Revelation 21:1-6
Last week we spoke about how Jesus knows us by name, and if we listen for his voice and follow him, he will lead us into rich and protected pasture because he is a Good Shepherd.
Today’s passage from Revelation 21:1-6 shows the purpose for his shepherding of us – so we can live with God forever. It also shows the extraordinarily deep devotion God has for his children, his people.
This reading is often heard at funerals because it offers such comfort to the grieving. It also provides great comfort for us, the living. Grab hold of these beautiful promises and don’t let go of them ever.
The apostle John, who wrote the Book of Revelation, was living in exile on the Greek island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. It was here God gave John a vision of the glory of Jesus Christ.
This vision included a glimpse into heaven, where one day God himself will live forever with his people. John was commanded to write down what he saw.
The vision was to be not only for his personal comfort and encouragement, but for all people down through the centuries who, when facing daily challenges, could do so with courage and hope.
One day Jesus will return and bring real and lasting peace, but before that peace can come there will be suffering and trials. Life and death are in God’s hands. He will defeat and ruin every power that opposes what is good and true.
This is why we pray, ‘Come Lord Jesus.’
So this is our context for this morning’s reading, and what a scene it is as it describes the state of the church after Jesus’ return. It is a time when all conflicts have ceased, and Christ’s enemies have been destroyed.
A new heaven and a new earth have been created! All tears have been wiped away! There will be no more death, sorrow or pain! The fearful and mocking and unbelieving can’t be found anywhere – they are outside the new Jerusalem.
God has promised that all things will be new. As part of being new, the world and the church will be God’s beloved bride. At that moment, (if it were possible which it isn’t), I think God’s heart will be bursting with joy as he is united eternally to the one he loves – us.
He will regard his church as the most beautiful thing on the face of the new earth.
Revelation is also a very practical book for the here and now, and perhaps the main message of the book is dying to the old life and living into the newness of God.
Christians are not called to escape into this new world but rather to be channels of God in ways that will allow the power of God to be experienced in this world. That’s the reason why God came down into the world to live with His people.
Now for ancient readers, the sea symbolised all that was fearful. It was thought to be the home of the dead and is associated with the abyss, the place where the beast from. It represents the formless chaos that existed before creation – from before anything was new.
So when John says in v.1 that there will be no more sea, he is saying that there will be nothing to harm or cause God’s people fear; no chaos, death or evil. Everything will be created new.
The New Jerusalem will be the eternal ruling place of Christ, all of its inhabitants are also Christ’s bride, the redeemed. The New Jerusalem is both the bride and the place where she lives.
The phrase, “a loud voice from heaven” indicates that important words follow. This announcement is about God but not spoken by Him. The tabernacle of God – i.e., his dwelling place, his immediate presence - will now be on the new earth.
All the many references to God emphasize his all-consuming presence and his intent to dwell with his creation. The promise God made to Abraham - that all nations will be blessed in him - is now fulfilled.
The disappearance of death, sorrow, crying and pain represents a total reversal of the curses of Genesis 3, (after Adam and Eve’s disobedience) when they entered human history.
All the evil present in the old creation will have been removed with the destruction of the old heaven and the old earth. The tears that God will wipe away are tears caused by the pain, death, persecution, and other hardships that we suffered on this present earth.
The Alpha and Omega is an expression indicating God’s absolute sovereignty over all things. As the beginning and the end, God is the Beginner of the beginning and the Ender of the end.
He stands at the beginning of creation and now at the end in a new creation. God’s New Jerusalem is a place where life, and every single thing required to live it, are given as a free gift.
The best part of heaven is the loving presence of God Himself. Heaven will never grow old because God promises to make all things new.
God will account for every one of our tears. The reason for our suffering will be made plain as God reveals the unseen and unimagined purposes behind our hurts through the years. As he dries our tears in heaven, we will see his intimate affection toward us personally.
God has accomplished it all. He does everything. He ushers in the new heavens and earth, not us. We, his faithful people simply receive with thanks the salvation God has provided for us.
And God will also make us new. It is truly a new and fresh start. He will make us new people, and God will have new opportunities in store for us.
We won’t be bored because God will have work for us to do and because we won’t be the same people in heaven. Boredom emerges from things that will no longer exist – world-weariness, mental limitations, self-centeredness and a limited imagination.
So as we look forward to the day when God removes all evil, we worship God here on earth and tell him how much we love Him. When we meet other people and they see our joy, we should tell them about the future we have - a future they can also have.
We are challenged to be part of wiping every tear and minimizing needless pain. We are challenged to seek a world where pain and death are no more. This world isn’t yet upon us, but we begin to act as if it is coming.
We are encouraged to make our lives holy “on earth as in heaven.”
Death, sorrow, pain and thirst continue because they are part of the old things that have not yet passed away. In spite of this, God is with us now, which is why Jesus came and died and rose again.
We can find God’s newness in our churches and faith communities, homes and families and businesses, in our recreational and sporting clubs, and in parks everywhere.
We might be surprised where and in whom we find God dwelling.
Let us pray and give thanks to God for all his goodness to us.