~A FACINATION WITH HEAVEN Isn t it amazing what a fascination we have with heaven and the afterlife! Just take movies for example; since the first talking movies, we ve tried to dream up what the afterlife and heaven are actually like. Here s just a fraction of the movie titles: HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943), STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (1946), BEETLEJUICE (1988), ALWAYS (1989), THE LOVELY BONES (2009), FLATLINERS (1990), WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (1998), AFTERLIFE (1998), HEREAFTER (2010), FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN (2004), and HEAVEN IS FOR REAL (2014). But all of these are simply OUR imaginings of what it s like. The pity of it is; we have visions of the real thing, and take them so casually. As we follow John in Revelation, we move from a vision of the church, to a vision of heaven. ~THE REAL VISION The real vision of Heaven starts like this: Revelation 4 1-8 Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. It s a dizzying array of images and actions; thrones around thrones, strange creatures and glass oceans, what s it mean, and why should we really even care? First, why shouldn t our first reaction be confusion? None of us have experienced that realm of existence. If it was something easily understood, we d be looking at our own vision, if it is really heaven, it should be beyond understanding at this point; that s only logical. But as foreign as the plane of heavenly existence is to us right now, God explains it in imagery John, and us, can begin to understand. But it means digging into what God has already said. As John, an Old Testament-raised Christian, the vision washed over him with history, sacred teaching and situations and prophets of old. All of those things are real, and it forces home the point that what he now perceives is every bit as real as that history and proven prophecy. What that means for us is: It is every bit as real, for us; it has happened, it is happening, it is going to happen. We can make sense of it and apply it to our lives, if we are willing to dig a little. Today we will strive for two objectives: 1
This morning, we will dive into this strange vision of heaven and discover what it means, according to God s Word. This evening, we will learn the greatest and most important hymn that history has, or will ever know; and we ll discover why that is true, and what we d better do with it. ~INTO THE VISION That being said; let s head into the vision: God calls John to heaven for a specific reason; his trip to heaven isn t to get the grand tour, it is to see the events that must happen. That is the starting point; for all the daunting events that God reveals; they are NECESSARY in God s perfect plan for His perfect outcome. In the depths of our concerns, we should never forget this. So, John s consciousness is brought to heaven. The scene opens for John seeing a throne and one who radiates His glory like the glow of jasper and ruby. The ruby gives the idea of a blood-red glow, and depending where it came from the jasper could be red, green, or blue. So what does God want us to know from this imagery? Let s stay with what we firmly know in legitimate human knowledge: We know that these stones were even rarer, and hence, more precious in the ancient world than they are today. The imagery makes it very clear that this One on the throne is of supreme preciousness; and beyond all value. We know the One on this throne is holy. Remember, the high priest of the Old Testament wore a breastplate of stones? There was no function of the high priest without this breastplate. But what did the breastplate mean? The breastplate had twelve precious stones in it. The stones represented the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) who become the twelve tribes of Israel. The ruby is the stone of the first son, Reuben, and jasper is the gem of the last son, Benjamin. The breastplate represents the totality of God s people. The colors John describes are the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To borrow a New Testament term, the alpha and omega. The very first colors John sees radiate Christ; this is a three thousand year old message to John. This throne of glory is surrounded by 24 other thrones. Why 24? The best explanation is this; there were 12 tribes of God s people, that brings us to the time of the Christ; then Christ had 12 Apostles who established the church. 12 plus 12 equals 24, and so a 24 represents the totality of God s people through all time. The elders on the thrones represent the best of us. They are authorities in their own right; they have thrones! And they also have crowns. Last week, we said that there were two Greek words for crowns; one meant royalty, the other was extraordinary victory. The victorious crown was stephanos. The elders 2
crowns are stephanos, but not the usual twined branches, but ones made of pure gold. These elders are not kings, but they are people of extraordinary and permanent value. (That fact becomes important to the vision.) There are seven lamps blazing, but this time, they are not the churches, but seven spirits of God, what does that mean? We find out that these seven spirits roam the earth and know all the affairs of man. We know that seven symbolizes perfect completeness. We know that the job of searching the hearts of mankind is done by the Holy Spirit. (That s all through the New Testament.) So God gives us the image of spirit, perfectly in nature, presence; awareness; and perception. Who does that sound like? -It is understood that the seven spirits are actually one perfect spirit, the Holy Spirit. Taking into account all of Scripture; that s a safe understanding. Then we are given the impression that John is at some distance from this throne. He is far enough back that he takes in the sight of what he describes as; a sea of glass as clear as crystal. What s that all about? In ancient days, glass of any kind was rather rare, and what you d find was usually opaque. Clear glass was worth more than gold. So we know this sea was precious beyond imagination. Clear glass was perfect, it was perfectly pure, without contaminants, and it is was perfectly