressure on myself to not be so apathetic, so lazy, to get myself to do what I know I should. This is reality. God forgive us for our laziness and disobedience! Praise Jesus that he came to die for sinners like us, that even our failures are taken care of – but that should drive us to proclaim all the louder!

I heard a story recently of a woman who’d just become a Christian. Overjoyed she said “does this mean I’m forgiven. Completely forgiven?” “yes, Jesus has taken your guilt and shame”. Overjoyed she just was bursting to tell people, and so opened her phone book and starting ringing systematically, every single person in her phone book to tell the joyous news: Jesus is alive, and he has forgiven me, and he can accept you too!

This Easter, let us be gripped by the joy of the good news: Christ really DID rise from the dead, and so we can know God, and live a life filled with meaning and purpose – a life lived in the reality of eternity, a life lived with heaven and hell in mind. Friends, as we go out this door, may God grant that we see this world, see our friends, neighbours work colleagues and family through his eyes – eyes that saw people heading to hell to eternal death – and so he came Himself to die, to rise again, to rescue us. Amen.