God With Us - And They Shall Reign

When I began this God With Us series earlier this month, I did so in Genesis – chapter 3, verse 8 to be exact.  With this being Kingdom week in some traditions, the last week of the Western church year, I think it meet to skip to the end of the Bible in which we see the consummation of Christ’s reign as King of Kings.

And you are surely familiar with many passages in Revelation concerning the coming Kingdom of Christ. (And that even if you are not a Bible scholar as said passages are very influential on Western culture, e. g. the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel’s Messiah.)  But there is something that is often overlooked in reading Revelation – something wonderful.

In the Apocalypse, it is hard to miss that Christ will reign forever.  But readers often miss that He will not reign alone.

…by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Rev. 5: 9-10

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Rev. 20:6

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  Rev. 22:5

Yes, not just Christ, but they, he and his people, will reign forever and ever.

Now Jesus does not need assistance from us in ruling.  But he loves us so much that he wants his people to reign with him, even to sit with him on his throne, as he himself says in Rev. 4:21.  Christ wants us victoriously to so be with him and he with us forever.  And his will shall be done.

But how does God bring about this glorious future reign for us?  How does he make us kings, if you will, after we had fallen so far way back in Genesis 3?

Well, the church year beginning with Advent and then Christmas tells that story . . . as we shall see.

God With Us - a new series and a sad verse

After Trinity 16, I posted that I was touched by the Gospel for that Sunday from Luke 7.  Jesus interrupts a funeral procession by raising the  deceased.  And the people joyfully exclaim, “God hath visited his people.”

After reflecting on this and also talking on the subject to some young adults, I’ve decided to begin a series – God With Us.  That refers, of course, to Matthew 1:23 which quotes the prophesy of Isaiah 7:14:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).  

I think the name Immanuel, God With Us, points to a key theme of the Bible and of its portrayal of God acting in history.  One of God’s purposes is that he would be with us and us with him.  And scripture unveils how he is bringing that about.

I want to begin this series by briefly looking at what is surely one of the saddest verses in Bible, Genesis 3:8, which comes just after Adam and Eve fell by disobeying God.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Before the Fall, Adam and Eve had perfect communion with God.  So much so that they recognized “the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden.”  God so frequently came and talked with them that they knew the sound of him approaching.  And that sound had surely been an occasion for joy.

But now, with Adam and Eve having fallen, it was an occasion for fear.  And instead of openness between them and God, they now hid.  The relationship between God and man was so harmed by the sin of man that it was not the same anymore.

And it has not been the same ever since.

But God has not left it at that . . . as we shall see.