And the one sitting on the
throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write
this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is
finished! I am the Alpha and the
Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all
who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious
will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my
children. “But cowards, unbelievers, the
corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol
worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Then
one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last
plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife
of the Lamb.” So he took me in the Spirit to
a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God. It
shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as
clear as crystal. The
city wall was 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—east, north, south, and west. The wall of the city had
twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. Revelation 21:5-14
One of the chief benefits of the view from the balcony
is that you get a wider perspective on the landscape below. Many artists throughout the centuries have
attempted to present a picture of Heaven.
It’s easy to get lost in details, such as imagining a cube of a city,
1400 miles square, and 1400 miles high, or gates of pearl and the various
precious metals of the walls and streets.
You could muse on wonderments like that for years and still miss the
wider perspective.
That wider perspective is the stark divide between what
is present in the New Jerusalem, and what is missing. And this marks the most significant
difference between renovation and re-creation.
When humanity envisions “new” we are imagining creation, but are merely
rearranging what has already been created by God. When God makes everything “new” that which
was nothing comes into existence. Artists can hardly capture what the mind can’t
possibly imagine.
Our life on this planet consists of a struggle to be born,
followed by the sparks of trouble flying upward from the fire of everyday
cares. There are moments of joy,
spendor, and contentment, and then, our threescore and ten are over in the blink of an
eye. The NEW in God’s re-creation surpasses what we can fathom.
“No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9b
So, what do we do in the meantime, awaiting the
revelation of New Jerusalem’s glory? Do
we just imagine some ethereal, cloudy, impression of wonder? Do we forget it like some long, locked-away
treasure, or just go to sleep like a good child, awaiting the dawn of Christmas? I think there’s more for right now.
The apostle John was given this glimpse/tour of glory in
a vision, gates of pearl, precious stone walls, streets of transparent gold. It was a balcony view, with sights he did not
understand, and, therefore could not adequately describe. But, even with the wider perspective, I’m
certain the detail didn’t escape what John saw.
He saw a river and tree of life, and a Lamb’s Book…and, on one of the
foundation stones of the new city of Jerusalem, he saw the name inscribed:
JOHN
For You Today
John knew his name was written for eternity; and you can know it too!
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper on
today’s topic, explore some of these:
When It's God's Move and The Cry Heard in Ramah
Images: Title
image Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal
property of the author, or in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
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