Eden Restored
AI Transcript
Amen. Thanks Jen. Yeah. Good morning Redemption Parker. So good to see you guys. I hope you are excited for Vision Night. I hope that is on your calendar for this evening. You're not going to want to miss it. It's going to be a lot of fun. Well if you would why don't you begin making your way to Revelation 22. The last chapter of the last book the Bible. Revelation.
22 is where we'll be this morning. Had to bring out the jacket for this chapter.
And we got a drum set. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Well, a couple weeks ago, my oldest Eden wanted to show me a new song she wrote. She titled it, The Garden of Eden. And though her voice is much cuter than mine, I'll attempt to sing it. The garden of Eden lived a long time ago. There lived a man named Adam.
There also lived a woman named Eve. It was the happiest place in the world. They had so much fun. It's done.
Yes, yes, I thought it was legit. We got the next Jackie Hill Perry on our hands. And that last line, it's done. is spot on. Theologically speaking, the garden of Eden from Genesis 1 and 2 is done by chapter 3. When Adam and Eve no longer want to rule under God's reign, they want to call the shot. So yeah, the happiest place in the world.
pretty early on in the story is done. And it's not hard to see, right? That this is where we live. East of Eden. Life under the sun is brutal, full of suffering and brokenness. It doesn't take long to scroll the news to realize, yeah, this ain't Eden. And even in...
our own lives, the moment we think everything is working out the way it's supposed to, we find ourselves empty, depressed, insecure, or maybe just nothing is working out like we think it's supposed to. So we're anxious, lonely. And if we're honest, even we, God's people, the saints, know we're not quite who we want to be or who we should be.
But what Eden's song is missing, and I told her this and we'll work on it, is a second verse. Yes, Genesis 3 tells us Eden is done, but Revelation 22 is going to show us Eden is not finished. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from Lord of the Rings, this is where everything sad is going to come untrue. Because of Revelation 22,
Eden, will be restored. And this is our future hope, church. A hope that throughout church history was meant to anchor, inspire, and transform God's people. So let's turn. Revelation 22. Last week, Mark showed us what is not going to be in the renewed heaven and earth.
Today we get to look at what we will have there. So start with me in verse one, chapter 22, verse.
And then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. What do we?
have here. Well, as Dr. Dave Mathewson says in his commentary, the end will be as the beginning. Genesis 2 10 tells us a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. From the earliest part of the story, we see this river, this river of life, this river of shalom. Peace.
But as the story unfolds, know Adam and Eve make their way east as they're exiled out of Eden. But what happened to this river of life? Well, this river motif is not simply found in the first and last chapters of the Bible. This is a theme running all throughout the scriptures.
We don't have time for a deep dive, but for instance, those steeped in their Hebrew Old Testaments, their Hebrew Bibles, they come across the river of life in the New Testament in Revelation 22. And yes, they think back to Eden, but they also think about the prophet Ezekiel. At one point in his prophetic ministry, Ezekiel is shown a vision. The vision is of
a river that flows down the temple. It starts small, like a little trickle. but it grows into a mighty rushing river. Listen to this prophecy for yourself. It'll be up on the screen. Ezekiel. Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish.
because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows, everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore from N'Gedi to N'Eglam, where there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt.
Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food, and their leaves for healing.
This is a crazy scene. This river that starts as a trickle of water running down the temple steps becomes a rushing river heading east and bringing life wherever it goes. I mean the place it's describing here, this is the Dead Sea. And in case you didn't know friends, I think I got a picture of the Dead Sea. This is the Dead Sea. And in case you didn't know,
There, there is no life in the Dead Sea. This is the lowest place on planet earth. And these waters are like 25 % mineral. They, call it the salt sea for a reason. Nothing can survive here. Like, like if you jump into the Dead Sea, you float. It's actually pretty awesome. If you're interested in the Israel trip, come talk to me, but we are going to go on an RP Israel trip this fall.
