Revelation 21:1-7

“Paradise Found”

Today, we are completing a 3-part series of sermons on the Book of Revelation in which we have been trying to make sense of this often confusing Book and learn what it has to say to our lives today. And part of what we’ve learned in this study, is that the way that we were perhaps taught to understand the Book of Revelation is not the only way to understand it. In fact, throughout most of Christian history, it has not been understood the way it is popularly understood today.

We’ve seen that some people see the Book of Revelation as entirely “predictive prophecy” … foretelling the events that are going to happen in the End of Times. But we’ve also learned that throughout most of Christian history, people have understood that most of the Book of Revelation is describing things that were happening or about to happen in John’s day. Only the very end of the book is pointing to the things that are going to happen at the End of Time.

In this series, I have been doing more teaching than preaching and that is going to be the case again today. But I ask you to bear with me, because I want you to know some very important things about how we might understand the Second Coming of Christ. And then, as we have done at the end of each of these sermons, we will be asking the question, “So what? What does this really mean for our lives today?”

Today, we are going to be talking about things that you have all heard about, even if you’ve never read the book. We’re going to be talking about the Second Coming of Christ … the Battle of Armageddon … The Millennial Reign of Christ … and The New Heaven and the New Earth. And so, let’s get started …

Let’s begin, though, by going backwards just a bit. We’ve learned in this study, that for John and his immediate audience, the Book of Revelation was primarily describing events that were taking place in the Roman Empire. “The Roman Empire” was “the Beast” in the Book of Revelation. “The Anti-Christ” were the Kings who took upon themselves the titles that were only to be given to Jesus or to God. John tries to make it clear how ugly this Empire really is and how it has sought to devour and destroy God’s people. And then, he contrasts that with the beauty and wonder of God’s Kingdom. And then, he challenges us to choose which Empire we will serve. Will we take the path that leads to destruction or will we take the path that leads to life?

In this letter, John challenges us not to compromise our faith … not to be willing to call the Emperor “Lord and God”… not to offer sacrifices to the Emperor, but rather, do the things that Jesus calls us to do and stand apart from our society if we have to. But don’t compromise and accommodate our faith, just to try to fit in with society. John then goes on to tell us that if we remain steadfast and set apart by our faith, there will likely be a cost involved. You might loose your jobs. Others might look poorly upon you and some might even die for their faith. These are the things that John tells the people of his day.

But in the end, John says that the Roman Empire will be destroyed. In the end, Evil will be destroyed. God will be the victor and God’s Kingdom will reign eternally and you will reign with Him … if you only persevere.

Now, if you turn to Revelation 18, you will read about the climax of all the evil we read about in the Book of Revelation. The fate of all the Evil we read about in this Book, is that it will be destroyed … starting with the City of Rome. We learned last week that the “City of Babylon” is a code name for the “City of Rome” in John’s day.

So, let’s take a look at Revelation 18:2: “He called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.”

And so, for John, this is a picture of when Rome falls. You remember that in A.D. 410 the City of Rome did fall. Within 70 years of John’s writing, Rome begins to fall a part and John is foretelling this. He could see that an Empire like this is unsustainable. Evil cannot continue to do what it was doing, without somewhere along the way falling. So, John sees this and is foretelling that one day Rome will fall.

But bear in mind, that what we see here in John’s day is repeated throughout history, over and over again, when there were Empires that did the things that were evil. We can think back over history, of all the Empires that were once in a prominent place of power and eventually fell. From the earliest of times, to recent history … Germany, Britain, the Soviet Union. And today, we are in many ways the lone Super-Power left, but how long will that last? Will we be the Empire forever, until the Lord’s Return? Already, we see that China is on the ascendancy and is becoming an economic super-power. India is waiting in the wings. And in the next hundred years, possibly a country in Africa. Where will America be at that point?

The Book of Revelation reminds us that Empires don’t last forever. Power here on earth doesn’t last forever. While we are in power, we have the greatest opportunity to do the greatest good, but if we forget that, Empires have a way of falling or imploding. And this is part of the warning from the Book of Revelation for any Empire on earth.

When we come to Revelation 19, we find that Evil is finally ultimately destroyed in “the Battle of Armageddon”. In Hollywood, “Armageddon” is used to talk about a cataclysmic event that happens here on earth that brings the end of all things. Even if you are not a Christian, you know that “Armageddon” means … it means “destruction”.

