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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Revelation 21:5-8
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
It was a scene that was hard to put into words but we find John doing a really good job as chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation starts.
First, a new Heaven and earth emerged because the past version of both, referred to as part of the “former things”, had passed away along with anyone who chose to reject Jesus and align instead with Satan, the “cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral”, and “those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars”. All of these were “consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (aka Hell) which is called “the second death”.
Then, descending from the new Heaven was a glorious, magnificent city, the new Jerusalem, which would be the holy city where God would dwell with His people forever. And His people will be everyone who chose to believe in Jesus while the first Heaven and earth were in existence, those whose names were found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Finally, as if this wasn’t wonderful enough, we read where God Himself would “wipe every tear” from the eyes of His people, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. There would be no need for sorrow in this new place because death, mourning, crying, or pain would be no more, also included in the “former things”.
Friends, this is our eternal destiny, the future time where we will live alongside God and Jesus forever, free from sin and evil and worry and suffering and heartbreak. Our best life is yet to come, for sure, and as we continue to look at chapter 21 and into chapter 22, we’re going to get even more definition as to what our forever home will be like. But before then, let’s hear words from our Lord from today’s passage, verses five through eight:
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Indeed, the God who first made all things, to include the Heaven and earth that had just passed away, now makes it clear that it was He who has made “everything new”. Further, He wanted His words preserved and so He commands that they be written down for they were “trustworthy and true”.
As for this new creation, God further makes it clear that He and He alone was there from the beginning to the end, serving as “the Alpha and Omega”. For all His people, those who thirsted for Him and had gained the blessing to live with Him and Jesus forever, we find God promising “water without cost from the spring of the water of life”. Only the “victorious” would “inherit this”, those who were the “children” of God.
As Christians, we have more reasons to thank God than we can ever sit down and list. The assurance of everlasting life with Him through Jesus should always be at the top of our gratitude expressions for although this life is far from perfect, we know the world we live in is not our true home, just a temporary stop on the way to glory.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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