1. The Consummation: Comfort in the Promise of Communion with God
Vern Sheridan Poythress
Westminster Theological Seminary

2. Progression of 7 Cycles Commission 1 1. 7 seals: Prosecution of war
2. 7 trumpets:
3. 7 symbolic accounts:
4. 7 bowls:
Elimination of evil
5. 7 messages about Babylon:
6. white horse:
7. white throne: 1
scouts 2 3 4
effects on earth 5 6
characters 7
more effects on earth
power source
all evil
culmination

3. A. The Importance of the Consummation

4. Nonconsummation Goals*
fixed by
Present action
Goal
Save money
Spend money
Promote revolution
Political activism
Passive meditation
Children’s security
Personal pleasure
Communist society
Democratic peace
Nirvana
2. To understand non-Christian systems, ask what they say about the beginning and the end. Why? What you do now is in fact radically influenced by where you think you came from and your future goal.
a. For some the goal is saving money for the prosperity of their children. Or because they fear a financial collapse in a new depression (a negative goal, protection).
b. For some, the goal is spending money, in order to attain personal fulfillment and comfort.
c. For Marxism, the goal is the comfort of classless society. The present is sacrificed for the future, including the individuality of the party member.
d. For American intelligentsia, the corporate goal is democratic justice, peace, and prosperity. The individual goal is personal fulfillment. It promotes self-righteousness about one’s intellectual positions and selfishness about one’s personal life.
e. For Buddhism, the goal is absence of desire. It promotes passive meditation now.
Hurdler from MS Office clipart gallery.
Finish

5. Consummation Goals IN CHRIST * Present action Christocentric Goal 1 2
Obey (3:3) Rule (22:1)
Eternal life  Life (1:18; 22:2)
Purity (3:4)  Purity (19:11; 21:27)
In Christ (3:20)  1 Cor. 15:45; Phil. 3:21; Eph. 1:10 3
IN CHRIST 4 5
To understand Christianity, note the centrality of Christ is the future and therefore also in the present, 1 Cor 15:45; Phil 3:21; Eph 1:10.
Seek eternal life, as in Rev. 2:10 (To him who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.)

6. B. Absolute Judgment at the Consummation
Rev. 20:11-15

7. Revelation 20:11-12
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

8. Revelation 20:13-15
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

9. Benefits of Consummation (20:11-15)3 _ + 4 5 1 6
Strength under persecution
Evil will lose
God rectifies
Leads to 21:1-8 2 7
1. The first half is overwhelmingly negative. Often Christians regard it fearfully. Some in the past have meditated seriously on the picture, but often with morbid concerns about whether they themselves will be saved.
2. One of its purposes is to warn about hell. But not so that we would be morbid; rather so that we would reject that alternative life as absurd and utterly foolish. It strengthens the mettle of those under persecution.
3. Evil will not finally be victorious.
4. Note: the focus is not on the fearsome suffering of the damned, but on the righteousness, meticulousness, thoroughness, and exhaustive intensity of judgment.
a. Americans struggle with pictures of judgment.
b. We resent authority as arrogant.
c. But we also long for justice. ‘‘It is not fair’’ we say when someone cheats us or injures us or our friends.
5. It is the first half of a double vision, the second half of which is in 21:1-8.
Fire from MS Office clipart gallery.
GodlyFear
Reject folly

10. Righteousness in the Consummation
Past
Present
Future 1
Public display of right
Permanent purity
Guar-antee 2
Rectify inequities 3
7. Assurance:
a. God will rectify the inequities of this time (backward looking). 
b. He will vindicate his righteousness definitively and publicly (present looking). 
c. He will assure the permanent purity of the new order (forward looking). 
Now let’s look at each one of these more closely.
Fireworks and sealed scroll from MS Office clipart gallery.

11. Rectification in Consummation** **
In history: Nebuchadnezzar, communism, humanism
Final Judgment of history:
judgment of all previous time;
deals with every wrong;
most intense judgment.
The seriousness of judgment is displayed in the cross.
8. No one anywhere ‘‘gets away with’’ anything.
a. Wrongs and suffering are perfectly righted. Every event of the past is searched, high and low.
[(1) Example: Nazism determined its own destruction when it murdered Jews and handicapped.]
(2) Example: Communism determined its own destruction when it persecuted Christians.
(3) Example: humanism determined its own destruction when it championed the destruction of unborn babies.
(4) If these judgments can happen even in the midst of history, how will it be at the climax of history? The imprecatory psalms are the prayers of the Son to the Father.
(5) See the weight of the Father’s anger at sin in the fact that he put his own son to death to destroy sin. He is absolutely committed to destroying it.

12. Display of God in Consummation*
Display of truth, 20:12
Display of God’s presence, 20:11
Display of persons, 20:13
No caviling, “every mouth silenced,” Rom. 3:19
b. The righteousness of all God’s works becomes clear to all.
Fireworks and pointing man from MS Office clipart gallery.
I see.

13. Purity of the Consummation*
Fire, Mal. 4:1; Rev. 20:15
Crushing, Isa. 63:3; Rev. 14:20
Purity, Rev. 21:27
With certainty, Rev. 10:6-7; 21:5
c. God cleans exhaustively. All the bad is burned out. The rock is scraped clean (Ezek 26:4).
(1) See the wisdom of the Father in the crucifixion of Christ. This full divine wisdom and power is brought to bear to chase down evil in every form, trapping every gnat at the end of microscopically fine pincers.
Sealed scroll from MS Office clipart gallery.

