In this last section of the Revelation to John
we have moved past the realities
of our present existence, past the sin
which causes such a devastation on earth, past Satan and his unholy
trinity who are the root cause of all the unhappiness in the world . We are now
into the realm of God’s
new creation. Last week we considered
the first four verses of Chapter 21, in which we saw:
(i)
The vision of the new heavens and the new earth
(v.1)
(ii)
The New Jerusalem – the bride of Christ – the
church ( v.2)
(iii)
An assurance
of God ‘s eternal and comforting presence with his people (vv. 3&4)
Much of this section (i.e. vv.
3-4) and the section which we shall now consider is characterized by direct speech from the
living God Himself. In vv. 5-8 we find Him making the following statements:(i)
He will make all things new (v.5a)
(ii)
He commands John
to write these trustworthy and true words down (v.5b)
(iii)
He explains who
shall and who shall not inherit these new things (vv. 6b-8)
1.
ALL THINGS NEW ! “And he who was seated on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.” (V.5a)
Our passage begins
with an announcement from the throne :
"Behold, I am making all things
new." (v.5), and then in v. 6 this is presented as an
accomplished fact : "It is done"! This
obviously refers to what
John saw in the first two verses of Chapter 21 when
he saw the revelation of the new
heaven and the new earth, and when he saw the new Jerusalem , the
bride of Christ , the church meeting her
bridegroom.
God assures John here
that there shall be a new earth and a new heaven. God’s people (symbolically known as
the new Jerusalem- the bride of Christ)
shall have new bodies and the life of God's people in that new dispensation will be a new life altogether. It is
very difficult to comprehend this or to express all
this in earthly language. We see this even in the way in which John
struggles to express himself. His
visions of the things to come are
couched in symbolic language. This new creation
is indescribable and
uncontainable in human language. But this one thing we do know! We are made for greater things . We are made for God. We are
made for worship. We are made for righteousness and not for evil , and so we
long for that world where all this will
be true!
2.
WRITE THIS DOWN ! “Also he said, “Write this down, for these
words are trustworthy and true.”[1]
A new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem… really ? John
and ourselves need to be
reminded that this vision from Jesus is
no fairy tale… “John , remind these people that these words are trustworthy and
true”! God knows that these things may sound outlandish to us . He knows that the realities of
heaven are so far removed from
our present reality as we live in a
fallen world , which many of us, unfortunately, have come to love more than the promises of God concerning this new heaven , this new earth. “John , write this down!” We have
to be reminded that there is an ultimate reality so vastly grander and infinitely better than that which we currently experience.
Who
says so, and on what authority? Credentials and
credibility are important, because the secret question in many a heart is this: How do
I know that this is true and not simply
a fairy tale? As if God
anticipates this question, He says to John:
“Write this down! These words are
trustworthy and true!
Consider Him
who says these things:
(i)
He who is
seated on the throne (v.5) [2]. Nothing
is higher or more trustworthy than this throne.
(ii)
He is the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end." [3]
(v.6) He is it! The Alpha is connected with the Omega
- the one must inevitably lead to the
other, and whatever lies between the Alpha and the Omega exists because of Him. He is the One who controls all things in such a way that
His design is fulfilled and that His goal is reached. And the end goal is reached
by the "revelation of Jesus
Christ" (Rev. 1:1). He is the true and faithful Word of God (John
Ch. 1). It is He that came of supernatural birth in the flesh. It is He that
confirmed over and over again , in word and deed that He was the Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world . ( Jn 1:29) . When
He died on the cross of Calvary, He cried,
“It is finished “ ! That is
the work of salvation by which every
true believer is made secure, and
heaven is waiting for them. Notice then now
that God also says here to John : “It is done !” (v.6a)
What is done?
Well, the end for which Jesus came was to usher in the kingdom
of God. He died , and that work was
finished. But the end had not yet come ,
because God in His mercy still had many
sheep to be born, and when the last of
His sheep is gathered in to the fold , the end has come ! That time
is now announced here. “It is done!”. This is the end of the world as we know it . This is the
beginning of the new heavens and the new earth. This is the beginning of
the new people of God in a new world
free from evil and full of love!