But in John’s day, Armageddon was actually a literal place. (Picture – Megiddo) Armageddon is actually the “Mound of Megiddo” or “Har-Megiddo”. Megiddo was an ancient city that goes back thousands of years. (Picture – Megiddo Map) It was a city that was located right along the ancient trade route that linked the continent of Africa to Europe and Asia. So, it was located in a very strategic place. Throughout ancient history, the Kingdoms from the south and the north would march through the Valley of Jezreel, next to Megiddo, and fight to gain control of the trade route. As you can see from the picture, Megiddo is quite prominent as a hill in the middle of this vast valley. It got that way, because every time the city was conquered by another Kingdom … they would flatten the city and build another city on top of it. Over the years, 34 major battles have taken place in this Valley of Jezreel, next to Megiddo.

When John is writing about Armageddon, this is what he is talking about … a literal place. But remember that nothing is really literal in Revelation. So, this symbolizes something for John. It symbolizes the fact that there will be day when all the forces of Evil will be gathered together and God will come and defeat those forces of Evil. So, Armageddon was symbolizing the end and destruction of Evil.

Turn to Revelation 19:11-16: “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (Jesus is the rider of this horse.) His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, (we know that to be from the cross) and his name is called The Word of God. (You will remember from John’s Gospel, how he begins by saying, “In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.) And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, "King of kings and Lord of lords.”

This is a powerful picture of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ … when Christ returns, he will utterly destroy all evil.

Now, some have problems with this, saying that this doesn’t sound like Jesus. Jesus was gentle and loving. But if you had lived in the time that John did, when there had been a million Jews and Christians who had been put to death by the Roman Empire, you would be waiting for Jesus to come and bring judgment. And notice that no one, not the Armies of Heaven, nor Jesus himself “draws a sword”. Jesus is said to have “a sword in his mouth”. That is, by his words alone he will destroy his enemies. So, Armageddon is a sign that there will come a day when everything that is evil and all that is opposing God will one day be destroyed. And John warns us, not to be found on the side of evil on that day, for evil will be destroyed.

This then takes us to Revelation 20 and here we find a few perplexing verses that have led to great debate among Christians seeking to understand this book. These verses relate to “the Thousand Year Reign of Christ” or “the Millennial Reign of Christ”. Listen to how John describes it: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

So after Armageddon, where Jesus destroys all evil, the next vision John has, is of “a thousand years” where Jesus reigns on earth.

Now, I want to remind you of something before I try to unpack this. In the Book of Revelation, not every vision is chronological. So, John has a vision one day and he sees this. He has a vision another day and he sees this. And another day, he has another vision. And we get into trouble when we try to make them all chronological. Sometimes they are describing the same things, just in different ways.

When it comes to this “1000 year period of time” or “the Millennial Reign of Christ”, this has led to a lot of conjecture and speculation. On the back of your Sermon Notes there are diagrams of how different Christians have understood this over the ages.

One of the views held by some in the Early Church was “Historic Pre-Millennialism”. This takes us from the time that Jesus was on the earth, to the time that we live in today, which is called the Present Age. And people who hold this view believe that for the last 2000 years we have been living in the Last Days. They believe that at the end of this Present Age, there will be a Seven Year Period of Great Tribulation. And according to Historic Pre-Millennialism, the events described in the Book of Revelation are about this Seven Year Period of Great Tribulation.

Then, after this Seven Year Period of Great Tribulation, they believe that Jesus will come back and there will be a Thousand Year Reign on Earth called the “Millennium”. This will be an Earthly Kingdom, where Jesus will reign on earth with all the Saints. Then, at the end of this Thousand Years, Satan will be let loose. After that, there will be a Day of Judgment, where all the dead who are not in Christ will be raised and judged. Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and totally destroyed. Death will also be destroyed. And then, there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth … the eternal state.

Another variant on this is relatively recent, and it called “Dispensational Pre-Millennialism”. It dates only from the late 1830’s and it is the view that many of your friends who talk about Revelation hold. It is the view that is held by the Left Behind series of books and others. It looks very similar to Historic Pre-Millennialism, except for one critical variance.

