Came across this whilst browsing a blog this morning. It made me smile, its just a short clip: Man Cold
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
The cork in the bottle
Paid workers are valuable for churches but they also pose a potential danger, in that they can become the cork in the bottle that stops growth from happening. For example if a church is about 80 members one church worker has only limited time and is probably at the threshold of his ability to care for the churches members. And actually is probably spending the vast majority of his time maintaining ministries and caring for the people he has been given. There will be little time to stand back evaluate, pray and plan.
So what is the answer to that problem? Is it to take on an extra member of staff. Well it may be, except that having more staff increases peoples expectations, it may lead people to expect twice as many visits, rather than freeing up time to plan and pray strategically. It may create expectations of multiplied ministries rather than more focused ones.
I wonder if the answer isn't seen in Paul's model of ministry. He always has a young apprentice with him who he is training up to eventually send elsewhere but alongside that he looks for leaders from among the churches. So he tells Titus to appoint men from the church as elders, it is the same model he and Barnabas used when returning after their first missionary journey.
The answer to the problems growth brings may not be more paid staff, it may be more teams working within a congregation. Maybe a pastoral visitation team, or a youth team, or whatever else. These are then overseen by the elders. It also has the added benefit of drawing peopel in from the fringe to be part of these teams.
It has the great benefit that it is growing leaders from within the church and growing disciples as it works.
So what is the answer to that problem? Is it to take on an extra member of staff. Well it may be, except that having more staff increases peoples expectations, it may lead people to expect twice as many visits, rather than freeing up time to plan and pray strategically. It may create expectations of multiplied ministries rather than more focused ones.
I wonder if the answer isn't seen in Paul's model of ministry. He always has a young apprentice with him who he is training up to eventually send elsewhere but alongside that he looks for leaders from among the churches. So he tells Titus to appoint men from the church as elders, it is the same model he and Barnabas used when returning after their first missionary journey.
The answer to the problems growth brings may not be more paid staff, it may be more teams working within a congregation. Maybe a pastoral visitation team, or a youth team, or whatever else. These are then overseen by the elders. It also has the added benefit of drawing peopel in from the fringe to be part of these teams.
It has the great benefit that it is growing leaders from within the church and growing disciples as it works.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Are we fiddling while Rome burns?
This appeared on the 9 marks blog on Wednesday, it was written by David Wells and makes provocative reading.
"A recent Barna report offers an interesting snapshot of the current mood. Surveying those who are “Christian” by self-designation—which, we know, is not of much use as a category—Barna found that a majority of adults believe that there are six alternative ways to attend a conventional church service that are biblically acceptable:
- worship at home (89%),
- active in house church (75%),
- watching religious TV (69%),
- radio broadcast (68%),
- special ministry event (68%),
- and participating in a marketplace ministry (54%).
Keep in mind, these are not both/ands, but alternatives! Each of the six was deemed by most adults to be “a complete and biblically valid way for someone who does NOT participate in the services or activities of a conventional church to experience and express their faith in God.” Barna also found two more alternatives regarded as legitimate by a significant minority of adults, including
- interacting with a religious website (45%)
- and engaging in spiritual activity on the internet (42%).
Appended to this report are the conclusions from Barna's latest book (Pagan Christianity, co-authored with Frank Viola) which argues that much of what conventional churches do are rooted in pagan origins: church buildings, formal sermons, official pastors, the truncated form of the Lord Supper, as well as later accretions like stained glass, pews, altar calls, pulpits, pastoral prayers, church bulletins, clergy attire, choirs, tithing, seminaries, infant baptism, and funeral processions."
What if these statistics are true? Is this mood in our churches? Most other trends from America are found over here, how about this one? If it is how are we going to respond to it? What are its causes?
Leaders as a barrier
Leadership in the church is both an immense privilege and a great responsibility, as the pastoral letters and James makes very clear. So can leaders be a barrier to growth?
I think the answer is yes, and they can do so in a number of ways, but one of teh most fundamental is this. Tim 2:2 calls on leaders to be training up other leaders; "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." In other words Timothy train up new leaders, make yourself dispensible.
