1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,840 Revelation chapter 5, we're going to begin in verse 8 tonight. 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,760 And we're halfway through Revelation 5 at this point. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:15,640 We'll see how far we get tonight. 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,640 But if you remember we're in this section where John is seeing this vision and it's 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,800 a, if you remember there's this terrible situation where they had this scroll and it had seven 6 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:33,720 seals on it and they look around and there's no one who is worthy to open the scroll. 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,920 There's no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. 8 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:37,640 No one who is worthy to open the scroll. 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:43,080 And the reason that's a bad situation is because the scroll has to be opened in order 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,040 for God's plan to be executed. 11 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,160 If the scroll remains closed, God's plan does not happen. 12 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:55,680 And so we need that plan to happen for the redemption of the saints, for the restoration 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:02,400 of the earth, for the execution of justice and judgment and evil doers to be sent away. 14 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,080 So you have to have the scroll open. 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,040 They look around and there's no one. 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,720 But then you'll remember John starts crying and one of the 24 elders comes up to him and 17 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,760 says, hey, don't cry anymore because there's this great lion, right? 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,920 The lion of the tribe of Judah. 19 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,160 And he's going to be here and he's going to open the scroll, right? 20 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,640 And so John hears about this lion, but when he turns around, what does he see? 21 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,760 You remember the great irony? 22 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:29,840 A lamb. 23 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,920 He hears about a lion, but he sees a lamb. 24 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,520 And this lamb looks as though it has been slain, even though it is standing. 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,360 So he's clearly been slain, but the lamb is standing. 26 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,520 We said it was a reference to Jesus' resurrection after his sacrificial death. 27 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,880 And we talked about the scroll, but then when you get to verse eight, we're going to actually 28 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:55,520 see the lamb go and he's going to approach the throne of God and he is going to take 29 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,760 the scroll from God. 30 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,240 And they're going to sing a new song. 31 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:06,600 It's one of these moments that's so significant in life that it has to be recorded. 32 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:07,920 It has to be commemorated, right? 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,200 I mean, you know this happens from time to time when something so big happens that it 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:13,200 has to be recorded. 35 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,680 Like at a wedding, you get a photographer because that's something you want to remember, right? 36 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,760 Or if you're musically inclined and something big happens in your life, you write a song 37 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,640 about it because it's a way to commemorate that event, right? 38 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:29,600 I mean, you can think about our country, our national anthem is a testament of that. 39 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:30,760 Is it not? 40 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,520 Think about Francis Scott Key as he was on that British ship back in, I think it was 41 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,880 like 1812, 1814 actually. 42 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,900 And he's on this British ship and he's looking out at Fort McHenry and there's a battle 43 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:47,280 raging and he's just looking at the American flag, hoping that it'll make it through the 44 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,720 morning to show that the Americans prove victorious. 45 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:55,640 And he goes out the next day and he looks and he sees that flag flying and he knows 46 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,000 what it meant. 47 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,520 And so he had the back of an envelope and he just starts writing down this poem that 48 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,560 would eventually be turned into a song which would become our national anthem. 49 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:11,440 It was a moment that needed to be recorded and commemorated. 50 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,600 And that's exactly what the heavenly host are doing here. 51 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,260 Verse nine is going to tell us that they are going to sing a new song. 52 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:23,760 So when they see the Lamb of God go right up to the throne of God, which no one does, 53 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:29,400 no one just approaches the throne of God and yet the Lamb does and not only does he approach 54 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:35,600 the throne of God, he reaches out, he takes the scroll and he's going to open it. 55 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,080 And so they're going to sing this new song. 56 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,040 So here's a thought that I want us to be thinking about this evening is we're looking at this 57 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,040 passage together. 58 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:49,320 I want us to be thinking about what does this new song teach us about the Lamb of God, the 59 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,400 people of God, and the plan of God. 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:53,400 Those three things. 61 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,520 What is this new song that they're singing teach us about the Lamb of God, the people 62 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,840 of God, and the plan of God? 63 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,800 We're going to start in verse eight. 64 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,560 So if you have your Bibles, be looking there at verse eight. 65 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,840 And the Bible says, and we need to take in the scroll, the four living creatures and 66 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:18,080 the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, 67 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,600 which are the prayers of the saints. 68 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:28,660 And they sang a new song saying worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals 69 00:04:28,660 --> 00:04:35,680 for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language 70 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,520 and people and nation. 71 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:44,920 And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. 72 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:45,920 So here's my question. 