Revelation 21:3-5 - I heard a loud
shout from the throne saying, “Look, the home of God is now among men, and he
will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among
them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has
gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said,
“See, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down,
for what I tell you is trustworthy and true:
John’s vision is just about to end…but before God brings him
out of this anointed spiritual experience he allows him to see a glimpse of the
way he will extend heaven into earth after all evil is done away with
forever. Mere words have a hard time
describing the glorious picture of the place where God himself will live among
us …his glory so bright we will never need the light from the sun again.
This passage has long been one of my favorite promises of
God. Life may take twist and turns that we have a hard time digesting without
pain…sorrow and tears….but God will wipe the need for all of that away when he
sends down his new Jerusalem to earth and gathers his children into it to live with
him forever.
This city will contain a combination of God’s original
people of Israel…and all the gentiles that believed when the 12 apostles became
the first evangelists. Verses 12-14 say…
“Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There
were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west. The
walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The only people that won’t join us there are the ones John
calls cowards…the ones who refuse to believe and reject the chance to claim
their place as his child too. I can’t help but feel a deep longing for these
people…surely some of these can change their minds if we take the time to share
the way God transformed our lives when we became his child. If we don’t take
the time to do it…they will stay cowards and be cast into that lake of fire and sulfur.
It is a reminder to me that a part of being God’s child
requires me to be obedient to his call of evangelism. Many lost people will
never see this new city of peace if I don’t take the time to tell them. It
confirms why God tweaked my spirit to attend a basic mission’s class at my
church recently. The stats they shared were surprising. You would think in the
world of wonderful technology that we have …one would not have that 1.6 billion
people on our planet have no access to the gospel. In my hometown alone …out of the 93,500
residents…many do not attend a church or profess a faith of any kind.
Father...thank you for the reminder of how wonderful the
peace and glory of your new heaven on earth will be. Thank you for the reminder too…that many will
not share that home with me. Forgive me
for the times that I have been selfish and not taken every opportunity to share
the way you changed my life when I decided to believe in you…and accepted the
greatest gift I ever got in salvation. Help me to listen carefully to the prodding’s
of the spirit to know just who and when I need to share with. Give me just the right words I will need to
help them understand the finality of their choice to reject you. Amen.
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