Revelation chapter 22. Last week, we spent some time in Genesis 1, 2, and 3, I think. It's hard to remember one week from the other with all the events going on and holidays and different things. But I think while we looked at the silence in the Gospels and the Scriptures, looking at Revelation 8, but then looking back over all the Scriptures about the idea of silence, we went back to Genesis 1, 2, and 3. to see creation, making a man woman and in the fall. And we revisited in Genesis chapter three, the promise of the seed of the woman. And that promise, that seed of a woman would be the God, man, savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, which seemed to be appropriate at this time of year as well, that in Genesis three 15, we see the first promise of the gospel and of the incarnation. I think I mentioned, if I didn't, I did that at home because we're actually walking through the first few chapters of Genesis right now at home. I mentioned that the description of the garden in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 should remind you of the ending of Revelation in chapters 21 and 22. And there's a reason for that. Because what we see in Genesis chapter 3 with what is sometimes called Paradise Lost, And what we see at the other end of the scriptures in Revelation 22 is then paradise restored. And we see God's purpose from the beginning in the Garden of Eden to what was going to occur in the end of the scriptures in the end of Revelation. And so what I'd like us to do this morning is actually then take a trip from paradise lost, Genesis chapter 3, to paradise restored, from Genesis chapter 3 to Revelation 22. And the main verses we'll focus on will be verses 1 through 5 in Revelation 22. You'll have to pay attention, because it might take us a while to get to that point, because we want to make some connections in there. I want to first of all remind you of what happens in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and 3. You remember paradise, if you will, as it was first created. God planted a garden east of Eden, and he placed there a man whom he formed in his own image. That was in verse 8 of chapter 2. It was a perfect paradise. Some would even say it was a temple, the wording of what was said in Genesis chapter two has the idea of Adam being a priest who's keeping and tending to the temple area. We can talk about that later when we get in Revelation in many, many weeks from now. But it was a perfect place to tend and to keep and to serve and to be nourished by his God. And it said in Genesis chapter two that the river went out of Eden to water the garden And from there it parted and became four riverheads. There's a river in the center of things in this garden. It was nourishing and bringing life. It was multiplying as it went, becoming more abundant as one river turns into four riverheads. And then later in Genesis chapter two, it says, the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And we read about that and spoke about that last week. about the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And certainly, Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and rebellion to God. And then God kept them from the tree of life, because that would then, in a sense, solidify them in their state of sin and misery. And so what was being said here was that there's a paradise to live in and to care for for all mankind. But in Genesis chapter 3, and I've already hinted at that, when Adam and Eve sinned, the paradise was lost. They flunked the test. And they partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And you remember from last week, we said this was a direct blaspheming of God. He commanded them not to in the way Satan put it. He was saying, basically, God doesn't really want what's best for you. He's lying for you. For them to take of this tree then was a direct sin against God and his nature and his command. And as a result, there is a curse. There's a curse upon the serpent and the earth itself. and there's a curse upon man. There is death then brought to man and judgment against him due to his sin. And the intimate relationship between man and God was ruined. And now the man and woman could not bear to be in God's holy presence. And so when he was walking in the cool of a garden, they hid. They first of all hid with leaves, then they hid in the bushes. And in the end, the man and the woman were sent out of the garden lest they eat of the tree of life and be forever judged to be in the sinful lost estate that they now were in. And there's much more that could be said there, but there's only so much time. I do want you to remember, though, what happened in Genesis chapter three, verse 15. There's a promise then of the surprising grace of Christ in the midst of all of us. In Genesis 3.15, God says, I will put enmity between you, the serpent, and the woman. and between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise your head, speaking of the seed of woman, will bruise the head of the serpent, and you shall bruise his heel. We know that speaking of, with the bruising back and forth, yes, Christ would die on the cross, but he would defeat Satan. There would be a bruise of a heel, which would be pretty significant, but he would crush the head of Satan when he does this. And we said last week that There was relief, there