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Category: Study Subjects

August 5, 2022
Revelation, Study Subjects, Uncategorized

A New Home Study Scripture: Revelation 21: 1 – 9 Background Scripture: Revelation 21: 1 – 27 Hebrews 12:22-29 Lesson 10 August 5, 2022 Key Verse He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. Revelation 21:4 INTRODUCTION The vast majority of humankind experiences a longing for ‘home’ whenever they are away, no matter how humble or even how dangerous ‘home’ might be. There is an innate sense of belonging that tugs at our hearts and gives us a yearning for home. At some point in the Christian-life believers begin to appreciate that they are in fact pilgrims and aliens on this earth. This is so because the congregation of God defines “home” as being with God. True believers are for the present away from “home” in the fullest sense, and eventually they begin to long to be with Jesus in their new home. This ‘home’ is specifically described for us in our Study, for it is a real place, with the real God. A large part of the concept of home revolves around the idea of relationships between those living in a common place and comprising a family. This more so for Christians, for the supreme blessing of our new ‘home’ is that God will dwell among His people and we will experience an intimate fellowship with Him, beyond anything previous. Heaven will be most of all, being in the presence of God. (Ezek 37:27; 48:35). With this thought care must be exercised for the message of Revelation in chapter 21 is not what people have always been taught would be the case. In Revelation 21 people do not go to heaven which is “up there” as most people have been taught but rather that God intends to come down to earth to dwell with the human beings that are in His family. The new Jerusalem will descend from heaven for God intends to make His home among His people. Note that we are entering into a very complex world where there is much academic and non-academic scholarship because many people have heard about Revelation and its discussion about the end times. There are very many fanciful interpretations of the end times and there are many who think that they know everything about it, producing all kinds of charts, strong and powerful lectures and so on. But these are generally very incorrect in parts. Human beings nowadays proudly seem to think that they have a handle on prophecy and they ignore the fact that the ancient Israelites who were deeply involved in studying the Scriptures made many mistakes in their interpretations. We are falling into the same trap that they did and we are making the same basic mistakes that they made for we have as human beings very limited understandings of the things of God. When God comes with the new Jerusalem there is no prediction about the end times, no rapture, no punishment, for God comes to the home of humanity to live with His people. It is critical that we understand that Revelation presents ideas that are very contrary to those in our contemporary world where people try to predict the end of the world. So we are talking about a worldview that is different from that in Scripture. We should recognize that Jerusalem has been the focus of Jewish identity, faith and hope, and all their dreams and aspirations will be fulfilled but the Apostle John tells us that Jerusalem will manifest the election of a New People and a New Covenant. It is now the case with the New Creation that God Himself will have His presence and His hand upon everything and therefore we know that this New Home will be a home like no other. Very importantly, in addition to all this, is that the New Creation is formed by God’s direct speech and after this New Creation begins God says, ”See I am making all things new”. The New Creation must totally replace the painful world and its deadly disease of anger, sickness, evil, revenge, exploitation, rape and abuse of the weak and vulnerable. Note however that we who claim to be believers are called on to make a choice. Believers are called on to be on the side of God and to be part of the new creation. Believers must make the choice to turn to God or if they wish to be destroyed to turn to the world. Turning to the world will lead unbelieving people and the fearful and cowardly unbelieving people who say they are Christians who focus on entertaining people rather than offering them new life in Christ to shape up or else. The worldviews presents two choices. The worldview sponsored by the world blinds people now living the same way that the people that are referred to as living in the system of Babylon found themselves blinded during the time of the Apostle John. Believers are therefore warned and at the same time encouraged. One writer states: “Revelation challenges all Christian not to settle into the contemporary global empire but to have a working understanding of a new heaven and new earth”. The choice is a serious one that has to be made by all professing believers. Life will reflect the truth inside you. Life must reflect the truth inside all believers. The nature of God is so glorious, that by definition, being with Him involves being in a place that is grand or palatial beyond our wildest dreams and our Study will look at such a place, the ‘New Jerusalem’. Hopefully we will begin to understand that it is all that we can imagine and more, according to John. Our discussion of Heaven is designed to make us understand that our destination is well worth the pain and suffering that we are now experiencing. We will see that the travails of living a transformed ‘born again’ life, is a small price to pay for the “guaranteed” glory that awaits us. The record of Scripture goes full circle, all the way from the perfection of the Garden of Eden, the sin of man that