Revelation (Revelation 21: 9-26)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: After months and weeks of preparation, the door opens and the bride comes into view. It's always such a glorious moment. And it's become one of my great joys of being a pastor, walking couples to that moment in their wedding, seeing the bride come into view. And I always like to look first of all at the groom's mom because she turns and looks at her son, trying to see how he's going to respond. And it never fails as I then look at the groom, they're always enamored, even choked up, broken. Yesterday I stood beside a Marine who's just jacked, like, could just destroy me in a matter of seconds. And he saw his bride coming into the church and fell apart. And then there's Jackson Perry, who's not a Marine. Some of you were at this wedding, him and Sarah's wedding, and he totally lost. I thought we were going to have to stop the wedding. I was going to have to hold him as we recited the vows. But it seems to always happen. The groom is enamored with his bride. And it always causes me to remember the day that I saw Dene walking down the aisle and just how overwhelmed with God's grace and God's goodness, the world just stopped. And is this really happening to me? I get to marry this woman. And those moments are pulling us to the moment that we find in our passage. Today in Revelation, we see a bride coming to her groom and we are to be enamored by her. And we're going to ask the question, why? [00:02:09] Speaker B: Why? [00:02:10] Speaker A: As we see, as we see the [00:02:12] Speaker B: bride of Christ here, should we be [00:02:15] Speaker A: in awe of her, enamored by her? [00:02:18] Speaker B: Why should she take our breath away? [00:02:21] Speaker A: Well, first of all, we see that she is a gift from God the Father. Notice verse nine. Then came one of the seven angels with the seven bowls who had the seven last plagues. And he spoke to me, come and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. Now remember the story this has happened with the harlot Babylon. The same angel says, I'm going to show you the harlot Babylon. Babylon, the earth dwellers who are idolaters. And they make up this city Babylon. And now after Babylon has been destroyed, okay, I'm going to show you the bride, the wife of the lamb, the one who is loyal to the lamb. And she's going to make up a counter city. And yet we see this word bride and we think about marriage, and we think about marriage being a symbol of the gospel and the church being the bride of Christ. [00:03:24] Speaker B: Here it is. A metaphor that refers to the gathering. [00:03:28] Speaker A: That's what the word church means, gathering. And God is gathering up a bride [00:03:36] Speaker B: for His Son that will live with him forever. [00:03:40] Speaker A: And he has made a covenant to the Lamb's wife, and he has sealed it in the blood of the Lamb. And here, what we are seeing here is the consummation of this covenant. [00:03:53] Speaker B: He is gone and he has prepared [00:03:55] Speaker A: a place for her, and now he is bringing her to the Son. And we will see the consummation of the marriage supper. But notice verse 10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain. Now, immediately we are to think about Zion. And this is the mountain where God has promised to fulfill all of his promises to his people first and foremost. [00:04:23] Speaker B: But his people are identified with the [00:04:26] Speaker A: city Jerusalem that will rest on this mountain. [00:04:30] Speaker B: And notice he showed me the holy [00:04:32] Speaker A: city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Now we're to realize that this is a city set apart to God. And notice it is coming down from heaven. This is a city that's not built by men. This is not like Babel or Babylon. God has built this city. God is the One who has brought this about. He is the One who is giving this gift of a city to His Son. [00:05:04] Speaker B: And we need to review just for [00:05:05] Speaker A: a moment from last week. [00:05:08] Speaker B: We talked about, in the end, God will redeem the earth. When we think about what will heaven [00:05:14] Speaker A: be like, we look around. [00:05:16] Speaker B: It is this earth that will be made new. God is making the earth new in the end. And he will make a new people who will live in a real place and dwell with him forever and be thoroughly satisfied with, with his presence forever and be comforted with him here in this new earth. [00:05:42] Speaker A: And so if the new creation and new earth has been redeemed, what is this city coming down? We talked about it last week. A people and a city are identified as the same thing so often. And we think about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is