Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to the Corona Chronicles. You've made it to the last chapter of Revelation and long last. Maybe lockdown will be over when we finish the last line. Could be. Yeah.

It would be nice. It would be nice. So we're in chat a 22 revelation and I'm gonna be reading versus 1 to 5. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. As clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life bearing 12 crops of fruit yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city. And his servants will serve him.

They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. There'll be no more night. They will not need the the light of a lamp or the light of the sun for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever. As with all of revelation, there is so much wonderful imagery here isn't there.

And each each image could be could be picked apart for hours, couldn't it? But, you know, I think we're here now at the end of the bible story, and this is focusing on the home of god's people, isn't it forever? And they're gonna dwell with the lamb, and the lamb is gonna dwell with them. And there is a sense in which you you you you know, you need this vision to understand all of the bible story. Yeah.

You know, it's last things first, isn't it? Like and That's why there are 1 or 2, like, popular theology books which start with the end times, you know, because the old illustration is that if you want to drive a car, you need to know where you're going, you need to be looking out in front, you need to know your destination in order to help you to get there. Sure. And there's there's there's a lot in that isn't there, to to understand where we're going is God's people that's gonna help us help us live now. And what you've got here is this this imagery of water having you.

This this water of life that is flowing from the throne down the middle of the city. And and you've got the tree of life. And so it's a picture of it's a picture of a new and greater eden. Isn't it? You've got rivers flowing, fruit trees, bearing, and the the the the river is coming from God.

Yeah. So he is the 1 who is providing the life, and it's coming down into the city -- Mhmm. -- where we are. So we're drinking from Christ, really, and from from his from his life. Which which is lovely image.

Yeah. Such is a wonderful image and kind of it is a it's a greater egan, isn't it? Because he did there was night and there was day. But here there's just day in a sense because God no longer sort of visits and walks in the garden, but he is he dwells with the people. Mhmm.

There's a lovely line that they will see his face and so many times in the rest of scripture. It talks about, you know, may God bless you, may he turn his face towards you and shine on you and there's this idea that would he's he's you're not in that close relationship where you're gazing each of the spaces. And we're used to that in Zoom now. Yeah. Yeah.

We're not. Yeah. But but in in scripture that throughout the stories that are being told, they're not. They're broken. But here, they can look we can look at God in the face eye to eye.

And we don't die. Mhmm. I mean, Moses had to be covered. We've talked about that quite a lot. But here, it's gonna be like, no barrier between us knowing.

And it and and you're right. This is sort of this is where we're end this is where we're gonna end up. This is how things are always meant to be. Yeah. And yeah.

Yeah. It's interesting. I was I was listening to a podcast the other day as well, and this this bloke was talking about. He'd done I think it was a p h HD. He done decided to do a biblical theology of trees.

Okay. And to see what the bible said about trees and that you know, that is quite a rich theme, really. You're thinking about the tree in the bible. And, you know, you've definitely got this this kind of tree of life language here. You know, so in 1 sense, you know, you know, that our first father, Adam, you know, sin comes about through a tree.

You know, there's an act of disobedience involving a tree -- Yeah. -- which leads to the fall of mankind. You've got Christ comes, and he gives his life upon a tree -- Mhmm. -- in order to bring redemption, you know, for the people of God. We're told in someone that the right man.

It's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruits in season. So the righteous life is like a tree. Yeah. And then right in the new creation, there's a tree, a fruitful tree, which really is the cross of Christ, isn't it? And I just love this.

The leaves of the tree after the healing of the nations. And, you know, we are living in a time at the moment, and then anyone who's been following the news, following the George Floyd case, and the things that, you know, there there is fraction between nations and races. There is injustices and racism and prejudice and violence. And There there are little things we can do in this life to try to help that, but the healing of the nations. Is going to be the tree, which is the cross of Christ.

And, you know, that's why we preach the tree, and then that is why we look forward to the tree -- Mhmm. -- where where that is gonna be complete that that healing. Yeah. And he's dealt with the curse. I mean, verse 3, no longer will there be any curse.

So The curse was fractions between us and God, between us and each other, between the nations, between us and the world even. Mhmm. But here, there's no longer any curse. And it's just the it's just the kind of the undoing of all bad. It's making everything that was bad sort of good again.

And we don't know. I think this is why when we try and think about what Heaven's gonna be like, we think it's boring and dull. Yeah. Because we only have experienced life in the broken world. Yeah.

But here in this world there is no curse and also we've got this trees bearing crops every month. Yeah. So there's like a a picture of a never ending status status satisfaction, you know, you'll never be hungry again because there's there's just never it's just such a wonderful picture of life. Is it? It is.

Yeah. And cult and fruitfulness and bounty. It's it is it is wonderful, isn't it? And and, you know, we're there and we're, you know, we're serving him. In verse 3.

We're reigning with him, you know, forever and ever. And, you know, our our his where is it now? Verse 4. His name will be on our forehead. You know, again, that's a throwback to some of the things we saw in the letters, isn't it, to the churches.

We're given a new name, and the new name is written upon us. And so, the thing that will identify us, you know, is that we belong to Jesus. Is not to say that all our other differences are just washed away into a slush. You know, the differences of race and tongue and nation will will remain because it's part of the tapestry, isn't it, pale. But the key identifying factor is that we belong to Jesus.

These are Jesus' people here in this city. And what what a thing to look forward to. It's it's wonderful, isn't it? Mhmm. And once we have that vision, we can live we can live properly.

Yes. That's that's the thing you can't. So Well, great stuff to join us tomorrow and we'll be looking at the next bit of Revelation 22.