ruined it all, to the New Heaven and the New Earth, a state even more glorious than that of the Garden of Eden. This Study will hopefully make clear that Satan is a tempter, that everything he offers is a fraud and an illusion. Our conceptions of eternity fall far short of what the Bible tells us about our ‘home’. In our present bodies of sin we cannot fully understand, or appreciate, or even long for our real “home” the way we should. It is described in terms which seem almost inconceivable. Every single human writer of Scripture who has attempted to describe Heaven and our new Home, has been clearly frustrated. They were mere humans, they could not properly depict this new dimension of existence. So we are always told, this thing in heaven is like this, or has the appearance of that. None of them seem to have a firm handle on things. This should give added impetus to the diligence we must employ in our discussion about Heaven and our new Home, as its existence and character is vital to our faith. Our hope is based on being with Jesus in our new Home. This is the ground of our faith. This is not to deny that the fear of hell and eternal torment should be an incentive for us to turn to God, but as Hebrews 11: 13-16 tells us about the people of God who went before us, this type of fear was not what motivated them: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” In order that we might properly understand and appreciate our New Home, we should first look at that other ‘city’, the other ‘home’ that the Apostle has told us about. This other City is full of enticements. Under its beautiful covering is a bewildering morass of sin. It is called Babylon, the “mother of harlots” and it exists to cover the deadly nature of sin. Revelation 17:1-6 describes this for us, and shows us that Babylon represents undiluted evil, a concentration of wickedness and corruption. It enticed all men throughout the entire human history by: -sexual passion and pleasure -the love of and desire for power -the intoxication of alcohol, drugs and anything else which take men into an altered state of consciousness, allowing them to escape into fantasy and away from God – attractive clothing, gold, precious stones and things that inculcate in men and women an excessive concern to adorn themselves and draw attention to themselves -a horrible mixture and array of perversions and violence which men find attractive. Note that this City and ‘home of perversion and filthiness’ is beautiful and attractive in its own way. It looks beautiful, offers power, escape into fantasy and allows men to do outrageous things. Rather than beauty and opportunity, chapter 18 reveals the real condition of the ‘harlot’ and note her real destiny. The great prostitute is sitting on a scarlet colored anime, full of blasphemous names, having 7 heads and 10 horns (17: 3) symbolizing 7 kings and 10 kings who will war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of Kings. Note also that these 10 kings will overcome those that are with the Lord Jesus Christ, called and chosen and faithful (1714), But this woman who has on her forehead MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH will with her colleagues have an end. We are not ignorant of what will happen to them for John was told about Mystery Babylon and her colleagues: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is”. The ‘city’ or Babylon is indwelt by demons, every unclean spirit and all the forces of darkness, (Revelation 18:1-2). This harlot system says nothing about God’s justice, the inevitability of His judgments nor the eternal and bitter torment that awaits all who practice rebellion and wickedness. So we cannot stress too much that that ‘home’ or ‘city’ only offers valueless things, things that will be wiped out, rejected by God, discarded as useless and thrown away. The possessors of the things cherished in Babylon will lament. All that ‘city’ offers is a deception; it’s demonic and it is filthy. We start from the understanding that the future ‘home’ of the people of God is all that the harlot’s City of Babylon is not and more. Our Study contains the ultimate good news for all Christians; the tabernacle of God is with men…God will be with His people in a special way. This fellowship existed in a limited sense with Adam in the Garden of Eden, with the Israelites in the ‘Tabernacle in the wilderness’ and then in the Temple, hence the reference to the Tabernacle (13:6; 15:5). It also existed partially when Jesus “tabernacled” (“dwelt”) among people (John 1:14, 18; Col. 2:9). It exists today in a spiritual sense as God inhabits the bodies of Christians individually (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and the church corporately (Eph. 2:21-22). The final scenes of Revelation unveils the ‘eternal state’ which is the last of the ‘last seven’ things, (chapters 21-22) and it is a natural culmination to God’s plan for the universe and mankind, coming as it were after the ‘Great White Throne Judgment’. All accounts have been settled and the ‘curse’ pronounced in the Garden of Eden has been lifted. The scenes depicted in chapters 21 and 22 are the zenith of God’s great plan for His creation. They are a fitting end, a climax and a grand finale, as John saw the ‘New Heaven’, the ‘New Earth’ and the ‘New Jerusalem’; John saw our ‘new home’. John deals with the origin, architect and builder (vs. 1-2). When a declaration is made that God will be with His people and be their God (v3-4) the language is reminiscent of that used in His covenant with Abraham, with David, and in the ‘New Covenant”. This will be the ultimate fulfillment and consummation of those promises and as far back as Abraham, our New Home occupied the mind of God’s people. The notion of actually being with God in a concrete sense should