It too, begins with the Time of Christ. This is the Age in which we live, which is the Last Days. There will be will be the Seven Years of Great Tribulation. BUT in this view, Jesus will come back secretly at the beginning of the Tribulation and secretly “rapture” his people away into heaven, and then, Jesus and the Saints will come back at the end of the Great Tribulation. Thus, in this view, Christians avoid the Great Tribulation and all of the things that happen in the Book of Revelation. Jesus and the Saints will reign for 1000 years on earth. Satan will then be released for a short period of time. The Last Judgment will occur. Then, there will be a new Heaven and a New Earth … the Eternal Kingdom.

Now, what I want you to notice about this, is that until 1830, no Christians believed that it would happen this way. And the reason for this, is that no one thought that God would take Christians out of suffering. I mean, think about this. The Book of Revelation was written in a time when many Christians had already been put to death. God does not take people out of suffering just because they are Christians. Instead, God sustains them through the suffering.

In fact, the Book of Revelation is constantly saying, “Persevere and don’t give up in the midst of the suffering.” And so, this idea of “rapturing” Christians away from the time of suffering is very popular among Christians today. If given a choice, who wouldn’t want this to be the case. But it was not the view held by Christians for most of history.

There is one last view, though, and that is the “Amillennial View”. This is the view that was held by Saint Augustine in the 300’s and 400’s. And this is the view that has been held by most Christians to the present day, except for those in conservative Christian denominations. Amillennialism says that the Book of Revelation is primarily talking about things that were happening and were about to happen in John’s day. So, most of what it talks about is from the time of John to the end of the Roman Empire’s persecution of Christians. During this “Church Age”, Christianity finally became accepted and eventually became the religion of the Roman Empire. And from that time, we have been living in the Millennium Reign of Christ. Every time someone becomes a believer, Christ reigns in their heart and Christ is reigning in our world through the Church. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is among you … it is upon you and it is within you.” And so, we are already living in the Millennial Reign of Christ. This is evident by how the Gospel is spread by the Church throughout the world.

After the Church Age, it is believed that Satan will become active again. And then, Christ will come back in the Second Coming. According to Amillennialism, the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment all happens at one time. Nothing happens after that, except for the New Heaven and the New Earth.

This is the view that was held by all the Protestant Reformers. It is the view that is held by most United Methodists today, by most Roman Catholics and orthodox Christians.

Now, some of you may be saying, “So what? Why do I care about all this?” Well, maybe you don’t. But part of what I wanted you to know is that there are different ways to read this book. Many of your friends may read this book a certain way. But that is not necessarily how Christians have read it through the centuries.

And part of what the Book of Revelation is telling us, is that Christ could come back at any time. And when he does, Judgment will take place. And if we have been found faithful, we will enter into the New Heaven and the New Earth.

According to the Book of Revelation, we are told that there will be a Final Judgment Day … a Day of Reckoning. At some point, all of us will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of ourselves. And part of what the Book of Revelation is asking us is, “Are you ready for that day?”

Revelation tells us that on that Judgment Day, there will be “a book” opened … “the Book of Life”. And the question will be, “Is your name written in the Book of Life?” And of course, how we look at the Day of Judgment depends on whether we see ourselves written in the Book of Life or not.

In the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo painted his vision of the Last Judgment. In the center of the picture you can see Jesus. Below are all these people, who thought they were ready and in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but they weren’t. On their faces, there is fear, and dread, and terror. Up above, are those who are finally being redeemed. After a life of suffering and remaining faithful, they are now entering into eternal bliss. You see, your perspective on the things described in the Book of Revelation depends on where you are in this painting. Will your name be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that there will be some who think that their name is written in the Book of Life, but it will not be. He said, “I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me. I was naked and you didn’t clothe me.” And they will be surprised, asking, “When did that happen?” And Jesus will say, “When you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me.” There will be those who thought that their name was written on the Book of Life and it won’t be. And there will be those who thought that it was not, but will be surprised to find out that it is.

So, the Book of Revelation is asking the question: “Is your name written in the Book of Life.” For your name to be written in the Book of Life, it means, in part, that you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. It means that you are trusting in the One who will be coming back on that Final Battle, “riding the white horse, whose name is faithful and true … whose robe was dipped in blood … and is called the King of kings and Lord of lords.” It means that we are trusting in Jesus and daily we are seeking to follow him and live in a way that honors him. This is what makes us ready for that day and able to look forward to it with great anticipation.

