The End of Evil?
03/30/2008 - Imagine There's No Evil
Listen to lyrics of this song, maybe you'll recognize it.
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today ...
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ...
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world ...
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
Do you recognize that song? Those are the lyrics of "Imagine" written by John Lennon in 1971. Some have called it his famous hymn to secularism. There's no mention of God in those words, but there is an ache in Lennon's soul and a dream in his heart for some of the very same things that God aches for and dreams about. … a place where there is no more war, no more greed, no more hunger, no more evil, nothing that divides us, nothing to kill or die for, a world at peace where we all share and live together as one.
That's sounds a lot like the dream of God to me, a dream that I believe is stamped indelibly on every human heart because we are made in the image of God and we were created to reflect his image and to dream his dreams.
The theme of this summer's Olympics is "One World One Dream." If you go to the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games you'll read these worlds. "'One World One Dream' expresses the common wishes of people all over the world inspired by the Olympic ideals, to strive for a bright future of Mankind. In spite of the differences in colors, languages and races, we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games, and together we seek for the ideal of Mankind for peace. We belong to the same world and we share the same aspirations and dreams."
It almost sounds like a theological statement, doesn't it? That's because we're all looking for the same thing. A world where there will be peace and harmony and an end of evil.
Just this month, Oprah Winfrey (have you heard of her), began a ten-week long online course on the best-selling book by Eckhart Tolle called A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. The book is controversial I know, but the title was taken from Revelation 21, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The book has already sold 3.5 million copies worldwide and over ½ million people registered for the first segment of the online course. Why? Because Oprah endorsed it! Well yes, but also because we all long for the same thing, a new earth delivered from evil, where we can reach our full potential as human beings created in the image of God.
This morning we continue our series The End of Evil? with a teaching I've called "Imagine There's No Evil." Given the condition of the world right now it may not be easy if you try, like John Lennon said, but it is coming because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.
You see the end of evil is going to come someday, but it's not going to come because we all decide to get along and follow the Olympic ideals, as important as that is. As Christ followers we're called to be peacemakers in this world. We are not to repay evil with evil, the Bible says, but if possible, as far as it depends on us, we are to live at peace with everyone.
The end of evil is not going to happen because we achieve a higher level of consciousness through the ongoing process of evolution nor is it going to happen because somebody writes a book and says sin doesn't really exist, let's get past that old fashioned idea.
The end of evil is going to come one day because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember what we said two weeks ago, "The nations of the world got together to pronounce judgment on God for all the evils in the world, only to realize with shock that God had already served his sentence." At the cross the creator of the universe took full responsibility for what went wrong with his creation, even though it wasn't his fault, and bore the weight of all its evil on his own shoulders. He took the rap for all of it.
God in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, took everything that evil could throw at him when he hung suspended between heaven and earth. The tidal wave of evil came crashing down on his head full force that day. Evil exhausted itself, burned itself out on the cross. And the evil one was convinced that he had won the victory. But the game wasn't over.
Three days later Jesus rose from the grave not only to demonstrate that he had conquered sin and death and evil, but to begin his new creation. He is the first fruits, the prototype, of the resurrection that all his followers will experience one day and the resurrection that this world will experience one day when heaven finally comes to earth. That's when One World One Dream will finally and forever come true.
The hope of this new world isn't something recent, it has always been the hope of God's people and they've always believed that it would take a Messiah, a Rescuer, a Liberator to pull it off. What they didn't expect was that that human Messiah would also be God himself and that that Messiah would have to die in the process.
The great prophet Isaiah talks a lot about that new world and about the Messiah that will make it happen. Turn with me to Isaiah 11. Look at verse 1, A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord -- 3and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
In these verses Isaiah refers to the Messiah as the shoot that will come up from the stump of Jesse, a Branch that will bear fruit. What in the world does that mean? Well, picture the stump of a tree that's been cut down. A stump looks dead doesn't it? It doesn't look like anything is growing there anymore.