I'm not sure that we readily buy into that model of leadership. How many people are you working alongside to train up to replace you in what you are doing? As a youth leader are you training up someone to entrust the gospel and youth ministry to? As a pastor am I training up others to share the responsibility of teaching God's word to others? As home group leaders are we training up other leaders to take some of the group to plant a new group?
There are all sorts of excuses not to do it; I'm too busy to train someone up, there is nobody capable (isn't that the nature of training provided they have the character) and so on...
You can evaluate someones leadership on what they leave behind them. If it is a yawning chasm then they haven't done a very good job, if the transition is seemless then they have been a good leader.
Whilst on the subject it may be worth saying that I'm not sure our transient society helps with church growth. It takes years to build meaningful relationships which are capable of gospel purposes both in the church and outside the church. Yet so often we aren't around years. Would churches grow more if their pastor and other leaders were to serve there twenty years, or a whole ministry rather than 3-7 years? What if its members were to take the same approach - this is where God has called me and I am here until he calls me to another situation?
As leaders am I barrier to long term growth? Am I training up others to lead?
I think the answer is yes, and they can do so in a number of ways, but one of teh most fundamental is this. Tim 2:2 calls on leaders to be training up other leaders; "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." In other words Timothy train up new leaders, make yourself dispensible.
I'm not sure that we readily buy into that model of leadership. How many people are you working alongside to train up to replace you in what you are doing? As a youth leader are you training up someone to entrust the gospel and youth ministry to? As a pastor am I training up others to share the responsibility of teaching God's word to others? As home group leaders are we training up other leaders to take some of the group to plant a new group?
There are all sorts of excuses not to do it; I'm too busy to train someone up, there is nobody capable (isn't that the nature of training provided they have the character) and so on...
You can evaluate someones leadership on what they leave behind them. If it is a yawning chasm then they haven't done a very good job, if the transition is seemless then they have been a good leader.
Whilst on the subject it may be worth saying that I'm not sure our transient society helps with church growth. It takes years to build meaningful relationships which are capable of gospel purposes both in the church and outside the church. Yet so often we aren't around years. Would churches grow more if their pastor and other leaders were to serve there twenty years, or a whole ministry rather than 3-7 years? What if its members were to take the same approach - this is where God has called me and I am here until he calls me to another situation?
As leaders am I barrier to long term growth? Am I training up others to lead?
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Leadership
What does a good leader look like? Is a good business leader a good church leader? Does success in whatever sphere an individual works in mean they will make a successful church leader? What does successful church leadership look like?
One of the barriers to church growth is leadership and how we answer the questions posed above as well as others will determine whether we have, or are leaders, who are a barrier to growth.
In the Bible leadership is seen in many individuals whether it is Moses, Joshua, Elijah, David, Ezra and Nehemiah or in the New Testament Jesus, Peter, or Paul. All of them have one thing in common. They all lead under God. In otherwords it is not what they think or how they evaluate success that matters, it is what God says that matters.
Their leadership is counter cultural because it is leadership that is dependent upon God. It is also counter cultural because it is a leadership that is about serving.
Mark Dever in his book has a mnemonic 'Boss' to help remember 4 aspects of Christ's leadership.
Boss - commands, makes decisions, takes responsibility, Out front - takes initiative and sets the example, Supply - equipping people with the tools needed to go out themselves, Serve - giving of oneself for those we lead.
One of the barriers to church growth is leadership and how we answer the questions posed above as well as others will determine whether we have, or are leaders, who are a barrier to growth.
In the Bible leadership is seen in many individuals whether it is Moses, Joshua, Elijah, David, Ezra and Nehemiah or in the New Testament Jesus, Peter, or Paul. All of them have one thing in common. They all lead under God. In otherwords it is not what they think or how they evaluate success that matters, it is what God says that matters.
Their leadership is counter cultural because it is leadership that is dependent upon God. It is also counter cultural because it is a leadership that is about serving.
