Movement | Where Heaven Meets Earth - Revelation 7:9-10, 21:1-5 | July 14

INTRO

Hey family!

We are talking about our mission as the Church once again. Last week we started down this road that we have a mission as disciples of Jesus to make disciples. This idea of mission is a purposeful movement that we as the body of Christ, as the family of God here in Boone are moving toward – we are committing ourselves to it.

This mission is to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, demonstrating Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, demonstrating Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

I promised last week that we were going to start unpacking what this means, and what this looks like for our lives, for this church. What does that mean for us? So here we are.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth.

WHERE HEAVEN AND EARTH COLLIDE

What are we talking about? What on earth is this crazy guy standing in front of me talking about?

We’re talking about vision. We’re talking about the future. We’re talking about the present. What is, what was, and what will be.

God has a vision for the future.

God has a vision for the future. And if we’re going to see disciples made, we have to begin with God’s heart and God’s vision for what He wants to see happen.

We have to ask the question, what do you long to do God?

If God is moving in this place, in this small mountain town, in the High Country, in

North Carolina, and the nation, and the world, then where is it you are going Lord? What do you want to do? What is your will? What is your purpose in the world?

We don’t have to guess.

If you’re thinking what is God’s will for my life, why are you guessing? God has revealed to us what He desires, what His will and purpose are. We have the revelation of God’s prophetic vision for our lives. And that is for Heaven and Earth to overlap. That God’s space and our space would be one. In the Bible, the ideas of Heaven and Earth are ways of talking about God’s space and our space.

The union of Heaven and Earth is what the story of the Bible is all about — how they were once fully united, and then driven apart, and about how God is bringing them back together once again.

The problem is we’ve become comfortable here with life outside of Eden. This is our experience. This is our norm. So we don’t expect Heaven to come here. We long for a future that is different. We are looking forward to what is to come. We long for a Heaven that is still separate.

But the story of the Bible longs for an overlap. Where God’s space and our space become one. God wants to live with his people. And the ultimate joys of a future Heaven are not that Earth isn’t there, it’s that God is there.

The prize of Heaven is the presence of God.

We need to reimagine what is and what should be, what has been and what can be. We can’t be limited by our experience or by our vision. We need a greater vision. We need God to lead us into His vision. And His vision is happening here. And it’s happening right now.

God wants to live with his people!

God wants to live with his people, so He made a place.

IN THE COOL OF THE DAY

It says in Genesis…

I’d love for you all to follow along with me as we read these passages this morning. If you have a Bible and don’t already have it open, go ahead and get it out now. If you didn’t bring a Bible, keep your devices in your pockets. There are Bibles at the end of each section. I’m sure someone would be happy to pass you one of them. As we flip through the pages, it’ll be a much more tangible illustration of the picture God is painting across history and to the vision He’s leading us to.

It says in Genesis starting in chapter 2 verse 8, 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Verse 15, 15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17)

Flip over a page, chapter 3 verse 8, 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9)

This is what the Bible’s description of the garden of Eden is all about. It’s a place where God and humanity dwell together perfectly. Heaven and Earth overlap completely. There is no separation. God’s space invades our space. His presence fills the atmosphere. His glory covers the Earth. It’s a place where humans partner with God in building a flourishing, beautiful world.

The garden of Eden was the first place where God’s space and humanity’s space were one. God came and walked with His children. It says in the “cool of the day” or in the “wind of the day” the time when God would come walking through the Garden with His creation.

God’s presence would come down to be with Adam. He expected to see His beloved son. He desired to be with him and walk with him, that they might abide together.

The story of Eden is not necessarily the story of perfection that you might assume. It’s not presented to be utopia. We may think of it that way – but that’s not really the point. It was good. That’s the point. And God was there – that’s the main point. It was good because God was there.

That’s the vision God has. We hear it echo throughout the Scriptures. “I am with you. I will be with you. Do not fear. I’m right here. I’ll be your God and you will be my people. Abide in me. Dwell in me. Be with me. Make me your home. Behold, I am with you always – to the end of the age, I am with you.