73 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,840 What's the first thing we learn about the Lamb of God in these verses? 74 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,040 What's the very first thing? 75 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:53,200 He's worthy, right? 76 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,600 He's worthy to go and take the scroll and to open its seals. 77 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,480 But very specifically, what makes him worthy? 78 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,760 The Bible is going to list three things here that makes him worthy. 79 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,440 What's the first thing you see? 80 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,440 He was slain, that's exactly right. 81 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:14,800 The first reason he's worthy to open the scrolls is because he was slain. 82 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,760 So you have a slain Lamb. 83 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,960 What does that immediately make you think of? 84 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:20,960 Sacrifice? 85 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,560 There's a very specific event, Old Testament. 86 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,960 Passover. 87 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:31,960 What happened at the Passover? 88 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:41,280 Yeah, as long as they were covered by the blood of the Lamb, the angel of death did not touch 89 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:42,280 them, right? 90 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:47,480 And it became this great picture of salvation in the Old Testament that was pointing forward 91 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:48,480 to Christ. 92 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,080 And the Bible actually says that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. 93 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:58,640 He was the one who was slain for us and if we are covered by his blood, then we too are 94 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,760 safe from judgment and from the wrath of God. 95 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:06,360 And so he shows himself to be worthy to take the scroll and to open it. 96 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:07,800 But you have to understand something here. 97 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:12,280 When I say that Jesus is worthy because of something he did, you have to understand Jesus 98 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:15,560 has always been perfect in his person, right? 99 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,060 From all of eternity, nothing has ever changed about Jesus. 100 00:06:19,060 --> 00:06:25,680 He has always been perfect in his person, but it was by him accomplishing God's mission 101 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:31,280 by going and offering himself as the sacrifice for God's people that he proves himself to 102 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:38,040 be worthy to open the scroll, to open the seals that are sealing the scroll. 103 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:43,520 Jesus you have to remember, a lot of people will look at his death and if you imagine 104 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:48,120 the scene when Jesus was dying, there were a lot of people mocking him, correct? 105 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,360 He called himself the king of the Jews. 106 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:51,840 He said he was going to save his people. 107 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:52,840 He can't even save himself. 108 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,000 Why don't you get yourself off that cross? 109 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:56,960 What were they thinking as Jesus was dying? 110 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,560 They were thinking he lost, right? 111 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,520 Rome had won. 112 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,360 The Jewish leaders had won. 113 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,760 Jesus had lost, but the thing you have to understand is Jesus did not die accidentally. 114 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:14,440 He died intentionally and no one took his life from him. 115 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,280 Jesus laid down his own life. 116 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,120 The events of his death were not beyond his control. 117 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,480 They were all part of the plan of God from all eternity past. 118 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:32,880 I mean Jesus even said in John 10, 18 about his life, he says, no one takes it from me, 119 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,240 but I lay it down of my own accord. 120 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:41,680 I have the authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. 121 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,960 This charge I have received from my Father. 122 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:50,440 So Jesus laid down his own life, not only in obedience to the Father's will, because 123 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:57,960 if you'll remember Isaiah 5310 says very specifically that it was the will of the Father to crush 124 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,120 him. 125 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,840 The will of the Father to crush him. 126 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,840 But Jesus also laid down his life, not just in obedience, but it was out of love. 127 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:11,720 You remember what the Bible says in John 15, 13? 128 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:19,440 Jesus said greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 129 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:25,720 So this sacrifice that we see where Jesus is slain as the great Passover lamb, it wasn't 130 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,080 just out of obedience, it was out of love for us. 131 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:34,080 And with that sacrifice, he fulfilled God's plan of salvation. 132 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:39,440 He was substituted in our place and so he is worthy to take the scroll and to open its 133 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:44,760 seals, which means that we need to remember there is salvation and no one else except 134 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:46,440 for Jesus. 135 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:52,880 There is only one being, one creature if you want to call him that, there is only one who 136 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:59,240 is worthy to open the scroll, to take it and open its seals and that's Jesus. 137 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,560 There is salvation and no one else. 138 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,560 There is not salvation in your good works. 139 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:08,680 There is no salvation in you trying to be perfectly obedient because guess what, the 140 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,360 second you mess up once, the Bible says if you transgress one aspect of the law, you 141 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:14,760 transgress the whole law. 142 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,240 You've already messed up. 143 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,240 It's not from your good works, it's not from your perfect obedience, it's not from trying 144 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,800 to be the best you that you can be, which is hard for some of us to hear, isn't it, 145 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:25,800 if we're honest? 