Mark Dever in his book has a mnemonic 'Boss' to help remember 4 aspects of Christ's leadership.
Boss - commands, makes decisions, takes responsibility, Out front - takes initiative and sets the example, Supply - equipping people with the tools needed to go out themselves, Serve - giving of oneself for those we lead.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
A Barrier
One of the barriers to growth is that we automatically drift into a maintaining the status quo mentality. We don't mean to do it; we want to see people join the church and see those in the church mature in their faith, but we just like things the way they are. Why do we need to try it this way when it has always worked so well doing... The young tend to think this is a failing of the old, but actually its a failing of all of us - sometimes the young are most trenchant because they have always aspired to be in a certain group. We like what we like and we do not relish change. We like to feel comfortable and sometimes growth unsettles us and brings change with it.
Say you are in a church of about 40 people, you will know everybody by name and the church is built on those relationships. What happens when 10 new people join? It's great the growth we have prayed for is realised, but what if those ten have different ideas and ways of doing things? What about the changes in dynamics it brings, will I know everyone in the same way, will it alter existing relationships?
What about the additional pressure it puts on the church leaders meaning they spend less time with those who were there originally? All these are consequences of growth, and I am not saying growth is a bad thing, but that our attitudes can be a barrier to growth.
We need to be prepared to pray for and welcome growth both as a result of mission and maturity and the changes that it brings.
Say you are in a church of about 40 people, you will know everybody by name and the church is built on those relationships. What happens when 10 new people join? It's great the growth we have prayed for is realised, but what if those ten have different ideas and ways of doing things? What about the changes in dynamics it brings, will I know everyone in the same way, will it alter existing relationships?
What about the additional pressure it puts on the church leaders meaning they spend less time with those who were there originally? All these are consequences of growth, and I am not saying growth is a bad thing, but that our attitudes can be a barrier to growth.
We need to be prepared to pray for and welcome growth both as a result of mission and maturity and the changes that it brings.
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Barriers to growth
A Christian organisation used to have the twin goals of mission and maturity. It was so memorable that even now, ten years on, I can still tell you what its goals were and explain what it meant by them. They are thoroughly biblical goals for the individual believer but also for the church. We want to see people individually and collectively (I'm not sure you can do one without the other - we grow individually as we grow collectively) in their discipleship. As they do so they naturally live lives and speak words that are not just missionary, but missional (a life saturated with the breaking news about Jesus).
But what is it that stops this happening? I guess there are a number of things, but what about at an organisational level in the church?
In Acts we see the fledglingly church and it grows phenomenally in the early chapters. As a result of its growth it encounters the threats of external persecution, internal corruption (ch5) and in chapter 6, perhaps the most subtle, logistics. The result is grumbling as some of the widows complain about being overlooked in the distribution of food.
It is a logistical problem but it threatens to decimate the missional living of this new community, of God's new community. Why? Because it will stop the growth, it will blunt the gospel edge, it will distract the Apostle from prayer and preaching.
Do we face similar barriers? What are they?
But what is it that stops this happening? I guess there are a number of things, but what about at an organisational level in the church?
In Acts we see the fledglingly church and it grows phenomenally in the early chapters. As a result of its growth it encounters the threats of external persecution, internal corruption (ch5) and in chapter 6, perhaps the most subtle, logistics. The result is grumbling as some of the widows complain about being overlooked in the distribution of food.
It is a logistical problem but it threatens to decimate the missional living of this new community, of God's new community. Why? Because it will stop the growth, it will blunt the gospel edge, it will distract the Apostle from prayer and preaching.
Do we face similar barriers? What are they?
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Sermon centred v Word centred
Are the two above opposed to each other? Does being word centred mean being sermon centred? Is that all there is to it or is there more? Is it the only way to teach someone? Is it Biblical?
Its interesting when you study Jesus teaching that actually he seems to use a variety of styles. He teaches as he walks, using the visual and physical aids that are around him to make his point. He teaches in dialogue answering and asking questions, even unasked ones. Even the Sermon on the Mount is a summary of his extended teaching the delivery of which we don't know about.