This leads us again to that final scene of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Listen carefully to how John describes this in Revelation 21:1-4: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

In the rest of chapters 21 & 22, John tells us what he sees in the New Jerusalem. And what he sees is a beautiful place with “a Garden”. And at the center of the Garden is “a tree” that is called “the Tree of Life”. And there is a River that flows through the New Jerusalem bringing life. And trees on either side of that River have “leaves for the healing of the nations”. And God is in the midst of this Garden, dwelling with his people. There is no more suffering or pain. For the Serpent is nowhere to be found.

Now, when we hear this image in the last chapter of Revelation, what we are supposed to do, is stop and say, “Wait a minute, I think I recognize this place. I think I’ve been here before.” And then, we’re supposed to go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible to Genesis 2:8-10 where we read: “Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden;”

Do you see where we are in Revelation 22? We’ve come back to Paradise. This is what I find astounding about the Book of Revelation. That somehow, by the Holy Spirit working through John, we find ourselves ending up where we began in the Bible. We began in the Garden of Eden … a place of paradise, where God walked with man in the cool of the afternoon. But there was a Serpent in the Garden who tempted them and caused them to sin. And they were banished from the Garden.

And the rest of human history is the story of human beings running away from God and being disobedient, while God tries to save us, and redeem us, and bring us back to him … so that he could take us back to Paradise, where the Serpent was banished forever, and there would be no more suffering, no more death, and God would walk with us again in the cool of the afternoon. “Paradise has been found”.

How awesome is that! This is the story of redemption. It begins in Paradise and it ends in Paradise. And the entire story in between, is God’s attempts to woe us and draw us into back into his Paradise, into the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Well, knowing that this is how the story ends, we are meant to live in a certain way, in response. As we close our study of the Book of Revelation, I want to offer you two ways that we might live in response to this magnificent vision that John gives us in the Book of Revelation.

Some people, when they read the Book of Revelation, become enamored with all of the numbers, signs, and symbols. They get out their charts and timelines … and are constantly looking for signs that confirm their interpretations of how things are going to unfold. You can find millions of websites that are devoted to this approach to the Book of Revelation.

But what I want to say to you is, don’t waste your time. Because the Book of Revelation is saying that in the end, Paradise will be restored and it is calling us to live our lives in a certain way. It gives us a vision of what is going to happen and then it is telling us to live in the light of that vision. If you know that God’s plan for Paradise in the future, is that there will be no more hunger, no more injustice, no more suffering, and people are not going to be doing evil to each other anymore … then live like it today. Start living today in such a way that will help bring that vision into reality. This is a vision that tries to compel us to live in a way that will please God.

In Isaiah 56, we read these words, “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand.” And so, in light of this vision, we are to be about living and doing the things of God … seeking to bring this vision of God to reality.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” This is what the Book of Revelation does. It paints a vision of things that never were and says, “Why not?” This is a vision that compels us.

But it is also “A Hope that Sustains Us”. In the end, this is a very hope-filled book. In the end, it says that Evil will be utterly destroyed. In the end, death will be ultimately destroyed. In the end, we will live and reign with God in Paradise. In the end, God triumphs and we have an opportunity to live and reign with him. All that our hearts have longed for … finally, we will see it fulfilled.

I love the way C.S. Lewis captures this in his series of books, The Chronicles of Narnia. This is a series of children’s book in which C.S. Lewis portrays the Kingdom of God and many of the things we read about in the Book of Revelation. In the last one of his books, there is the great battle and the children who are the main characters of the book die … and they enter the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem. And listen to how he describes their journey from this life into the New Jerusalem:

“The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page. Now, at last, they were beginning chapter one of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

This is the vision for us that we have in the Book of Revelation. Even if we lived to be a hundred … our whole life is but “the cover and the title page” of what God has in store for us. Every day that we live in the New Heaven and the New Earth, we will find that every chapter is better than the chapter before.

How does it affect your life when you understand this? When we really get this vision of the Book of Revelation, when we realize that our name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, we can say with John in his closing words: “Come, Lord Jesus, come.” And we can look forward to that day with great anticipation.