be a constant in the thought of every believer. More so because it is the very presence of God among His people that guarantees their eternal happiness and bliss and the banishment of even a trace of sin. The Scriptures exhort us to such an end and the thought itself has a cathartic effect on the soul, (1 John 3:1-3) right now in the present. There will be no trace of sin or any of its ugly effects (vs. 4); no pain, sorrow or death. Believers along with the entire creation yearn for such a time and place. The renewed physical universe will be pristine in its purity, as the sovereign Lord of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega emphatically makes it happen for believers. All that believers could possibly desire will be satisfied in the freely given ‘water of life’. John is instructed to officially record what he saw and the scenes are to be considered accomplished, in light of the One making the declarations. Conversely recalcitrant and incorrigible sinners will be barred and have their place in the ‘lake of fire’ and this also at the edict of the sovereign Lord. All non-believers and those who rejected Jesus Christ go to their place in the ‘Lake of Fire’. Those whose names are in the ‘Book of Life’ inherit the ‘New Earth’ and the ‘New Jerusalem”. The book is closed on sin and rebellion against God and our Study opens a new and eternal chapter of glory and bliss for those that ‘overcome’. THE TEXT We must now note that chapters 21 and 22 contain almost all the Bible records concerning the Eternal State, the time when time will be no more in existence. The Old Testament prophecies picture a time of great blessing and refers to a Thousand Year reign of the Lord which comes before this last great event. Very little is said in the Old Testament about Heaven. But here we are told that following the Great White Throne Judgment which John records in chapter 20 an entire new creation comes into being. We are no brought full-circle to the beginning of the Bible again for in Genesis 1: 1 we were told:” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. But now we are told that a new heaven and a new earth are coming. Verse 1. The ‘new heaven and new earth’ is a term for the universe (Gen.1:1) as a whole and might refer to a radically transformed and made-over earth and heavens. Some believe that the present earth and heavens will not be annihilated. They argue that the word for ‘new’ means recently made, fresh, recent and that the emphasis is on the qualitative difference between the old and new. As with much in the Book of Revelation, there are some differences of opinions among scholars as to whether or not the present earth is completely destroyed or it will just experience a radical transformation. Some are quite passionate in arguing that the world will never be destroyed but will be “remade”. We should be aware that there are Scriptures such as Luke 21:33 where Jesus says that heaven and earth shall pass away but His words will live forever. 2 Peter 3:10-13 also seems quite emphatic when he says: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Psalm 102:25-28 states: “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” ….“The children of thy servants shall, and their seed shall be established before thee.” (See Isa.65:17). Either way the result is a dramatic change in quality from one level to a higher form. This habitation of the people of God, given their ‘glorified’ bodies, will be heavenly and perfectly suited as the heavenly City of God, the new Jerusalem. …the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; (Matt. 24:35). Paul employs similar language in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new (kainos) creature: old things are passed away (parerchomai); behold, all things are become new. Paul did not mean extinction or annihilation, but transformation. On the other hand, it is pointed out that the ancient Hebrew word in the Old Testament passages used for “create” means “to create out of nothing”, instead of refashioning existing material. In any case, the heavens and earth will be radically different and gloriously reborn. It’s worth remembering that the ‘New Heaven’ referred to doesn’t mean the heaven where God is enthroned. The Bible uses the word heaven in three senses. The first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere, the “blue sky.” The second heaven is outer space, the “night sky.” The third heaven is the place where God lives in glory. When the Scriptures speak of a ‘new heaven’, they mean a new “blue sky” and a new “night sky,” not a new heaven where God dwells. …and there was no more sea. This is a curious statement which some suggest should be understood symbolically. They cite the negative image of the sea in the book: the origin of evil (12:18; 13:1); (2) the nations that persecute the saints (12:18; 13:1; 17:1-6), (3) the place of the dead (20:13); (4) the location of the world’s idolatrous trade activity (18:10-19). It was also seen as a menacing barrier, a likely grave for those who braved it and a separator of people groups and nations. John would have been painfully aware of this view given his exile on the island of Patmos. In other places the sea represents the disorder, violence and unrest that mark the present creation (Ps 107:25-28; Isa. 57:20; Ezek 28:8). Here the sea is a metaphor for that which spawns and facilitates evil and is necessarily not part of the new order. Another view sees such a radical change in the elements, that there would be no need for water which presently occupy over seventy percent of the earth’s surface. It is also argued that the sea, which is highly saline and which covers more than half the planet, is God’s great antiseptic to cleanse the earth and make life possible. It is felt that the ocean purges, preserves