identified as the people in Jerusalem. Jerusalem that is to be made glad. [00:06:06] Speaker B: Jerusalem is a people and a place where God will live forever. And so as we think about this [00:06:13] Speaker A: imagery of bride, and we think about [00:06:16] Speaker B: this imagery of city, it is one and the same. This is a bride that has been given to us, to the Son. This is also a city being given to the Son, a city that he will rule over forever. It's one and the same. [00:06:34] Speaker A: And we know how this goes in revelation. If we asked John, we said, if [00:06:39] Speaker B: we asked John, we said, okay, John, [00:06:41] Speaker A: tell us what seeing Jesus is like. And in Revelation, we know what he would tell us. [00:06:49] Speaker B: He would say, well, seeing Jesus is [00:06:50] Speaker A: like seeing a king, a lion who will rip your face off. The lion of the tribe of Judah, he is that king. But seeing Jesus is also like seeing a lamb. [00:07:07] Speaker B: A lamb who has been slain. He is one in the same. And even more, the imagery of the lamb is a lamb with seven horns [00:07:18] Speaker A: back in Revelation, chapter five. And we know Jesus doesn't have seven horns coming out of his head. [00:07:26] Speaker B: But he's describing what Jesus is like. He is a king, a lion, but a lamb who has been slain, who is ruling and reigning and has the power and anointing of God on him. He's describing here the Church. [00:07:41] Speaker A: In the same way, if you ask [00:07:44] Speaker B: John, you said, okay, what is the [00:07:46] Speaker A: church going to be like in the new age? Well, I'm going to tell you. It's like a bride meeting her groom. This people. It's like a bride meeting her groom who's fulfilled all of his promises to her in her glory. [00:08:01] Speaker B: The glory of the church will be like this massive cubed shaped city with gates and walls and streets of gold that adorn her with every jewel imaginable. And. And God will light up this city forever. What he's describing here is the Church. He's describing the Church in the new age. And notice. We as the Church in the new age, living in the new creation. In this real place, we will possess his glory. Why should we be enamored with the bride of Christ? Why should we be in awe of her? We. Well, she is this glorious city that will possess his glory. Notice verse 11, having the glory of God. The word glory means weight or worth. This city will be full of the [00:08:54] Speaker A: weight and worth of God. [00:08:56] Speaker B: The Church forever will possess his glory. [00:09:00] Speaker A: And what will it look like? [00:09:01] Speaker B: Notice its radiance, like a most rare jewel. You, you know the worth and glory of a jewel by the way it looks, by the way it shines in brilliance. The Church forever will shine in the brilliance of God's glory. Notice. Like Jasper and clear as crystal. And we have seen this before in chapter four, before the throne of God. [00:09:28] Speaker A: These same images are described in the presence of God. [00:09:33] Speaker B: These same colors. A sea like glass. This is what it's like to be in the presence of God. His glory sparkling everywhere. It is brilliant and it is breathtaking. And what he is saying here in eternity, we the Church will possess that same glory. We will be just as glorious as as God. [00:10:00] Speaker A: Which means in heaven, we will serve [00:10:04] Speaker B: the purpose for which we were created. [00:10:07] Speaker A: Remember when God created us, he created Us in his image. Meaning we are to be image bearers. Meaning we image forth God's glory in the world. [00:10:17] Speaker B: We do that by obeying him, trusting [00:10:20] Speaker A: him, looking to him, doing all he [00:10:23] Speaker B: says, realizing he is good. We reflect his glory as humans in the world. That's what we designed to do. [00:10:32] Speaker A: And in First Corinthians, chapter 15, verse [00:10:34] Speaker B: 49, we read this. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we've borne the image of the man of dust. Who is that? Adam. [00:10:43] Speaker B: We have borne the image of Adam who sinned. [00:10:46] Speaker A: And we have sinned, and we bear [00:10:48] Speaker B: the image of sin and death. But also we shall bear the image of the man of heaven. So we're not just going to image forth Adam who is sinful in his line as sinners. [00:11:06] Speaker A: The image of God is marred. It's not clearly seen, it's flawed. But the hope of heaven is we [00:11:14] Speaker B: will image forth the man of heaven. And who is that? Jesus. Jesus is called the image of God. He wasn't created in the image of God. He is the image of God. Meaning he shines forth God's image perfectly. And the promise of heaven