In Acts the 'Sermons' are not prepared and delivered to the church, but often given in response to the reactions of the crowd or others (Acts 2). When Paul does teach the church in Acts 20:7 the word used is 'dialogue'.
Its not that sermons, as we think of them, are not word centred they most definitely are, but they are not the only means, or even the primary means of teaching God's word in the New Testament. How should this affect the way we structure our churches and corporate services to reflect that we are word centred?
Its interesting when you study Jesus teaching that actually he seems to use a variety of styles. He teaches as he walks, using the visual and physical aids that are around him to make his point. He teaches in dialogue answering and asking questions, even unasked ones. Even the Sermon on the Mount is a summary of his extended teaching the delivery of which we don't know about.
In Acts the 'Sermons' are not prepared and delivered to the church, but often given in response to the reactions of the crowd or others (Acts 2). When Paul does teach the church in Acts 20:7 the word used is 'dialogue'.
Its not that sermons, as we think of them, are not word centred they most definitely are, but they are not the only means, or even the primary means of teaching God's word in the New Testament. How should this affect the way we structure our churches and corporate services to reflect that we are word centred?
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Something worth living for?
I guess we’d all express the perfect world differently for some it may involve lots of sport, for others laying on a beach, or sailing a boat, or shopping. But all of our perfect worlds would have something’s in common. It would be a world without poverty, a world without pollution, a world without crime, a world without sickness, a world where wealth is distributed evenly, a world where we wouldn’t grow old or have to lose those that we have loved, a world without terrorists, a place where loneliness is extinct, where we were never hurt by others and where we in turn never hurt others. Isn’t that the world we all want?
Is it just a dream? Like those of Martin Luther King and others, whose dreams were never realised. But this hope, this dream is different and Revelation 21 and 22 gives us a glimpse of just such a world and if you are a Christian, if you are following Jesus Christ that is your hope, a new earth with all the bad bits taken out.
Revelation is a little bit like the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy pulls back the curtain to reveal reality, not an all powerful wizard but an old man. But in Revelation as the curtains are pulled back, John, and we with him, get a glimpse not of a weak old fraud pulling the wool over peoples eyes BUT of the Almighty, majestic God in all his glory and we see him ruling. We get a glimpse of the real reality, of the events behind the events we see. And here at the end of the book are the final images before the curtain falls back in place and they are images to inspire and encourage, just like the rest of the book, because they show us the certain future of God’s people.
There are two images in these two chapters both of which have their roots in the Old Testament but which are transformed and fully realised in the believers future. They tell us that we will be:
1. Citizens in the New Jerusalem
The first image is of (2) “the Holy City, the New Jerusalem…” and the description of it is couched in terms that are hundreds of years old used by the prophet Isaiah 65:17-19.
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
Nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I will create,
For I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people;
The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”
Do you see the words that Isaiah uses to describe God’s peoples future reality? It is a place that God makes for his people, a new heaven and a new earth, it is a place of joy and delight to those who will be there but which will also be a place God will rejoice over and in which he will delight in his people who are there. That is an amazing idea isn’t it God will delight in his people who are there. It is the New Jerusalem which God has prepared (2) a place where God’s people gather ready to enter relationship with God.
It is a place where there is no barrier to relationship that’s why in (1) it says there was no longer any sea, the sea was a symbol of conflict, chaos and separation. But in the New Jerusalem there is no sea why? Because there is no separation and no chaos and this new earth is marked by relationship and security.
Notice it is not heaven as the Simpsons portray it, there are no clouds, no harps, no sandals. It is a new heaven and a new earth with all the bad bits removed.
What marks this new creation (1) is relationship with God (3). In Revelation voices matter, the words that are spoken are important. That is what the voice announces from the throne as John watches this scene that is what he needs to understand, that is the cause of everything else that is good and wonderful about the new creation about the new Jerusalem, it is the direct result of God’s presence and relationship.
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.”