But as humans, we wanted to do things a different way. We wanted to go it alone. We wanted to create a world apart from Him. We looked at each other. We looked at ourselves. We lost the desire for His presence.

We’re a lot like our own children in that way. My kids still love to be with me, to do things with dad. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter what we’re doing, they just want to be with daddy. It’s all I can do to keep them away from me.

At some point though, I imagine, it won’t be so cool to be with dad anymore. They’ll go it alone. They’ll pursue their desires and leave. Then I’ll probably miss them constantly on me – maybe. Maybe they’ll never get there. But that’s the way it goes. That’s the trend.

God’s desire has never lessened. He’s still longing for that day. Throughout history He has continued to carve out these little Edens – these places and these times where His presence would come and He would beckon us to enter in.

GOD MEETS WITH US

Let’s turn over to Exodus chapter 33, “1 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ 2 And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3 Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.” (Exodus 33:1-3)

Skip down a few verses. Verse 7, “7 It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. 9 As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. 11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (Exodus 33:7-11)

The Tent of Meeting. The Tabernacle. The Tent of Meeting was a place where the people of Israel could plead their needs before the Lord. They could interact with the divine in a way. It was a space where God dwelt here on Earth – where Heaven and Earth overlapped.

Actually there were two tents. The first was temporary and erected outside of the camp. Moses would enter into God’s presence and then return. God’s presence would descend only for Moses to convene with the Lord, then it would lift again. When the Tabernacle was finished, it was placed in the middle of the camp and all of Israel surrounded it (Numbers 2).

Like the tree of life, it was at the very center. It becomes the heart of the community. God's glorious presence is revealed in the midst of His people.

And God’s presence would remain. He was there – in their midst. When His presence lifted the people would set out and when they camped it would remain filling the Tabernacle.

Exodus 40 says, “34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.”

God’s glory now fills the Tent of Meeting at all times. Previously, God’s glory remained apart from the people and would only descend when Moses entered the tent. Once the Tabernacle is established, God’s glory is constantly present. It lifts only as a sign that Israel will embark on the next phase of their journey.

God desires to be with His people. It’s God’s enduring presence with His people. The Tabernacle. The Tent of Meeting.

In Hebrew it's the “ohel moed”.

Mo’ed is a beautiful word. It’s a beautiful concept, if we understood Hebrew, that we can trace through from creation to Jesus. It is the word that is used here for the Tent of Meeting, it means meeting. It’s also the word that is used to refer to the various festivals celebrated by Israel.

The funny thing is that there are other Hebrew words that mean festival or meeting. It’s not really the word you would expect to be used. Mo’ed has a more specific meaning that is more accurately “an appointed time” or “an appointed place”.

These appointed times and appointed places are holy. They are holy because they are set aside. They are times when God meets with His people. He connects with us, on our level – in our space.

The Tent of Meeting was a physical representation of a Heavenly reality. It was a manifestation of the Heavenly Kingdom come to Earth. And so, to make use of the Tent of Meeting was to commune with and enter into the Kingdom of God.

The “Ohel Moed” was the appointed place on Earth where God would physically connect with His people. That is until Jesus.

JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING

It’s easy to dismiss the Tent of Meeting. Its description in the last few chapters of Exodus seems boring and irrelevant. Yet when we look at these things from the eyes of faith, tracing the various elements throughout the scriptural witness, we see how the tent of meeting points to the temple and the temple points to Christ.

Let’s turn over to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John. Chapter 1, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

Verse 10, “10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Verse 16, “16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” (John 1:1-5, 10-14, 16-18)

In the Gospel of John, we hear this claim that God became human in Jesus and “made his [home], his dwelling among us”.

This is really cool. What this literally means is that God, in putting on flesh and becoming human, “he set up a tabernacle among us.” And so what John is claiming right here is that Jesus is a temple. He is now the place where Heaven and Earth overlap.