is we will possess that same glory. We will possess the glory of God. And how does it happen? First John, chapter three, verse two, says, what we will be has not yet appeared. We don't even understand in these fleshly bodies what it will mean to reflect the glory of God. We can't fathom that now. We've never seen it except in Jesus. [00:11:58] Speaker A: But we know that when he appears. Get this. We shall be like him when we see Him. [00:12:09] Speaker B: Notice the text says, because we shall see him as he is. So there is a day coming where we will see Jesus as He is. What does that mean? In all of his power, in all of his glory, in all of his wonder, in all of his value, in all of his worth. These eyes will see Jesus. And what effect will it have on you? The risen Savior seated at the right hand of God, when you see him with your eyes, and you will be transformed and made like Him. The same worth and value he possesses, you will be transformed into it before Him. Your hearts will naturally want to be [00:12:56] Speaker A: like him when you see Him. And heaven will be full of citizens [00:13:00] Speaker B: transformed and living and serving and loving just like Jesus. That's what this city looks like. Citizens of heaven in their own way and unique stories. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Loving and serving, just like Jesus. [00:13:15] Speaker B: That's who we will be in heaven. We will possess his glory. [00:13:19] Speaker A: But Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 3, verse 18, that this process even happens to us. Now, in 2nd Corinthians 3, Verse 18, we read that as we look at Jesus now, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. What does that mean? Paul's teaching about the Old Testament. He says, there was a time in the Old Testament that Jesus was veiled. You couldn't see him as clearly. But now we see the whole story. [00:13:52] Speaker B: We see Jesus whole story. And the more we're immersed into that story, the more we look into Jesus life, the more. The more it transforms us. Why does it transform us? Because we want to be like him. When we see what is of most value and glory, we'd say, I want to be that. [00:14:12] Speaker A: And the Spirit causes us and transforms us not just to want to be like that, but to be like that. When I was a kid, I loved the Atlanta Braves and I love Dale Murphy, my favorite baseball player growing up. And when Del Murphy would come to the plate, he always had this thing with his bat. I can still do it. He would come to the plate like this and he would twitch his bat just like that every time. And you know what I wanted to do every time I saw that was go grab a bat and go stand in front of the TV and try to be Del Murphy and do it every time. When I played baseball, that's exactly how I stepped into the box. Why I thought that was glorious. That was my favorite baseball player. I want to be that. And so in every way, I tried to be that. I remember when I got my first basketball goal that was adjustable and you could bring it down. And I tried to do every dunk that MJ Michael Jordan, the Goat did in every slam dunk contest. I couldn't do it even on a really small goal. Tried to break my neck, kill myself out in the front driveway. But when you see Michael Jordan glide through the air, you want to be that. That's impossible for me to be that same thing. When you see Jesus, when you see him in all of his glory, how can I be that? I want to be that. That's what heaven's going to be like. You're going to see him in his perfection. And in seeing him, it will automatically transform you into that. And that's what you will be forever. [00:16:01] Speaker B: That's why we should be in the word of God now. I've got to see Jesus in his story. I've got to see Jesus in the Bible. I've got to see what he looks. I want glory. I want to live like Jesus. And the more that we look at him in the word of God, we become like him. [00:16:18] Speaker A: So we will possess his glory, but we will also tell his story. Notice verse 12. This city had a great high wall. It is a secure city with 12 gates. But as we're going to see later, all of these gates are always open. In the measurements here we're going to see a lot of twelves. And the importance of these measurements is completion. There is a complete story. There is a complete bride, there is a complete light, There is a complete glory. That's what this city is telling us. [00:16:51] Speaker B: It is a symbol of completion. This city. These people are made complete. [00:16:57] Speaker A: And notice at the gates 12 angels. And we see the names of the 12 tribes of the Son of Israel were inscribed there. Now this represents God's story. And where God's story began. God's story began with Abraham. I'm going to