Title and
Other images courtesy of Pixabay.com
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.”
Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let
anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. And
I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this
book: If anyone adds anything to what is
written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this
book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this
book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and
in the holy city that are described in this book. He who is the faithful witness to all
these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with
God’s holy people. Revelation 22:12-16
I would like
to start by reading a paragraph from one of C.S. Lewis’ series of books called The
Chronicles of Narnia, the final title in the series, The Last
Battle.
[If
you haven’t read the books or seen the movies, consider this a spoiler.]
The story thread revolves around the Pevensie children, two brothers and sisters from London who get separated from their parents during the 2nd World War as the city is bombed by German warplanes. The parents die, and the story begins with the children, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, and Susan sent to a relative’s estate in the country for safety. It’s at the country home they find a passageway through a magical wardrobe, and enter a fantasy land called Narnia, which is ruled by a lion named Aslan. They become warriors against the evil forces. Over the course of many trips to Narnia, evil is conquered, and this next paragraph occurs after the danger is finally past.
“Aslan turned to them and
said: “You do not yet look so
happy as I mean you to be.” Lucy said,
“We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan.
And you have sent us back into our own world so often.” “No fear of that,” said Aslan. “Have you not guessed?” Their hearts leaped, and a wild hope rose
within them.
“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan
softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used
to call it in the Shadowlands – dead.
The term is over: the holidays
have begun. The dream is ended: this is
the morning.” And as He spoke, He no
longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after
that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the
stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the
real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had
only been the cover and title page: now
at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on
earth has read: which goes on forever:
in which every chapter is better than the one before.[1]
Some
interpretation of the parallels might help round-out this quick analogy from
the mind of C.S. Lewis. Aslan is a lion,
so named for the Lion of Judah, Jesus.
The Pevensie children’s picture can be located by each of us in the
mirror. And the wardrobe can be compared
to that casket in the grave…an entry into the world which we’ve never seen, and
in which there are mysterious futures.
Anyone I’ve
ever asked is aware (at least) of the dream of imagining that you’re in a dream. And the life you’re living is merely that –
that when you wake up everything will be different, and better…that the dream
will finally be over?
C.S. Lewis
used this dream desire for a better world as reasonable assumption that the
dream is consistent with how we are hard-wired, created to know, because of the
imprint of the Father’s image on our souls, that this dream, apart from the
Father, will eventually end because it is far from that for which God designed
us:
If I
find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most
probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”[2]
According to everything we’ve studied in Revelation over the past year, this is true; and that other world is coming.
One indication of this is not just
the bad stuff that is happening, wars, climate woes, anger, famine,
earthquakes, persecution…Jesus predicted all this.[3] Some of the really exciting stuff is just now
happening.
There is a movement among Jews in Israel to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They are now working on cutting the stones in anticipation of reconstructing God’s house on its original site.[4]
This is one of those issues that is controversial, but part of prophecy concerning the second coming of Christ. We are in the waiting room of the Second Advent!
The good
news about the new world coming is incredibly good – that we are invited to
that good new world. And what Jesus
offers is free.
In the Holy
Bible’s final words, Jesus offers the invitation, “Come” in three
different ways:
· The Spirit and bride (Holy Spirit,
and the church)
· Everyone who truly hears
this invitation is to repeat it, so others know.
· Everyone who thirsts (desires)
this new world is to freely drink of life.
The
invitation is without regard to many things we currently think important:
· It’s for you no matter what you've
done (good or bad),
· It’s for you no matter what you've
gotten (wealth/poverty),
· It’s for you no matter who you’ve
known, or knows you (famous or obscure).
The only
qualification is that you come to him as a penitent sinner, knowing that you
need a Savior, and that Jesus is the only Savior. You come to Him, trusting in nothing but Him.
And, whether
you come or not, it is all on you…no one else can be blamed.
Jesus paid
for our salvation on the cross:
God
saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a
gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good
things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9
Beloved, it
is an awful thought to know that he not only died for us; He died because of us. Every sin I ever did, caused
Jesus to be nailed to the cross.
I am the
reason He had to die.
And you are
too!
If He didn't
do this for us, none of us could never be acceptable to God – ever! And He offers forgiveness as freely as He has
given you air to breathe your whole life.
This same
Lord Jesus who came in history to live a perfect life, die on the cross in our
place, be buried in a borrowed tomb, and raised on the third day, now reveals
to us from the right hand of the Father, a warning, and a promise.
The promise
is of joy and life eternal for the believer who will accept Christ and give
himself to God; the warning
is of swift judgment and a living death if we reject Him.
You will
never need to know any more about the gospel than you have heard this day to
receive Him and know the joy of eternal salvation, both here and forever. Jesus says, "Come." Will you? If
you’ve ever wondered when the dream will end…or if it will
ever end…now you know. It ends, and real
life begins, when you trust the Lion of Judah who died for you.
The final
prayer to end the Book of the Unveiling of Jesus Christ is the prayer of the
church, to be uttered only by those who have trusted
Christ.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
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