made. In tradition we have one precedent for this glass sea ; it is said that Solomon had a pool of pure glass before his throne. It was said that when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she was so convinced that it was water, that she lifted the hem of her dress when she stepped on it. (Imagine her reaction when she found herself standing on this strange rare glass!) So there is the image of great royalty, but in the vision, it isn t simply a pool, but an immense sea. It is not just royalty, but royalty beyond anything merely human. And of course, a sea of glass gives the impression of extreme tranquility. This sea would stand in stark contrast to the peels of thunder and the lightning around the throne. This place encapsulates a real experience of God; He is peace beyond understanding, and yet, dreadful in power. John sees all of this in one image. Then we have four strange creatures flying around. What are these things? This imagery takes John back to the days of mighty prophets. These creatures are not new, but a variation of something very, very old. It would take John back to another end of days, the time when Israel was once before, wiped from existence. Some 600 years earlier, a priest and prophet by the name of Ezekiel had his own vision of heaven from his prison land in Babylon. Here are his words: Ezekiel 1:5 And in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. 3
Each of the faces had profound meaning that the ancient people of God came to understand: The lion was the universal symbol of victory, power, and majesty. The ox symbolized the priestly. The ox was the sacrifice of any big covenant; particularly man s covenant with God. The man s face, was the hope of the Old Testament, and the Gospel of the New Testament, it represents the incarnation of God into our human race. The Eagle was the highest flying bird, it was also believed it was the only bird that could look directly into the full brightness of the sun. So the eagle represents the Holy Spirit. By John s time, such symbolism was understood, and within a century, this symbolism would be understood as the four great works of the Messiah-Christ. (Church father: Irenaeus). The creatures are the personification of God s eternal truth, but it s even more than that Isaiah had his own vision of heaven, even before Ezekial, and it also parallels John,s vision. Isaiah says: I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated on His throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were saraphim... (Isa. 6:1-2) The vision takes a turn that wouldn t be understood for hundreds of years after Isaiah s time; and even then, only if you look carefully: The vision goes on to tell how Isaiah s seraphim or burning ones purge his sin and then the Lord asks: v8. "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'' Then I said, "Here am I! Send me.'' Basically, that s a line right out of Romans: And how shall they preach unless they are sent? (Ro. 10:15) -A line 8 centuries in Isaiah s future. It will be an entirely different world situation; and yet it is the very same spiritual principle. And when the purified Isaiah does go, God gives a realistic, but not very encouraging forecast of what will happen: "Go, and tell this people: `Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' (Isa. 6:9) So here s the situation: the four burning ones give Isaiah God s message to the world. The world would hear it, but not understand. The world would see it in action, but they will not, yada, to use the original Hebrew word. That is; they won t recognize it, they will not care, and they will refuse to be instructed by it and reap the consequences. Isaiah s vision is starting to sound strangely familiar, isn t it? Let s pop ahead in time again, we skip ahead 800 years to John, and then an additional 400 years to St. Augustine. 4
Augustine has studied the early fathers, and he is studying John s revelation itself. He sees the four creatures as the four great works of the Messiah-Christ, and God inspires him to an insight built on the insight. The creatures not only refer to Christ, but the Gospels that are the legacy of Christ. There are four Gospels, and each carries a particular emphasis. And each emphasis fits a face of the creatures that fly around the throne, whom we know, even from the colors that radiate from Him: Matthew focuses on the victory and might of the Messiah, the Lion of Judah; the face of the lion. Mark concentrates on Christ, who is God incarnate, the face of man. Luke stresses the sacrifice of Christ; Christ the priestly function, the face of the ox. John stresses the spiritual, Christ opening the way for the Holy Spirit, the face of the eagle. ~WHAT WE TAKE AWAY TODAY So here s where Revelation has brought us so far: The same things that made a church healthy 2000 years ago are still the same things today, the things that killed churches 2000 years ago are the same things today. God and the experience of God are dreadfully wonderful. What God says in Revelation are so engrained in human history and spirituality that even a single word or image can carry multiple levels of meaning. It is timeless; Christ was, is, and is to come. The events have happened, are happening, and will happen. History is full of foreshadows, or small scale versions of what will ultimately come. To put it in mathematical terms; we are only.18181818 through this Revelation, and this is only a fraction of what God is telling us. Even so what does it matter to us? All of this is very real; God, heaven, the church, an unfolding plan; they are all very real. How we see reality is a preference; but truth is not. It is absolute. Religions are a preference; but God is not. He is absolute. How we approach history unfolding is a preference; but God s plan is not. There is an absolute. The thing is; when our preference doesn t match up with God s absolute, what is real will ultimately steamroll over us. God Himself told us there will always be those who reject Him, and there can only be one ultimate outcome if a person rejects life and truth itself; death and darkness. But if you say you are in relationship with this God, the question to you today is this: Do you live like it is real? 5