14. C. God’s Triumph in the Consummation
Rev. 21:1-22:5

15. Triumph in the Consummation*
Extent: whole of heaven and earth, 21:1
Full intensity, 21:23; 22:4-5
Perfectly planned, 21:15-17
Gloriously beautiful, 21:18-21; 22:1-5
C. Absolute triumph.
1. New heavens and earth. Thorough in extent. By implication, thorough in intensity (21:4).
2. The measurement of the city shows the thoroughness of planning and the guarantee that it will not crumble or fail from any outside attack (compare Rev 11:1-2).
3. It is gloriously beautiful
Jewel is from MS Office clipart gallery.

16. Inheritance in Consummation
God
(Rev. 22:4)
all things
in him
We inherit this! 1 2
Me too!
D. Absolute presence.
1. You inherit God, and through God all things, 1 Cor 3:21-23.
2. For example, are there animals in the new world?
Rabbit from MS Office clipart gallery.

17. Materiality in the Consummation*
Christ
Christ has flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). we
He is a pattern for us (1 Cor. 15:45-49; Phil. 3:21).
new earth
And for creation (Rom. 8:17-25).
1. Its material aspect
a. General statement: there are new heavens and new earth. The new order has its material-physical aspect.
b. Christ has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). He can eat a piece of broiled fish. Moreover, the tomb was empty. The old body was not simply left or discarded into the trash can.
c. Christ is the exemplar for the renewal of our bodies (1 Cor 15:45-49; Phil 3:21). More broadly, he is the first fruits for the renewal of the whole creation (Rom 8:17-25).
d. Christianity has been affected by Platonism, which despises the body and the material. We need to distinguish between sin (which is basically spiritual) and the physical.
e. Hence, we are not simply transformed into ghostlike beings floating on clouds. There may be an effect of Platonism here. Platonism asks people to focus hopes on the immortality of the soul. In a Christianized version, this means ‘‘When I die and go to heaven.’’ Paul does talk about going to be with Christ. But the focal hope is for the Second Coming and the resurrection of the dead. Note 1 Thess 4:13-18.
The new is physical.

18. First Things in Consummation1 ?
Renewed
New Eden
Discarded
2. Its continuity with the first heaven and first earth.
a. The language of ‘‘new’’ implies for many being completely new, with virtually no relation to the old. But:
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Tree is from MS Office clipart gallery. Trashcan from Corel Megagallery, Home, Miscellaneous, Trshcn2.

19. Renewal in the Consummation*
“New heavens” from Isa. 65:17-25
Christ’s resurrection body
You are saved, not a substitute
2 Pet. 3:10 connotes radical purification
New Jerusalem is Philadelphia, renewed!
With God, you lose nothing good.
b. The language derives from Isa 65:17-25, which pictures the new as being a renewal and enhancing of the old.
c. The case of Christ’s resurrection body shows that there is continuity.
d. You are saved, not some substitute or alternate. If the new is wholly and exclusively new, with no relation to the old, you would not be there.
e. The radical picture of 2 Peter about destruction by fire implies the thoroughness of rooting out of impurities. But you cannot deduce a pure absence of the old.
f. The new Jerusalem is Philadelphia, with its earthly qualities intensified, but with sin banished, death and suffering eliminated, and filled with the presence of God.
g. Nothing good is lost. Because all the good derived from God as the fountain of all.

20. Meaning in the Consummation*
God loves his people (John 15:15).
people
He is Incalculable (1 Cor. 2:9; 13:12).
3. Its poetic aspect
a. The continuity between the old and the new that we are promises a continuity in significance for ordinary people. Our loves, our personalities, and our memories are central. The operations of so-called physical law are not. Sun and moon are significant in their poetic qualities, not because they run by nuclear energy.
b. The poetic qualities also make the new incalculable. Eye has not seen or ear heard.
It is a picture book, not a puzzle book.
Calculator is from MS Office clipart gallery.

21. Christ in the Consummation1
Already
Yet to Come 2 3
Down payment  Full inheritance
Resurrection life  Resurrection
Heavenly citizen  New Jerusalem
God’s presence  God’s presence
IN CHRIST 4 5
Its Christocentric aspect: already and not-yet.

22. Trust Looking for Consummation
Past
Future 1
God triumphed
in the cross
and resurrection
God will
triumph
Believe God because he acted in Christ.
First Coming
Second Coming

23. Trust in God through Christ1
Demonstrated in Christ
Justice: He establishes right 2 3
Power: He is able to 4 5
Faithfulness: It is certain
Believe God.
Believe in the justice of God as revealed in the crucifixion and the resurrection. And then believe more and more that this justice will triumph exhaustively.
Believe in the faithfulness of God, because he fulfilled his promises in Christ’s resurrection.
Believe in the power of God as revealed in Christ. And then believe that it will certainly happen.
Believe in the goodness of God as revealed in Christ, and then see that you have all that you need.
Lion, scroll, and jewel are from MS Office clipart gallery.
Goodness: Everything you need

24. Song from Rev. 19:6-7
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. (2X)
Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory unto him.
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
The song comes when God has triumphed and the marriage supper of the Lamb begins.

25. Song from Rev. 4:11
Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, O Lord.
Thou art worthy to receive glory, glory, and honor, and power.
For Thou hast created-- hast all things created, For Thou hast created all things.
And for Thy pleasure they are created; Thou art worthy, O Lord.
The beings around God’s throne praise him for his majesty in creation.

26. Song from Rev. 5:9-14
Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, O Lamb.
Thou art worthy To receive glory And power at the Father’s right hand.
For Thou hast redeemed us, Hast ransomed and cleansed us, By thy blood setting us free;
In white robes arrayed us, Kings and priests made us, And we are reigning in Thee.
We praise the Lamb for redemption.