had to be some joy with Adam and Eve, because this meant they would not immediately die, because they would have children. They were told on the day that you eat of this tree, you will die. Well, they did die immediately spiritually, and physically they began to die, but they weren't completely dead at this point. There's going to be something more, and so they were going to have children, and this child somewhere in there, and I don't know how much they understood, this child to be born from the woman would be a deliverer for them as well. And part of this surprising grace was that God would even put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. You ever thought about that? That even enmity itself was a blessing because having enmity between the serpent and his followers and Christ or God and his followers means there's a warning sign. There's a feeling of enmity, of strife, If you don't know who your enemy is, and if you have no feeling of enmity between your enemy, you're probably not going to do well with the battle. And so there is enmity between the seat of the woman and the seat of the serpent. And this enmity causes separation and protection for God's people. They know they're in a battle, and they also know that victory is promised through Genesis 3.15. So this is maybe one case where enmity is a good thing. And that enmity, however, that battle between Christ and his people and Satan and his worldly system, really then defines the whole rest of the scriptures and the whole of human history. The whole rest of the scriptures can be defined and the whole of human history can be defined then as enmity between Christ and his people and Satan and his worldly system. Revelation, then, is best understood in this light. If we understand this enmity, then we understand Revelation far better. And the ending of Revelation is best seen as the fulfillment of what was begun in the garden. We see grace promised in the garden in Genesis 3.15. In Revelation 22, we see that grace fulfilled. We see paradise lost in Genesis 3, but we see then paradise restored in Revelation 22. And this was no surprise to God. So I'd like us to do one thing that you'll probably not like, but I think it will be good. I want us to take a quick tour through Revelation to get to paradise restored at the end. A quick tour through Revelation to show you the enmity that we're going to see throughout the whole book of Revelation. We've seen much of it already. Revelation is God's encouragement to the persecuted church and Christian, but it's also a book of evangelism to the lost. These are warnings to the lost. Judgment is coming. And unless you have the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be lost and you will suffer for eternity. And in John's day, the church was Being persecuted, yes, but it was also for the persecuted church of every age up until the return of Christ. In fact, the book of Revelation is speaking of the end of the age, which is between the two advents of Christ. And so rather than Revelation speaking chronological order, as we've said time and time again, it's really a series of visions that are showing the same things over and over again, but from different perspectives and with different details. with the last days being the time period again between Christ's ascension and Christ's return. And so, as we look at Revelation in chapters 1 through 3, we had Christ doing what? Walking among his churches, among his bride. Churches that had real problems, they were being persecuted. You might even say they were in the midst of enmity, just like we have even now. And then in chapters 4 through 7, in the next cycle we have, then going from the problems on earth to the throne room of heaven, from the trials of earth to the throne of God in heaven. The scrolls representing God's eternal plan of judgment and redemption can only be opened by the lamb who is slain and now stands. And he is worthy. He opens the scrolls and God's plan in the last days that we're seeing now begin to unfurl. And in chapters 6 and 7 in that section, we see the judgments upon the world system led by Satan unleashed. But in the midst of that, there's also the persecution and the purifying of the church. And the seven seals are open, the first four being judgments upon the earth. The final two lead up to the final judgment when Christ returns in victory. In the midst of the seals being opened, we see those who are sealed in Christ. The church being preserved, though persecuted. We've just finished that in our own study of Revelation, but then in chapters eight through 11, we see really the same thing of the seals, but from a different perspective with the seven trumpets. Trumpets being warnings of judgment leading up to the final judgment once again. In the midst of these trumpets is given another picture of the church and enmity. We'll eventually see the two witnesses who testify of Christ and they will die, but then be resurrected representing the church in the midst of its enmity in the world, but being a servant of Christ. And then in chapter 12, we begin another section, chapters 12 through 14. And in chapter 12, we see a vision of the church giving birth to Christ. And we see the enmity of Genesis chapter 3 being seen in chapter 12 of Revelation. And the child is taken up to the throne of God. as Christ ascends, yet