and cleanses. But in the new heaven and new earth that will not be necessary for there will be no pollution. Verse 2. The ‘old’ is passed away and John sees the ‘new’. The first feature of the New Jerusalem is its character; it is called ‘the holy city’. It is set apart for the people of God and nothing that defiles can enter. This is in sharp contrast to the earthly Jerusalem which has existed from the book of Genesis through the ‘Tribulation’ period and which is called Sodom and Egypt (Rev.11:8) and offended God on all fronts. The city is not only new, but it is holy and clearly different from every earthly city. Despite the striking differences between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ there is still some correspondence, if only in name. This is the Jerusalem of hope (Hebrews 12:22), the Jerusalem above (Galatians 4:26) and the place of our real citizenship (Philippians 3:20). The concept of a holy city, the New Jerusalem, is very different from the ‘ultimate cities’ of other religions. This is certainly not the Hindu “Nirvana”, a rather ‘blank’, vague, mystical, other worldly kind of existence. This is a place of bustling activity, people going in and out, people interacting with each other constantly, an exciting life. It is definitely not as other religions teach. As one writer notes: “It is no ‘flight of the alone to the Alone’ but life in the redeemed community of Heaven.” This is a place for people to be together, and to be with their God. It is a city, not a limited community with few people, for cities are places to where many people come, live, and enjoy themselves. This is not isolation. The ‘New Jerusalem’ descends out of heaven from God and so it is essentially a heavenly city. This means that many of its features are not going to be like anything on earth. The stress is that it is from God and stands in contrast to Babylon whose architect is Satan. This is why Jesus made the following statement. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. The city is said to be ‘prepared’, the same word that Jesus uses, (John14:2). This is the city Jesus is preparing for His ‘friends’. The meticulous planning and care, the desire to please that is so typical of a bride preparing for her husband gives only an inkling of the love and care Jesus employs in creating our final home. Its splendour is beyond imagination, seeing it is the city of the Eternal King. John sees the city in a descent to the earth and there is much speculation about whether or not this is a literal city. The latter verses of this chapter seem to be the description of a real place and Christians are certainly looking for a real future home. The author of Hebrews speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem as the abode and hope of the saints (Heb. 12:22-24). The bride and husband imagery speaks to the idea of consummation and unbroken intimacy. The figure of the bride stresses the permanence of our eternal home, the same as marriage is designed to be permanent. As a bride is beautifully adorned and decked-out for her wedding, so this city is striking and beautiful. As a bride is to be chaste or pure, so too this is a holy and pure city. This is clearly a perfect city. Interestingly the city is described in the same language as the redeemed church, both are said to be the bride of Christ. Note that this is totally unlike the harlot city of Babylon. Verse 3. And I heard…is a phrase that has so far in the vision been followed by some important declaration and in this case, likely the most profound proclamation is made. …the tabernacle of God… “Tabernacle” stands for “dwelling place, a place of abode,” or of one’s “personal presence.” The deepest longing of the Christian heart is to be with the Lord; this is the crown jewel of all that the saints have been promised and this is what John hears in this verse. God will be with His people in the fullest sense. Note the thought is repeated in this same verse for emphasis. “God Himself shall be with them” (Isa.7:14). Our bodies should shake with delight when we read about our Savior being with us in an intimate and present relationship. Now we begin to understand a little better why one name for Jesus is “Emmanuel” which of course literally means “God with us”. This is when the implications of that Covenant name will be fulfilled. This also of course reminds us of God’s statement about his people in Jeremiah 24:7. “they shall be His people,” is the result of His presence among them. This news depicts the most intimate and close fellowship with God in a perfect and unbroken way and on a face-to-face basis. The relationship and fellowship will far exceed the knowledge of His presence and ‘indwelling’ which believers can know today. God will be openly and visibly in our midst, personally ministering to our needs. Now note that this will be an eternal Sabbath since the Lamb of God of God is going to be with His people physically and spiritually. We meet God in a special sense on the Sabbath, the 7th day as God is established it, but now we will be meeting with Him at all times. So the Sabbath has a very deep meaning for it was a time when men would rest from their labors and commune with God. Now the full meaning of the Sabbath will be evident. We wish that people would enjoy it now and bask in the fellowship that they have with God on this special day that God has created. This brings us to the reason why God created man. He created man in His own image and likeness and He certainly went far beyond what the angels expected that He would do to save man. The essence of God’s desire was that He create man in order that they would live in close fellowship with Him and have a special and unique kind of relationship. So we read that in the Garden of Eden