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I Am Coming Soon

Revelation 21:1-22:21

Key Verse 22:20

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

The Bible is amazing! Just as the Book of Genesis marks the beginning of this world, and the human race, so the Book of Revelation marks the end of the world and the human race. God had promised mankind— bound in slavery to sin— that he would redeem it through the sacrifice of his own Son. And just as he promised, so also he fulfilled the promise by sending his Son as the Savior from the misery of sin. Through faith in Jesus and what he had done for us through his death and resurrection then, many received the promise of salvation, and await the end of all things. And here is the end! Revelation ends all that once began! Revelation in general is the story of the end, the end of sin and evil. It is the story of Satan’s doom and of Jesus’ victory. Then in the last chapters it tells about the restoration of the kingdom of God— the lost paradise. Eternal life will be given to those whose names are written in the book of life. They will finally live with God their father and God will live with them. It would be just as it was meant to be from the beginning of time— we will be home with God. So, in this Chapter 22 there is the one teaching and truth that should be upon our hearts and it in our key verse 20: “’Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Read verses 1-6. “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 twelve 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 will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.’”

What a beautiful description of heaven. It is the kingdom of God which God had promised to restore for us when all is ended. In Genesis we lost the privilege of eating from the tree of life because as the story goes, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree they were forbidden to eat from. Ever since, disobedience had been the mark of all human beings. Adam was given everything we could ever imagine. He was given a paradise no human being would ever refuse. Yet his heart went out to the one thing which God had told him not to have. And so the history of disobedience began and plunged the human race into rebellion against God. And this disobedience was ever so strong in history and up to this very day. Men are proud at heart and refuse to obey the simple commands of God. People disobey God all the time, thinking nothing of it. The word of God is plain to everyone— both to believer and to non-believer as well. Yet people disobey God all the time. Adam had everything. But he wanted that which he could not have. And he paid and with him we also paid the high price for disobedience. One time there was a king called Saul. He was given a simple command to obey. The prophet told him to wait until his return before engaging in war. But he could not wait. He disobeyed a small command and as a result he lost his kingship. When the prophet met him, he rebuked him, telling him that there is nothing as revolting to God as disobedience. God may tolerate many things, but not disobedience. The Bible warns us against disobedience. And as we said, yet people take disobedience to God lightly. Adam did, and as a result lost everything. Today people still disobey God and in the process lose everything. Today people lose the blessings of God because of their disobedience and rebellion against him.

Adam disobeyed and lost everything. He lost paradise, and we have been struggling in slavery to sin and death ever since. If it were not for Jesus, and his redeeming grace, we would not only have lost all things in this world, but we would have lost what God wants to give us out of his love. So, Jesus’ blood was shed for our sins, and we may come to God asking his forgiveness for our sins, but also for our frequent disobedience to his words. And Jesus promised forgiveness. Adam’s disobedience cost us paradise. It cost us even more. We are born in misery and many die in misery. It cost us living in peace and with joy. Most people have no peace, but only anxiety and they have no joy, only sorrow circulates in their veins all day long. But Jesus promised that those who belong to him are forgiven and that he would restore all things to them. In verses 1-6 we see the promise fulfilled. We lost paradise, but we also lost the privilege to live forever. Living forever is not a myth. It is not a fairy tale as some people think it is. Living forever, is a gift God intended for all people. But when Adam sinned we lost it. Now he promises it would restored to us. Those who belong to Jesus would live forever. In these verses the imagery is magnificent. When Adam was cast out of paradise, we were severed from the tree of life so that we could not eat of it and live forever. But here the tree of life is everywhere, in abundance. It lines the river of life. it bears fruit all seasons. God wants us to know that eternal life will be given to us who believe freely, absolutely, without end.

Look at verse 2. it talks about the healing. Healing leaves. In paradise with God we would not have any illness nor sickness at all. Yet God promises us leaves for the healing. God is a God who heals us. God always wants to heal us. Like a father or mother who cannot bear to see their children suffering, so also God our father wants to heal us. How many wounds people carry every day in their hearts. Most people are wounded in their heats and souls. This is the effect of sin. Sin wounds us. When people sin, it leaves marks on their hearts and souls, marks that grow worse, and wounds that fester and become unbearable suffering. Every one has some wound or another that they carry with them from life. Jesus knew this when he came to be with us. He went around and preached the word of God. he believed that the word of God alone can heal wounded hearts. Matthew was a selfish man. Because of his selfishness, he wounded so many people. He simply could not think of others at all, and could only think of himself. So with such selfishness, he could not help but wound even those he loved. He wounded his wife and children. He wounded people from whom he extorted money. He also wounded himself, because selfishness cuts deep in the heart and slowly turns a human being into a senseless and cruel person. Matthew was so deeply wounded by his own sins. He had no friends for no one wanted to befriend such a selfish man. He was miserable but he did not know why he was so miserable. Jesus one day found him, and called him, and began to heal his wounds. Until Matthew’s heart was changed from selfish into a selfless man like Jesus. Who has not been touched by the gospel he wrote! The gospel he wrote not only healed countless hearts, and souls, but it brought life where there was nothing but death. In the paradise promised to the children of God,  the healing trees surround the river of life so that no wound is left in any person. It will be truly peace and joy to everyone who goes there.

