Transformation of Imagination - Rev 21 & 22

1. A Prayer For The People of God
Alpha and Omega, First and Last,
glory outshining all the lights of heaven:
pour out upon us your Spirit of faithful love
and abundant compassion,
so that we may rejoice
in the splendor of your works
while we wait in expectation
for the new heaven and the new earth
you promise when Christ shall come again.
Amen.

3. Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5
a TRANSFORMATION of IMAGINATION

4. AGNUSDEI(LambofGod)
FranciscodeZurbaran(1640)

5. And in the spirit
he carried me away
to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God…
I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon
to shine on it, for the glory of God
is its light, and its lamp
is the Lamb.
REVELATION
21:10, 22-23
(NRSV)

6. The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will
bring their glory into it.
Its gates will never be shut by day—
and there will be no night there.
People will bring into it the glory
and the honor of the nations.
But nothing unclean will enter it,
nor anyone who practices abomination
or falsehood, but only those who are
written in the Lamb’s book of life.
REVELATION
21:24-27
(NRSV)

7. Then the angel showed me
the river of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city.
On either side of the river is the tree
of life with its twelve kinds of fruit,
producing its fruit each month;
and the leaves of the tree
are for the healing
of the nations.
REVELATION
22:1-2
(NRSV)

8. Nothing accursed will be
found there any more.
But the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it,
and his servants will worship him;
they will see his face, and his name
will be on their foreheads.
And there will be no more night;
they need no light of lamp or sun,
for the Lord God will be their light,
and they will reign forever and ever.
REVELATION
22:3-5
(NRSV)

9. Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5
a TRANSFORMATION of IMAGINATION

11. the BIBLE’S overall NARRATIVE plot
Plot Level 1: Creation and Human Calling

12. the BIBLE’S overall NARRATIVE plot
Plot Level 1: Creation and Human Calling
Plot Level 2: Calling of Abraham/Israel

13. the BIBLE’S overall NARRATIVE plot
Plot Level 1: Creation and Human Calling
Plot Level 2: Calling of Abraham/Israel
Plot Level 3: From Moses to Jesus

14. the BIBLE’S overall NARRATIVE plot
Plot Level 1: Creation and Human Calling
Plot Level 2: Calling of Abraham/Israel
Plot Level 3: From Moses to Jesus
Plot Level 2: Calling to the Gentile Mission

15. the BIBLE’S overall NARRATIVE plot
Plot Level 1: Creation and Human Calling
Plot Level 2: Calling of Abraham/Israel
Plot Level 3: From Moses to Jesus
Plot Level 2: Calling to the Gentile Mission
Plot Level 1: The Human Calling Restored

16. “The climax of the biblical story
is fundamentally this-worldly.
When God brings (God’s) original
purposes to fruition, we find not
escape from creation, but rather
new (or renewed) creation.
The Bible thus tells one comprehensive and
ultimately coherent story of God’s purposes for
the flourishing of human life.” – J. Richard Middleton
something CRITICAL to NOTICE…

17. “The idea of ‘heaven’ as the
eternal hope of the righteous
has no structural place in the
story…There is not one single
reference in the entire biblical
canon…to heaven as the eternal
destiny of the believer…not once
does Scripture itself actually say
that the righteous will live
forever in heaven…”

18. “Not only is ‘heaven’ never used in
Scripture for the eternal destiny of
the redeemed, but continued use
of ‘heaven’ to name the Christian
hope may well divert our attention
from the legitimate biblical
expectation for the transformation
of our earthly life so that it
conforms to God’s purposes –
a transformation that has already
begun in Christ and that the
church is called to live out…”

19. WHAT does all this MEAN for US?!
- Much bigger than ourselves
IT MEANS WE ARE PART
OF A STORY THAT IS:

20. - Much bigger than ourselves
- Going somewhere good, beautiful and true
IT MEANS WE ARE PART
OF A STORY THAT IS:
WHAT does all this MEAN for US?!

21. - Much bigger than ourselves
- Going somewhere good, beautiful and true
- Unfolding right here and now
IT MEANS WE ARE PART
OF A STORY THAT IS:
WHAT does all this MEAN for US?!

23. And the city has no need of sun
or moon to shine on it, for the glory
of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24. Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5
a TRANSFORMATION of IMAGINATION

25. Benediction
Alpha and Omega, First and Last,
glory outshining all the lights of heaven:
pour out upon us your Spirit of faithful love
and abundant compassion,
so that we may rejoice
in the splendor of your works
while we wait in expectation
for the new heaven and the new earth
you promise when Christ shall come again.
Amen.