And now as we speak, the whole world is divided into two kinds of
people : those who accept this truthful testimony of this
God and those who reject His
words.
To these the Sovereign Lord now has these following words to say :
3.
THE GREAT DIVISION !
(vv. 6b-8)
a.
“To the thirsty I will give from the spring
(fountain) of the water of life without
payment. This is a
promise to all that
are ‘thirsty’ after this God (the
fountain of the water of life) now!
Jesus said in His beatitudes : “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness , for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt. 5:6) Those who
thirst for righteousness now in this world, shall be completely fulfilled
when all things are made new. Just as
water is an essential substance to sustain physical life, so the soul
needs this living water to be
sustained. As we have said, this spring
of living water comes from the Tri-une God Himself. God the Father comes
to us through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who in Himself is also that
fountain, as He said in Jn. 7:37, “If
anyone thirsts , let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said[4],
‘out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ “ This Lord Jesus, the Son of God Who took on the form of a man and
Who dwelt among us as a man [5], Who
showed us who God the Father is ,
and Who spoke the gospel by which
countless people have been set free from
their sin and guilt; this Jesus who
died for our sins on the cross, this Jesus
who was raised the third day for our justification; this Jesus
who ascended to heaven and Who
was exalted there, also gave us the promise of the Holy Spirit.[6]
And so, the Holy Spirit was poured out
at Pentecost. He is the Spirit of
life, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of wisdom and
knowledge and revelation, the Spirit of holiness and of sanctification. He not only constituted the true church of
God on the day of Pentecost, but to this day
He is with, and in every true believer. He too then is the source, the fountain, the spring from which this living water flows constantly out of God, through Christ,
into the church. [7]
In short : The
Triune God is our fountain
of life and blessing now, in the
midst of this difficult pilgrimage from the city of
destruction to the heavenly city, where the love of God will flow to us as an unhindered stream into our
lives. Here in our heavenly city we shall be deeply satisfied in the presence
of our Tri-une God.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will
be his God and he will be my son.(v.7) Not only will we be deeply
satisfied from the spring of living
water, but we also
learn that God's people shall inherit all things. The fact that
they inherit points to the fact that
they are considered to be family members
of the eternal God. The phrase, “I will be his God and he will be my
son...” further
strengthens this conviction.
"All things"!
Again, this is hard to image.
Here on earth God's children are anything but heirs of the world. In the history of Christianity, more often than not ,
Christians have been deprived of things in this world. Yet, in the
new world they shall inherit all things!
b. But as for the
cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake
that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” (v.8) Here
is the great division . There is a category of people described here who
shall not inherit all these things,
in the new heavens and the new earth. But they do inherit something too terrible to mention: the lake
of fire.
Please note how these people are described :
·
cowardly( Gr. deilia - timid or fearful) very likely refers to nominal Christians in the church, who loved
this world too much and who never
clearly stood with Christ. When pressure
and trials come they become
cowardly and unfaithful to Christ and His church.
·
faithless (Gr. apistoi) are unbelievers who openly reject God and the
gospel.
·
detestable (Gr. bdeluktos-
abominable, associated with idolatry )
·
murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, liars…
These will
not inherit the kingdom of God ( cf.
Paul to the Galatians 5:21) , but
that does not mean that they are therefore neutral or ignored by God . NO! The
wrath of God will come upon them and they will end up in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which
is the second death. The first death is the physical death that everyone must die in this life. The second death is associated with that terrible lake of fire ,
and it is not annihilation that is spoken of here, but the everlasting experience of the wrath of
God without end. These words are faithful and true! God says :
“There is no peace for the wicked” (Isa. 48:22)
The Bible is very clear on this division among mankind. For this
reason the gospel has been given. Day and night through every generation before
and since Christ had come to offer God’s terms of
peace, gospel messengers
have pleaded with people
to leave this Sodom and Gomorrah, this Babylon , and to flee into the
ark of God’s refuge which is in Christ
the Lord. These words are trustworthy
and true. Which side you are on ?
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the
rebellion.” ( Hebr 3:7,15; 4:7). Listen to the voice of your Great
Shepherd who has come to lead you away from this city, destined for
destruction to the heavenly city . Amen!
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