Jesse was the father of David, Israel's greatest king. But when Isaiah wrote this passage David had been dead for about 300 years and it looked like God's promise of a Messiah, of a Rescuer, that would come from the family tree of David was dead too. But it wasn't dead. Out of the stump a small shoot came up. That tender shoot was Jesus, born as a baby in Bethlehem, the city of David. He would be the Branch that would bear fruit. He would be the one who would be a delight to his Father and do what Israel failed to do.
Look at verse 3, He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
That's a description of the character and ministry of Jesus when he comes back to judge the earth and put an end to evil. And when that happens, Isaiah says, then the dream of God will come true and all of creation will be set free.
Look at verse 6, The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them. No fear! Animals that used to kill each other will get along. Children will play with lions and leopards and wolves. Unheard of!
Look at verse 7, The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8Infants will play near the hole of the cobra; young children will put their hands into the viper's nest. 9They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
This is a picture of God's kingdom come to earth. We just sang it. Holy is the Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory! This is what the apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 8, the passage we looked at last week. This is what all of creation is groaning for and longing for. This is the world we were all made for. That's why we ache for it and write songs about it and publish books about it and name Olympics after it.
You can even read about infants playing with vipers on the Olympic website where it says, "The pursuit of the harmony between man and nature and harmony among people, building up a harmonious society and achieving harmonious development are the dream and aspirations of ours."
This longing is universal. Imagine there's no evil. It's coming. A world without evil is coming one day. But it will take God to pull it off.
Isaiah puts it like this in Isaiah 65:17-19, See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
A new world where there will be no more weeping and crying and pain, just gladness and joy and delight, that's the world that God's people have always longed for and have looked to God to provide one day. And the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what has made that world possible. It couldn't come any other way. Evil had to be defeated. Justice had to be served. And Jesus served it for Adam and his big blunder and for Israel and all their blunders and for all the blunders of all of us.
Turn to Revelation 21 with me and let's take a peek at how the story ends. We've looked at this passage before so it should sound familiar to you, but I never get tired of reading it.
Look at verse 1, Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth" (that's a quote from Isaiah 65), for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Remember what we said in the very first teaching of this series that "the sea" in Scripture is often a symbol of chaos and judgment and evil. There will be no evil there.
2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Notice the story doesn't end with God's people being taken from earth into heaven. It ends with heaven coming down to earth, to a new earth, an earth that's been resurrected from death and decay, an earth that's experienced its own Easter. It's the image of a beautiful wedding of a bride joined to her husband, the two becoming one.
This is the answer to the Lord's Prayer, Our Father who art in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This is when God's dream to dwell among his people on this earth finally comes true, one world one dream.
The new Jerusalem will be a dazzling city full of breathtaking beauty.
Look at verse 10, And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11it shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
This is a city like no other city on earth, a community of the resurrected people of God down through the ages who will live together in peace and harmony with God and each other. And you and I will be there if we are followers of the King.
This will be a healing place. Look at Revelation 22:1, Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city (and all those who like to swim said "yes!" There may not be a sea, but there will be water in the kingdom!) On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
This is the world made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No more evil. No more evil one. No more evil doers.
Look back at Revelation 21:5, He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Those are sobering words. And I don't know what all that imagery means. But I do know that I don't want to be a part of that group. In Revelation 22:15 we read, Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
I think this is the judgment Isaiah was talking about when he said in Isaiah 11:4-5, The Messiah will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
About this N. T. Wright observes, "There must be such a thing as judgment. Judgment is the only alternative to chaos. The description of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22 is quite clear that some categories of people are 'outside' and some are 'inside.' But then, just when we have in our minds a picture of two nice, tidy categories, the insiders and the outsiders, we find that the river of life flows out of the city and that growing on each side of the river is the tree of life with 'leaves that are for the healing of the nations.' There is a great mystery here. This is not at all to cast doubt on the reality of final judgment for those who have resolutely worshipped and served the idols that dehumanize us and deface God's word. That's coming. It is just to say that God is always the God of surprises."
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ...
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world ...
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
That world's coming.