6/9 Sermon - A Beautiful Painting
Revelation 20:1-6
This past weekend, on Sunday, my sister-in-law was married. After the gift opening on Monday, we were all relaxing in the afternoon. We started to watch a movie called, The Green Mile. Have you heard of it? A man, John Coffey, is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to execution. Paul, the main character, figures it out, but can’t free him. John Coffey is at peace with death and says this, “Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?”
John Coffey was wrongfully condemned to die. But he had a bigger issue. He was sick of all the pain in this world, all the suffering, all the hurt. He never had a friend, was always alone, and was always ridiculed and attacked. He looked around the world and saw an ugly picture.
Have you ever felt like that? Like this world just has an unending stream of pain, hurt, loneliness. It seems like nothing goes right. There’s one problem after another. God never gives us a break.
And John Coffey said, “Mostly, I’m tired of people being ugly to each other.” There’s so much meanness in this world, isn’t that true? It doesn’t matter if it’s neighbors, co-workers, family, friends, strangers, people are ugly to each other.
And that ugliness is the result of our own sin. There’s ugliness not just in the world around us, but right here, in our hearts. We cause it. It’s easy for us to point at others for the cause of pain and ugliness, but so often, the cause is our own selfishness and sin.
I thought the message of Jesus was supposed to spread love. Kindness. Compassion. Forgiveness. When I see the pain we feel, the ugliness of this world, our sin, the godlessness of this world, I can’t help but think, “Has Jesus lost? Does the good news have no power? Does the Word of God not change lives? Why do so many people reject Jesus? Why do so many people live contrary to the truth of God’s Word?
I look around and, like John Coffey, I see a pretty ugly picture.
Do you have a favorite piece of art? Monne or Picasso? Modern, impressionist, classic? I love nature: mountains, forests, animals. Art can be so beautiful because it helps us see beauty in a different way.
Today, in our reading from Revelation, John helps us see a different picture. A beautiful picture. It helps us see life in a different way. We’re going to take a look at just how beautiful this picture.
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
We’ll more about the 1000 years and other things in our bible study, but the beautiful picture that we see here is simple: Jesus triumphs over Satan. That’s what this is a vision about. Jesus wins.
Just let this beautiful picture sink in. An angel, but it’s probably Jesus, comes down from heaven with a key and a chain. He seizes the dragon, Satan, overpowers him easier than a child, and locks Satan away.
Revelation 12:11, “(The Christians) triumphed over (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
Jesus, when he shed his blood for our sins and rose for our eternal life, triumphed over Satan. He took away Satan’s power to accuse us, took away our sin, and gave us forgiveness and life. By Jesus’ work on the cross, he seized the serpent and locked him away forever.
By the blood he shed, he sets us free from Satan, from his lies, from his accusations. We have eternal life through Jesus.
Jesus will win. No matter what pain or loss or sadness we go through, no matter what ugliness we see in the world around us or in our hearts, Jesus wins. He will take us and all who believe to eternity, to life with him, after this present suffering. That is our beautiful painting
I like using a picture to describe Revelation. It’s like one of those incredibly detailed painting or pictures that just gets more interesting as you zoom in. You see a building, but in each window it shows what each family is doing: Watching TV, playing a game, eating supper.
That’s just what Revelation is like. In v. 1-3 we see Jesus’ triumphant over Satan. Then we zoom in a see a little more detail in v. 4-6.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a 1,000 years.
Again, I’ll explain the 1000 years soon, it’s a figurative time for right now, between Jesus’ ascension and his second coming.
What does John see? The souls of those who died for Christ. And it’s not just martyrs; anyone who did not worship Satan. Where are they now? They are reigning with Christ in eternal life!
That’s also a picture of us! We are those who have not worshipped Satan, who have not bowed down to him. We have hope, the hope not of defeat and an eternity of suffering, but the hope of life forever.
The first resurrection is our spiritual life. Ephesians says that by grace God has made us alive in Christ. By the Word of God, we are spiritually alive right now. We are children of God, made alive by his Word.
The biblical idea of “life” is connection to God, now and in eternity. We have life, forgiveness, and salvation in Jesus.
The second death, when our physical bodies die and our soul should go to hell, that has no power over us! Death doesn’t exist for us. John shows us this beautiful picture, how blessed and holy we are that death has no power over us, that we are set free to live not just now, but forever.
Yes, this world is full of ugliness, just like John Coffey said. It’s a terrible picture. But that’s not your picture. This picture of John helps us see life and death in a different way. The death, pain, loss, ugliness of this world isn’t our world, it’s not our paint. Our word, our beautiful painting, is this: Jesus triumphed over Satan. We have eternal life. Death doesn’t exist. It’s destroyed. We live now in Christ, and forever in eternal life.