And yet in this vision, even the Dead Sea is so purified with life from this river that fish of all sorts swim here. Fishermen are lined up. A place once lifeless is now alive with the life of God's kingdom. Yes, Ezekiel is looking back for sure to Eden, but he's also prophesying about a day.
a day in the future when Eden and its river of life would be restored. And this becomes the hope for Israel. For instance, the feast of tabernacles or Sukkot, where even today, if you hit the right time of year in places like Brooklyn or LA, of course Jerusalem, you'll see homemade tabernacles.
tents, all sorts of shelters on patios and backyards. This is where Jewish families sleep for a week. In the days of Jesus, they would make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, sleep all over the city. And on the seventh day, the final day, the most important day of the feast, the priest would carry large vessels of water from a nearby spring to the temple.
people were reciting specific Psalms all over the city, the water was poured out down the temple steps, forming a stream that flowed eastward from the temple. This ritual served as a living reenactment of Ezekiel's vision, their future hope, an embodied prayer for the people of God.
begging God to send this promised river, this river of life back to Revelation 22. Do you see what's happening? The river of life is back. It's here at last in the renewed Eden and the tree of life from the happiest place on earth.
Well, if you remember when the garden of Eden is done, God drives out Adam and Eve from ever touching this tree until now. In the renewed Eden where the tree of life that has been guarded for millennia is back. Its fruit is now food. It's leaves for the healing of the nation. What does this mean? The renewed Eden will be the place where God's diverse.
multicultural, multi-ethnic people find healing, find shalom, where they flourish. This is the good life. What an end to the greatest story. And yet this is just the beginning. Where everything sad comes untrue. This is the eternal life that awaits.
This is our future church. Remember the words back from Revelation 2, the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life. Let's keep reading. We're reminded in verse three, like Mark explained last week, the curse is gone. Look at verse three, no longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the lamb will be in it.
and his servants will worship him. The river of life is not only flowing from the throne of God. Remember that there's no need of a temple anymore because well Eden is a temple. The word Eden literally means the paradise of.
God and so now when every square inch of this renewed Eden is filled with the wonder and the glory and the presence of God himself, worship is what takes place. Soul satisfying worship. As C.S. Lewis famously says,
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. This is that world. No more needing to look at your 401K to find rest and fulfillment. No more needing the approval of
people likes on social media climbing the ladder of success in your career, finding fulfillment in your kids athletic career. None of that satisfies. You haven't found that out yet because you were made for another world.
And it's here in the restored Eden that our longings finally get satisfied as God's people worship before the throne of God. But worship in this city is not by faith. Look at verse four. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. For now, Paul says.
For now we see in a mere dimly, then we will see face to face. Theologians call this the beatific vision, the blessed hope that one day, this day, we will see.
will never be the same. John in another place says, beloved, and someone just needed to hear that this morning. God delights in you. He sings over you. You are his beloved. Beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.
because we shall see him as he is. And friends, we won't be seen and savoring our king as floating souls. We are body souls and will be forever. We will see our glorified savior in our glorified bodies. Paul says in Philippians, but our
citizenship, our home, where we were created for is in heaven. And from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body. Or in Romans, we await eagerly for adoption as sons and daughters. And what's the climax of our adoption? The redemption of our
bodies. church, this is glorious. This is why John Calvin says we need to live with one foot raised. One foot in that city. Or like the author of Hebrews says, for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. This life is full of suffering and we don't get a free pass from suffering as Christians.
But, but unlike the world, we have hope, real hope that, that, can not only get us through our suffering, but can even give us meaning, purpose, joy in our suffering. And what will be, what will we be doing in these bodies? Well, other than playing tennis all day long without any tennis elbow.
Even rejoicing somehow when I lose because I don't know glorified Mark Oshman just hit a passing shot What what will we be doing in these bodies Will be raining You will be raining look at verse 5 and night will be no more
They will need no light of lamp of sun. The Lord God will be their light and they will rain forever and ever. Now, now if someone's upset because they think I'll because they think or because I think there'll be sports in heaven. Now you probably think I'm, I'm a heretic sound like a Mormon with all this talk of raining, but that's what the text says. This is what.
Christians throughout church history have believed you will reign with Christ for all eternity You were meant to rule and reign With God as one author says this is what he meant when he meant you
Now Mark did mention we'll be working in heaven but but have you ever worked as a king or a queen in a a perfect sinless kingdom full of glory beauty peace creativity mystery perfection in Genesis after God looks upon his good creation. What does he say. It is It is good. It is very good that.
