The New Garden of Eden | Revelation 22:1-5 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (11/1/26)

So we're looking at it. Right? We're seeing the wolf and the lamb shall grace together. Wow. That's new.

The lion shall eat straw like the ox. That's strange. Hold on. Then something familiar pops up. And dust shall be the serpent's food.

That's not a change, that's a continuation. A continuation of what we read there in Genesis three verse 14, when the Lord looked at the serpent and says, on your belly you shall go, and the dust you shall eat all the days of your life. So what do we do with this? Well, it seems to be revealing to us that although there will be an extra ordinary renewal to this very planet, It will not be completely perfect. There will still be a residue of rebellion even in the millennium.

Which indicates to us then, that what we find in Revelation chapter 22 cannot be speaking about the millennium. It has to be referring to the eternal age. So we've settled that, I hope. We've confirmed that, but then we're still left with questions. If this tree of life will be present there in that new world.

What does it mean that it's gonna produce fruit every month? And And what does it mean that it's going to provide healing to the nations? Well, let's look at these things separately. The fact that months are recorded here does not exactly or necessarily mean that there will be cycles of time in the eternal age. At least in the way that we experience it now.

More likely however, this seems to be a very familiar reference to us. To understand something that is difficult to grasp on this side of that dimension. Here's another example of that. You read throughout the Bible, especially in the Hebrew scriptures. How there are body parts attributed to God, even though we know that he is spirit.

And those are poetic ways. Those are representations to help us as human beings be able to capture more accurately God's ways, God's thoughts. The arm of the Lord, the nostrils of the Lord. God doesn't have nostrils. He doesn't necessarily have an arm.

He took on flesh in Jesus Christ, but he is ontologically by nature spirit. So the same thing could be happening here. This is just a way for us to have some kind of a reference about a message here pointing to the dynamic life that'll be known in that age. The anticipation, the enjoyment, the variety that awaits us in the new heaven and the new earth. That's what this is actually shouting at us.

You know, ever since we were children, if you grew up in the church, heaven seemed to be a daunting place, probably because it's eternal. And you have people who are concerned that it will be dull, it will be predictable, it will be static. No. It will be very colorful. And even with this one tree, we realize that there's gonna be a diverse buffet of blessings.

There is going to be not just life, incredible variety of life bursting with animation, bursting with vitality. This is just a little hint at that. Imagine every month a different fruit. That alone should excite something within us. That the environment that we are headed towards is something beyond this world has ever presented.

What about the leaves for the healing of the nations? Well remember nations in the original can simply mean people groups. Actually more accurately, it's the word Gentiles. Moreover, healing does not necessarily mean treating illness. We we've already established this, right?

One of the most thrilling things about this world is that pain will be no more. That's back in Revelation 21. So we're not looking here at the possibility of injury. We're not looking here at the possibility of any kind of disease. You know what's interesting about that word healing?

In the Greek, it's where we get the word therapy from. It even sounds like it. I won't dare to try to pronounce it. I must speak Greek. Sometimes I try.

Therapy. And so what seems to be suggested here is not a remedy for any kind of suffering but the enrichment of our own experience and existence there. Our new home will be so glorious that even the leaves of this tree will have therapeutic benefits to provide to us. Now, if you still have difficulty trying to make sense of this, remember how the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates us what our resurrected bodies are capable of. I love how more than once we find Jesus eating after his resurrection.

Do our resurrected, glorified, perfected bodies need to eat? No. We get to eat. Why? Because there's pleasure in it.

There's enjoyment in it. And though we're not told exactly how to apply these leads whether, I don't know, I'm not going to guess. All in all, what we discover here is that everything described is not to solve a problem, it's only to add to the bliss that we will be having and knowing forever and ever. Let me offer you one more thought. What act of rebellion brought this world under the subjection of sin?

Eating. Eating a fruit that was forbidden. And yet in this new world, what do we discover? Eating will no longer be associated with a curse. It will be connected to life and blessing.

What a reversal. What a triumph. What redemption is this. We all fell at a tree. Jesus conquered on a tree and will be eating from a tree in a new world.

Here's the tree of life. We'll have access to it, and it brings us here to a more important thought. This tree of life is connected to the presence of God. Look here with me in verses three through five of Revelation 22. No longer will there be anything a curse, but the throne of God and of the lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him.

They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads 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. A lot of these things are familiar to us. We've seen them repeated in the past, but one one detail stands out. Again, how many times has the Bible in this book emphasized that it will be about the presence of God, it will be about the newness of God?

And here we're told something very descriptive about that future access and it is this, they will see his face. They will see his face. What Moses was denied in Exodus 33 will be available to each of us in that day. You remember when Moses asked, please show me your glory. And how the Lord respond to him?

Well, one of the things he said is, you cannot see my face. No man shall see me and live. But we will one day be able to see his face and live. In fact, it will be our source of life. This means that our fellowship with the Lord will be tangible.

This means that it will be deeply personal. This means that there will be no mediator or any kind of barrier to our communication with God. He will always be available. He will be completely accessible. When you look at somebody in the face, there's intimacy there.

That's a glorious thought. But what makes it even more amazing to me is that this concept of seeing God face to face means much more than us being able to literally look upon God. Let me prove that to you. Do you remember what Paul said to the Corinthians? We'll turn there to one Corinthians chapter 13 verse 12 and see what he says about our future.

First Corinthians chapter 13 verse 12. This moved me so deeply last night. It ministered to me. I hope it does the same for you. First Corinthians chapter 13 verse 12.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully even as I have been fully known. Paul is predicting a time when we will gaze upon Christ face to face. But with that, there will also be an opening of our understanding into insights that we have never known or learned.