Look at verse 3 again. The words “his servants will serve him” are also incredible words. There are so many people with no clue as to what they are doing in life. Even when they become Christians by the grace of our Lord, they do not know what purpose they had been rescued from sin and death. But they too must be taught the purpose for which God created us and later saved us form the power of sin and death. There is no doubt that the love of God for us who are redeemed is beyond human understanding.  But God made us for a purpose and redeemed us for a purpose as well. God created us to worship him, to love him, to bless his holy name. But God created us and redeemed us that we might serve him. When the grace of the Lord descends on a person, his or her sins are forgiven. The sin of living a selfish life, for one’s own purpose is forgiven. The sin of living to please oneself is forgiven. The sin of following one’s own plan in life is forgiven. That person is also blessed to begin a new life. A new life to the service of God. How wonderful it is to know that we are blessed with a new life to serve God. In the past life of any Christian is found nothing but self serving motives. But then the grace of God comes into our lives, and we are given another life redeemed by the Lord who died for our sin. And with it we are called again to do what we could not do when we were living in sin. We are called to serve God and his purpose. When Jesus called his 12 disciples, some were fishermen. They were ordinary men living ordinary lives, making a living just like any other person in this world. But making a living in order to feed ones family is not a purpose of life. it is not the mission God created man to fulfill. working for bread is a necessity because man must be responsible for his life and for his family. But we cannot call it a mission. their mission was clear. The moment Jesus called them he restored their God given mission which is to serve the Lord of glory. In your life, there is nothing more important than to fill the mission God created you to fill and to fulfill. we are not rescued from sin by the blood of Jesus so that we might continue living selfish self serving lives. God calls us to follow Jesus and to fulfill his commands. One of them is very clear: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” This is for now. But on the day we are transported to the Kingdom, we will serve him there. We do not know what service that would be in Paradise. But we can be sure it will be to his glory. There are many young people today, even those who are Christians among them whose lives are missionless. If they persist in doing their own thing and refusing to submit to the Lord Jesus in order to serve his purpose, they may be left with nothing in life other than to struggle endlessly with their own sins.

Read verses 7-13. “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

These words are repeated because they are perhaps the most gracious words of all time. Jesus will surely come again.  At that time all things will be made new. At that time, nothing will matter in heaven and earth except that the Lord will redeem his people from the earth and take them to be with him forever. These words are absolute. They are words that encourage us to believe that all that we are doing as a child of God, our life of repentance and faith and mission are absolutely important in the sight of our God. when Jesus comes again, what will matter in his or her life other than the Lord has come! Sometimes we forget that history is not man’s history but God’s history, that God has a purpose to restore us to himself, to bring us to his throne where we can worship him in spirit and in truth. All that we are and all that we have and all that we do may be important in this world. But we cannot forget that the Lord is making all things new, and it is for that purpose that we must strive. We have many prayer topics. We want this and that. We pray for this and for that. And all that we do in the name of the Lord is good and important. But what can be more important than the word of God coming true, where what God has wanted from the beginning of time till now, will come true. God loves his Son. He wants to restore to his son all that was lost to this world of corruption and sin. He wants to present the bride to his Son perfect and without blemish. There is nothing that God wants more than to see his son ascend to his glory. When we read Jesus prayer in John 17, we see that God wants to glorify his son. It is on his heart. It should be on ours as well. We ought to pray for many things. But we ought to pray “Lord Jesus come.” this second coming will be the end of all things, and the beginning of everything new and wonderful that we ought to hope for. “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Read 14-15. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree
of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic
arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.” Revelation has been very clear about the washing of our hearts and souls with the
blood of the Lamb. Blessed are those who are washed in the blood of Jesus. They are forgiven.
They are redeemed. They are counted among those who would rule with Jesus in his kingdom
forever. The author of Revelation once again challenges those who do not know the Lord, those
who have thus far rejected the gospel, those who have no reverence for the word of God, those
who would take lightly all that the Bible teaches. He would challenge them that life as we know
it can be either one or the other. Life can either be in Jesus or outside of Jesus. and the outcome
for one is glorious while the outcome for the other is terrible. God does not want to see anyone
perish. He sent his Son to make sure that those who are repentant, those who are serious about
putting aside their sins, those who are serious about serving God’s purpose, doing what God
would have them do, to them God wants to make sure they are washed in the blood. If they are
not, they would be outside, cast out among the others who live on the animal level. Matthew
12:30 says: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
Ever since Jesus walked with us he warned us that there are no three ways, there are no many
ways- there is one or the other. One either stands with Jesus or against him. There are those
who would think that they are neither with him nor against him. They think they are smart. But
Jesus is clear. If they are not with him, fully they are against him fully. But blessed are they who
are washed in the blood of Jesus. they stand with him. They will live with him forever. May you
be among them.

Look at verses 17-21. How wonderful are these words. We are not to add to the word of God
and we are not to take away from the word of God. I am amazed how many people in this world
dare translate the word of God with their own understanding. So many would disregard the word
of God thinking that they have better understanding. Some think: they understand, but they do in
their own way. This is adding and taking away from the words of the Bible. The bible is sacred.
Not only revelation but the whole bible is sacred. It is holy. It must be revered and kept in the
heart. What we do not understand, we must still keep in our heats in prayer. What we do
understand we must also keep in our hearts in prayer. In prayer and in deed, we must hold the
words of the prophesy of this Bible. When Jesus gave John the words of this book to write so
that all people might know what will come to pass in the end, he intended these words to bring
life to those who read and believe and cherish as words of life. while revelation has been a
difficult book to study, we are sure that it is a book of truth, a book of hope, a book of challenges
for us and for those whom we love and pray for. We pray for Jesus to come back. We pray for
Jesus to restore the Kingdom Of God to God’s children. We pray that while we await Jesus’
second coming, that we cherish the word of God given to us, study it with reverence, and pass it
on to those who would study with us. Its our holy mission. God bless you.