make you into a great nation. And through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. That's why the next description of this city is these gates. On the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. [00:17:31] Speaker B: And on the west, three gates. [00:17:32] Speaker A: What is that pointing to? [00:17:34] Speaker B: That is pointing to the four corners of the earth. And so through this promise made to Abraham, all the peoples of the earth will be blessed. And they will enter into this city. Well, how do they get there? [00:17:48] Speaker A: Notice verse 14. [00:17:50] Speaker B: And the wall of the city had 12 foundations. And on them were 12 names, the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And we see in Ephesians that the apostles are the foundation of the church. And so we see the promise made to Abraham. The whole earth, all the families of [00:18:06] Speaker A: the earth are going to be blessed through you. [00:18:08] Speaker B: The whole earth from the four corners of the earth. Well, how are they going to get in this city? Well, the apostles take the Gospel to the ends of the earth and they build up this church right now all over the world. That is proclaiming that Jesus is the promised seed. And through his death and his life and his resurrection, you can enter into this city. That is the blessing. That is the promise first made to Abraham that but it is all fulfilled in Christ. And here is what this city looks like. This is how we enter into the church. [00:18:42] Speaker A: Through believing the message of the apostles about the Lamb. We enter in and we become seeds of Abraham in Christ. And that's what this city is forever. [00:18:54] Speaker B: It reminds us of this story forever. This city is built to tell the story that Jesus fulfilled, that Jesus completed. We know what that's like. Every city we visit we drive in [00:19:10] Speaker A: and there are signs that tell the [00:19:11] Speaker B: story of the city. [00:19:15] Speaker A: Drive through downtown Richmond today and you see the millstones and there's a story behind that. Drive through Washington D.C. and you see these buildings that tell the story even of our country. We think about the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Arch, Jackson Square in New Orleans, all of these monuments and all of these buildings tell the story of the cities, of the country, of the place. [00:19:47] Speaker B: What he's saying here is in heaven. [00:19:50] Speaker A: The architecture tells the story. [00:19:53] Speaker B: What's he referring to in the architecture? He's referring to us forever. We will tell the story of Jesus. We will be the stones and jewels. We will be the city that tells the story of Jesus. And we will say, jesus built this city. Jesus built this place. His life and his death and his gospel. That is why we are here. And we will never tire of of seeing the story. We will never tire of telling the story. It will be our story forever that echoes through the halls of heaven forever and ever. [00:20:36] Speaker A: And so if this is your story in eternity, the question is, is it your story now? Are you enamored with the story? You will be immersed in it everywhere, forever. What are you building? What city are you giving yourself over to? You see, God's grace is that we're only here for a short time. Think about this. We're only here for a short time. And so often we think it's long, it's not. It's a short time. In light of eternity and in this little blip of our existence, he gives us opportunity to. To latch to something that lasts forever and ever and ever. In this story, to the degree that we are telling the story of Jesus, we're finding our life in the story of Jesus. [00:21:26] Speaker B: We are latched to eternity. That's what this is all about. So whose story are you telling? Hopefully it's the story that you will tell forever and ever. Jesus story. [00:21:39] Speaker A: But then we see we will also reflect his people beauty. Notice the angel has a measuring rod to measure the city, its gates and its walls. If you go back and you read Ezekiel, chapter 40, 48, Zechariah, chapter 2, it's a similar picture. And what's going on is this measurement of this new temple that is actually immeasurable. And notice this city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod. 12,000 stadia. Now this is about 1400 miles. This is how big the city is in its length and its width. Its length and its width. This would cover at least 22 states in our country. But notice also and height. So it's not, it's not just, it's not just flat, it is cubed. It is a cubed city, massive. The space center is only 250 miles up and this goes well beyond that. It is a massive cubed city. Now we get here and we go, well, if he's