the church continues to be persecuted, yet the church is cared for and nourished by God in the midst of enmity. And in chapters 13 through 14, we see another picture of this battle with the two beasts, the beast of the sea and the beast of the land, representing the evil world, political and religious systems propped up by Satan to be luring men into it to keep them away from Christ. but they're defeated by the lamb in the 144,000, which represents the church in the final day. Then we see in chapters 15 through 16, a similar vision to the seals and the trumpets, but now it's seven bowls that are being poured out with the wrath of God and judgment. And then we see in chapters 17 through 19, another vision of this same battle with Babylon being conquered. And Babylon represents the world's anti-Christ system backed by Satan in enmity against the church, Babylon is, but she is doomed to defeat. Babylon represents the world offering all the alluring luxuries and pleasures of the world, the luxuries and pleasures that never satisfy, but actually lead to abominations and the destruction of the soul. And then finally, with the last of seven sections of Revelation, in chapters 20 through 22, we get the final vision, the final section of Revelation. And in chapter 20, we see that after Satan's binding leads to the gospel going out to all nations in the millennium, Satan is finally crushed and cast into the lake of fire, and all mankind is resurrected to face judgment. And those who are judged on their own works were cast into the lake of fire, but those who are in Christ who are judged by the works of Christ were blessed with eternity with God. The enmity is over between the church and the world. And so in chapter 21, we see the new heavens and the new earth for those who are in Christ. And we see the marriage of the lamb to his bride, Christ and his church, that marriage then commences. We see the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. The new Jerusalem represents the church, the purified, glorious church of Christ, and it's described in great wonder, the church in its purity, in its beauty, its security, its glory, and its strength, with all that Christ has done with her, that she's been prepared and made blameless, as Ephesians 5 says. And that brings us then to chapter 22, verses one through five, which is what we'll try to focus on. That wasn't so bad. I do want you to look at Revelation chapter 21. If you have your finger on chapter 22, I think what we see in Revelation chapter one is worth reading. It's the opening of the description of the glorified church, which the rest of the chapter goes into far more detail. Look at Revelation chapter one, verse one. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. I think the idea of the sea, sea represents trouble and difficulties in the world, not anymore. Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband as he's speaking of the church. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. The tabernacle being where God dwells in the midst of his people and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. That's covenant language. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There should be no more pain for the former things have passed away. This should remind you of the ending of Revelation chapter seven. Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things. I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, Sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in a lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Let's now look at Revelation chapter 22. I want us to look at the first five verses. I want us to use these first five verses of Revelation 22 to see paradise restored. The grace of the garden promised is now fulfilled but amplified in what God has done in the end. And all that was happening in the garden, Genesis 1, 2, and 3 was pointing to this. In Revelation 22, verse 1, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. To read these, think about this, how this might compare to Genesis chapter 2. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was a tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations, and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. You might say they were sealed. There shall be no night there, They need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever. This is the word of God and may God bless us greatly through his word in Revelation 22 verses one through five this morning. In your bulletin, there is an outline in your bulletin. I want us to see six things of this paradise restored, this garden restored, this fulfilled grace of Jesus Christ for his people, this final state of Christ's church in Revelation 22 verses one through five. Six things I think are clearly meant to show the connection to and the restoration of Eden in these five verses. The first one, did you notice a river of life? Did you notice a river of life? In the original Garden of Eden, there was a river running out of Eden to water the garden. Did you notice that? Here, however, it is a river of water proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb themselves. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The source of this life-giving water is the source of all life. It's from God himself. and the Lamb who redeems all things. And this is clearly the same vision that Ezekiel gives us in Ezekiel chapter 47. I'll summarize that for you in Ezekiel 47. There, water is proceeding from the temple and it starts out slow and it's not so deep. Then as you read though, the water flows and it grows from ankle deep to waist deep to over the head where you have to swim if you're going to be in it. And what that represents, then, is the increasing abundance of this river of life in Ezekiel 47. And that's what's being represented here, the increasing abundance of this river of life. And then the river in Ezekiel flows into the Dead Sea. Why is the Dead Sea called the Dead Sea? It's heavy, laden with salt, and things don't grow in it. So it's the Dead Sea. But in Ezekiel 47, this river flows into the Dead Sea and it causes the Dead Sea to turn into a vibrant sea of life with fish. And the river produces abundance of trees and fruit and healing. It even says in Ezekiel 47, on each side of this river, there's trees on both sides with healing and fruit and even fruit 12 months out of the year. And this is clearly what is being reflected here in the description of the city of God in Revelation. This is a river that gives life, a life-giving stream from God. And throughout the scriptures, the idea of moving water, running water, rivers of water represents a divine act of God to give life and abundance. And scripture itself is rich with the use of symbolism of water and rivers to represent this, this abundant life given by the Holy Spirit to those who come to Christ Jesus in John chapter 4. You know these things in John chapter 4 with Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman in verses 13 through 14. You remember he's saying, give me a drink. And she's saying, why were you talking to me? And he says in verse 13, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again out of this well, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. but the water that I shall give him will become in him. Did you catch that? If you take my water, it becomes in you a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The new life that Christ gives, the living waters that Christ gives, then becomes in the person, a fountain of water springing up. That means abundant into everlasting life. It means eternal. It's abundant, eternal life. and the springing up means the Spirit of God now lives in you and forever then this new life will be coming forth from you because of the Spirit of God. And so in John chapter 7 verses 37 through 39 we read on that last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink It's another way of saying believe, repent and believe. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the spirit, whom those believing in him would receive for the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. It reflects what we see in Zechariah chapter 14 in verses eight and nine, where then it says, in that day, It shall be that living water shall flow from Jerusalem and the Lord shall be king over all the earth. Christ said in John chapter 10 that he came that we might have life and that abundantly rivers of living water in us to spring from us forever. And so this picture in Revelation 22 verse one is that of the living water that proceeds from God and from the lamb And it pictures the free-flowing and abundant life of the Spirit for those who are in Christ forever. And we experience some of this abundant life now, but it will be unhindered and it will be overflowing when all of grace is fulfilled in Christ's presence forever in the final state, in the perfection of the Church. And it's a far greater river than the river of the original garden in Genesis. far greater. So we have the river of life that will be completely fulfilled. Then in verse two, we have the tree of life. The tree of life in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The tree of life in Genesis was the reason that Adam and Eve had to be removed from the garden, lest they partake of it and be forever set in their sin-stained state. But here in Revelation 22, in the end, in the holy city of God, which represents the finally and fully redeemed church, the tree of life is in the midst of the city to be freely partaken and enjoyed for all those whose names are written in the book of life. Nothing is held back. Because unlike Adam, in this state, we will be without sin and without flaw. We'll be made perfectly holy in body and soul, and we can partake of the tree freely. There's no more test to take. It's been passed in Christ Jesus. And look at the abundance of the fruit of this tree. 12 fruits in 12 months out of the year. Now you might ask, what are these 12 fruits? I don't know what these 12 fruits are. It's just a way of saying it's a whole bunch And 12 months of the year means, do you know any trees that give fruit every month of the year? You're happy if you get a month of apples out of your apple tree. This is round the clock. And this is the same thing that was said in Ezekiel 47, 12 months out of the year. And the way this is worded, it says it's on either side of the river was the tree of life. That could either mean that there's one really, really big tree that then hangs over both sides of the river. Or it could mean that there's many, many, many trees of life on both sides. I'm not sure it really matters. What it does mean is that there's