LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
A Heavenly Vision
"For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27).
We will stop in this sentence: "the whole counsel of God." The church at Ephesus ought to know the whole counsel of God. Today we also should know the whole counsel of God. Let us turn to Revelation 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega... says the Lord God." And then read the last chapter of the last book, Revelation 22:12: "Behold I am coming soon, my reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
As you know, the topic of this conference is the eternal counsel of God. In the mornings, I would like to approach this subject from a specific angle, because we can approach this matter from different angles. I am going to take one approach in these mornings, because according to what Revelation shows us, God said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega."
We know that in the Greek alphabet, Alpha is the first letter, and Omega is the last one. In English, the first letter is A, and Z is the last. So, God said: "I am the A and the Z", or "I am the Alpha and the Omega." Then our Lord explained Himself, saying: "Behold I am coming soon,... I am the Alpha and the Omega." What does that mean? Alpha means the first; Omega means the last. And so that's why He said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last." Furthermore, our Lord explained it even more clearly. Alpha means the beginning, and Omega is the end. So then, our Lord said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Now, if we want to know anything about the universe, this universe had a beginning, and will have an end. And God says: "I am the beginning and I am the end." So, the universe begins with God and ends with God. If you take God away, the universe no longer exists. The universe becomes meaningless if you take God away. If we want to know any thing about the universe, God said: "I am the beginning and I am the end." Thank God, our God, or our Lord is the Alpha, and the Omega, of the universe. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And more than that, he wants to explain to us the secret of the universe. How do we know this universe? It is almost like a riddle to us. Many scientists work in this field; trying to figure out the mystery of this universe, trying to derive or guess some answers.
God not only revealed Himself through His creation, but He has also given us a wonderful book: the sixty six books of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. Through them, we can begin to penetrate into the secret of this universe. Then we will discover that the scientists have obtained answers, but they are only partial answers.
If we really want to know the story of the universe, we have to allow God Himself to tell us. And God wrote everything in this wonderful book, the Bible. In this wonderful book, God revealed Himself. I believe that we are most blessed people. Yes, scientists know something about the universe, but only something. They only have a partial knowledge. However, we have the whole counsel of God; we have the whole knowledge about this universe and the secret is because God has poured out His heart in this Bible.
The metaphor of Brasilia
You know that in Brazil there is a city called Brasilia. Many years, many centuries ago, there was no city called Brasilia on this planet. But today we know that it is the capital of Brazil. If you want to know the history of Brasilia, you can of course visit Brasilia today. It is a city famous for its architecture. Many experts in architecture come from all over the world to see this wonderful masterpiece. If you visit Brasilia today, you will see some things about this great city. However, each person will approach the city from different angles, and will be able to appreciate that city in a wonderful way. If you go there for three months, you can research about that whole city; you can obtain all the data about the city.
Now, this is exactly what scientists have been doing in the field of science. When they observe the universe, they collect all the data, they try to study them, and they try to obtain some knowledge from the data they gathered. We call this discipline science. So, supposing that you visit Brasilia and gather some data, you will have some knowledge about that city. But if you really want to penetrate into in the secret of this city, the best way to understand it would be to know the man who built that city. He was a great architect, one of the most famous in Brazil.
You can imagine, before he visited Brasilia, before the construction of the city there was only an open field under open sky. He was stood in an almost central position in Brazil. The architect was standing there, and there was nothing around him. However, one day, a city came out from nothing. But before we saw Brasilia, in the moment when the architect, the builder, was stood there, truly, the city was already in his mind. As an architect, he had a will, a desire, a counsel for that great city. He wanted to build the city that would become the capital of Brazil. It would become the center to which all the Brazilians would look toward; it had to represent the soul of Brazil.
Now, what city type would it be? How could that city represent Brazil? How can you tell the people about the pride of Brazil? In that time, although we didn't see the city, the city was already in his mind. There was a will, and behind that will there was a design, so we could say the city existed even before it was built. We could say that the city was in him. It was in his mind. Now we have to start our knowledge about Brasilia from there, if we truly want to know the whole story about Brasilia. We have to begin with the builder of the city. Then we will be able to say that before the foundation of that city, there was a will; the city was already there; it was in a person. This is very important.
