Summary
At the end of Revelation 11, the Ark is seen within God’s temple.
That’s a big deal, for the Ark contained the law.
The law is a description of the Good.
Naturally, folks go to the temple (or church) to gain knowledge of the Good so they can make themselves good.
We think this is where good things come from—knowledge and hard work.
The problem is that if you took the law, you’d die by the law . . .
(Reference “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and last week’s sermon)
At the beginning of Revelation 12, John sees a great sign in Heaven: a woman clothed with the sun.
She is crying out in birth pains and in torment to deliver . . . a baby.
We are the woman and Jesus is the baby.
We are the Bride of Christ giving birth to the Body of Christ in space and time.
We are the Temple, and Jesus is the Good in human flesh.
Once we took the life of the Good on a tree and everything died.
And once God gave the life of the Good on a tree—once and for all time.
That life is Eternal Seed implanted in the womb of our souls.
We took His Life and He for-gave His Life and so, we will all live.
This is where Good things come from.
“Church” should look less like a school and more like a delivery room.
We cannot make the Good, but we are in torment to deliver the Good.
“God alone is Good,” said Jesus.
We can’t make the Good, however, we can make evil.
We can do the “work of the flesh.”
Each of us constructs an “old man.”
And with the Righteousness of Christ, God constructs a “New Man.”
The old man is like a womb and the New Man is like the baby who was once wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in a manger.
When a woman gives birth to a baby, she knows that she didn’t make the baby.
God used her to make the baby and, in the process, made her a mother.
No one enjoys a baby like a mother.
We give birth to the fruit of the Spirit, but we don’t make that fruit.
God uses us to produce the fruit and, in the process, makes us Good.
You will be forever grateful that God has made you Good.
But now, the old man is in torment to deliver the New.
The devil is in the delivery room and battles against you with a river of lies.
He wants you to believe that the torment is endless and has no purpose.
He tells you, “Something’s wrong. Seize control. You better quit.”
The Bridegroom says, “Everything’s right. You’re having our baby.
Don’t quit, but do surrender. Surrender to Love and you will give birth to Love. I am Love.”
Good things don’t come from “taking knowledge and working really hard.”
Good things come from “being known, and then, going into labor.”
*Sermon Discussion Questions are available here: Discussion Questions “Where Good Things Come From”