an abundance. The tree of life has an abundance. And what about this idea of the healing of the nations? Why is that here? Well, the idea of nations represents the redeemed who have been taken out of all tribes. So it's healing for all types of people. It's not just restricted to Jews or or Americans, it's those who've been redeemed by Christ. And the idea of healing means there's no more sickness. When the scripture says in this state that there'll be no more sorrow, it means, when it says that he'll wipe away all tears, it doesn't mean that, oh, wait a minute, you're crying again, I'll wipe those away from you. That means there'll be no more need for tears. There's no more sorrow whatsoever. And so I think here when it says there's a healing for all nations, it means that now there'll be no more sickness, no more pains, no matter what your background, for all those that God has saved out of the nations and out of the tribes and tongues. And so again, we see the abundance that God has for us with complete satisfaction in Him. There's nothing that we would lack which should remind us how our life should be now. In Revelation, as you read through it, you have to be struck that those who follow the evil one Those who follow wickedness, they keep trying to be satisfied with the luxuries and the pleasures of this life. And it never satisfies. It never satisfies. And in spite of the warnings and the judgments given throughout the book of Revelation, those who are outside of Christ, they never repent. They never turn from it. They might get mad, but they never repent. It even says it explicitly. And they miss the point that there's no satisfaction, but only destruction in sin in a life apart from Christ. And when you see the abundance that God gives and that God gives us already, but then what is promised, how could you turn anywhere else for satisfaction in this life or the next? The third thing in verse three is that there's no more curse. There's a water of life, there's a tree of life, but there's no more curse. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the lamb shall be in it and his servant shall serve him. It reminds us of Zechariah chapter 14 verse 11. We read the people shall dwell in it and no longer shall there be utter destruction or no longer shall there be a curse, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. In other words, They will dwell safely and securely in Jerusalem at that time. God's people will dwell safely forevermore. There'll be no more curse. Christ has taken the curse. He has become a curse for his people. He has become sin, though he knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. The curse has been removed and fulfilled and destroyed completely at this point. Sing during this time of year, no more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. You have to love that line. Where there once was a curse, it's gone. And now there's only blessing. And here's what we're seeing in Revelation 22. The curse of sin in our lives and our thoughts and our actions and our relations in this world are now gone. And that enmity is gone as well. And notice that the tree of knowledge of good and evil is nowhere to be found. We mentioned the tree of life. Now you can free a partake of that, but there's no tree of knowledge of good and evil in this end state, in this garden. Why do you think it is? Well, it's because there's no more test to take. Adam failed the simple test of love in the first garden, in the first paradise. It was, you can have everything you want, but don't eat of this. And he failed miserably. And again, it was more than just a lackadaisical taking of fruit. It was rebelliousness. But the test that Adam failed, Christ completed it fully. That he fulfilled the law of God perfectly. He loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. He loved his neighbor as himself. He completed the law of God perfectly. And then he paid the penalty of our breaking the law of God perfectly. There's no more test to take. Christ has done it. And there's no more chance of us failing this test because at this point our state has been permanently made glorified in Christ. We will not be able to sin. So I think at least the mention of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is nowhere to be found because of this. There's nothing to worry about. If you look at verse three, it says at the very end, and his servants shall serve him. There's no more curse, but the throne of God and the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. That should, if you're a believer, that should thrill your heart. This means you may serve your God and your Christ without sin and in perfect service and worship forever. In contrast to what Adam did, And what we have been doing ever since, Christians and the bride of Christ shall serve him without sin forever. And if you do not enjoy serving God now or seeking the presence of Christ now, then you'll be horribly disappointed in heaven, because that's the highlight. Do you see the abundance of grace in Christ in this final state? Do you see again how Christ did not just bring us back to where Adam was in a garden, but far, far beyond it, more than we could imagine. So you have the water of life and the tree of life, there's no more curse. Then in verse four, we shall see his face. We shall see his