describing heaven, it's very weird. It's very weird if this is literally what heaven is going to be like. But again, go back to last week, this earth will be made new. And he measured its wall, which is 144 cubits. And that is a massively thick wall which if you start drawing all this out and you can go online and people do that, it's a really weird looking city. And this wall is disproportionate. God's not, I'm going to say this, his architecture in heaven. If this, if you draw this out, [00:23:45] Speaker B: it would be weird. [00:23:46] Speaker A: We would say, what are you doing God? [00:23:50] Speaker B: I'm sure it's glorious. [00:23:51] Speaker A: But what he's describing here is what we find in the Old Testament, the holy of holies was the measurements were also this cubed shaped place. [00:24:05] Speaker B: What he's saying here is in heaven, the new earth. The presence of God will be everywhere and it is immeasurable. That's what he's trying to say here. The presence of God will invade the earth. We will live in the presence of God the same way the priest in the Old Testament goes into this square, goes into this holy of holies and he enters the presence of God in the new creation. God's presence will be everywhere. It will be a city full of God's presence. And In Ephesians chapter 3, verses 18 and 19, Paul talks about the breadth and length and height and depth of, [00:24:47] Speaker A: of the love of Christ. [00:24:49] Speaker B: And what John is saying here and what he sees here is we as the church forever will live encompassed by God's presence, which means we will be encompassed by his love forever. Don't get caught up on all the measurements. What he is saying is you will [00:25:06] Speaker A: exist in the immeasurable love and presence [00:25:10] Speaker B: of God forever and ever and ever and ever. [00:25:14] Speaker A: And if you're, don't get caught up on the measurements, that's all I'm going to say. But notice what this presence does to us. Verse 18. The wall was built of Jasper while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. Now what we've seen in the throne room is all of these jewels. All of this design is meant to reflect and Mirror and shimmer the presence of God. That's what we will be designed to do. God's presence will be everywhere. And then we will be like jewels and gold and glass that reflect his presence. Notice verse 19. The foundation of the cities were adorned with every kind of jewel we've seen. Jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl and topaz and chrysoprase and jacinth and amethyst. And you probably only know what maybe one or two of those are. I don't know what any of them are. That's not the point. The point is we will be in [00:26:26] Speaker B: the presence of God. [00:26:27] Speaker A: And like all of these valuable, wonderful [00:26:29] Speaker B: jewels with their own different color, in their own unique way with we will reflect the presence of God everywhere in glory and beauty and value. We will be made beautiful by the presence of God. It's all around us and we see it and it will make us beautiful. [00:26:49] Speaker A: All of these stones represent stones that the priest carried into the presence of God into this square place that represented the 12 tribes of Israel. There's 12 here. And it was just to show that in the presence of God there is beauty. [00:27:06] Speaker B: And we are made beautiful in the presence of God. [00:27:10] Speaker A: And notice verse 21. The twelve gates were pearls and the gates made of a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Again, all of this is just a [00:27:26] Speaker B: description of to show the beauty and worth and extravagant provision the city will be in the presence of God will be and how we will be made beautiful. [00:27:38] Speaker A: Now notice this. [00:27:41] Speaker B: The city itself has no inherent beauty [00:27:44] Speaker A: apart from the presence of God. [00:27:47] Speaker B: If you just took the presence of [00:27:49] Speaker A: God out, then the city goes dark, as we'll see later. [00:27:54] Speaker B: It is the presence of God that makes her beautiful. [00:27:58] Speaker A: And what we are seeing here is [00:27:59] Speaker B: this is the beauty of the bride of Christ forever. The bride that Jesus died for. He died to make her beautiful. [00:28:11] Speaker A: Get that? [00:28:13] Speaker B: This is God's intended purpose for his church, is that she would be glorious and beautiful forever in his presence. This is the gift that the Father is giving to the Son. A bride, a city that you will rule over. A people that you will be their king forever. And you will make them so beautiful. It's immeasurable beauty, it's immeasurable value. And they can't have it apart from [00:28:44] Speaker