Friday, December 30, 2016

Year 6, Day 364: Revelation 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here


I really enjoy reading the last two chapters of the book of revelation.  In Revelation 21, we get to see a picture of what eternal life will look like.  Mind you, it is a very incomplete picture.  It is also a very symbolic picture.  Truthfully, it is probably the most accurate that human language could paint.  But it is a picture nonetheless.  For a pretty thorough look at the symbols presented in this chapter, click the theological commentary link above.

What I love about this chapter is God’s proclamation as it all begins.  “Behold, I am making all things new.”  I love this confession because of the truth that it contains.  God does create a new heaven and a new earth.  He does create a new Jerusalem in which His people will dwell.  God created the world into existence, now He does something new.

There is a still deeper reason for loving this quote.  The whole plan of salvation is about making all things new.  The reason that Jesus died on the cross is because we could not save ourselves.  We need something to atone for our sin so that we can experience life eternal and avoid the second death.  This statement of God is a statement that doesn’t just apply to God’s work after judgment, it is a statement that truthfully applies to everything that happens in human history post-Eden.

That’s what I really love about the words that follow God’s statement.  “It is finished.”  These are the words Christ uttered on the cross.  These are words that are repeated here to remind us that this is the fulfillment of a plan that God has spent quite a long time fulfilling.  This quote speaks not just to God’s power but also to God’s patience.

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