Have you ever skipped to the last page of a book because you couldn’t wait to know the ending? I definitely have. Sometimes the suspense is too much and I can’t go on reading until I know if the characters survive the trouble they’re in; if the ones who love each other get to be together; if the evil that is working against them is finally destroyed.
In the book of Revelation, God comforts us with strong assurances about the end of the story of our world as we know it:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:1-4).
What do you find comforting about this ending?
What do you imagine a beautiful city prepared by God might look like?
How do you feel when you hear God saying that he wants to and has always intended to live with his people?
What are some of the things that cause crying and pain in our world?
How does it feel to know that those things will not last but that we will live free of them one day?
Pray: Thank you, God, for comforting us and assuring us through your word that in the end, together as your people, we get to be with you. We worship you now for the ways you are moving everything toward Jesus and we look forward to worshiping him in the world made new when his work of restoration is full and complete.
We heard the good news preached from Revelation 21 that we are a new heavens and new earth people. Our becoming this kind of people is accomplished as the death and resurrection of Jesus come to define us more and more.
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (Revelation 21:5-6).
Jesus has told us that he is the spring of the water of life. Sin has left us thirsty. Jesus invites thirsty people to come to him again and again. We are invited to take life from him without payment because he gave his life for us on the cross.
What are some things that you are longing for in your life?
How can you begin to see Jesus as the fulfillment of those longings?
What are some habits of sin that you would like to ask Jesus to pull out by the roots?
How has Jesus’ cross and resurrection given you the power to say “no” to the opportunity to sin?
Pray: Lord Jesus, we confess that our head often does not match up with our hearts. We are slow to repent, believe, and obey. The good that we should do, we often do not do. We struggle to love God and love our neighbor. Thank you, Jesus, for paying for our every failing on the cross. Help us to return to you again and again until your death and resurrection define everything about our lives.
It’s been an amazing year to think about the four-part story of the Scriptures together. It seems like it was a different world last January when we opened Genesis chapter 1 and began to trace Creation, Rebellion, Redemption and Restoration through the whole of God’s Word. What a comfort it’s been to discover that God’s story not only endures as the world changes, but that it continues to make sense of our observations and experiences. It continues to be livable even in uncertain circumstances. Finish this time of reflection by listening to God speaking at the very beginning and the very end of the story. Take courage as you reflect how God has lovingly created, pursued and redeemed a people for himself from the beginning to the end:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them (Genesis 1:26-28).
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (Revelation 21:5-6).