All Things New - Revelation 21 | Daily Devotion
Read Revelation 21
Sin entered the picture when our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden—Genesis 3. But because of God’s grace, His love cleaned up the mess sin made of the world; our bad choices, our sin, is not only covered by Jesus’ blood, it’s washed and cleansed as if it never happened (though it did)—Isaiah 1:18, John 19-20, Revelation 21:1. God loves us so much! He knows our weaknesses, He knows we are made out of dust, and yet He makes beautiful things out of His people – Psalm 103:14.
Truly, only God can restore the years the locust have eaten—Joel 2:25. Only God can make all things new—2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:1, 5! Only God can destroy the universe and create a new one, as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:10-14 NLT, “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.”
In life, everything is pretty much out of your control except for your soul; as everything can be destroyed except for a soul. Souls are eternal, however, we have the power to choose the destination of our soul. It is by seeking to live at peace with God by repenting of sin, obeying Him, and seeking to live holy, pure lives that reflect Jesus Christ’s perfect character – that we safeguard our soul and protect it from Satan’s schemes.
It's not a perfect life, it’s a repentant life.
As we read in Revelation 21 we see that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, free from sin, and God will live among His people—Revelation 21:1-3. His glory will illuminate the city so much so that the city won’t have any need for a sun or a moon—Revelation 21:23. Can you picture that? Everlasting light!
God will wipe away every tear from eyes, personally, and there will be no more death, sorrow, or pain.
For God to reveal this – He shows us His understanding of our sorrows, tears and pain. He doesn’t brush off the tears that we shed, He collects them in a bottle. He weeps over the sins that cause so much pain. His everlasting love cares about every detail of our lives and thus gives us this promise and this hope – there will be no more tears in heaven, because there will be no sin—Revelation 21:4!
Another sweet promise. You won’t experience any type of pain in heaven. Praise God! For we live in a world filled with people hurting due to rampant sin. A world where people are wondering when their suffering will end. A world wondering who they can trust. We live in a world needing to know there is hope, so we need to share, “hope has a name and it’s Jesus Christ.” His name is the hope for all the world – Matthew 12:21. Jesus’ name gives us this confident expectation of no more sorrow and tears, for His name is trusted and sure, powerful over Satan and his demons. For it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.
The apostle John tells us, “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 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 worshippers, and all liars – their fate is the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Again Jesus Christ tells the apostle John to write. I love this because it is a real picture of how Jesus, today, burdens our heart with a direction in regard to what He is asking of us. Jesus says, “Do this.” He is not confusing, He is inspiring. He calls us to what will perfect us and our faith in Him. He alone gives us the wisdom and strength.
Today, what is Jesus Christ calling you to do?
Jesus then says, “It is finished. I am the Alpha and the Omega – the Beginning and the End.”
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha and the Omega are representative of the first and last letter in the Greek alphabet – the Greek alphabet, not the Hebrew, which is awesome as we know Jesus grafted in the Gentiles into the family of God. The very fact the Greek language is used throughout Scripture informs us of God’s heart. Jesus is wisdom incarnate as 1 Corinthians 1:30 states, and the alphabet makes up the knowledge we are made aware of – the title Alpha and the Omega is fitting in its entirety, for He is all powerful over knowledge, He is all powerful over language, as He is wisdom. He is all powerful over life, He is all powerful over nations for He is Creator and everything was created through Him.
When we see the vast differences in nations, we see Jesus Christ.
When we have questions regarding life, any detail in life, we are to go to Jesus Christ for He holds the answer. In doing so, we grow in our personal relationship with Him as He personally shares His mysteries with us. He opens our eyes to what we otherwise would not see.
The apostle John then informs us Jesus said, “To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.”
Jesus is the water of life; He is the endless well that will never run dry and all who are thirsty can come to Him for only through Him will they experience satisfaction.
Jesus tells John that all who are victorious, who remain faithful to Him, will inherit the blessings promised, including the New Jerusalem. The key is to remain faithful, for everything about Satan’s agenda is to cause Christians to become faithless, walking away from the One who remains faithful to them.
Faithfulness is a purposed heart and mind, understanding the cross of Christ and His grace and forgiveness, and turning to Him repentant over sin, refusing to justify compromise.
