June 3, 2025 • 10 mins
In today’s Spiritual Foundation Episode, I talk about Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21. I share how we are called to co-create the new kingdom of God. I also share how all are invited though all will not enter.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thanks for joining me on episode 1546 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. Hi,
I'm Rob Ecknow and I challenge you to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
Having the ability to find where God acts in your life
(00:22):
is key.
And one way to be inspired to do that is is
to listen to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend
Scott Bader.
But to keep turning our eyes back to the city of
(00:43):
God and opening our eyes to the fact that we are
invited in.
But we have to actively go in and invite others with
us. That is the beginning of the creation of the new
Kingdom of God.
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
(01:04):
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast you will learn to invest in
yourself, invest in others,
and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
(01:33):
In today's spiritual foundation episode I talk about Revelation 22,
12, 14,
16, 17 and 20 and 21.
I share how we are called to co create the new
kingdom of God.
And I also share how all are invited,
though all will not enter.
(01:53):
Revelation 22 says,
See, I am coming soon.
My reward is with me to repay according to everyone's work.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.
Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they will
have the right to the tree of life and may enter
the city by the gates.
It is I,
(02:14):
Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for
the churches.
I am the root and the descendant of David,
the bright morning star.
The Spirit and the Bride say,
come. And let everyone who hears say,
come. And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a
gift. The one who testifies to these things says,
(02:37):
surely I am coming soon.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus,
the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all of the
saints. Amen.
We often are faced at times with things going on in
the environment,
things going on in politics,
headlines and bad news about events coming all over the earth.
(03:03):
And throughout this series around Easter,
I've been talking about how this suffering is often across all
sorts of demographics,
all sorts of races,
and it's truly something that can touch all people,
not necessarily equally.
And sometimes the event damage is somewhere where the cause was
(03:26):
not. But there is definitely evidence that the environment is changing,
climate change is real,
there's more violent storms,
crops failing and water changing.
And all of this,
this suffering is something that we're called on as children of
(03:47):
creation, as children of God.
We're here to care for the environment and be stewards of
it. That we have a part in taking care of God's
creation. And part of that care is bringing about a new
creation, co creating with God,
(04:08):
the kingdom of God,
equality and connection.
The moments in revelation are all speaking metaphorically,
but they're speaking about that sort of new creation that we're
called to create.
It might be short lived,
it might be torn down,
(04:29):
but we're still called to build it anyway.
I hear people talk all the time about how it's hard
to speak out against something because it just gets undone,
but you're still called to speak.
Jesus says in Revelation 22:12,
See, I am coming soon.
And that is something we're meant to take seriously at all
(04:51):
times, by the way,
today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Because we're called to always be working and building a place
for the new creation to appear.
We're meant to act in unison with,
in unity,
not uniformity,
not all the same,
but working together to help make the kingdom of God real
(05:17):
on earth.
We're called to collaborate and co create with God.
And any of these things could be part of creating the
new creation.
In the passage 14 of this Revelation text,
it states that the gates of the city are wide open.
There's a verse 15 that I skipped over that talks about
(05:40):
the immoral,
the dogs,
those that are tellers of falsehood are outside of the city.
What's interesting is it never says that they're not allowed inside.
Instead it says they choose to not come in.
You could debate what would happen to those who are outside
(06:01):
of the city,
but those who are outside church choose to not come in.
And that includes those who practice falsehoods,
those that lie.
Lying is just as much of a sin that separates us
from the kingdom of God as anything else denying reality.
(06:22):
And yet we all see that happening each and every day.
There are people that don't just debate about something,
don't just argue about the cause,
but actually actively deny the truth.
And this is something that separates us from God.
(06:44):
Jesus wants to bring each and every one of us into
the city of God,
but he doesn't want to invite just us.
Instead he wants us to come in and then turn back
and reach out and lift up and invite others in.
The invitation is not limited to that group or this group,
or those who do this or those who do that,
(07:06):
and instead anyone who thirsts can come in.
It's not that telling a lie keeps you out because you're
punished by it.
It's the act of lying,
of denying the reality,
keeps you blind from the unity of the Kingdom of God.
It makes you not even see it as a possibility,
(07:30):
because everyone together is what builds the City of God up.
If we neglect and exclude anyone by our choice,
not theirs,
that's the wrongness.
They can choose not to enter,
but if we choose to keep them out,
that's wrong.
Whether it's the truth of climate change,
(07:53):
those people come in,
whether it's those who feel that sexual immorality is rampant,
whether it's those who are on this political side or that
political side who put politics and belonging to a group above
their connection to God,
all of these things are putting things here on earth in
(08:17):
a place of dominion over our life.
And that is the ultimate sin that keeps us from seeing
the Kingdom of God.
That is the sin of pride.
It is the sin of arrogance.
And we all suffer from it.
We all do it from time to time.
We all think we are right and others are wrong.
(08:39):
But to keep turning our eyes back to the City of
God and opening our eyes to the fact that we are
invited in,
but we have to actively go in and invite others with
us, that is the beginning of the creation of the new
Kingdom of God.
(09:00):
Thanks for listening.
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
(09:22):
live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
do me a favor,
go over to facebook.com
inspiredstewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it that you'd
like to get notifications from us so that we can connect
with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you
(09:45):
to the best of our abilities.