That Hebrew word is tov. Yes, it means good, but it's so much more than good. A better translation might be like, all systems go. You ever had one of those days? This will be life in the restored Eden. All systems go. And part of our job description as we work in the new heavens and new earth is to stand face to face with
boss. But he's unlike any boss you've ever had. He's our loving creator and savior. He's the God man. And we will get to know him more and more and more without end. We will still be finite. So forever we will contemplate the incomprehensible God.
we will never be left wanting. Experiencing life as it was meant to be. Worshipping Him, looking at Him, working with Him, reigning with Him, enjoying perfect harmony with one another. Yes, everything sad is becoming untrue. Well, if we're going to finish this chapter, we've to bust a move. Let's...
Continue verse 6 and 7 here. Jesus tells John here, I've shown you a lot.
I've used apocalyptic symbols and images to help this hit my church at the gut level. Blessed or another translation, happy or flourishing is not only the one who hears the word, but one who keeps the words of this book. He reminds John, are in the last days.
And then this is true for us church. are in the last days. Christ is coming soon. Maybe you're thinking man two thousand years doesn't seem like soon but that's why Peter reminds us. But do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day and praise God right. We're we're all part.
of God's family because he's patient and he has more people for whom Christ died. Yeah, we didn't come up with that phrase one more. This is God's heart for humanity. One more. But we are in the last days. We've learned in our time in Revelation that the time between the first and the second coming of Christ is
wilderness season for the church, the tribulation. But take courage, I am coming soon, Jesus says. How does John respond? at verse 8. I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them, I fell down and worshiped at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said to me, you must not do that. I'm a fellow servant with you and your brothers.
Prophets and with those who keep the words of this book worship God And he said to me do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near Let the evil doer still do evil and filthy still be filthy and the righteous still do right and holy still be holy I Love the humility of John here in my pride I'd be tempted to take this part out of the letter before I send it to the seven churches
John for the second time worships the angel and the angels like, dude, get up. When are you going to learn? I know I'm blowing your mind, but like you, I'm just a servant. Let's get our eyes and our heart on God. He and he alone deserves our worship. And then the angel says, but John and RP, the time is near.
We can't be playing games. There's too much on the line. Well, let's finish the rest of the chapter, the rest of the book, the rest of the Bible. If you're able, actually, why don't you stand here for the reading of God's Word and get a little break in the middle of the sermon.
Thank you.
Verse 12 and following, Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life. There it is again. And that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexual immoral.
and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I'm the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star. Verse 18. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testified to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. This is the word of God.
may be seated.
Intense ending, right? Jesus loves His church. These seven churches in Asia Minor 2,000 years ago desiring to fortify these Christ followers in the last days, the end times, and calling them to be His faithful witnesses, conquerors, overcomers. And Jesus loves His church.
Today, Parker Colorado, 2026, desiring to fortify us, his church in the end times, calling us to be his faithful witnesses, conquerors, overcomers. Sometimes we think love is just what makes us feel good. If a person tells me what I want to hear, then that person is loving.
Like, for instance, if a pastor sits someone down, even gently, but tells them truth, maybe hard truth, but the truth that actually has their future self, one million, one billion, one trillion years in mind. If they don't want to hear it, they might say that's not love. But I'd argue from this passage, that's precisely what love is.
And so our senior pastor here at RP, Jesus, wants to end this book with his love for us, his bride, his church. wants to remind us again, I'm coming soon. I know you live in the age of distraction and once you leave here, a million things are going to vie for your attention. But please, please don't forget.
coming soon and I will repay everyone for what they have done. Says I'm looking for faithful witnesses those who know they've been given the gift of salvation by by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that because of his finished work on the cross alone they know that they did nothing to earn this.
Salvation. because they know that church, they also know that this grace ain't It's this costly grace. And when Christ calls a man in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he bids him come and die. But like Dr. Matthewson preached here a few weeks back, any sacrifice we make on our way to the restored Eden is totally
it because Jesus is faithful witnesses. The overcomers will eat from the tree of life. Enter this holy city and behold the King of Kings, the bright and morning star. Mark and I got invited to a Laker game a couple of weeks back against the Nuggets. Of course, the Lakers won.