A: you, apart from Christ. Now this is to give us perspective as we look around the room and we see the church today. We are an unfinished product. We have to remember that. We have to be patient with the church, but also patient with God as [00:29:05] Speaker B: we strive with one another and we see the flaws and blemishes. We have to remember what God is making us. What God is making your brothers and [00:29:15] Speaker A: sisters around you beautiful jewels that will [00:29:19] Speaker B: reflect his presence forever. The church isn't perfect. And you yourself are one of the broken jewels laying cracked on concrete with [00:29:29] Speaker A: grass growing through it in a city of unhinged gates. That's who we are right now. We have to be patient and kind with one another. [00:29:40] Speaker B: We're sinful, we're rebellious. But Jesus is taking this lowly, bless broken, sinful people. [00:29:48] Speaker A: And he is making us spectacular. You got to remember that. You got to remember when you want to give up on the church. You got to remember when you see the flaws of the church. You got to remember when the church hurts you. She's not perfect yet. Jesus is making her perfect. And a good thing to do in those opportunities is go look in the mirror too, and remind yourself that you're not perfect, that you're not what Jesus is making you into. But to remember on both ways, the [00:30:25] Speaker B: church will be glorious. [00:30:27] Speaker A: And in his presence, I will be glorious. I will be beautiful in his sight one day. And the groom isn't walking away in this betrothal period. [00:30:39] Speaker B: The groom isn't going to find some [00:30:41] Speaker A: dirt on his bride and go, I'm not doing that. No way. For eternity with her. No, he's not giving up on us. Will you give up on the church? Or like Jesus, you give your life over to her, love her, serve her, to see that she becomes this beautiful bride forever. Will you work with Jesus in that way? But notice we will be glorious because he will make us beautiful. Then we will live in his light forever. Notice verse 22, there's no temple in the city. For the temple is the Lord God, the Almighty. What does that mean? That means that God's presence isn't restricted to a place. But it's important that he says the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. So God's presence isn't restricted to a place. [00:31:33] Speaker B: But still it's true. The only way we have access to [00:31:36] Speaker A: God's presence is the Lamb that was slain. That's the only way we get into the city. And the Lamb will be there forever, mediating God's presence. [00:31:48] Speaker B: He will be the center of God's presence as the Lamb. [00:31:50] Speaker A: Notice the text continues. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it. [00:31:57] Speaker B: For the glory of God gives its light. [00:32:00] Speaker A: In first John, chapter one, verse five, we See that God is light, and in him is no darkness. So if he is present, there can be darkness nowhere. But notice also the point here. The lamp is the Lamb. Now, what's important with all of that is God's presence isn't restricted, but it's still about the Lamb. [00:32:21] Speaker B: There is no need for sun or moon because God's presence lights up the city. [00:32:27] Speaker A: But his presence and his light is personified in Jesus. Here's the point of this [00:32:34] Speaker B: God in [00:32:35] Speaker A: heaven, this new earth where we live with him in his presence forever. He doesn't all of a sudden become an abstract light that we stare into forever. He doesn't all of a sudden become this generic presence. [00:32:52] Speaker B: No. The Lamb is there, ruling and reigning. He is the lamp, meaning he is the light. He is the king. So in the new creation, God's presence is everywhere, but we experience it and we feel it, and we see it in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the king who rules the earth forever. And he is the presence of God forever ruling and reigning on earth. And he is the one who mediates God's blessings to everyone. The blessings of God and His presence and his light come through Jesus. That's why Jesus is so important. He's the center of eternity. You don't know the presence of God. You don't see the light of God apart from Jesus. That's why it's so glorious that he took on flesh, that he dwelt among us. And when he did, guess what he said? I am the light of the world, and if you follow me, you will never walk in darkness, never meaning eternity. Because I will rule heaven, and I will be the light that mediates God's goodness forever and ever and ever. That's why you got to know Jesus. God's not abstract. He's not generic. [00:34:08] Speaker A: You look to Jesus to know him. Notice