Having this picture in our minds, we can then understand the letter to the Ephesians. Do you see that brothers and sisters? Before the foundation of the world, this universe was already in the mind of God. There was a will before the foundation of the world. So we call that the eternal will of God, or the eternal counsel of God. Everything began from there. The same thing happened to the architect of Brasilia; we must allow him to tell us his story. How can we know what happened in his mind? This world did not know about it. But let us suppose that one day we were able to visit this architect, and he told us everything, or for example, if he wrote a book about the story of Brasilia.
Who is the most qualified person to tell us everything about Brasilia? Nobody but this great architect. Now we can obtain knowledge. It is different from the knowledge that we could obtain by visiting Brasilia. We could gather some information, we may be very impressed with the city, and tell our friends about what we saw there. But no matter how you do it, your knowledge will only be partial. And that is what scientists are doing today. We give thanks to God for their efforts; because somehow through their hard work we have begun to know something about the universe. However, this is only a partial knowledge.
We don't have the exact picture. If you visited Brasilia, and wanted to have a true knowledge about it, you would have to read the book that this architect wrote. And then he would tell you that while he was stood in that area, the city of Brasilia was already in him. In his mind, he had already seen a great city. It is very interesting.
If we fly in a helicopter over Brasilia, we will see that, according to the architect, the city was built with the shape of a Jumbo Jet 747, and we will see that the President's palace is the same place in which the cockpit would be located. Then you would understand something that you had never known before, because that is something which happened before the foundation of the city. How do we know? Because he himself revealed it to us. He told us the whole story. He said: "before the foundation, there was already a Jumbo 747 in my mind, and the whole city was built according to that design." Then, the architect drew the blueprint. If his friends visited his office, they would ask: "What is this?" "This is the city that I will build; this is the blueprint." That project is according to what he saw in his mind.
Then everything becomes a reality. In the beginning, the city was in him. But then he had to build it, based on the blueprint. Then he asked many engineers and builders to carry out that blueprint. And one day, that whole city was built, it was developed according to that great design. Then, when he finished his plan, we can say that he came to the Omega chapters of his work. We have the Alpha chapter and the Omega chapter. How can we know the beginning of the city and the end of the city? There are two sources of knowledge. One, by your experience when visiting the city, and the other source is the revelation. It is the builder of that city who revealed that dream to you. In the beginning, it was only a dream; however, one day, the dream was finally fulfilled.
We want to have the full knowledge of the city, not only a partial knowledge. That's why Paul prays for each one of us, so that we may be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and finally that we may have a full knowledge of Him. In Greek, the word knowledge that Paul uses means full knowledge.
We have such a great privilege. We know much more than scientists. We thank God for their contribution. But no matter what, even after one gathers all the data, one has some judgment, some impression of that city, which might be right or wrong. However, if we want to have the exact knowledge, we have to go to the builder of that city. Now, with that light, if you visit Brasilia once again, you experience much more; you will know much more about the city; you will know that it was built in the form of a Jumbo 747, and when you drive through that city you will be able to say: "Now we are on a wing of the airplane", or "we are in the tail of the airplane." Or, if we visit the President's palace, we can say: "we are in the pilot's seat."
Brothers and sisters, think about this: without the knowledge that has been revealed by the builder of the city, you could visit it a thousand times and have all the data; become an expert about the city, and you may drive here and there, but if you have never seen that city from a great height, in an airplane, even though you may be very intelligent, your knowledge will always be two dimensional. But if you really have a heavenly vision, if you really have a vision from above, from the sky, then what will you see? You will see the form of a 747 airplane. Brasilia is a very unique city on this planet. Then you will say: "No matter how much I have worked, I had never reached this knowledge. Do you see this, brothers? It is very clear.
Only God can give us true knowledge about the universe
We want to know the Alpha and the Omega of this universe. Yes, the scientists tell us something about it, which may be right or may be wrong; but it is always partial. However, if we want to know something about the universe, we will go to the Builder of this universe. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." "In the beginning... God." What does that mean? God is Alpha. So, brothers and sisters, through this wonderful book; the bible that we have, we have a great privilege, the great honor of having the full knowledge of this universe. Our knowledge is not derived through scientific research, but rather it comes from revelation. It pleased God to reveal Himself to us.