Satan’s schemes are very subtle. He seeks to persuade the strong, as well as the weak away from Jesus Christ. He targets the mind. For it is in our mind that we reason. It is in our mind that we make decisions. Satan wants us to be impulsive when that first thought enters our mind, however, we need to reason that thought identifying the deliverer – is it Jesus Christ burdening our hearts, or Satan tempting? Satan wants our minds experiencing distress and immobility because he doesn’t want us moving forward in our life, as we are a powerful front against him. Satan’s schemes include spirit persuasion. He wants power over your desires, he wants power over your heart and mind because then he can capture your soul – by way of you making the decision to leave Jesus Christ.
There is a reason why we are exhorted in Acts 3:19 to “repent of our sins and turn toward the Lord so that our sins may be wiped clean;” and the reason is found in Acts 3:20, for “then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.” When we repent of our sins, we experience Jesus Christ’s grace and forgiveness and His life-giving water that satisfies. We then remain right with God, satisfied. There is also a reason why we are exhorted to think thoughts that are true, honorable, praiseworthy, pure and lovely – these thoughts protect our mind from the thoughts Satan wants to plant. We more readily reject Satan’s persuasion when we are delighting in Jesus Christ.
Living out God’s word really does protect us from Satan’s subtle schemes that desire to turn us away from Christ.
Jesus goes on to tell the apostle John, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers, and all liars – their fate is the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
These are the people who repeatedly defy the commands of Jesus Christ, showing they are not a child of God.
Cowards refuse the strength of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and readily say yes to Satan; unbelievers blaspheme the Holy Spirit; the corrupt hold demonic ideology that is witnessed in speech and behavior that destroys God’s creation; murderers want power over life God has given as a gift; the immoral defy the morality of our holy, righteous, God; those who practice witchcraft want spiritual power, minus submission to God – they refuse the convicting calls of the Holy Spirit; idol worshippers look to Satan, convinced of his power, while refusing to identify the evidence of his coming destruction; and all liars defy Jesus Christ who is Truth – they refuse to walk in truth, obeying Jesus Christ. Jesus says the fate of these people who live in habitual sin is hell, the lake of fire.
Jesus emphasizes this as the second death, as the first death was their physical death. This second death is eternal separation from God found in their soul and spirit being placed in hell.
One of the seven angels who held the seven bowl judgments, called out to John, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” – Revelation 21:9.
John was then taken in the Spirit to a great high mountain and was shown the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
What the apostle John experienced was more than a vision. Throughout Scripture, we read of God giving visions to His people, right where they were in their everyday life. However, a few times in Scripture it’s mentioned about being in the Spirit or taken in the Spirit, namely the apostle Paul, who tried to describe his experience of being “caught up to the third heaven” and he heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in human words – he said it was an experience worthy of boasting. He received a revelation. Then we have the apostle John, who spoke readily about the Holy Spirit, say in Revelation 1:10, he was worshipping in the Spirit, which is more than envisioning as it holds living the truth in worship – John was one with God, and he received the revelation of Jesus Christ, Himself. Then here in Revelation 21, John is taken in the Spirit, thus a supernatural experience that brought him to a mountaintop, where he received a revelation of the bride, the New Jerusalem – which is telling of how involved the Holy Spirit is in revelations of truth.
John then shares how the city shone with the glory of God – the Trinity’s majestic presence and he proceeds to describe what is before him.
He tells us he didn’t see a Temple, he didn’t see an entity in the city designated for the Lord, as the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are physically present and are the temple.
John says the gates of the city will never be closed at the end of the day for there is no night, and all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city – the distinction of humanity on earth remains in the redeemed in heaven, we are one body in Christ – unified – but distinct in nature. And here we see God’s creation of His people, whom He created as He pleased, for His people bring Him great joy – Revelation 4:11.
The apostle John closes this chapter by stating nothing evil is allowed into the city, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty – only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Only those who choose Jesus Christ.
Friend, God has given us His Son to passionately proclaim to this hurting world, His love. The love of our Savior secures us, and our Protector promises to take care of evil in the perfect way; eternal death, separated from Him—Revelation 21:8. Today, enjoy the abundant life, knowing there is coming a day when you will experience the joyous pleasure of heaven. Your faith will become sight!
Will you pray with me?
Abba, thank You for this hope, for the day of no more tears, sorrow, or pain. We ask You to encourage the downhearted, to deliver the abused from the corrupt, to draw the wandering Christian back to Yourself and to reach the lost with the saving message of the gospel. In Jesus’ name, Amen.