146 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,880 I mean I mentioned a conversation I had a few weeks ago, I had another conversation 147 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,360 today with a man who said I'm trying my hardest. 148 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:33,480 I just want people to know that. 149 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,480 I am trying my hardest. 150 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,600 I want to say that's great, that's good, you should try your hardest, but at the end 151 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,720 of the day you can try your hardest and it will never be good enough. 152 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,440 You cannot save yourself. 153 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:47,640 There's no way to do that. 154 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:53,120 And all these other religions of moralism, or if you want to go to like Buddhism, Hinduism, 155 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,880 Islam, Judaism, there is no salvation in any of these things. 156 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,640 Salvation is only found in Christ. 157 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,320 He is the only one who can cover you from the wrath of God. 158 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,280 He's the only one who can take the scroll and open it to us. 159 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:13,680 And so he's worthy because he was slain, but then the second reason, what's the second 160 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:16,760 reason there that you see that he's worthy? 161 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,000 He did something else, what does it say? 162 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,160 That's right. 163 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,280 He ransomed people by his blood. 164 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:33,640 Now that word ransomed, does anyone know what it means? 165 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,880 Redeem or another word? 166 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:38,920 Purchase, very simple, yeah. 167 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,720 Purchase, so Jesus purchased a people from God. 168 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:47,280 So he actually paid a price for people, and he did this for God. 169 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:52,000 It was a word that was used to describe paying a price for a slave, to buy a slave's freedom. 170 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,520 So if there was a slave, you wanted to ransom that slave, give them their freedom, you'd 171 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:03,480 go and pay a price for their freedom, which means we were all slaves in bondage to sin. 172 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,120 The Bible says that we were in chains. 173 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,640 You can read Romans chapter six for that. 174 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,920 And so Jesus pays the price for our freedom, he ransoms us. 175 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,120 But here's my question that I want you to think about as we read this. 176 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,080 To whom did Jesus pay the ransom? 177 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:27,040 If you have to pay a price in order for us to be free, and he bought our freedom, well 178 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,400 to whom did he pay that price? 179 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,720 To whom did he pay that ransom? 180 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:32,720 To God? 181 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:33,720 Okay. 182 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:34,720 Anybody else? 183 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:41,680 Never thought of it, huh? 184 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:47,400 The most popular suggestion in the early church was that Jesus paid the ransom to Satan, and 185 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:49,560 he bought us back from Satan. 186 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:51,120 What do we think about that? 187 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:52,120 Yeah? 188 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:53,120 We got some no's? 189 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:54,120 Okay. 190 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:59,160 Anybody want to say yes or no? 191 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,080 Nobody wants to give the wrong answer, huh? 192 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:09,960 Well, the idea was that we were under his rule and domain, and that he had such significant 193 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,320 influence over us that it was like we were enslaved to him. 194 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,560 And so they suggested that Jesus paid the ransom to Satan to buy us back and purchase 195 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:20,560 our freedom. 196 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:24,440 Okay, we got a bunch of no's over here. 197 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,320 This side of the room is undecided. 198 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,640 So like the right side, we got some no's. 199 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,400 This side we got undecided. 200 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:33,400 Yeah? 201 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:34,400 Right. 202 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:40,320 Yeah, I get that. 203 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,720 So the answer is no. 204 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:43,720 That's right. 205 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:44,720 I just want to see. 206 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,400 I mean, you never know where people are going to come down, but yeah, the answer is no because 207 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,240 Satan never really owned us in the first place, did he? 208 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:56,760 Now, he had rule, he had domain, he had significant influence, but as I've said before, Satan's 209 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,120 really just nothing more than a glorified fisherman, you know? 210 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:01,520 He knows what your favorite bait is. 211 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:02,760 He likes to throw it out there. 212 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,720 He can get it right in front of you, but he can't make you take the bait. 213 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,200 Again, I said it Sunday. 214 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:08,200 Why do we sin? 215 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,600 It's because we want to. 216 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:10,840 The bait's in front of us. 217 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:11,960 We like the bait. 218 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:13,560 We take the bait, all right? 219 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,560 So no, Jesus did not pay a ransom to Satan. 220 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,520 He paid a ransom to the justice of God. 221 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,160 That's what the ransom was paid to. 222 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,040 God's justice demanded a price. 223 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,280 Anybody know what that price was? 224 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:35,000 It was dead. 225 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,320 I mean, you go all the way back to Genesis, chapter 2 and verse 17. 226 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,560 If you remember this, the Bible says, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 227 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:49,720 you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 228 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:55,920 So if you disobey God, the price of that sin is death. 