Only now, He’s not just doing it in one place for people to come to Him. He’s doing it out there in the midst of the sin and darkness, He’s creating little pockets of Heaven. He’s doing it out there in the middle of the world of sin and death. He’s bringing life. He’s creating the space for people to encounter God’s presence. To be with Him – dwell with Him.

Heaven has come to Earth.

In the tabernacle there was the show bread, the bread of the presence which was a physical sign of God’s care and sustenance, His nourishment and forgiveness.

Jesus comes along and says, “I am the bread!”

33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:33-35)

Jesus refers to himself as the source of spiritual and physical nourishment for the faithful; he is the visible sign of God’s care and provision. Jesus himself is the “bread of presence.”

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Lord, give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

We need the daily sustaining presence of Jesus – the bread of life.

In the Temple and the Tabernacle, there was a curtain that separated the inner court area from the “Holy of Holies” the place where the Ark of the Covenant was, the mercy seat, and where God’s presence dwelt.

It created a barrier, and with it, an understanding that experiencing God’s glorious presence was reserved for the holy few.

But when Jesus was crucified the curtain of the Tabernacle was torn in two (Mark 15:38). The very barrier that separated Israel from God's glory is destroyed. The spirit of God came to dwell with all people. It’s for everyone. God’s presence is available to all people who abide in Him and the salvation of the cross.

Jesus changes everything.

Jesus isn’t just talked about as being a temple. He’s also talked about as being the temple sacrifice .

It says in Hebrews, “11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.” (Hebrews 9:11-12)

So now, He’s not just seen as God who took on flesh creating pockets of Heaven as He goes. Now, Jesus’ sacrifice has the power to keep spreading and spreading and reuniting more and more of Heaven and Earth.

He told His followers to long for this. He taught them to beckon its coming. He told us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on Earth just as it is in Heaven. In Boone as it is in Heaven.

He told us to long for the day when Earth would look just like Heaven.

UNTIL THE EARTH LOOKS JUST LIKE HEAVEN

So in the book of Revelation, we get this beautiful image of the garden of Eden, now in the form of a city, coming to end the age of sin and death by redeeming all of human history in a renewed creation. And God’s space and human’s space completely overlap once again.

Let’s turn there and read these glorious words of what will be. Revelation 7 verse 9, “9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Real quick, flip over to chapter 21, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”

Who do we see in this vision?

All peoples. Peoples from every nation and tribe and people and language. A vast crowd, too great to count.

You and I aren't enough. We’re not enough to account for the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice. It takes the nations. Listen, God loves you deeply. He loves you so, so much. But you and I aren’t enough. We’re not a worthy trade. It’s for all people. We have to have greater vision – a vision that extends outside of ourselves and reaches to the ends of the Earth.

Until the Earth looks just like Heaven.

Until all the Earth is filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters fill the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14).

OUTRO

We know what Heaven is going to look like. We have God’s vision for the future. We know the end result. God’s desire is that we would be with Him. Dwell with Him. Abide in Him. Tabernacle together.

What happens in between?

In 1 Corinthians Paul challenges us, “16 Don’t you realize”, he writes, “that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

We are the place.

Right here. Right now. We are partnering with Him to create. We are becoming.

God’s Spirit now tabernacles among us. He dwells with us. We, as the church and individually, are the little pockets, the little places where Heaven and Earth overlap. We are creating those places where people around us can come, enter in, and encounter the presence of God.

We are creating and experiencing Heaven now, even as we wait for eternity.

God has placed eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We long for this vision of God’s. We ache for it. We believers groan for it, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of this future glory. We long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We wait with eager hope… (Romans 8:23).

The joyful anticipation deepens with each breath.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth.

To be disciples who make disciples so that we may stand around the throne together and sing with everything that is within us, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!”

God’s will for your life is that you would give literally everything you have to accomplish His vision.