“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’” (Revelation 21:1-8 HCSB)
Can you imagine a life without words? We think, reason, argue, and communicate, and it all happens with words. These little things we call letters that make up our alphabet are actually quite powerful. Each week, I take time to write down my thoughts, reasoning, hopes, beliefs, and arguments, and I communicate them to you through these words. In essence, the little letters on this page are the sounds of our communication being put into physical form for collecting and transmitting thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, and, yes, even sorrow and pain to others. Even before men had letters or an alphabet to record their words, they used images to depict these same things. I’m not very artistic, so I’ll spare you the pain of deciphering my thoughts in that manner and stick to this method.
As we near the end of our study in this magnificent and almost overwhelming book of John’s heavenly visions, I want to take you back to the beginning, again. It is impossible to understand Revelation without considering the words and images of Genesis, as well as Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John’s epistles. We have now reached the last two chapters of Revelation, and I’d like you to consider the contrast between these last two chapters and the first two chapters of Genesis. The Bible begins with God speaking the world into existence and declaring it to be good, and even very good. Man was in God’s perfect world and enjoyed perfect union and fellowship with God. Then everything fell apart…
When man believed the lie of the serpent, rebelled against God’s will, and questioned the truth of His Word, man’s perfect world came crashing down around him. Everything recorded in Scripture after Genesis chapter two and before Revelation chapter twenty-one is the history of that rebellion and its consequences. That includes the present reality of our own lives. The first two chapters of the Bible had no serpent, no evil, nothing but good. The last two chapters of the Bible have no serpent, no evil, nothing but good.
We live in the midst of a broken world, and we deal with the consequences of the world’s sin and our own each day. What we are seeing in these last two chapters of Revelation is God restoring our world to its original, intended state. This ISN’T a fix; it is a new creation. This is God fulfilling His promise and bringing His Word to completion.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 HCSB)
Our own salvation in Christ is the “first fruits” of God’s promise for a new creation. I’ve often thought that Paul’s reference to God finishing what He started in us (see Phil. 1:6) was really just a reference to our own salvation: God will bring each of us to the full completion of His salvation in our lives. While my understanding of this concept is certainly true, the reality and fulfillment of it are much deeper and much broader than my original limited view. What God is finishing in us is not just the perfection of our souls and the complete eradication of sin in our individual lives; it is the complete and utter eradication of sin in all of creation. Imagine this: the salvation of your soul and the new life God has regenerated within you is really the seed of this promise—“I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed.”
“Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19 HCSB)
“You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22–24 HCSB)
But not only is the old gone, the new has now come: “I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride for her husband.” We’ve been dealing with these contrasting images throughout our study, but you really need to pay attention to this one. I told you many weeks back that the comparison of the scarlet harlot with the Bride of Christ was very, very stark.
Let me see if I can make this image a bit more real in your mind. Have you ever walked down a city street and worried about your own safety? Have you ever been overwhelmed by the stench of the garbage or shocked by the depravity of the images and advertisements on display? Have you ever felt sick over the scenes of broken people and their broken lives being lived out all around you? I have, and I’m sure you’re familiar with these things, too.
The scene John relates to us in his vision is the exact opposite of what I’ve just described. The city John sees descending from God is like a bride prepared and adorned for her husband. There is no personal fear in this scene, no ugliness, no depravity, no filth or stench, and no broken lives or broken people. All of the things we’ve come to expect and really despise about life in a city are gone. She’s now a beautiful bride, decked out in her finest and ready for her husband.
Listen to how this scene plays out: “Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.”
All of the things that have separated God and man are now removed from the equation, and He will now dwell with them. The word for “dwelling” in verse three is the word tabernacle. This is the same word we see throughout the Exodus story for the tent or place of meeting where God came and dwelt among His people. It is where God’s glory was seen by His people and where Moses and Aaron communed with God. It is also where the blood had to be sprinkled on the mercy seat because none of them were worthy of standing before God without the blood of the lamb. Now the work of the Lamb is complete, and we stand before God as new creatures—clean, pure, and holy because of what the Lamb has done for us.
This scene is the core message of this entire Revelation: God’s dwelling is now with man, and He will live with—or among—them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with—or among—them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer because the previous things have passed away.
How could you not long to live in a place like that? How could that dream not be the hope of your life and the longing of your heart? How could you want anything less for yourself, your spouse, your family, your friends, or your world?
Over the years, I’ve heard people say, “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.” The truth is, every believer should be very heavenly minded. If we are truly heavenly minded, we will see the value of what God has promised. We will see the desperate need our world has for the fulfillment of His promises and the power of His presence in our midst. If we are truly “heavenly minded,” then we will be of enormous “earthly good” because our focus on heaven will result in lives that are transformed by the Gospel and seek the same things God seeks and promises.
“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.” – C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity
Next, John tells us that the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life.” John is told “write it down” because when God declares it, it is done. Period! The declaration that His words are “faithful and true” is a simple but dramatic affirmation of God’s intention. They are words the churches of Asia Minor needed to hear and they are words we need to hear. When God makes a promise, He keeps it!
But this is also because He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I think in some ways, we miss the impact of that statement because we are thinking too small. While alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, they are also so much more than that. Remember my comments at the start about communication? All of our thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams and intentions are expressed through words. God has expressed His will, intent, ideas, hopes and truth in the same way – through words. His Words. Divine Words. Perhaps it is best to use His Words to help you understand – He is the beginning, the source, or the origin of everything and He is the end, the fulfillment, or the completion of everything. Everything that is, ever has been, or ever could be has its beginning and ending in Him, His Faithful and True Word – the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
“For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17 HCSB)
Finally, we have a comparison of the victor, the one who drinks from the spring of life and inherits these things because God is his Father and he is God’s son, and everyone else. Let me state clearly, the use of the male pronoun and reference to son is NOT exclusive of female believers. It is simply in keeping with the use of mankind or humanity in verse three to reference all men and women. But pay attention to the contrast between the victor, God’s son who is given the gift of water from the spring of life, and everyone else: “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
What the serpent and man’s sin has destroyed, God’s Word and His Son have renewed. While sin resulted in death, pain, grief, tears and suffering for mankind and all of creation, God’s redemption has renewed and restored to its original and intended state. The Father wipes away each and every tear, heals and restores every broken and hurting body, and banishes death and grief from His kingdom.
But those who are cowards, who succumb to the cultural threats and deny Christ, do not receive life giving water but a lake that burns with fire and sulfur. Those who refuse to believe and trust God’s Word, who are vile, who murder, who pursue sexual immorality, witchcraft and sorcery, idol worship and who lie and call God a liar all share the same fate — the second death.
When God’s people stood at the crossroads of going back to Egypt or entering the Promised Land, Moses confronted them with a choice. They could choose life or death, faith or unbelief. They could choose to believe God and trust His Word and move forward into the place and the life He had promised them, or they could turn around, deny His Word, choose unbelief and lose God, His presence and their lives in the process. You and I face the same choice. Each day we face the choice of believing God, following Him and discovering that He is faithful and keeps His promises or denying Him, choosing our own way and discovering that we’ve not only lost God but also life.
Each day, you must choose to hear and believe these words: “Look! I am making everything new. Write it down! These words are faithful and true: It is DONE! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life.”
“Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David. Seek the LORD while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive.” (Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-7 HCSB)
Write it down, these words are faithful and true.
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