Sermon 15th May 2022 – 5th Sunday after Easter
Text Revelation 21:1-6 – The New Creation
On Good Friday we focused on the 7 last words of Christ. And
one of those 7 words of Christ was – It is finished. It is finished, as we
heard, was not a cry of defeat but a cry of completion. Like when you’re
working on a jigsaw puzzle and you study and anguish because all the pieces
look the same. But slowly and surely the picture starts to take shape and the
remaining pieces are easier to place. And then, then the final piece is there
and you have the pleasure and honour of placing that piece and triumphantly
proclaiming – It is finished.
It’s such a great feeling when you accomplish any task or
project and you can just sit back and admire the final product. In our reading
from the Book or Revelation today that’s exactly what we see being revealed to
John.
The finished work of Jesus for us. Let me read a portion of
it again and give some commentary on the sections:
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.
Most biblical scholars believe that John, the writer of this
Book is the same as John the writer of the 4th Gospel. Remember how John begins
his Gospel – in the beginning, the word was with God and the word was God and
all things were created through him. John begins his Gospel with the same words
as the Book of Genesis and the account of Creation – in the beginning God
created the Heavens and the Earth. In John’s Gospel and here in John’s
Revelation he sees the work of Jesus Christ, the Word of God bring about the
new creation – a new heaven and a new earth. And what is significant in their
differences is in that very first observation – and the sea was no more. The
sea was the place where evil hid – the pigs who had the demons cast into them
rushing into the water because that was where they felt safe. Jesus walking on
the water to show his authority. Jesus calming the sea that threatened the
disciples telling it to “be quiet”. Here in the new heaven and earth, unlike
the Garden of Eden where the Serpent was able to cause disobedience to God and
bring evil – that cannot exist. As John says later in Revelation 21 - Nothing
evil will be allowed to enter.
In Revelation 13 John sees the full extent of the seas - The
dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.
It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each
head a blasphemous name. We don’t know why God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and
Eve but that will NOT be possible in the new Heaven and Earth where John says
the tree of life will be restored without any forbidden fruit available to
tempt us. In Revelation 22 he says: he showed me a river of the water of life,
clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side
of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations.
Next John sees this: 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;
Here again we can see the Garden of Eve restored but not with
Adam and Eve as the first husband and wife but with the New Jerusalem prepared
for her Husband. Let’s not get caught up on the gender issues of this but
rather the symbolism. Jerusalem with a Hebrew word meaning – house of Shalom –
house of peace. But the peace of Shalom is very different to peace as we
understand it. As St Paul says – a peace that goes beyond all understanding It’s
not about absence of war or absence of noise it’s Shalom. The forging together
of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight.
Just as Adam and Eve became one flesh, so too we become one
with God – something that was taken away from Adam and Even when they sinned
and were separated as they hid from God. Instead of being one with God they
were now one with evil as they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And in the Hebrew understanding of knowledge is where there is a marriage of 2
becoming one as we read where Adam “knew” his wife as a sign of that union. Adam
and Eve, and all their descendants “knew” evil.
But now, through Jesus, we are one with God again through
Shalom, the new Jerusalem, house of Shalom – house of peace – a peace that goes
beyond all understanding – a peace the world cannot give. That’s what John saw.
And from this John sees the outcome. God 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." This is it – this is the
finished work of Jesus for us. No more death. Where O death is your victory –
thanks be to God who gives us the victory over death. Everything associated
with death is gone – mourning, crying, suffering – all gone. They are part of
the Old Order – they are part of the first things that have passed away. Ironically
it is death that must now suffer the agony of death. The wages of sin, death,
is gone and the free gift of eternal life has begun.
And then we hear from Jesus himself: And the one who was
seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he
said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he
said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the
water of life."
The final and ultimate “I AM” statement – I AM making all
things new. I AM the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end. And to
link it to those words from the cross – it is finished – he repeats – it is
done. Friends, this is our destiny. This is why we believe. As St Paul wrote in
1 Corinthians – if it is only for this life that we have hope then we are to be
pitied more than anyone else. But we don’t hope for this life. This life is
part of the old order of things whose destination is death. Our hope is in the
new ordering of things – the new Heaven and Earth. The new Jerusalem where we
will dwell with God and God will dwell with us. He won’t just visit in the cool
of the evening as he did with Adam and Eve but we will gather around him day
and night basking in his glory.
We have so much to live for and look forward to and we have
the full assurance of reaching our heavenly home because the work of Christ is
finished. Christ has been glorified and his words are trustworthy and true.
Amen
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