verse 24 by its light, meaning the light of Jesus. The nations walk. This is why the prayer of Psalm 67 is this. Bless us and make his face to shine upon us that your way may be known on the earth. Your saving power among the nations. What is the prayer of Psalm 67? God, shine your light on us. Bless us. But it's not generic. [00:34:40] Speaker B: Give us Jesus. Help us to see Jesus. Because Jesus will rule over the nations forever. And notice the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. What we are seeing here is the reversal of Babel. Men will not use their resources and their power to build up their own kingdoms. They will bring it into this city and they will build up the city of God, God forever. It will be used to serve the people of God forever. And its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night. There they will bring their glory and the honor of the nations in. We read this in Psalm 60 earlier all you read that and you go, what are we going to bring trees into the new Jerusalem? Why? All of the things that make up [00:35:25] Speaker A: the glory of the nations, the things the nations possess, they bring to Jesus to serve him and his people forever. Notice verse 27. Nothing unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. What happens when this city comes down is all evil runs. It is purged from the earth to never be seen again. We will walk in his light. The question for you today is, are you walking in his life now? Are you here today walking in the light of Christ? It's not generic if you want to say, how do I know God? It's not just a generic piece in your heart, a feeling, just sort of a flutter when you see a sunset. Paul tells us that we have seen the glory of God, the worth and value of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You believe in him. [00:36:38] Speaker B: Your life is lit up forever and you know heaven's light. Do you know Jesus? Are you following Jesus? There is a reason that your life may not make sense sense to you today. There is a reason that it. That it just. You can't figure out why you exist. [00:36:59] Speaker A: Some of you are saying, God, you [00:37:01] Speaker B: put me on this planet and you gave me life and you put me here. I didn't ask for this. Why am I here, [00:37:10] Speaker A: right here? To possess the glory of Jesus forever. To walk in his light forever as your king. To know and serve him forever. Why are you going through the struggles you are right now? Why do you know the sin that you know now? Because what God is going to do is he's going to unite you to His Son and he's going to do only something he can do in his son. He's going to make you big, beautiful. And when you look back and you see the process of being made beautiful, it's going to be glorious, it's going to be amazing, it's going to shine [00:37:53] Speaker B: forth and it's going to echo forever and ever and ever. [00:37:57] Speaker A: And you have to remember that now that God is working your good at all times. [00:38:04] Speaker B: Why? [00:38:05] Speaker A: Because he gets glory from makes Jesus look glorious forever. [00:38:10] Speaker B: It reflects his glory forever. [00:38:14] Speaker A: I want you to imagine the wedding and imagine the groom as the doors fling open. Imagine the groom standing there and saying, as he sees his bride, hold up. There's way too much attention on this woman. [00:38:37] Speaker B: Stop the music. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Everybody needs to look at me. Look at what I'm wearing. Look at my new watch. [00:38:43] Speaker B: Look at everybody, look at me. [00:38:47] Speaker A: What if the groom did that? Well, the groom's mom would tell him to shut up, and then the dad with the bride would probably turn around and leave. Wouldn't make sense. Well, Jesus is the only groom who has the right to do that. But he doesn't. And why? Because when we see the beauty of the church, we see his glory. When we see her beauty, we are seeing what he has done. That's why Jesus says, look at her. [00:39:23] Speaker B: Look at her. She's amazing and she's glorious. And I did it. As he looks at his bride, he sees his glory staring back. And this is how this issue of God's glory and our good work together, we get the good. Because he is made glorious in serving our good. It works together. That's the glory of the gospel that we delight in. In all we're going through now, we can trust it is for our good. Because he's going to be seen as glorious forever and ever and ever. [00:40:02] Speaker A: And as we are in awe of her beauty, it will be his glory, his story, his beauty and his blessing and his light forever. And we will know, looking into his eyes, why he is so enamored. Because his glory of God staring back at him.