JOHN195 - There Will Be No More Curse

0:25 The worst Daniel Craig James Bond movie is Quantum of Solace, and I will not die on this hill. It's not worth it. It's I mean, it's just a James Bond movie. I don't you can think whatever you want. I just didn't think it was very good because it quit on a bunch of plot points. There were things that it set up.

0:44 The opening act was interesting. I was intrigued, but then it's like they just forgot a bunch of things and maybe had somebody else write the third act or something. The thing totally fizzles. It doesn't pay off the stuff that it sets up. I'll tell you what isn't likewise like that is the Bible. Boy howdy, does it do a good job of paying off stuff that it sets up.

1:08 Like, for example, the theme of living water that runs through the whole Bible, from the early stuff in the Old Testament, through the big prophetic stuff of the Old Testament, through the minor prophets of the Old Testament, and into the words and works of Jesus right up to the cross. And then maybe at that point you're thinking, like, well, it's done.

1:29 It's paid off. Jesus, he went to the cross, he went to wells, he talked about water, it's all paid off. But no, all of the Jesus stuff, particularly here in the Gospel of John that we're working on, points to an even bigger completion that happens at the end of the Bible in Revelation. But it's very intentional.

1:49 I mean, John is trying to put a big, you know, arrow pointy sign in the ground that's like, look forward to this thing. There's more to come. And I think this is illustrated by just how much the water and living water theme has come up so far in John. I mean, look at the setup here. It's not totally overt in the prologue, but there's all that stuff about Jesus being life.

2:12 He's describing himself the same way here in John chapter four. So I'm going to count that halfway. But then the second chunk of thought, the second story is about John the Baptist and baptizing. The man on whom you see the Holy Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

2:29 I mean, it's the mingling of this imagery is already happening in the second chunk of John. Then Jesus calls the disciples, not as much water stuff there. But then the very next thing is a water and purification story that happens in John chapter 2 with the wedding at Cana. Then not so much water stuff in the cleansing of the temple, but I mean we do call it a cleansing of the temple, make of that what you will.

2:56 Then in chapter three, you've got the stuff about the water and the spirit, where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. He says, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit. There it is again. Then we go to the next story. Isn't it wild that we're this far into John, by the way?

3:13 And we've covered like how many blocks? One block, two blocks, three blocks, four blocks, five blocks, Nicodemus's six blocks. The seventh block, which is the last one that we've covered completely, is again about baptizing in John the Baptist. Water, purification. There it is. So much of that through the first three chapters, which I would argue compose or comprise a double prologue.

3:34 And now we're into the eighth block of John, and it's the woman at the well. And Jesus is saying all this stuff about living water. Man, it really feels like Jesus in his early ministry here, and John in his accounting of it are really trying, they're begging us to get this theme and follow it. If there's that much emphasis placed on it, unlike Quantum of Solus, you gotta believe it's gonna actually be paid off.

4:02 And wow, is it at the end of the Bible in Revelation? Here's a scene in Revelation 7 that pays off the living water stuff in a beautiful way. Let's do this, starting in verse 13. Then one of the elders asked me, These in white robes, who are they? And where did they come from? I answered, and this is a vision of future things here that John is being shown, the same John who wrote John.

4:28 I answered, Sir, you know, and he said, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, which is that's fascinating backwards imagery. Therefore, they are before the throne of God. Ooh, throne of God. Remember the stuff we talked about the last couple days?

4:47 What comes out of the throne of God? Living water. Let's see if it comes up. They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat, for the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.

5:09 He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So this multitude from the great tribulation are washed. They will no longer thirst. The sun will no longer beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. We're not going to do the parched baking thing anymore. Instead, the Lamb will lead them to springs of living water.

5:32 That you see the payoff coming into focus, but it's not fully paid off yet. We're getting there. Revelation 21, 5 through 7. The theme pays off further. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, It is done.

5:54 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all the liars, their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

6:24 This is the second death. Okay, look, obviously, I get to pick what parts of the Bible I read and where I stop reading a passage. And obviously, it pops up in a can of worms for me to read this contrasting statement from the throne that has all this stuff about life on the one hand, on the one mountain, if you will, and death and judgment on the other hand, on the other mountain, if you will.

6:51 But this is the pattern of scripture. It would be weird if the Alpha and Omega didn't present it this way. This is always the pattern of God's dealing with people. It is blessing, it is curse, it is life, it is death, it is Gerizim, it is Ebal. Even though we don't have time to sort through the massive conversation that this brings up about God's righteous justice and judgment, still we have to note the contrast.

7:20 On the one hand is heat and being parched, the opposite of living water and life. And on the other hand is, well, the living water and the life. So these two things come up right next door to each other, and they're supposed to come up right next door to each other. Fascinating, but we're still not done with the payoff of the living water theme, and we only have one page of the Bible left.

7:43 There's only one chapter to go. I sure hope it pays off over here. Revelation 22, verse 1. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.

8:12 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night, they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

8:36 Flowing throughout these three scenes that we quickly looked at in Revelation is payoffs for all the imagery of the living water that we've seen set up throughout the Bible. Life for the dead, salvation, parched creation is healed, God the Holy Spirit flowing over the whole world, living water flowing from the throne of God as the nations flow to the throne of God.

9:04 And what does it all add up to? Simply this no longer will there be any curse, evil, death, sin, everything that is broken is defeated. That is what is tied up, part and parcel in this living water imagery that Jesus is hitting so hard at Jacob's well in John chapter four. And that little remark, once again, from Jesus, is meant to send us running in both directions, scouring the word of God from the past and even looking forward into the future to see what he means and what he is invoking when he brings that up.

9:45 If you see these patterns with me, you're not overthinking it. It's meant to be there. If you go and watch Quantum of Solace, you're going to be disappointed. There are nice moments, but it just doesn't remember to pay anything off. If you go and read the Bible carefully from beginning to end and throw effort at it to understand it, you will see it pays off.

10:04 If you live life in Christ, you get to be part of the payoff. I mean, isn't that what the all this stuff we're doing is actually about here? Yeah, it's fun academically to look at all of this. I love the stories, I love the history. I'm into it. Like discovery is fun. And every day it seems like we get to do discovery together, experience the joy of discovery.

10:25 But as it comes down to your life, it comes down to mine. And all of this amazing stuff that we're finding here, it isn't just something we look at from a distance. We're invited to participate in it. We're invited to be a part of the story, invited to be a part of the payoff. I think that's just unspeakably amazing.

10:43 All right, that's good for now. My Matt, this is the 10-minute Bible hour podcast. Let's do this again soon.