From Genesis to Revelation we have 66 books. Genesis is the Alpha book, and Revelation the Omega book. Now, very interestingly, if you want to know about the beginning of the universe, read Genesis. If you want to see the ultimate picture of this universe, what the end of this universe is, you have to read Revelation. For that reason, in that wonderful book, God said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega." And our Lord said: "Behold, I am coming soon... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
After you finish Revelation, we finally come to the end of the universe. Who are we that we should be able to know the end of the universe? We only know that today we are in the last days. Our Lord will return soon. But, how will we be able to know the end of the universe? Who is qualified to tell us? Of course, the scientists may also make some guesses; they may be right or they maybe wrong. The knowledge that we gather by visiting the city of Brasilia may be right, or it may be wrong. How do we know if it is right? We can compare our knowledge with the knowledge of the book written about the city. The same thing happens to us.
Thank God, if we want to know the eternal counsel of God, we have to go back to the Bible. Because in the eternity past; let me explain it this way - our time is like a parenthesis, left and right. Between these two parentheses we have our time. Before the Alpha of our time, we have the eternity past. After the Omega of our time, we have the eternity future. After the eternity past and before the eternity future, we have time.
Today we see everything about this universe, just like if one visited Brasilia and knew everything about the city. However, history didn't begin there. Before the foundation of the city, something had already happened. That city was derived from a will; from a mind. The same thing is true of the universe. Before the foundation of the world, the blueprint; everything about this universe, was already in the mind of our God. We call that the eternal counsel of God. Of course, the clearest passage about this has been given in the epistle to the Ephesians. However, if you really want to know the whole blueprint, and you really want to know the work of God according to that plan, you need the whole Bible to tell us.
We know that there is an eternal will of God. But, what is it? Now, let us remember that we not only go to the Alpha of our time, or to the Omega of our time, but rather we have to go to eternity Alpha and eternity Omega. So from eternity to eternity, our God is God. Now, my brothers, the important thing is this: He said: "I am Alpha and Omega." In other words, if we want to understand the will of God, we will go to the book of Alpha and the book of Omega.
The eternal will of God
Today, when we preach the gospel, we have to ask our friends three questions. Every philosopher has tried to respond to those queries, but have never found the answer. Even though they are able to throw out questions, they are not able to give the answers. Where does humanity come from? Where is humanity going? Third question: why are we here? What is the meaning of the universe? What is the meaning of this life? All the philosophers try to respond to these questions, and they have never given us the answers. They are like those visitors of Brasilia, because they only have partial knowledge, and they could not find the answers. But, thank the Lord, there is an answer for each one of these questions.
Now, Genesis, the Alpha book in the Bible, will tell us where we came from. And Revelation, the Omega book, will tell us where we are going. And then we have the 64 books between Genesis and Revelation that will tell us why we are here.
When my wife was in New York, in the beginning, she worked in a company, and met a colleague and asked her: "why do you work so much?" And the friend answered: "Because I want to buy myself a Cadillac." So my wife asked her: "And why do you need a Cadillac?" "To come to work." Do you understand? She worked hard because she wanted to buy a Cadillac. And why did she need that vehicle? To come to work. This is always our answer. This answer means: "We don't have an answer." That's why it is so important that each one of us knows the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Now we know where we came from, and where we will end our journey. And not only that, we also know why we are here.
We know the meaning of this universe, and we know the meaning of our lives. We live a life according to a purpose. We are a people who are purpose-driven. The church is a purpose-driven church. The people are a purpose- driven people. Every individual is a purpose-driven individual. We live with a meaning. Our life is full of meaning. For that reason, we always look toward tomorrow, because in some way tomorrow is connected with the eternal will of God.
When one says: "Finally I finished university, I finished my studies, now I am satisfied," then there is another question: is the desire of God fulfilled in my life? A few years later, we get married. Our desire has been completed once again. But one question remains: Yes, you are satisfied: during the honeymoon, every couple is satisfied but what about God's purpose? Do you believe that the eternal will of God is being fulfilled in your life?
After a few years, you have a family, a wonderful house and some wonderful children. You are one of the happiest people in the whole universe: you are saved, you have been wonderfully saved, and you say: "thank God, my desires were fulfilled. I am the happiest person on the whole earth." But, one moment, brothers, there is still another question: "is the eternal will of God being fulfilled in my life?" You have reached your goal, but has God reached His goal?