Sometimes we find relationship with God hard don’t we? Praying can be a battle, understanding the Bible can be hard, making sense of life can be difficult, and we constantly fight against ourselves and our sinful natures. Why is that? Is that we are not Christians? No. Is it that we are not very good Christians? No. It is that we are on the frontline living in a fallen world in the midst of the cosmic conflict between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of opposition, and because we have not fully realised our relationship with God yet.
It is because we live in a ruined world. But in the new creation, the promise is of a totally unfettered and unhindered relationship with God. That is the most significant feature of the new Jerusalem, in fact it is what makes it what it is, that’s why it is emphasized. Not only do we share a city but “They will be his people, and God himself will be their God.” It is not just a shared place but a realised relationship.
The things that we look forward to, the world with no death, or mourning, or crying or pain are the overflow of living in a world which is in relationship with God.
Why are those things absent? (4) Because God is there, God wipes away all their tears as he wipes away the old order of things.
2. A servant in Eden restored
In chapter 22 the image changes slightly to an image that is even older than that of Jerusalem, it is the image of the Garden of Eden. There are the rivers, and there is the tree of life, as in Eden in Genesis 1.
But this is not a return to Eden as we see it at the end of Genesis 3, and Eden scarred and barred, but Eden in all its glory of Genesis 1 and 2, a world which God says is “good”. Look at (3) “No longer will there be any curse.” It is Eden perfected, Adam and Eve removed the key stone that governed the kingdom when they challenged God’s rule. And every second of suffering since is a direct consequence of that challenging of God’s right to rule and our determination to depose him and usurp his throne. But God is bringing his people inexorably to a day when we will experience Eden again.
But though this is an image of Eden restored it is also Eden transformed. (1,3) Unlike Genesis 1-3 where we know God walked with Adam in the new creation God’s throne is there, there is no night, there is no need of the sun because God is its light, and his name marks his people, and the lamb is there.
This second image is marked again by relationship as the curse is undone, God’s people can serve him (3-4) and see him. There is no barrier to knowing God, no battle to serve God, no striving against temptation, and all made possible for all eternity because it is secured by the lamb.
Every moment of struggle for relationship, every second of frustration, every pang of pain, every death is meant to make us long for home. But how can we be certain of this future?
3. How can we be certain?
‘I want to stand where you’re standing’, those are the words you’ll find on a grave stone in America and underneath it is the story behind those words. During the American civil war, a group of confederates were lined up and about to be executed when a 19 year old Yankee soldier recognised the man he was about to shoot. He marched over to his senior officer and said Sir, I cannot shoot this man. I know if I shoot him I end the lives of his young children too. That young man walked over and stood before the condemned man and said those words, I want to stand where you’re standing, he took his place and the confederate soldier left to go home to his family, and that 19 year old was executed in his place. I want to stand where you’re standing.
How can we be certain of this future? Because Jesus came and stood where we are standing, because of the presence of the Lamb in the city, the Lamb who in chapter 5 we see slain. The Lamb who came to earth and gave us glimpses of what the world we all want looks like in reality. Who gives us a glimmer of what our future will be like in the new creation as citizens of the New Jerusalem and servants in Eden restored.
Jesus does it as he calms the storm, as he heals a sick woman, as he feeds the hungry, as he delivers the oppressed, as he raises the dead back to life. As he stands where we should be standing as he goes to the cross and dies in our place for our rebellion. We know it’s our future as he rises and ascends into heaven to prepare a place for his blood bought people.
Why does Jesus do that? Because he has to. Look at (21:27) “Nothing impure will ever enter it…but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Jesus has to die in our place because nothing impure can enter this new creation. This future is only for those who are pure because otherwise it will not be the world we all want.
How can you be made pure, you have your name written in the Lamb’s book of life. You confess your opposition to God and your longing for a world marked by relationship with him and you trust that Jesus came and stood in your place so that you can stand in his as a citizen and servant in the new creation for eternity.
