THE RIVER AND THE TREE

Transcript

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Hello everyone. This is Pastor Dean Thompson with the word of hope. 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. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation twenty two verses one and two. As the vision of the new creation comes into focus, John is shown its center, the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb, and on either side the tree of life, bearing fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. With these images the whole Bible comes full circle. The story that began beside a river in Eden with a tree of life ends beside a river with the tree of life restored. There is profound comfort in this circling back. In the Garden of Genesis, humanity was barred from the tree of life and driven out. An angel with a flaming sword set to guard the way. The long story of scripture is in one sense the story of finding the way back, back to the presence of God, back to the tree, back to life. And here at the end the way is open again. The tree we were exiled from stands once more within reach, and no flaming sword bars the path. What was lost in Eden is more than restored in the new creation. Notice where the river flows from, from the throne of God and of the lamb. The source of all life and healing is the throne itself, and not the throne alone, but the throne of God and of the lamb together. The same lamb who was slain is now the fountain head of the river of life. The wounds of the cross have become the source of healing for the world. Out of the place of sacrifice flows the water that makes everything live. And then comes a phrase of breathtaking tenderness. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The nations, all those tribes and tongues and peoples, the lamb ransomed with his blood, are not merely speared in the end, they are healed. Every wound that history inflicted, every division that set nation against nation, every scar carried by the peoples of the earth, all of it comes under the healing leaves of the tree of life. The end of the story is not merely the absence of conflict, but the active healing of all the world's hurts. Consider how thoroughly this answers the brokenness we see around us. We live in a world of wounded nations and wounded people, histories of violence, cycles of harm, divisions that seem too deep, that seem too deep ever to mend. The vision of the tree of life declares that none of it is beyond healing. The leaves are sufficient for the nations, for all of them. The God whose love ransomed every tribe intends to heal every tribe. The wounds of the world are not the last word. The healing leaves are. So let your imagination rest beside the river today. The flaming sword is gone. The tree we were exiled from stands open again, its leaves for the healing of the nations and for you. The story that begun with a begun with a loss in a garden ends with a healing beside a river. And the source of it all is a throne where a slain lamb reigns. Come to the water. Come to the tree. Come and be free. Come and be healed. O Lamb of God and the throne. From you flows the river of life. And the tree whose leaves heal the nations. We bring you the wounds of our history and the brokenness of the world. Please heal us and let us drink freely from your water of life. Help us to live with this blessed hope, igniting our hearts and moving us into showing love to the world around us. Amen. God bless you, my brothers and sisters.