229 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,000 That's what his justice demands. 230 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:04,720 The Bible goes on in Romans 6, 23 to say, for the wages of sin is death, but the free 231 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,600 gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 232 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,320 And so Jesus paid this price for us. 233 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:20,400 He paid the price of death in order to redeem us from God and for God. 234 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:21,880 Now isn't that an amazing thought? 235 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:22,880 All right? 236 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,680 Not a lot of people think about this, but we weren't just ransomed from God. 237 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:33,760 He paid the price to God's justice, but we were also, according to this passage here, 238 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,200 he ransomed a people for what? 239 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:38,200 For God. 240 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:43,400 So we were ransomed from God and ransomed for God. 241 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,760 The two work together here. 242 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:54,280 Jesus saves us from the wrath of God, but he also saves us for communion with God. 243 00:14:54,280 --> 00:15:12,400 He delivers us from God and delivers us to God. 244 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,480 He literally, exactly, it was himself. 245 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:22,040 And so we are delivered from his wrath and delivered to his fellowship. 246 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,800 And so we need to understand that too because when people talk about salvation today, one 247 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,720 of the most common things they say, well, I was saved from my sin. 248 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:30,360 I was saved from hell. 249 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,560 I was saved from Satan, all this kind of stuff. 250 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:33,560 Yeah. 251 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:39,200 But at the end of the day, folks, the primary thing that you were saved from was God himself. 252 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,440 We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 253 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,960 We have all transgressed against God, rebelled against God. 254 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:46,960 We've all sinned against God. 255 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,920 And the Bible says the wages of sin is death, and so God has wrath stored up. 256 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:54,520 Read about that in Romans chapter one. 257 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,680 That's that chapter people like to avoid today. 258 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:58,720 But Romans chapter one, you read about that? 259 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:03,960 The wrath of God is now being poured out from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 260 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:04,960 of men. 261 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:06,520 There is wrath being stored up. 262 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:11,720 Romans chapter two says that all that people are doing when they forsake God and they enjoy 263 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,240 the goodness of God, but they don't actually repent, they are just storing up wrath for 264 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:17,880 themselves in heaven. 265 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,480 And so God is storing up all this wrath, and the only way that you are going to be delivered 266 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:26,760 from that wrath is not by doing all the good works you could possibly do, not by, you know, 267 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:28,880 talking nice and treating people well. 268 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,480 That's great, but at the end of the day, that wrath is still going to be poured out on you. 269 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,640 The only thing that can deliver you from God is God. 270 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,240 And so that's what Jesus does. 271 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:45,200 He ransoms us from God for God, and he paid a specific price. 272 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,000 Notice this for a specific people. 273 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,040 Notice what the Bible says here, people from every tribe, every language, every people, 274 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,040 and every nation. 275 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:59,440 And we talked about this at length a couple of Sundays ago, that the people of God are 276 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,640 a mixed people. 277 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,560 They are not just a bunch of people who look exactly alike. 278 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,680 And praise God for that, right? 279 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,640 I mean, you would just be insulting the creativity of God if heaven was just a sea of people 280 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,560 who all looked alike. 281 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,840 But it's a mixed people. 282 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:20,120 People made in His image for His glory and His renown throughout all the earth. 283 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,240 And I want you to understand this, no group of people has a more right to salvation than 284 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,240 any other group. 285 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,040 And that's something good for us to remember, is it not? 286 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,560 It doesn't matter what group you're thinking about or fall into. 287 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,200 It doesn't matter if we're talking about this group or that group or this group. 288 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:35,200 It does not matter. 289 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,760 There is not a single group of people on earth who have more right to salvation than any 290 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,680 other group. 291 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:46,680 Everything comes through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. 292 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,680 That's right. 293 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:50,680 Yep. 294 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:51,680 Yeah, yeah. 295 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,680 Yeah, this, yeah. 296 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,960 Doug's talking about the fact that when Paul was dealing with people, he kept trying to 297 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,920 tell the Jewish people, you don't have to be Jewish to be saved. 298 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,680 That's not the way that it works. 299 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,320 That God is redeeming a people from Himself from all of the world. 300 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,160 I mean, you still see that today. 301 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,680 There are many Jewish people who still think that today. 302 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,360 We talked about this couple of Wednesdays ago. 303 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:18,880 There's an interesting group today called the Black Hebrew Israelites who essentially 304 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,360 believe that unless you're black, you're not going to be saved because they believe that 305 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:25,480 they are the true Israel. 