Revelation 21:1-5 New King James Version
All Things Made New
21 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, [a]John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said [b]to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
When have we ever not struggled with feeling out of place?
Like the skin you are in doesn’t quite feel like home?
Maybe exhausted from the endless struggles of being a person in a body?
We all long to be in the Presence of the Lord, to spend our eternity worshiping God with the angels. I so fervently pray that we feel this way from time to time, prayerfully, much more frequently, much more significantly than we do now.
But are we recognizing, with a much greater frequency, there are the moments where Heaven just breaks through and we feel a sense of other worldly peace.
Where our souls feel rest, beauty and goodness shine through.
It’s unexpected moments of testifying, witnessing things, as they are meant to be, and even more exciting than that, believing it’s the way they one day will be.
Revelation 21:3 declares, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’”
God’s ultimate plan for us, his people and his creation, is to dwell with us. His permanent, forever dwelling place is with us. What a crazy thought to ponder while we are stuck here in the middle, advocating for Heaven to touch us but not yet free from the powers of evil that cause grief, strife, struggle, for humanity.
From the exact start of creation, He saw the ending. This is why He could say what He had done – what He had created – was good. He knew this creation would be one that would go through some things, that would wander and stray, go their own separate ways, but at the very end of his story would be a reunion.
All creation groans for his plan of redemption and grace to come to completion. (Romans 8:22)
He made a way to make right the many wrongs that humanity has committed.
By our Baptism, we are each a part of a story which is ultimately leading us to the unification of the holy Creator and his beloved Creation.
How Do We Live in This Place of Waiting?
Right now, all things (including our hearts) are waiting to be made new again!
As we long for God to come down from Heaven and dwell with us again, it can be challenging to see the beauty of his plan. We are his children and we struggle with doubt, a lack of faith. It’s a hardcore fight for us to take him at his Word.
Which is why we must each discipline ourselves, immerse ourselves, saturate ourselves, in his Word so we know it, we believe it, and we grow to rely on it.
While we’re waiting, it’s all our covenant responsibility to get to know him.
Joshua 1:7-9 New King James Version
7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may [a]prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[b] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
John 17:3 tells us, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Our Eternity starts now and how we see it in the land of the living is through a dynamic, growing relationship with Christ.
This relationship is defined by his love and mercy that chases after us for all of our days (Psalm 23:6).
We don’t know God through a salvation hack, we know him when we give him our hearts and he miraculously changes us so we can experience His freedom.
Knowing God comes when we take time to be in his house and in his presence.
His house is the church and his presence is always available to us, but is best accessed through prayer and praise.
Have you ever felt unsettled and then just stilled yourself in prayer?
How quickly does quiet time with the Lord change our hearts!
What about a moment you felt discouraged and then you gathered with other believers in the church? God so often graciously uses the words of other Christ followers to encourage, inspire us. He does not leave us alone in the waiting.
As we know him, we grow in his love, and then we can share it.
2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.”
His love compels us to action.
To share. To serve. To change our thought patterns. To both consider and create goodness and beauty. His love is a transformative power for all who know him.
Knowing Our Future Gives Us Peace in the Present
As you consider the future and the anxiety that sometimes lives out there in the great unknown, remember that God has a plan. He is sovereign over all and his ultimate goal is reunification with us, his beloved creation.
God doesn’t share many things with us, but he has graciously clued us into the most important aspects of his forever plan.
While we face trials and hardships of many diverse kinds, the end of the story is always, ultimately a good one. One day we will dwell with our God! All will know him, see him, and be submitted under his rule. What a future to look forward to!
When you know where you are headed, it gives you strength to overcome trials of many kinds as you journey forward.
This is why at the start of a marriage you begin with vows that point directly to remaining faithful through sickness and health, prosperity and poverty until death do we part. When we share a life together, there are so many holes on the road. But the goal remains faithful devotion until one of you leaves this earth.
God’s promise to us that we will one day dwell in His house with him is like those marriage vows.
It’s a promise that we can cling to when life around us makes no sense. When our needs feel greater than his goodness. When loss tears at the fabric of our hearts. While we still have to walk through the hard, we are overcomers through Christ! We have a promised good future ahead of us that inspires hope for our lost and dying world. Don’t lose sight of the hope that is yours through Christ.
God Is a Relational King
God’s main aim isn’t just to put right all the wrongs for the sake of justice.
If that was true, then humanity would not have lasted long because it would have made more sense to scrap us than to patiently allow us time to find him.
Ultimately, God’s main goal is to be with us.
That’s why he tells us about a forever Heavenly home with him that gets our imaginations excited. He wants us to know that what he cares about most is the chance to one day walk his streets of gold hand-in-hand. Until then, he wants us to live in our homes, to be the guide of our hearts, and to show us his ways.
The God over all Creation loves you and his ultimate dwelling place is with you.
You are not a means to an end, you are the end. You are the gift that he has moved all Heaven and Earth to get to know. Thank you Jesus for that truth.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 100 New King James Version
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
100 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 