Anticipating God Dwelling with Us (Revelation 21)

Evening Scripture 

Revelation, Chapter 21 

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

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.”

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Evening Reflection

From the beginning, God intended to make His home with humans. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After the fall, though, His presence had to be modified since a holy God cannot live with sinful man. In the tabernacle and temple, He dwelt, living with His people and being their God. And when Jesus came to save the world from the curse of sin and death, He tabernacled among His creation as “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; John 1:14). His death and resurrection brought healing to the brokenness in humanity, bridging the chasm between man and God.

In the future, Jesus will return and every promise will be fulfilled. The Lord God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – will again dwell with humankind. Finally, we will be at home with the One for whom we were made. As the prophet Ezekiel wrote, the eternal city will be known as “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).

Too often, though, we assume that when we go to the Lord at death, we will abandon the earth forever. Maybe that’s why so many of us struggle to think of eternity or to picture what it will be like to walk beside our Savior – we forget the great promises of Scripture. Our Lord came to us, God adding humanity to Himself to redeem humanity so that we could live forever with Him. The original plan was not scrapped; rather, it was made better, more complete. Eden restored and made new.

The wonder of what it will mean to finally be at home with our Lord is difficult to fully comprehend. However, we can start anticipating its reality even now as we go about our days. What will it be like to eat a meal with God? To take a walk under trees with Him? To laugh and talk while making art or growing a garden? For in the New Heaven and New Earth, we will do these things––and more.

Evening Prayer

Renew my vision, Lord, for eternity. Scripture contains passages that fill me with wonder, but in my everyday life, I struggle to focus on what the future holds. The troubles and ordinary tasks cloud my sight, setting my attention only on the here-and-now. So, I pray, God, that You would increase my anticipation for Your return. The Bible describes that as the hope of the believer, and I want it to be mine. May I meditate on the coming day when You will make Your home with us in the new creation, wiping away every tear and banishing death forever.

In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

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