David had built his own palace, a wonderful palace. He could sleep peacefully, and enjoy all the rest he wanted in his palace. However, he could not sleep. Why? Because God still hadn't found His habitation. And this is the suffering of David described in Psalm 132. We suffer a lot; we have all kinds of sufferings. But is there one suffering which has nothing to do with your satisfaction in your life - you have everything-, but the question is: does God have everything in your life?
That's why we want to share about the eternal counsel of God. This is a very important matter, and it will influence all our life. It will change our life. What is the eternal counsel of God? We need the 66 books of the Bible to explain it. However, we have only a short amount of time. Nevertheless we have a great ambition. So we will take two books: Genesis and Revelation. I assume that you are well versed with them. We will be like the birds that fly over the forest. We see the forest in general, but we will not be able to look at each tree. In these few days, we want to give a bird's eye view of Genesis and Revelation. But our main emphases are with the eternal will of God.
We will see something very beautiful in these two books; so the important thing is that we learn something of the eternal will of God. We don't have time to examine the trees. In a forest you may have a thousand trees, and each tree would probably be a message. This is impossible for us. But, brothers and sisters, we will try to have an overview of these two books. When we go to Revelation, we have seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. But don't come and ask me: "Brother Christian, what do you think about the seven trumpets?" We don't have time for the details. In Revelation it talks about rapture. Don't ask me: "brother, do you believe in the pre-tribulation rapture or post or something else?" We don't have time for that. Because the most important thing that we should know is the eternal counsel of God. And when that is resolved, you have the solution for all the trees.
The problem today is this: among the Bible scholars, they argue: is the rapture pre-tribulation or post-tribulation? They try to approach this matter in an academic way, and they will never obtain the solution. It is like that visitor who goes to Brasilia and you only see everything in two dimensions. But let us suppose that one day we reach that position from above, and we can see everything from the sky. Now, brothers, how are you able to explain Brasilia? It is a Jumbo 747. Then all the details will be correlated.
This is our problem today. The enemy of the gospel hates Genesis and Revelation. That's why these two books are those which are most attacked by the enemy. For that reason, when we come to Revelation we cannot understand it, and there are so many interpretations. Brothers and sisters, remember, it is just like a thousand visitors who would give us a thousand different impressions of Brasilia. But the true interpretation comes through revelation. We will never solve the problem of each tree, if we don't see the whole forest. So, let us occupy this time with the eternal counsel of God.
Some facts from Genesis and Revelation
When one studies Genesis and Revelation, you need to be well versed with both books (... I know that the brothers need preparation, but we don't have time to read all Genesis and all Revelation now...) however, at least, we have to gather some facts first.
For example, Genesis 1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Chapter 2, we have Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Chapter 3, man's fall. And so we find that there are three moments in man's fall: man's fall into sin (cap. 3), man's fall into the flesh (cap. 6) -Remember that before that, God was fighting against our flesh. But then the flesh was so corrupted that God said: "I give up." That is chapter 6. But don't forget, although the apple is rotten, it is not rotten to the uttermost- But when we study chapter 10 and 11 of Genesis, we see how man fell into the world.
Here we see three enemies of the cross. That's why our Lord, on the cross, had to deal with these three enemies: sin, flesh and the world. That tells us the story of the fall, from chapter 3 to chapter 11. And then, starting from the chapter 12, God calls Abraham. Then we have Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, to chapter 50. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob. And finally we have Joseph; there we have the end of Genesis. The brothers should review this in their own time. When you have time, please, go to Genesis and try to get a sketch of the facts. Don't go into details. A general vision is enough for our purpose.
Then we will go to Revelation and we will see chapter 1, how the risen Lord appears to John, walking amid the seven lampstands. Then, chapters 2 and 3, we are told the seven epistles to the seven churches, and the call of the overcomers. Somehow, brothers, we are impressed with this expression -the overcomers-. And when we come to chapter 4 we have the open heaven, and we see the throne of the universe, the center of the power of the universe. You will not have seen it before, but it is a wonderful thing that we can see from the Bible. Then we see the universe that God has created; how this universe is maintained by the center of power.