306 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:31,320 And I want to say, brother, listen, every tribe, every tongue, every nation, every language, 307 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,680 every people, this is God's plan. 308 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,720 There is not one special group who has more right to salvation than another. 309 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,320 And we just have to understand that today. 310 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,960 And I want you to notice this. 311 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,720 He didn't just redeem us. 312 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:49,440 The Bible says here that He made us a kingdom of priests to God. 313 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:50,440 So what does that mean? 314 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,280 What does it mean to be a kingdom of priests? 315 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,280 What do priests do? 316 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,680 How do priests serve? 317 00:18:58,680 --> 00:18:59,680 Spread the word? 318 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:00,680 Yeah, that's a good start. 319 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:01,680 Anybody else? 320 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:02,680 Priests? 321 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,200 There you go. 322 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,560 Yeah, connect people to God. 323 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,560 Anything else? 324 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,560 Yeah. 325 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,560 Is that okay? 326 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,640 Yeah, these are all good starts. 327 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,600 You connect people to God primarily. 328 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,480 That's 100% what a priest does. 329 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:22,480 You spread the word. 330 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,440 It's going in like they're saying. 331 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,160 You go and tell other people there actually is a God. 332 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:29,320 He is real. 333 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:30,960 You tell them who He is. 334 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,340 You share the gospel message with them. 335 00:19:33,340 --> 00:19:35,800 You intercede on their behalf. 336 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,960 We can pray these prayers and say God have mercy on these people. 337 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,160 When you have an unbelieving family member, an unbelieving friend, one of the best ways 338 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:48,280 that you can serve as a priest for God is to say God save them. 339 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,360 God, if it's not going to be me who's going to be the influence that leads them to Christ, 340 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:53,560 send another person their way. 341 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,000 Do something to open their eyes. 342 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,640 Do something to soften their hearts. 343 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,240 Do something to make them receptive to the gospel. 344 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,360 God have mercy on them and save them from their sins. 345 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:08,120 If we're not praying for the walls, we're missing a huge part of what it means to be 346 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:10,120 priest to God. 347 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:11,120 So we have to pray for the walls. 348 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,480 We have to be devoted to evangelism. 349 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,520 We have to start connecting with people. 350 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:22,480 I want you to notice this interesting relationship that happens here because this is pretty interesting. 351 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:28,920 Jesus purchases a people for God and then those purchased people are instrumental in 352 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,360 executing the plan of God. 353 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,960 The plan to save people from all nations. 354 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,960 The Father, He plans the salvation. 355 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,720 The Son accomplishes the salvation. 356 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,920 And then the Holy Spirit goes and applies the salvation to the hearts of God's people. 357 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,920 I mean that's why you're saved in the first place, right? 358 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,520 It's not because you made your way to God. 359 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:53,200 It's because God drew you to Him and the Holy Spirit applied the effects of Christ's 360 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:54,920 redemption to your life. 361 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,000 It caused you to be born again. 362 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Gave you a new heart. 363 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,960 Got rid of that old stony heart. 364 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:01,240 Gave you a heart of flesh. 365 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,440 Gave you a new nature and dwelt you. 366 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,640 So now you are a temple of the living God. 367 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,480 The Father plans salvation. 368 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,480 The Son accomplishes salvation. 369 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,840 The Holy Spirit applies salvation. 370 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:16,360 The Holy Trinity is involved in salvation. 371 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:20,640 And He uses the people that He has purchased to go and reach more people. 372 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,440 So purchase people, pursue people. 373 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:24,880 That's what we're meant to do. 374 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,560 If we're going to accomplish this plan and we want to see it be a reality, you know 375 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:29,880 what we have to do? 376 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,840 We can't just say, well, I hope the pastor's out there during the week, spread the word. 377 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,520 I can only do so much, all right? 378 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:38,760 We've got to be committed to evangelism. 379 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:39,760 Right? 380 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,800 If we want to see this plan become a reality, if we want to see people from every tribe, 381 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:49,240 tongue, nation, language, and people worshiping Jesus in glory, you've got to go and tell 382 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:50,240 people. 383 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:51,240 Right? 384 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,360 You've got to go and tell people about Jesus. 385 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,280 You've got to tell them about what He's done. 386 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,880 You've got to spread the gospel message. 387 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,480 Every Christian must take personal responsibility in evangelism. 