A GOOD NEWS MUSIC EVENT
Why Revelation: A Good News Music Event
Revelation: A Good News Music Event is an event we held in 2024, where the good news of Jesus was boldly proclaimed. From the worship music’s beautiful melodies to the powerful preaching of His Word, the message of the gospel was shared as Jesus drew hearts to Himself.
A Divine Plan for Redemption
After Adam and Eve fell from grace and lost their harmonious relationship with God—and their place in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3)—God immediately revealed His plan of redemption. This plan was not only for Adam and Eve, but for the entire human race: a promise to restore humanity to right relationship with Himself and ultimately to a restored garden.
The First Gospel Promise
Genesis 3:15 contains the first proclamation of the Good News—the protoevangelium, the first gospel. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This verse reveals God’s redemptive plan in seed form. The crushing of the serpent’s head is God’s declaration of the decisive and final defeat of Satan—the enemy who used the serpent to deceive Adam and Eve, bringing sin and death into the world. Since that moment, humanity has existed in a fallen state, separated from God and hostile toward Him. The striking of the heel points forward to the suffering of Jesus Christ—His blood atonement. Through this atoning sacrifice, God deals with humanity’s sin once and for all. The word atonement itself speaks of being made “at one” again—reconciled to God and restored to loving fellowship with Him.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
The crushing of the serpent’s head is God’s declaration of the decisive and final defeat of Satan. The striking of the heel points forward to the suffering of Jesus Christ—His blood atonement. Through this sacrifice, God deals with humanity’s sin once and for all, reconciling us into loving fellowship with Him.
Jesus Christ: The Second Adam
- Jesus Christ, who existed in eternity past with the Father (John 1:1), the Son of God who is Himself God, willingly condescended—taking on flesh and entering the world.
- He came as the perfect representative for mankind to undo the work of Satan and bring about the promised victory.
- Referred to as the second Adam, Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. Where Adam disobeyed God at a tree and brought sin to many, Jesus obeyed the Father, laid down His life on a tree, and made many righteous.
- Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day—demonstrating God’s absolute dominion over sin and death.
- Through His perfect obedience and resurrection, those who were dead in their sins and living in the kingdom of darkness are transferred into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
- This is the Good News God desires the world to know. The apostle John beautifully summarizes it: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
- This is how God foils Satan’s plans that brought sin and death into the world—through simple belief in His Son, Jesus Christ, and the promise of eternal life found in Him.
Mel Lastman Square: A Living Picture
- Mel Lastman Square is a fitting and powerful venue to proclaim this Good News. The glistening water flowing from the fountain on the east side of the square—beginning near Yonge Street and traveling through the center toward the west—mirrors the biblical imagery of life, restoration, and renewal.
- Trees lining both sides of the water evoke the garden imagery that runs throughout Scripture. The apostle John recalls Jesus’ use of water imagery to teach that salvation cannot be found through human effort or relationships, but only through the living water He provides (the Woman at the Well, John 4).
- Likewise, salvation cannot be achieved by human means, but requires being born of the Spirit and water (Nicodemus, John 3). In the Book of Revelation, this water imagery is no longer metaphorical—it becomes reality for those redeemed through Christ.
- As stated in Revelation 22:1-2: “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 tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Inspired Poetry
A Church With No Walls
A Church With No Walls was written in 2006 following the first Step Up event at Atkinson Housing Co-op in Toronto. That event also helped inspire later initiatives such as the Revelation of Good News music events at Mel Lastman Square. Those early Step Up gatherings shaped the vision behind this piece, emphasizing faith lived out beyond the four walls of the church.
Since then, and through revisiting Scripture, it has become clear that believers are called and commanded to go and make disciples beyond the walls of church buildings. This is grounded in the words of Scripture: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
North York has already hosted several of these events, and Hamilton is now the focus of the next one, planned for July 4th at Gore Park. Together, these locations reflect a key truth: “all nations” are not only distant places but are present in our own communities and backyards. This reinforces the urgency of the call for the Church to live missionally where it already is.
This piece is therefore an encouragement to the Church in these regions and beyond: to step beyond the four walls of church buildings and faithfully live out the call to make disciples of all nations.
A Chruch with No Walls
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A church with no walls for all to see
has now become a place for us to dream,
to gaze beyond the walls of stained-glass windows
and experience something new,
or a dream may die
and be left to dwindle.
A church with no walls for us to see,
you see, is the place we were meant to be,
in the garden with the Divine,
to create and design.
Something happened one day
that took this God-given privilege away.
The journey we now take is back to this garden.
God made it now possible through His Son,
Jesus Christ.
Listen to the story of the prodigal.
And it’s now in this garden where He waits in eager expectation
for His sons and daughters to sing one song in harmony
that agrees.
This church with no walls
is meant for you
and it’s meant for me.