The Lamb wins – The simple three word slogan was all the poster said on the sign erected outside the small Methodist church in Prague. It was Nov 27th 1989, the day communist domination came to an end in Czechoslovakia. Until that day even displaying the title church was forbidden. But now the message was blatantly and strikingly displayed for all to see; The Lamb wins. Not in the sense of victory over communism at last, but Christ the lamb is always the winner. He was winning when the church was being harassed and seemingly crushed by the communists, but now the church could proclaim what it had always believed, what had always been the truth; ‘The Lamb wins.’
If you want a tag line for Revelation, a snappy but accurate summary of the book, it is: The Lamb Wins! The Lamb wins, that is reality, and because the Lamb wins he secures our future for us as citizens of the New Jerusalem and servants in Eden Restored because he stands in our place. Live as if the Lamb wins because that is reality, it is where history in inevitably heading.
Do you see the encouragement for us in these chapters, it is the destination of those who believe and put their faith in Jesus. That is our destination no matter what happens now and it is certain, because of Jesus, because of the Lamb.
Is it just a dream? Like those of Martin Luther King and others, whose dreams were never realised. But this hope, this dream is different and Revelation 21 and 22 gives us a glimpse of just such a world and if you are a Christian, if you are following Jesus Christ that is your hope, a new earth with all the bad bits taken out.
Revelation is a little bit like the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy pulls back the curtain to reveal reality, not an all powerful wizard but an old man. But in Revelation as the curtains are pulled back, John, and we with him, get a glimpse not of a weak old fraud pulling the wool over peoples eyes BUT of the Almighty, majestic God in all his glory and we see him ruling. We get a glimpse of the real reality, of the events behind the events we see. And here at the end of the book are the final images before the curtain falls back in place and they are images to inspire and encourage, just like the rest of the book, because they show us the certain future of God’s people.
There are two images in these two chapters both of which have their roots in the Old Testament but which are transformed and fully realised in the believers future. They tell us that we will be:
1. Citizens in the New Jerusalem
The first image is of (2) “the Holy City, the New Jerusalem…” and the description of it is couched in terms that are hundreds of years old used by the prophet Isaiah 65:17-19.
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
Nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I will create,
For I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people;
The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”
Do you see the words that Isaiah uses to describe God’s peoples future reality? It is a place that God makes for his people, a new heaven and a new earth, it is a place of joy and delight to those who will be there but which will also be a place God will rejoice over and in which he will delight in his people who are there. That is an amazing idea isn’t it God will delight in his people who are there. It is the New Jerusalem which God has prepared (2) a place where God’s people gather ready to enter relationship with God.
It is a place where there is no barrier to relationship that’s why in (1) it says there was no longer any sea, the sea was a symbol of conflict, chaos and separation. But in the New Jerusalem there is no sea why? Because there is no separation and no chaos and this new earth is marked by relationship and security.
Notice it is not heaven as the Simpsons portray it, there are no clouds, no harps, no sandals. It is a new heaven and a new earth with all the bad bits removed.
What marks this new creation (1) is relationship with God (3). In Revelation voices matter, the words that are spoken are important. That is what the voice announces from the throne as John watches this scene that is what he needs to understand, that is the cause of everything else that is good and wonderful about the new creation about the new Jerusalem, it is the direct result of God’s presence and relationship.
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.”
Sometimes we find relationship with God hard don’t we? Praying can be a battle, understanding the Bible can be hard, making sense of life can be difficult, and we constantly fight against ourselves and our sinful natures. Why is that? Is that we are not Christians? No. Is it that we are not very good Christians? No. It is that we are on the frontline living in a fallen world in the midst of the cosmic conflict between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of opposition, and because we have not fully realised our relationship with God yet.
It is because we live in a ruined world. But in the new creation, the promise is of a totally unfettered and unhindered relationship with God. That is the most significant feature of the new Jerusalem, in fact it is what makes it what it is, that’s why it is emphasized. Not only do we share a city but “They will be his people, and God himself will be their God.” It is not just a shared place but a realised relationship.
The things that we look forward to, the world with no death, or mourning, or crying or pain are the overflow of living in a world which is in relationship with God.
Why are those things absent? (4) Because God is there, God wipes away all their tears as he wipes away the old order of things.