face. They shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. Adam and his sin, what did he do when he sinned? He hid from the face of God. With Eve as well, but he hid from the face of God when he sinned. And they tried to cover themselves, and they hid in the bushes, and they hid from God, which is a pointless thing. And they had to be cast out of God's presence altogether because of their sin, because of his holiness. And this began the necessary separation between holy God and sinful man from this point on. The tabernacle and the temple of the Old Testament represented this separation. We talk about this often, especially going through the book of Hebrews. Only certain people could go into the holy place and only one person, the high priest, could go into the holy of holies once a year. The point being, if a sinful man comes into the presence of holy God, he will be consumed. He will be vaporized. And even Moses, whose face glowed from the presence of God, he was unable to see God's face. In Exodus chapter 33, God says, you cannot see my face, no man shall see me and live. God is holy, we are sinful, and we will be consumed if in his presence because of our sin. But in Revelation 22 verse four, with paradise restored, they shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. Now we can see him face to face with no worry in his presence. I don't think that hits us like it should. Having gloriously intimate fellowship with our God because of the life of the Spirit and our Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1 John 3, we often read, we know when Christ appears, we shall be like him and for we shall see him as he is. And it says, with his name on our foreheads. We've seen that in the book of Revelation already. Having his name on our foreheads means we're owned by Christ. We're sealed by Christ. We belong to him. We bear his image. We are citizens of his kingdom. It may even imply that we are priests, as Adam was the first priest, now in paradise restored. It may even imply that we're priests, like Aaron, who had holiness of the Lord written on his turban. We're now priests and kings to God. The redeemed of Christ are described as those who are dressed in fine linen, white and clean in chapter 19. Dressed not in the fleeting luxurious clothing of the world that we would see in chapter 17 and 18. No, in contrast to that, the saints of God are dressed in the righteousness of Christ. and able to worship and serve God face to face with the blessings in paradise restored. And fifth, we have the water of life, the tree of life. There's no curse. We see his face. Fifthly, we see there's no night there in verse five. Why do I say that? Well, it says there shall be no night there. They shall need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever. We know from elsewhere in the book of Revelation that there's no need for light because why? Because the Lord and the Lamb is our light. In the beginning in Genesis 1, there was light created, the sun and moon were created, it was all pronounced good and eventually very good. But do you understand now that that was only meant to be temporary? As wonderful as that was, with light created and the sun and moon created, it was only meant to be temporary to foreshadow the greater paradise that we see now in Revelation 21 and 22, where God dwells with his people, where God himself is our light. As Zechariah 14 says, there neither be day nor night when this day arrives. And again, in Paradise Restored, we have abundantly greater blessings and joys than the first Eden. Some say that the wording here, where it says, for the Lord God gives them light, some would say that this is really a Hebrew way of saying this, the Lord God shall cause his face to shine upon them. When it says for the Lord gives them light, it's another way of saying the Lord God shall cause his face to shine upon them. which should remind you of a benediction. It's almost as if verse five is an eternal benediction to his people and his presence, the blessing that is always there being in his presence and his face shining upon them. And then lastly, the sixth blessing, the sixth connection from the first paradise to the last, purposeful blessings and connections, would be that we will reign forever and ever. We will reign forever and ever, and they shall reign forever and ever. Now having the dominion over creation that was once assigned in Genesis 1 and 2, Christ reigns, and we reign with him as well. You might remember in Psalm 8, man was made lower than the angels to be crowned with glory and honor. That was what the creation was for, but Adam failed in the garden, so man, in a sense, went farther down rather than being exalted up. But then in Hebrews chapter two, we find that Christ, the second Adam, fulfilled this fully. And now he reigns over all. And now in Revelation 22, in the holy city of heaven, we, Christ's redeemed people, will join him and reign forever and ever. We in the holy city of heaven, in the fulfilled grace of God, will reign with Christ over all. And this grace is not only fulfilled and abundant, it is forever. And the grace of paradise restored is above and beyond what could have been imagined from the original paradise or under the first Adam as our head. So I have a couple of closing thoughts, one for those who are believers, some for those