This Sunday we finish our 10 week summer sermon series on the last book of the Bible. This has been one of the greatest thrills of my ministry. Together with Dustin+ and Erin+ we thank God and you for this encouragement. There is so much going on in the world, the church and each of us that this prophetic interpretation of reality addresses with hope and confidence.

Revelation 21 and 22 close this vision of John given by God. We have taken the view that rather than an escapist account of how we can “get to Heaven” before all Hell breaks loose, we can open ourselves to the vision He shows us of a new Jerusalem coming down from Heaven creating a new Heaven and new earth in a reverse rapture kind of way. There will be a day of no more tears, mourning, death, abortion or violence of oppression. A day of such incredible light with God that there is no need for sun and moon and other luminaries.

New Heaven and earth does not mean the destruction and replacement but transformation. The beauty and glory of this world will be completely in God’s reality. The culture of the beast replaced by the culture of the Lamb. The culture of death replaced by a culture of life. The culture of insecurity and fear replaced by a culture of fear and trust. Not an escape from materiality but a fulfillment.

There has been a powerful and persistent tendency to view the end times as a way to escape from this world in the future, and to avoid taking responsibility for the present. On the other hand, it's a mistake to believe that we can bring about the fullness through our own efforts.

Neither of these viewpoints aligns with what we see in the book of Revelation. Only God can and will bring about the fullness in His own time.This world is beyond tragedy in the sense that His world is comedy. By this is meant the true literary sense of that word where everything works out because it already has in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Triumph over the evil and pain of beasts, dragons and Babylon powers has already happened. We live in the difficult but glorious place of faith, hope and love.

To this we can only say, “Come Lord Jesus” to which He responds, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen.

Come and See.

+Philip