And these seats were good, like so close you could hear what some of these players were saying. You can see the sweat coming off their faces. And then Mark, like the die-hard Laker fan that he is, was not super happy when LeBron James was taking some crazy shots. I think he said, that's a sketchy shot, man. Come on. Innocent, right? no.
Sitting in front of Mark was a man who turned around. And for the next, I don't know, three to five minutes gave Mark his unfiltered thoughts. How are you going to call out LeBron James for a sketchy shot? Dude's got 50,000 points. Who the heck are you? He went on and on. I kid you not. What kind of fan are you, he said.
You don't say anything when Luca, another Laker player, you don't say anything when Luca takes wild shots. Are you sure you're a Laker fan? I sat there acting like I was just watching the game. Sorry, Mark. I did not come to his defense. Truth be told, this dude was big and I was not trying to get into an incident on national TV. And then just like that, he left, but he headed.
toward the court, walked right by the players and then went down in the tunnel. Mark noticed he did have a Laker name tag on. His name was Randy Mim. So we looked him up. This is LeBron's chief of staff.
LeBron's closest childhood friend, LeBron's fixer. I still don't know what that means. You can read articles about this guy and one thing sticks out more than anything. This dude is loyal to LeBron James. Driving home, Mark says, man, my daughters need to find a man who loves them like this man loves LeBron James. But all jokes aside,
Unlike the self-proclaimed King James, we get the privilege, the joyful privilege to give our loyalty, our faithfulness, our allegiance to the King of Kings. Imperfectly, of course. The call is not to be perfect. The call is to be faithful.
Don't you long to hear those words, well done, good and faithful servants. Enter Eden at last. Welcome home, son. Welcome home, daughter.
Well, how shall we then live in light of Revelation 22 in light of the entire book of Revelation? How then shall we live? I skipped over one verse and I think it's a good place to land the plane this morning. Verse 17.
Look with me at verse 17. The Spirit, important word there, the Holy Spirit who's been all throughout this book. The Spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Two points of application then I'm done.
for the believer, one for the unbeliever. Firstly, the unbeliever. To the unbeliever, we're so glad you're here with us this morning. Maybe this is your first Sunday at church or church in a long time. Maybe you've been tracking with us through this entire Revelation sermon series. But you wouldn't say Jesus is Lord.
wouldn't say Jesus is Lord of everything and I just want to ask you how's that going?
How's that going? Mom, I called to you this morning. Come. Come to Jesus. He made you. He loves you. He died for you. He has a future for you. Maybe you're done trying everything this world has to offer. You're realizing it's not enough. You're still thirsty. Come to the one who can quench.
your thirst by faith and faith alone free of charge. Come to the one where you can find rest for your weary souls. And second to the believers, brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise God for the book of Revelation. Amen.
Amen. This isn't about endless speculation and trying to figure out which vaccine is the mark of the beast. I hope you've been encouraged because this book is meant to encourage and to exhort believers because of Jesus. You are an overcomer and you have what it takes to be
overcomers. know someone's thinking, what do you mean, I have what it takes. Well, check this out. What's crazy is we don't just wait for the renewed Eden by the Spirit. The life of that coming world, Eden, is already here. When Jesus was celebrating the feast of tabernacles.
Sukkot in Jerusalem during his earthly ministry and then the priest is pouring down water from the temple reminding everyone of Eden the river of life and pointing everyone to the day when Eden would be renewed. Well Jesus stood up and said some things. He wasn't going to let that moment pass. A preacher's got to preach. And so John records these words. On the last day of the feast.
the great day. stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet
The Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Well, like we know, He's been glorified. He's reigning and ruling right now as we speak at the right hand of the Father in the throne room in heaven. And for the last 2000 years, from the day of Pentecost to today, He's been filling His people, the church, His new...
temple with streams of living.
namely the Holy Spirit. church, let us come. Let us come. Let us be a people who drink deeply. Amen. Amen. Come Lord Jesus, come let me pray.