To with time and tips there.
Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
Thanks for joining me on episode 1546 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. Hi,
I'm Rob Ecknow and I challenge you to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
Having the ability to find where God acts in your life
(00:22):
is key.
And one way to be inspired to do that is is
to listen to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend
Scott Bader.
But to keep turning our eyes back to the city of
(00:43):
God and opening our eyes to the fact that we are
invited in.
But we have to actively go in and invite others with
us. That is the beginning of the creation of the new
Kingdom of God.
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
(01:04):
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast you will learn to invest in
yourself, invest in others,
and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
(01:33):
In today's spiritual foundation episode I talk about Revelation 22,
12, 14,
16, 17 and 20 and 21.
I share how we are called to co create the new
kingdom of God.
And I also share how all are invited,
though all will not enter.
(01:53):
Revelation 22 says,
See, I am coming soon.
My reward is with me to repay according to everyone's work.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.
Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they will
have the right to the tree of life and may enter
the city by the gates.
It is I,
(02:14):
Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for
the churches.
I am the root and the descendant of David,
the bright morning star.
The Spirit and the Bride say,
come. And let everyone who hears say,
come. And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a
gift. The one who testifies to these things says,
(02:37):
surely I am coming soon.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus,
the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all of the
saints. Amen.
We often are faced at times with things going on in
the environment,
things going on in politics,
headlines and bad news about events coming all over the earth.
(03:03):
And throughout this series around Easter,
I've been talking about how this suffering is often across all
sorts of demographics,
all sorts of races,
and it's truly something that can touch all people,
not necessarily equally.
And sometimes the event damage is somewhere where the cause was
(03:26):
not. But there is definitely evidence that the environment is changing,
climate change is real,
there's more violent storms,
crops failing and water changing.
And all of this,
this suffering is something that we're called on as children of
(03:47):
creation, as children of God.
We're here to care for the environment and be stewards of
it. That we have a part in taking care of God's
creation. And part of that care is bringing about a new
creation, co creating with God,
(04:08):
the kingdom of God,
equality and connection.
The moments in revelation are all speaking metaphorically,
but they're speaking about that sort of new creation that we're
called to create.
It might be short lived,
it might be torn down,
(04:29):
but we're still called to build it anyway.
I hear people talk all the time about how it's hard
to speak out against something because it just gets undone,
but you're still called to speak.
Jesus says in Revelation 22:12,
See, I am coming soon.
And that is something we're meant to take seriously at all
(04:51):
times, by the way,
today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Because we're called to always be working and building a place
for the new creation to appear.
We're meant to act in unison with,
in unity,
not uniformity,
not all the same,
but working together to help make the kingdom of God real
(05:17):
on earth.
We're called to collaborate and co create with God.
And any of these things could be part of creating the
new creation.
In the passage 14 of this Revelation text,
it states that the gates of the city are wide open.
There's a verse 15 that I skipped over that talks about
(05:40):
the immoral,
the dogs,
those that are tellers of falsehood are outside of the city.
What's interesting is it never says that they're not allowed inside.
Instead it says they choose to not come in.
You could debate what would happen to those who are outside
(06:01):
of the city,
but those who are outside church choose to not come in.
And that includes those who practice falsehoods,
those that lie.
Lying is just as much of a sin that separates us
from the kingdom of God as anything else denying reality.
(06:22):
And yet we all see that happening each and every day.
There are people that don't just debate about something,
don't just argue about the cause,
but actually actively deny the truth.
And this is something that separates us from God.
(06:44):
Jesus wants to bring each and every one of us into
the city of God,
but he doesn't want to invite just us.
Instead he wants us to come in and then turn back
and reach out and lift up and invite others in.
The invitation is not limited to that group or this group,
or those who do this or those who do that,
(07:06):
and instead anyone who thirsts can come in.
It's not that telling a lie keeps you out because you're
punished by it.
It's the act of lying,
of denying the reality,
keeps you blind from the unity of the Kingdom of God.
It makes you not even see it as a possibility,
(07:30):
because everyone together is what builds the City of God up.
If we neglect and exclude anyone by our choice,
not theirs,
that's the wrongness.
They can choose not to enter,
but if we choose to keep them out,
that's wrong.
Whether it's the truth of climate change,
(07:53):
those people come in,
whether it's those who feel that sexual immorality is rampant,
whether it's those who are on this political side or that
political side who put politics and belonging to a group above
their connection to God,
all of these things are putting things here on earth in
(08:17):
a place of dominion over our life.
And that is the ultimate sin that keeps us from seeing
the Kingdom of God.
That is the sin of pride.
It is the sin of arrogance.
And we all suffer from it.
We all do it from time to time.
We all think we are right and others are wrong.
(08:39):
But to keep turning our eyes back to the City of
God and opening our eyes to the fact that we are
invited in,
but we have to actively go in and invite others with
us, that is the beginning of the creation of the new
Kingdom of God.
(09:00):
Thanks for listening.
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
(09:22):
live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
do me a favor,
go over to facebook.com
inspiredstewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it that you'd
like to get notifications from us so that we can connect
with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you
(09:45):
to the best of our abilities.
To with time and tips there.
Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
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