Revelation 22:1-5
 

22 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 2 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. 3 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. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 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.

          I don’t read as many books as I used to.  I did more reading in the past when I had to do more traveling.  A good book would help pass the time on long airplane trips or days spent in hotels.  One of the reasons that I don’t read many books might be because I am too impatient.  While establishing the details of the story is necessary in a good book, I just want to see how it ends.  More than once, I turned ahead to the last few pages to see what happened in the end.  While that sort of ruins the book, it did satisfy my impatient curiosity.
          Have you ever wanted to do that with the book of your life?  Have you ever wanted to fast-forward through the remaining years to finally see the life that will be yours in heaven?  We have some heavenly details shared with us throughout the Bible, but it is all too glorious for us to ever imagine.  We won’t be able to comprehend its glory until we experience it first-hand.
          The Apostle John lets us turn to the end for a glimpse of our new life in heaven in the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, where we find our text for today.  While we can’t grasp the full glory that will be ours one day, we can find hope and encouragement to guide us through the difficulties of our present life to the glories of our future lives.  With that in mine,…

“Let’s Turn to the End”
 
I.  In the care of God
II.  In the service of God

 
          The book of Revelation is John’s description of the guided tour that he was given of heaven.  He used a lot of comparisons to describe what he saw because there just were no words to capture the true glory of heaven.  John’s attention was turned to the people in heaven, the believers around the throne of God in the last 2 chapters of the book.
          Our lives here on earth, whether we are at the beginning, in the middle, or nearing the end, are a constant battle against sin and the effects of sin.  God sprinkles in his undeserved blessings to show his love for us which make us long for the day when the bad will be gone and only the good will be left.  A life without trouble is impossible for us to imagine, but it is the life that John saw in his glimpse into heaven.
          In today’s text he described the “river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”  He also saw “the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.”  Two things about this picture need to be considered. 
1.) The source was the “throne of God and of the Lamb.”  God the Father who sacrificed the Lamb to give us the best blessing ever – freedom from sin and the assurance of eternal life – will continue to bless us with all that we need to make our lives perfect.  Since it is impossible to know what that will look like, John describes the sustaining water from the river of life as being “as clear as crystal.”  No contaminants, no mud, no sediment, nothing but pure, crystal-clear blessings coming from God.
          We also note that this river of God’s blessings was 2.) “flowing.”  There wasn’t just a trickle.  No one had to seek high and low to find a drop here or there to drink.  The supply of God’s blessings will come fully and freely for all of us to enjoy.  There won’t be any concern about the waters of God’s blessings one day drying up and leaving us in need.  The waters supplied the Tree of Life so that it could produce “twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.” God’s care for us will be perfect and it will be eternal.
          “Can that really be mine?” we might be tempted to ask.  The sinner staring back at me in the mirror each day doesn’t look like someone who deserves to live in a place like that.  And, truth be told, he doesn’t deserve to live in a place like that!  The condemnation of Galatians 3:10 stares us in the face as Paul wrote, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law'" The requirements just seem to stack up one after another – “continue” “to do” “everything.”  Who can meet those requirements?
          No one!  God himself has said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) Nobody has “continued to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”  There are many sins that we are aware of that we have committed, but just as many that we are not aware of.  Add to that list those things that we might not think are sins, but really are, and you can see why we might be overwhelmed with guilt.
          John saw something that can lift our spirits.  He wrote, “No longer will there be any curse.”  There will no longer be any curse because “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city….”  God, who sent his Son to remove the curse will be on the throne, ruling over his eternal kingdom.  The Lamb who died on the cross to remove the sins that cause the guilt will be on his throne.  The devil and his accusing finger will be nowhere in sight.  We will know nothing but the joy and peace of God’s love as we live in his kingdom under his care free from the guilt of sin.
          What hope and courage this gives in the darkness of this world! As we struggle through the pains and failures of this life, as life itself ebbs out and death's grip tightens, keep this vision of heaven before your eyes. Anticipate tasting the fruit from the tree of life and drinking from the river of the water of life. How refreshing it will be to our weary souls!
 

II.  In the service of God

 
          Under God’s perfect care, we will be able to serve God in heaven.  John wrote, “…and his servants will serve him.” The thought of serving isn’t always on the top of our minds when we imagine what a perfect life would be.  We want to be the one swinging in the hammock having the grapes fed to us!
          But then John focuses us on the one we are serving.  He wrote, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” When we see the divine face of God and realize that he is the one who rescued us from our sins and all the horrors that they would have brought to us, we will be thrilled to be able to serve him.  Seeing the face of God changes our whole perspective and makes us eternally grateful for that privilege.  John wrote that “his name will be on their foreheads,” a way to emphasize that we are his – under his care and now able to serve him in our perfect new lives in heaven.
          So, do you wish you could turn ahead to those final pages?  The Apostle Paul once said that he had “a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is by far better.” (Php. 1:23) He knew that decision would be in God’s hands, so rather than impatiently complain about the wait for the heavenly glory, he committed himself to doing what he could to serve God for the remainder of his life on earth.  He wrote, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.” (Php. 1:22)
          That attitude can motivate and guide us through the rest of the pages of our earthly story.  While we wait to serve God in heaven, we can serve him here on earth.  Listen again to the advice of Paul.  He wrote, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). And again, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" (Rom. 12:1).
          When I was reading more books, I forced myself to pay attention to the beginning and the middle of the books instead of just jumping to the end.  When I did that, I got to see the full plot of the book as it was revealed, and the things that are written at the end fit into the story better.  A similar approach to how we live as God’s children here on earth will help us to look for the opportunities that we have to serve God now for all that he has done, and will do for us.  We can find joy in all that God allows us to do for him, for our families and for our friends and neighbors.  We can serve God in this way just as he serves us now and finds great joy in doing so.
     As John paints the picture of the things that God revealed to him, we really can’t fully imagine the life that will be ours.  But one thing is certain.  “They will reign for ever and ever.”  When we do finally experience the true glory of heaven, it will never be taken away from us.  And that is what makes the wait tolerable.  God will decide when our life in heaven begins, and we will be able to serve him there.  Until then, live in the joy of the eternal life that awaits you, under God’s care and in service to him.  Amen.