the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, giving man the extremely high privilege of companionship. This led the psalmist to ask “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” So now we see the culmination of God’s desire. We will definitely need to be in our ‘glorified bodies’ to be part of this scene and until then the full scope of all this is beyond our comprehension. “But just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). The language is similar to that used in the unconditional Covenants and here we have the ultimate expression of those promises. It was to Abraham, David and Jesus God promised would be His sons and He would be their God individually. Verse 4. Here we have the results of God being with us summarized in the absence of the effects of the curse from the Garden of Eden. All that is mentioned here is as a result of Adam’s sin. In the ‘eternal state’ there is not a whiff of sin or any of its effects, the former things… the old world and its order. In fact, “the former things’ shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Isa. 65:17). We gain more in Jesus than we ever lost in Adam. God’s visible and personal presence among His people will banish any possibility of unhappiness. Pain, sorrow and misery are to some degree the experience of most people, even true believers. Of course, the more we walk with the Lord and rest in His goodness and care, the greater our peace and joy even under extreme pressure, but even then, there will still be pain. The emphasis is on the comfort of God and not on any kind of remorse on the part of the saints. The thrust of these verses is that it is God’s visible and personal presence that gives this perfect happiness and blessing and not simply the removal of the sources of our problems. Note the personal nature of the language. We are told that God Himself will personally do a series of actions that will “wipe away” every tear from the eyes of His people. So the sorrows and troubles that we have, the worries about what we will remember, and what we won’t, the things that we think that if we regard them in heaven we will cry, all these God will take away. The Text indicates that there will be no tears shed in heaven the presence of God, whether from our past failures, or from the failures of others that we know. God’s comfort will have made everything new. There will be no remorse in the New Heaven and the New Earth. All hello, yeah you again soon Verse 5. Behold…calls attention to an important pronouncement; God will bring a new creation into existence. John is to note and pay attention to the fact that only God, the One sitting on the throne, can make all things new. Fittingly it is the Sovereign Lord that is in view, since ‘new creation’ is in view. Creation is the personal province of God. I make… (I am making.) This is so certain that it can be viewed as already being in progress. One scholar comments on the implications of this: “Now, “the voice out of the throne”. Three times God speaks, “And he who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new”. What a magnificent statement that is: “I am making”, a divine word, “I am making all things” not some things “all things”. Another test, another reference to his deity or the attestation of it. And then, “I am making all things new”. Only God can do that. This is a divine utterance of divine authority and power. You go over the book of Revelation, and I’ll put it all together really quickly. On us there is a new name, in us a new song, around us in new Jerusalem, under us a new earth, over us a new heaven, before us always new revelations of the never- ending love of God. And go back to the great events of salvation history and in each 1 of them, from the creation on through to the cross, the burial, the resurrection, and the Second coming, always new revelations of the never- ending love of God: “I make all things new”. Write carries the sense of urgency and importance, do it now! The command is underlined with the assurance; the words are faithful and true. John is probably so astounded by these words that he forgot to write and must be told to do so. We note that he has already tried to worship angels. This is a great and important matter for the people of God and is recorded so that it could be kept forever in our consciousness. Since these events will take some time to occur, it would be necessary for people to have this word from God and be able to read it, memorize and continually talk about it. Obviously it is inconceivable that God would ever instruct that something be written and then ever backs away from it; so we have the fullest assurance of its truth and certainty. Verse 6. “It is done”. One writer comments in part on this phrase as follows: “It means, “to come into being, happen, become.” Depending on the context, it may mean, “be made, done, performed, etc.” The perfect may be used to emphasize the accomplishment of something from which a present state emerges (consummative perfect) or it may stress the results, the present state accomplished by the past action (resultative perfect). It would seem that the context supports the new creation. This is the view of the NIV Bible Commentary which says, “Using the same word that declared the judgment of the world finished, God proclaims that He has completed His new creation: ‘It is done’” (cf. 16:17). Though the new creation is still in the future, these words solidly affirm the creation of all things new as though already accomplished. And what’s the basis of this? The sovereign independence and eternality of God as the Alpha and Omega, the first and last word on all things”. God’s eternal purpose in Jesus is now accomplished. … that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; in Him (Eph. 1:10). At this point, all things have been