388 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,760 It is not just Alex's job to share the gospel with people. 389 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,160 It's not just Jordan's job or Joseph's job. 390 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,800 It's not just the job of people who are paid to be in ministry. 391 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:18,320 It is the job and the responsibility of every single Christian, including you here. 392 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,320 The Bible says that we're to be ambassadors for Christ. 393 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,520 So if you want to see this mission accomplished, understand that God's not just going to let 394 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:27,920 you sit on the sidelines. 395 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:29,880 He wants you to get in the game. 396 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:30,880 You've got to be part of it. 397 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,000 You've got to get out there. 398 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:39,120 The plan is to use spirit-empowered, blood-bought people to reach the nations for Christ so 399 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:43,000 that His fame and glory and honor might resound worldwide. 400 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:52,000 And so the nations will sing like the heavenly host here of the infinite worth of Christ. 401 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000 And there's one other reason here. 402 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,000 Right? 403 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,000 So we're just looking at these verses. 404 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,360 As far as we're going to get is verse 10 tonight. 405 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:03,920 But there's a third reason that Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. 406 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:05,960 He was slain. 407 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,560 He ransomed the people for God. 408 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:14,240 What else did He do? 409 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:15,240 Rose from the dead. 410 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:16,240 All right. 411 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,640 What do we see here in these verses? 412 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,400 He what? 413 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,400 He made us what? 414 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,400 He did what? 415 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:32,400 Okay? 416 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:33,600 That's right. 417 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:40,520 He made us priests and we will reign. 418 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,840 So what did He do? 419 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,320 He restored humanity to its original purpose. 420 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:56,160 Now it's easy to miss here, but part of why He is worthy to take the scroll and open its 421 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:02,680 seals is because He restored humanity to our original purpose. 422 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:04,200 What was humanity's original purpose? 423 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:05,200 Do you remember? 424 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,800 Think back to Genesis chapters 1 and 2. 425 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,600 What was the original purpose of humanity? 426 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,800 Be stewards of the earth. 427 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:15,800 Be fruitful. 428 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:16,800 Multiply. 429 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,440 The red have dominion over the whole earth. 430 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:27,920 So mankind originally served as these vice regents here on earth serving under God. 431 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,600 So God is king over all and He said, okay, I've made these people in my image and now 432 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,920 they're going to be in this place and they are going to have rule and reign over this 433 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:43,280 place under me and they're going to have dominion over this whole earth. 434 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,280 And here's something interesting to keep in mind. 435 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,160 And that was part of humanity's original purpose, but you have to also remember that 436 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,960 humanity served a priestly role as well. 437 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,560 Do you all remember that? 438 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,840 Now I know we had a two year study in Genesis. 439 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,680 I know you haven't forgotten everything already, okay? 440 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:07,680 How did humanity serve a priestly role in the beginning? 441 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:13,480 We're going to have to go back through Genesis. 442 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,480 Make it four years this time. 443 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,400 All right. 444 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:26,720 Genesis 2.15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and 445 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,520 keep it. 446 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,240 Genesis 2.15, don't forget that. 447 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,720 You're thinking, okay, pastor, maybe you're just reading into things because I don't see 448 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:35,960 a priestly role here. 449 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,320 Well, just remember Eden was like the first temple. 450 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:40,760 Do you all remember that? 451 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,000 A temple is a place where God meets with man. 452 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,000 What happened in Eden? 453 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,000 God met with man. 454 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,240 They met together there. 455 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,160 Probably, you know, they were walking together. 456 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,080 You read about that in Genesis 2. 457 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:55,480 It serves as this first temple. 458 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,080 Here's what's interesting about this verse where it says that man was supposed to work 459 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,560 and keep the garden. 460 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:07,600 The only other time, the only times after Genesis where those two words work and keep, 461 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:13,560 work it and keep it, the only times those words occur together in the Bible after Genesis 462 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:21,000 is in reference to the Levitical priests and their responsibilities in the temple. 463 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:25,120 Those are the only times those words occur together in Scripture after Genesis. 464 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,680 Adam served as the first priest in the first temple. 465 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,240 He was to work it and keep it. 466 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:37,560 And then all the priests after him are to work and keep the other temple, the later temple. 467 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,640 And so it serves as this first temple. 