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.” – Revelation 21:3-4
Have you ever heard somebody say something like this, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future”? That sounds good, but it is not completely true, because if what we read in Revelation 21 is true, we do know what the future holds.
Around 95 A.D. on an island called “Patmos,” the One who holds the future revealed what the future holds. The resurrected Jesus pulls back the curtains of eternity and reveals to a disciple named John our brand new, never-to-be-destroyed, beautiful-beyond-words home called “heaven.”
So over the next couple of days, we’re going to look further into what Jesus revealed to John so that we might better understand what is to come for those of us who are following Jesus.
The first thing we need to know is that we are going to live in God’s perfect place. I believe the Bible is the only truly perfect book that has ever been written, and if you would expect a perfect ending to a perfect book, then we have it, because the first two chapters of the Bible talk about the creation of heaven and earth. Now, the last two chapters talk about the re-creation and the restoration of a new heaven and a new Earth. This is where we will spend eternity with Jesus. And I believe it will absolutely blow any idea or expectation we have about heaven out of the water.
I have been privileged to travel to so many places around the world and I have seen absolutely some of the most beautiful places to be found. At times, I’ve had the thought run through my mind, “It just can’t get any more beautiful than this.” Well, I don’t know whether Jesus would use this grammar or not but if what we are reading is true, I believe Jesus would say to us, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” We don’t know what it is like to live in an absolutely perfect place, but one day those of us who know Jesus are going to find out.
I pray you’ll come back tomorrow as we continue to learn what is in store for us in the new heaven.
Dear Lord, thank you for the hope of heaven. Thank you that when we put our faith in you on this earth, we can be sure that we are going to spend eternity with you in a perfect place. Help us to use this truth as motivation to share the gospel with others so that they might join us as well. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Topics: Heaven