But then when we come to chapter 5, the universe has fallen, it has been polluted. So Jesus had to come to the earth as our Savior. He died for us on the cross, as the Lamb of God. He was slain on the cross. But now John speaks to us of a very beautiful scene. The Lamb of God has ascended to the heavens, and we were told that He was just slain. After He died for us on the cross, he resurrected and finally reached the throne of God. Now we see Christ as our Savior. He is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. But now He is in the midst of the throne. "Who is worthy to open the book in the hand of God?" Here we find the redemption of the created universe; the redeemed universe. Jesus died on the cross. Now, thank God, this universe is being redeemed. In chapter 5 we see that only our Lord is qualified to open the seals. So we have the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls. And when we come to chapter 11, we go all the way to eternity.
It is very clear that the book of Revelation can be divided in two parts. The first eleven chapters end with the earthly Jerusalem. And when we come to chapter 22, we have the Heavenly Jerusalem. At the beginning of chapter 12 we encounter a heavenly woman, with the sun, the stars and the moon. From the first eleven chapters to the last eleven chapters, there is a transition, in chapter 12. John shows us a change from the earth to heaven. This is the purpose of revelation. Revelation always takes us from the earth to the heavens, from the earthly Jerusalem to the Heavenly Jerusalem.
When we come to chapter 11, the Kingdom of this earth becomes Christ's Kingdom. Here the Bible speaks to us of rewards. So, brothers, here it is very clear; when we arrive at chapter 11 we almost reach the end. Then, chapter 12 begins everything again, but with a different emphasis. From the earthly to the heavenly.
Now, among the twelve disciples, who was the most acquainted with Jerusalem? The apostle John. Matthew tells us the story of our Lord while he was mostly in Galilee. Mark does the same. Luke's emphasis is different; he tells us of something that happened beyond the river Jordan. However, it is John who speaks to us of what happened in Jerusalem. John speaks as if our Lord had always worked in Jerusalem. John emphasizes Christ's work in Jerusalem. However, it was the earthly Jerusalem. John was the one who knew Jerusalem so well and was the only one qualified to show the revelation of the book of Revelation, but not just the earthly Jerusalem.
Now, starting from chapter 12, now you see that the emphasis changes from the earthly to the heavenly. We will see how the Holy Spirit tries to describe certain things in detail, until we come to the very end of Revelation. In the first eleven chapters, we have details of the seven seals and of the seven trumpets. But if you want to know the seven bowls, now you have to come to the second part of the book.
Brothers and sisters, only when one has a heavenly vision, is one then able to understand the seven bowls. This is very, very important. When the brothers have time, during these days - don't go into details- at least you should know what happened to the seven trumpets and with the seven bowls. And when we compare these two, we will find similarities. Nevertheless, there is a difference. In the seven trumpets we see: "one third... one third... one third." And when we go to the seven bowls: "three thirds... three thirds... three thirds." It means complete one. So try to find out the facts first.
Why have we divided ourselves over different interpretations? Because we are all in a hurry. Before you gather the facts, you have already made the interpretation. We have to wait until the Lord reveals everything to us. Some people say: "Oh, Revelation is the most difficult book of all." The enemy of God wants you to have this impression, because he hates this book, because this book will tell us about the end of the enemy of God.
So, brothers and sisters, for this reason, we have to understand that these two books -the Alpha and the Omega book- are very important. And when we put these together, I think that we will be able to understand the eternal counsel of God.
The principle of mirror symmetry
But before finishing this morning, allow me to show you something very important. Let us suppose that we take the first three chapters of Genesis and the last three chapters of Revelation. I assume that you know these six chapters very well. If we compare what happens in the first three chapters of the Alpha book and the three last of the Omega book, if we meditate on those two books, we will discover some symmetry, and that symmetry is called "mirror symmetry."
You probably don't understand what I mean. We will use brother Jairo as an example. You see a very handsome boy here. Now, why is our brother handsome? Because God has created him. And because there is symmetry in him. Think about it, suppose that we draw a line down the center of him, like a mirror. You'll find one eye here, and another here. That is called symmetry. How do we know it's symmetry? If you make a change, it is as if you had not changed them. The two eyes are exactly same - of course, if a scientist investigates that, he will discover that one eye is bigger than the other one. An ear here, another here. A hand here, another here. One foot here, another there. And then we have his tie in the middle. Why do men always wear a tie? To remind us of the symmetry. If you have an ear here, you can be sure there is another ear here. If there is an eye here on the left side, you will find another eye on the right side. And we can read our brother from the left to the right, or from the right to the left. It is exactly the same thing. That is mirror symmetry. Why? Because God has created our brother in this way. He is a masterpiece of God. How can you explain the beauty in our brother? By the symmetry. And this is called mirror symmetry.