468 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,000 They had these priestly responsibilities. 469 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,680 And so this was the original purpose of mankind. 470 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:49,800 They were supposed to serve as priests for God and they were supposed to have rule and 471 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,880 reign dominion over the earth. 472 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,360 Well, what happened after that? 473 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:59,160 What was that? 474 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:00,160 Sin. 475 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,160 That's right. 476 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,880 Mankind rebelled against God. 477 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:10,120 We plummet ourselves into sin and all of humanity after that was fallen as well as the world. 478 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,920 And so we were no longer serving as priests and we were no longer having dominion over 479 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,520 the earth, which is why we still struggle today. 480 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:23,760 And so Jesus comes in and he not only saves us from our sins and delivers us from the 481 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:29,240 wrath of God, but Jesus restores humanity to our original purpose. 482 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,880 We were intended to be priests and what does Jesus do? 483 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,760 He makes us a kingdom of priests for God. 484 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,960 We were intended to have dominion over the entire earth and what does Jesus do? 485 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:43,160 He makes us to reign on the earth. 486 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,880 Which is a good interesting question. 487 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:45,880 Is it not? 488 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,240 We're reading this. 489 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,240 Don't read over it. 490 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,040 Here's the interesting question. 491 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:55,720 Why are we reigning on earth? 492 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:56,720 New heaven, new earth. 493 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:57,720 Okay. 494 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,760 What about this common idea that we're all, if you're a Christian, you're going to spend 495 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,520 all of eternity in heaven. 496 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,520 You ask any Christian, after you die, where do you get heaven? 497 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,520 Where are you going to spend all of eternity? 498 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:12,520 Heaven. 499 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:19,120 What are you saying about it? 500 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,840 There's a new earth too, right? 501 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,840 So where are we going to be? 502 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:32,320 This is why studying revelations is fun, is it not? 503 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,520 The new earth? 504 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,040 Are you going to be in the new heaven or the new earth? 505 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,040 No? 506 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,000 Where are you? 507 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Another good question. 508 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,160 Where is Jesus during this time? 509 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,280 Yeah, Doug, we've already talked about that. 510 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:50,480 We're going to get there again later. 511 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:54,840 We're not going to get off on the thousand year reign at this point. 512 00:28:54,840 --> 00:29:00,040 But did you know there's not a single place in Scripture that says that Christians will 513 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,000 spend all of eternity in heaven? 514 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,560 It's just not there. 515 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,360 Will all Christians go to heaven? 516 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,240 Yes, yes. 517 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,840 It's for the judgment that's going to take place. 518 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,280 So like if Jesus doesn't return, you know, before I die, I'm going to die, I'm going 519 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,600 to go to heaven, and that's a pit stop. 520 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:22,960 That's what the Bible says heaven is. 521 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:24,720 It is a pit stop on the side of the road. 522 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:26,120 There's some nice places there. 523 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,520 You get to hang out with God. 524 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,280 It is fantastic. 525 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,960 Is it as good as it can be? 526 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,760 No, because there's going to be a new heavens and a new earth. 527 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,320 That is not our final resting place. 528 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,200 If Jesus returns before I die, am I going to go to heaven? 529 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,120 Yeah, because again, that's where the judgment takes place. 530 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:44,200 That's where the throne of God is. 531 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:48,240 And so every Christian will go to heaven, but then there's going to be a new heavens 532 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:49,800 and a new earth. 533 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:58,080 And the Bible says that humans, us, we are going to dwell on the new earth forever. 534 00:29:58,080 --> 00:29:59,880 You see that right here. 535 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,640 They shall reign where? 536 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:03,640 On earth. 537 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,760 Are you part of the ransom there that that verse is talking about? 538 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,080 He ran some to people for God. 539 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,600 Are you part of that? 540 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:10,600 I would hope so. 541 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,280 If not, let's have a talk after this. 542 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,440 So you're part of the ransom, right? 543 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,200 Where does it say the ransomed will spend eternity? 544 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,240 Where will they reign? 545 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:20,880 On earth. 546 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,240 If you go to the end of Revelation, which we're not going to do right now, but just 547 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:33,720 to say it is if you go to the end of Revelation, it talks about after the final judgment, when 548 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,960 there is this new heaven and new earth, there's a new Jerusalem. 549 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,320 Where does the new Jerusalem go? 550 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,000 Earth. 551 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,800 It literally descends from heaven to go on the new earth. 