Summary
We come to the end of space and time at the end of Revelation 11.
“God has taken His great power and begun to reign.”
This is what all the pain and suffering is about.
Lighting flashes, thunder sounds, and “the Ark is seen within His temple.”
The Ark is like . . . free will.
“The Army that carries the Ark is invincible,” says Marcus in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
But what Army can carry the Ark?
A free will is a will that wills what it will without being determined by any other will.
Of course the Nazis and every person alive wants free will.
And yet, we’re terrified of free will.
Some say we don’t have free will; we’re predestined.
It means that we didn’t save ourselves, but also implies that we’re robots.
Some say we aren’t predestined; we have free will.
It means that we’re capable of love, but also implies that we must save ourselves.
People don’t save themselves, and yet, without Love, we’re not really people.
Perhaps we’re not people . . . quite yet.
If you truly had free will, you would be unrestrained by any law.
You would never deliberate between choices.
You would constantly do what you want and always want what you do, absolutely.
You would be the Undetermined Determiner, the Uncaused Cause, that is, the Uncreated Creator.
Free Will is the very definition of Heaven, yet when we take it as our own, it becomes the very definition of Hell.
The term “free will,” as such, can’t be found in the Bible.
The Bible uses another term for an undetermined will that, in turn, determines all things: Yahweh.
The Ark is the revelation of God’s will.
The Ark was a coffin, which contained the law and was covered by a “mercy seat” situated between two cherubim, just as the Tree of Life stood between the cherubim in the Garden on Mt. Zion.
The Ark is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The Ark is the Judgment of God and throne of God.
When John looks to the throne and sees a Lamb standing as if it had been slain, he’s looking at the top of the Ark.
Jesus Christ is the revelation of the Free Will that is God.
Jesus is Free Will.
So do you have free will? If so, how did you get it?
Did you take it, conquer it, and nail it to a tree?
If so, you must be terribly proud, lonely, dead, and not in the least bit free.
Did you take it as a possession or did you receive it as a gift?
If so, you must be terribly grateful and, for you, all things have become new.
On a tree, we all took the Life of Free Will and everything died, that’s evil.
On the same tree, God for-gave His Life—It is His Free Will.
On the seventh, and eternal day, “everything is Good.”
The seventh trumpet sounds and “the Ark is seen within His Temple.”
You are His Temple. You are predestined . . . for Free Will.
Love is Free Will. God is Love and His Will is Jesus.
Love is making you in His Own Image with His Judgment, which is His Will, which is His Word, which is Jesus Christ our Lord.
He will not fail. He is Free to make you free. That’s the Gospel.
*Sermon discussion questions are available here: Discussion Questions “Free Will? (The Ark is in the Temple”