Now, allow me to give another example. Let us suppose that one writes in English from left to right: "Isaac loves Rebecca as much Rebecca loves Isaac." Very interesting. We have Isaac here, as the Alpha, and also Isaac as the Omega. Then, we have the word love, here and here. Then Rebecca here, and there. And then we have "as" here, and "as" there. This is mirror symmetry. How do we know that this is mirror symmetry? One can read it from left to right or from the right to the left. It is the same thing. We call this mirror symmetry.
The same symmetry is applied to the Alpha book and the Omega book of the Bible. If one reads the first three chapters of Genesis, and also the last three chapters of Revelation, you will find a symmetry there. Just like in the statement that we mentioned, Isaac appears at the beginning and at the end, 'loves ' is at the beginning and also at the end, 'Rebecca ' in the first part and also in second part. This is mirror symmetry. Now lets return to those six chapters.
In Genesis, chapter 1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." In Revelation chapter 21: new heavens and new earth. In Genesis 1 we are told that the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep. Now, the deep means the ocean. We have the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. But we don't call them deep. Why? Because in the Bible when you talk about the ocean it refers to a great depth, because in the beginning our planet was surrounded by water. The ocean covered the whole planet, and with such depth. That is what happened in Genesis 1: our planet was surrounded with the ocean, not like today, and that's why the light could not penetrate into our planet. For that reason, God said: "Let there be light." Don't forget, God created sunlight and moonlight in verse 1. God created the heavens and the earth in chapter 1 verse 1. What were we told? That in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And then, in verse 2, the camera turns to our earth, and then we have the story of our earth in all the remaining chapters.
So, if you want to know the story of the universe, there is only one verse, the first verse. However, the camera then turns to the earth. In chapter 2, the camera now concentrates on man. When one studies Genesis, one has to adjust his camera. In the first verse, the camera is focused on the heavens and the earth. In the first verse, God created the heavens, God created the sun, the moon and the stars. The light was already in the universe. But now, the problem is with our earth, with our planet.
When we speak about the story of our planet, it was surrounded and wrapped in the ocean. The light could not penetrate. Later God said: "Let there be light." God created the heavens and the earth. Then, in chapter 21 of Revelation, we have new heavens and a new earth. Do you see the symmetry here? In the beginning, the earth was surrounded by the ocean. But when we read Revelation 21, there won't be any more sea. Why? Something happened between verse 1 and 2 of Genesis. We need Revelation to interpret the book of Genesis, and Genesis to interpret Revelation. Sometimes we don't understand Genesis, because we don't understand Revelation. So brothers and sisters, do you see the symmetry here?
And not only that, we have a garden in Genesis and we also have a garden city in Revelation. In Genesis, it was only a garden, the tree of life and the rivers. This is a garden. It is paradise. But when we come to Revelation, again, the whole New Jerusalem is a paradise, it is a garden city, but more than in the beginning, because through the time, through its development, God has built that city with a foundation. In the beginning there is a garden, and at the end a garden city.
In that garden, in the beginning there were two trees: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. But when we come to the final part of Revelation, we only see the tree of life. Why? Very simple. When God said to Adam: "you can eat from all the trees", it included the tree of life. But God put the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the center. God respects our free will.
God could only make a suggestion. He never wanted to choose anything for Adam and Eve. If He wanted to choose, He could have put the cherubim around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Adam and Eve would have had no way to fall. But God didn't want that. He removed all the hindrances, removed the cherubim. Now Adam could choose; he could eat from all the trees, including the tree of life in the center. However, one tree was forbidden. God said: "The day you eat of it, you will die." Now he had to think, he had to decide which fruit to take. However, the idea is very clear. God put the tree of life in the center. They could eat from all the trees, except one. It is very clear. The suggestion from God was the tree of life. Why? Because this is the eternal will of God. Because, according to John's gospel, the life is in Christ. In this universe, only Christ's life is life. All other life is nothing but a shadow of this life.