who are not. Christian, look at the wonders of this grace fulfilled, this abundant grace of God in Christ that is fulfilled was promised in Genesis 3, but it's fulfilled in Revelation 22. Drinking freely and deeply forever from the abundant river of life of the life of God, partaking forever of the abundant tree of life in a perfected state because of Christ, living with no curse, no sin, no trial, no sickness, and able to abundantly serve God without sin forever. face to face with holy God and the lamb owned by him, dressed in his son's righteousness and reigning in and with Christ forever and ever as kings and priests in abundance. But with our greatest joy and satisfaction in God and Christ alone, who alone is our light. And I think that's the key. Our greatest joy and satisfaction in God and Christ alone, who alone is our light. There's great abundance awaiting us in heaven in the glorified church of God, There's great satisfaction in Christ face-to-face with God in eternity, but remember, Christian, that Christ has given us an abundant life now. Christ has given us living waters of his spirit now, and our lives should currently show an ever-flowing joy and satisfaction in Christ and empowered by his spirit now. So there are two exhortations given in the rest of Revelation 22 to Christians. In verse 7, we read this, Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. And the comment is, knowing the abundant life that we should have now and awaiting should motivate us to keep his word now. And it provides great blessing. We are not to grow weary now with all that we're given now and all the promises that are guaranteed as well. And in fact, the whole book of Revelation gives such an encouragement throughout to the church, stand fast, continue in Christ. And in verse 12, there's another exhortation given to the Christian. And behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And so very similarly, we're to serve Christ now due to the blessings and the rewards that are promised. We have no fear to be rewarded by works because it's the works of Christ by which we are judged. And even our sin-stained works are filtered through Christ and received by God with favor. For the non-Christian, for those still in their sin who refuse to bow before Christ and receive his surprising, justifying, substitutionary grace, hear the warning of Revelation 22, verse 14. In fact, throughout Revelation, there are warnings of loss to come to Christ now lest you be like those who don't, who cannot repent. Even in verse 11, it says this, he who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. It's a way of saying, if you don't come, your heart will get hardened and there'll be no choice. There'll be no option for you. If you refuse to come, your heart gets harder. But in verse 14, it says this, blessed are those who do his commandments. Another rendering of that, by the way, is interesting. wash their robes, only those who have their robes washed can actually do the Lord's commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But, verse 15 of Revelation 22, outside the city are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. The scripture says, blessed are those who wash their robes and have come to the river of life in Christ and are cleansed, but those who are outside the city, those who cannot but be allowed in the city lest they pollute it, those unclean sorcerers, immoral murderers, idolaters, liars, those who are outside, they will be cast into the lake of fire. And so you must come to Christ quickly. The one who promises to come quickly says so. You, like the followers of Babylon, are trying to be satisfied on temporary and fleeting pleasures of this world, but they can never satisfy. You'll always be looking for more. Instead, you need to repent and submit to Christ, the beginning and the end, and you will always be satisfied and always have abundantly more through Christ Jesus. Hear the invitation of chapter 22, verse 17, nearly the end of the entire book of Revelation. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him who hears say, come. And let him who thirsts, come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Let us pray. Lord, I do pray that seeing the connection from the original garden to the final garden, the original paradise to the final paradise, Lord, for the believer, inflame their hearts all the more for the great grace of your plan of redemption, of your control over all things, and your great grace and blessings that we have already, but that are promised even still, that we might not grow weary. We might serve all the more, not out of obligation, but out of desire. With all the resources you've given us, Lord, with this new life, this water of life that you've given us, Lord, and wells up in us and comes out abundantly, Lord, will help us then to be obedient, to walk with Christ according to his word. Lord, that there be something different about us, our joy, our faithfulness, and our proclamation of Christ. And use this, Lord, for those who are outside of Christ, Lord, that they would see these same blessings, but also the warnings. They would see that there's nothing else for them to do but to come and to believe. to come and to drink of this free water of life that only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray these things. Amen.