2. A servant in Eden restored
In chapter 22 the image changes slightly to an image that is even older than that of Jerusalem, it is the image of the Garden of Eden. There are the rivers, and there is the tree of life, as in Eden in Genesis 1.
But this is not a return to Eden as we see it at the end of Genesis 3, and Eden scarred and barred, but Eden in all its glory of Genesis 1 and 2, a world which God says is “good”. Look at (3) “No longer will there be any curse.” It is Eden perfected, Adam and Eve removed the key stone that governed the kingdom when they challenged God’s rule. And every second of suffering since is a direct consequence of that challenging of God’s right to rule and our determination to depose him and usurp his throne. But God is bringing his people inexorably to a day when we will experience Eden again.
But though this is an image of Eden restored it is also Eden transformed. (1,3) Unlike Genesis 1-3 where we know God walked with Adam in the new creation God’s throne is there, there is no night, there is no need of the sun because God is its light, and his name marks his people, and the lamb is there.
This second image is marked again by relationship as the curse is undone, God’s people can serve him (3-4) and see him. There is no barrier to knowing God, no battle to serve God, no striving against temptation, and all made possible for all eternity because it is secured by the lamb.
Every moment of struggle for relationship, every second of frustration, every pang of pain, every death is meant to make us long for home. But how can we be certain of this future?
3. How can we be certain?
‘I want to stand where you’re standing’, those are the words you’ll find on a grave stone in America and underneath it is the story behind those words. During the American civil war, a group of confederates were lined up and about to be executed when a 19 year old Yankee soldier recognised the man he was about to shoot. He marched over to his senior officer and said Sir, I cannot shoot this man. I know if I shoot him I end the lives of his young children too. That young man walked over and stood before the condemned man and said those words, I want to stand where you’re standing, he took his place and the confederate soldier left to go home to his family, and that 19 year old was executed in his place. I want to stand where you’re standing.
How can we be certain of this future? Because Jesus came and stood where we are standing, because of the presence of the Lamb in the city, the Lamb who in chapter 5 we see slain. The Lamb who came to earth and gave us glimpses of what the world we all want looks like in reality. Who gives us a glimmer of what our future will be like in the new creation as citizens of the New Jerusalem and servants in Eden restored.
Jesus does it as he calms the storm, as he heals a sick woman, as he feeds the hungry, as he delivers the oppressed, as he raises the dead back to life. As he stands where we should be standing as he goes to the cross and dies in our place for our rebellion. We know it’s our future as he rises and ascends into heaven to prepare a place for his blood bought people.
Why does Jesus do that? Because he has to. Look at (21:27) “Nothing impure will ever enter it…but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Jesus has to die in our place because nothing impure can enter this new creation. This future is only for those who are pure because otherwise it will not be the world we all want.
How can you be made pure, you have your name written in the Lamb’s book of life. You confess your opposition to God and your longing for a world marked by relationship with him and you trust that Jesus came and stood in your place so that you can stand in his as a citizen and servant in the new creation for eternity.
The Lamb wins – The simple three word slogan was all the poster said on the sign erected outside the small Methodist church in Prague. It was Nov 27th 1989, the day communist domination came to an end in Czechoslovakia. Until that day even displaying the title church was forbidden. But now the message was blatantly and strikingly displayed for all to see; The Lamb wins. Not in the sense of victory over communism at last, but Christ the lamb is always the winner. He was winning when the church was being harassed and seemingly crushed by the communists, but now the church could proclaim what it had always believed, what had always been the truth; ‘The Lamb wins.’
If you want a tag line for Revelation, a snappy but accurate summary of the book, it is: The Lamb Wins! The Lamb wins, that is reality, and because the Lamb wins he secures our future for us as citizens of the New Jerusalem and servants in Eden Restored because he stands in our place. Live as if the Lamb wins because that is reality, it is where history in inevitably heading.
Do you see the encouragement for us in these chapters, it is the destination of those who believe and put their faith in Jesus. That is our destination no matter what happens now and it is certain, because of Jesus, because of the Lamb.
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