Brothers and sisters, if Adam and Eve had truly taken from the tree of life, it would be just like when we believe in Jesus Christ. We receive Christ as our Savior, and when we do that, we are taking from the tree of life. Today, eternal life is in us, Christ's life is in us. This is the eternal will of God. All we need is the tree of life. However, to His disappointment, instead of choosing the tree of life, Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And then, death entered into this world. Now pain and curse. This is a very sad story.
Now, how do we know that the tree of life is the will of God? When we come to Revelation, when we come to the paradise again, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has disappeared, but the tree of life is there. Now we understand. The tree of knowledge of good and evil did not last. It was there in the beginning, but it is not at the end. How do we know the eternal will of God? If it was there at the beginning it is also there at the end. How do we know that the tree of knowledge of good and evil is not according to the will of God? In Genesis we made a right guess, but let us not forget that this is only a guess. How can we be sure? Finally, in the paradise that is recorded in the last book, we will discover that the tree of life is there. The tree of life is present in the beginning and is present at the end. Our God never changes. That not only represents the will of God, but it is a part of the eternal will of God.
So, it is very clear. In the beginning, in the garden we have several rivers. At the end we only have one river: the water of life. And more than that, after man's fall, the snake entered into the Garden of Eden and began the temptation. But when we come to the end of Revelation, that old snake, Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire. So we see the beginning of the enemy of God's invasion and finally here, we know his end.
In the garden of Eden we have the marriage between Adam and Eve. And in Revelation, the marriage of the Lamb and His bride, and we have the presentation of the bride of the Lamb. In the first three chapters of the Bible we have Eve's presentation. Adam said: "This is my flesh of flesh, and bone of my bones." But now in Revelation we see another presentation. This time the bride of the Lamb is presented. One in the beginning and another at the end.
After man's fall, the earth was cursed. We have the curse, we have thistles and thorns, pain and sadness. But, brothers, when we come to the last three chapters, there won't be any more sorrow, no more curse, no more pain. God will dry all our tears. One in the beginning, one at the end.
Dear brothers, if we read the first chapters and the last three chapters very carefully, we will discover that they correspond to one another. Like in the sentence, we find Isaac in the beginning, and Isaac in the end. In the beginning, if we follow the rivers, we will find gold, pearls and precious stones. When we come to the end of Revelation, that city is built with three basic materials: gold, precious stones and pearls. Where were these elements obtained from? From the garden. If one follows the course of the river, if one follows the leading of the Holy Spirit we will discover gold which means the nature of God; pearls which means life out of death, and precious stones that are formed after going through great heat, and finally a precious stone is formed. It is the wonderful discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, when we go through some kind of discipline, it is very painful, almost unbearable. One wonders why the temperature is so high, why the pressure is so great. Brothers, thank God, it means that now the precious stone is being formed. This is all the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the beginning in the garden of Eden. But why do these materials exist here? For the construction of the city of Jerusalem. Brothers, God is still building that city with a foundation. Where has God collected His gold, pearls and precious stones from? God put us in the garden of Eden.
So, are you following the course of the river? If we are, thank God, all this material will be ready, and then we will be edified together, and finally we will discover that the heavenly came down from heaven.
Now we understand how from the first part of Revelation it ends up with the second part of Revelation. The first eleven chapters end up with the earthly Jerusalem, and at the end of the last eleven chapters we have the heavenly Jerusalem. God has transformed everything from being earthly to heavenly. This is the will of God, and He is doing it in our lives.
I wanted to give this as a general impression. Every morning we will not only be occupied with the first three chapters, but the whole book of Genesis, and also the whole book of Revelation. And there we will discover the wonderful mirror symmetry between these two books.
Now, brothers, we discover that each one of these books describes the other. Sometimes, when we study Revelation, we just don't understand it, because we don't have the key. We have read many books, we have consulted many scholars of the Bible, and even so we have not found the answer. Why? Because this key is in the Alpha book. It is through the Alpha book that we are able to understand the Omega book.
Our purpose here is not to do a bible study. I just want us to know that, starting from these two books, the eternal purpose of God is revealed. May the Lord really speak to our hearts. I hope each one of you is prepared. May the Lord speak to us through these two wonderful books.