552 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:47,320 Now here's what's really cool. 553 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,840 And when we talk about this, when we get to Revelation 22 in a year and a half, y'all 554 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,160 act surprised, okay? 555 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:54,320 Y'all forget. 556 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,960 So you won't have to be surprised. 557 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,800 The new Jerusalem, if you look at the dimensions, you know how it gives all these very specific 558 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:01,800 dimensions. 559 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,880 And you're like, why is this in here? 560 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:04,880 Why is this important? 561 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,000 Why are we talking about the dimensions of this city? 562 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,640 Well, what's interesting is it's a perfect cube. 563 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,160 You know what else was a perfect cube? 564 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:16,400 The holy of holies in the temple. 565 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:23,640 And the holy of holies was the place where God met with man and they dwelt together. 566 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:31,280 And many scholars believe that Eden, the dimensions of Eden were also a perfect cube, the first 567 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:32,280 temple. 568 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:39,240 And so what you have is the new Jerusalem descending like a holy of holies out of heaven 569 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,600 to the new earth where mankind is going to be. 570 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,280 The Bible says that God will dwell with us forever, so Jesus is there with us. 571 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,120 That's where we're going to be. 572 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,640 And then we have our renewed responsibility, our renewed purpose. 573 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:52,960 You know what we're going to be doing? 574 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:58,120 Expanding the new Jerusalem to have dominion over the entire earth. 575 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:02,280 Spread the city's borders so that it finally encompasses the whole earth. 576 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:03,800 That was the purpose with Eden. 577 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,400 They weren't just supposed to stay there always in that garden forever. 578 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,320 That's why God said, be fruitful and multiply. 579 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,200 If you keep doing that, you can't fit everybody in that one place, right? 580 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:15,200 You have to expand. 581 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,520 So the idea was the whole earth is going to be this garden paradise temple where God 582 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,260 and man dwell together. 583 00:32:21,260 --> 00:32:22,520 We messed that up. 584 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,600 But in the new heavens and new earth, we have that restored purpose. 585 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,040 What are we going to be doing? 586 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:33,560 Expanding the new Jerusalem so that it encompasses the entire earth and so that the entire earth 587 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:37,240 is a place where God and man dwell together forever. 588 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,760 Which leads to another interesting question which we're not going to get into tonight, 589 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,200 but is actually one that was submitted by CDC kids. 590 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:49,960 So the after-schoolers started asking Miss Cindy, what is heaven going to be like? 591 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:51,800 And you know, they're after-schoolers. 592 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,680 So some of them, are we going to see angels flying around? 593 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:57,640 Does my dog get to go to heaven with me? 594 00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:58,840 You know, things like that. 595 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,560 But some of them ask really good questions. 596 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:05,520 I mean, kids can ask some amazing questions. 597 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:10,960 And some of them were asking questions like, what are we going to do in heaven? 598 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:16,960 Are we going to remember any of our loved ones and our lives here on earth? 599 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,360 One kid was asking, are we going to get bored in heaven? 600 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,480 What are we going to do exactly? 601 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,880 And that's a fun question to think about, is it not? 602 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,760 We might have a podcast on that coming up pretty soon. 603 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:34,640 But the short answer here is that this is part of what we're going to be doing. 604 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:40,080 We're going to be taking the new Jerusalem to the ends of the earth and fulfilling God's 605 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:46,240 original purpose for humanity to see that this earth become a paradise where God and 606 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,240 man can dwell together forever. 607 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,480 Now there's a whole bunch of other stuff we're going to be doing. 608 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:52,840 You're not just going to be sitting around singing all the time like a lot of people 609 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:54,440 think you're going to be doing. 610 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:55,560 But we can talk about that another day. 611 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:02,480 The point is that because of these three things, Jesus proves himself to be worthy 612 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:10,320 to take that scroll and to open its seals and notice that they immediately begin to 613 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:17,640 praise him saying worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom 614 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:22,600 and might and honor and glory and blessing. 615 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,640 He says, I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the 616 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:31,480 sea and all that is in them saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be 617 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:35,720 blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. 618 00:34:35,720 --> 00:34:41,280 And the four living creatures said amen and the elders fell down in worship. 619 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:46,840 We can touch on those verses again next week potentially but I just wanted to read that 620 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:55,040 to show that the only right response to seeing who Jesus is and what he has done is worship. 621 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:57,160 That is the only right response. 622 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:03,040 He is worthy of our worship because he was slain for our sins. 623 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:09,520 He ransomed us as a people for God and he restores us to God's intended purposes for 624 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:10,600 us. 625 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:28,360 So Michael Stevenson, how about giving us a word of wisdom?