resolved or “summed up” in Jesus; it is done! All things are now new, the plan is complete, there is no more sin. Redeemed man is now in possession of more than Adam had. …him that is a thirst…speaks metaphorically to God’s ability to overwhelmingly meet the deepest needs of his people. Drinking and thirst are common pictures of God’s supply and man’s spiritual need. …him…these would be those who recognize their need, the spiritually paucity of their soul and come to Christ as the source of the water of life”, ( John 4:10; 7:37-39; Isa. 55:1). It is also the gospel message, a gracious (freely) offer of salvation to unbelievers. “the fountain of the water of life”… ultimately refers to the complete satisfaction of life that will come to the child of God in the eternal state. The people of God have been given the title of the sons of God and are now into their inheritance. Whatever God has is now made available to them freely and forever. Verse 7. A full inheritance is promised to the one who overcomes, all the blessings of the new creation. The ‘overcomers’ are those who quench their thirst by simple faith in Christ and as a result become God’s sons. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5). Yet another special promise is made to the overcomer; he will have complete and unbroken fellowship with God. Note, all of God’s people, Old and New Testament saints alike, will inherit the blessings of the eternal state, nothing will be lacking. “I will be his God and he will be My son’ is also found in 2 Sam 7:14. There it was addressed to Solomon, King David’s son and was a key component of the ‘Davidic covenant’. It was a statement of singular honor, that signified a special, intimate relationship that included privilege and ruling authority. This covenant had its ultimate fulfilment in Jesus. Verse 8. A striking contrast to the ‘overcomers’ are those in this list of the excluded. There is a certain finality in these verses; this is the final state for the creation, the redeemed, their relationship with God and all that pertains to true believers. Likewise, the lake of fire is the final state for all those who rejected God. They are characterized as the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars. This is not a list of those who occasionally commit sin of whatever stripe but concerns the eternal sinfulness of unbelievers. These are terminal cases. They outright reject Jesus and thus seal their fate. Jesus spoke to this condition: Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins”, John 8:24. Unbelievers die in a state of sinfulness, forever they remain sinners in God’s eyes and are consequently barred from the ‘new creation and consigned to the lake of fire. Believers, on the other hand do not remain in a state of sinfulness because they are justified by faith: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Rom. 4:8; Rom. 8:33-34). This verse brings us to the attitude of the reluctant judge. God outlines for us three attitudes that come from our hearts and which will make men miss this beautiful city. It is these three attitudes that lead to the visible deeds which characterize those that are lost. First he talks about the cowards. They come first on the list. They chose self and safety in the system of Babylon. They do not want to take on the yoke of Christ but like the wicked servant was afraid to work for their God. They feared to confess that Jesus was Lord and would not follow the example of Zacchaeus the publican (Luke 19:1-10). Next on the list comes the unbelieving. They know that the gospel message is true, for God has built that recognition into their conscience, but they don’t want to hear from Christ and refuse to pay attention to the evidence. They turn their backs on the truth. The next attitude of heart is directed to the vile or the abominable. They are literally “foul”, and so they live on filthy literature, actions, and things. Given this attitude of heart, it is logical that the other wicked and contemptible acts follow. They would be murderous, for there is no love in their heart. They would follow after harlots, practice fornication and adultery, immerse themselves in occult practices and witchcraft, calling on demons to help them achieve the desires of their flesh. Since they reject the true God they would be idolaters, either placing themselves or Satan on the throne of their lives. Since they do not know the truth they would be liars and all die in a state of sinfulness and forever remain sinners. They would die a natural death, but afterwards they would experience the agonies and terrors of the ‘second death’, to die and to be always dying in torment. Verse 9. We are now introduced to one of the 7 angels who had poured out the 7 bowls filled with the last plagues on the harlot city of Babylon. It is therefore clear that John and the angel are making an intentional contrast between Babylon the Great which had fallen because of the last plagues and the new city of God which the angel will now show to John. This is now God city and the city is described as a bride of the Lamb. Babylon was a earthly, satanic and as one writer said an illegitimate city. In contrast this city is the heavenly city, the divine city, the ideal city. Now John will be taken to see that New Home that God had always intended man, and we now address all believers, to have. CONCLUSION In view of this we must call on ourselves to pay the price now and book our ticket for our final destination. The cost of not booking our destination now will be too high. There will be too much misery for the dammed. What is worse is that the damned will know that they and they alone have prepared themselves for their torment because of their sins. John’s vision of our eventual destiny should be a great comfort to Christians. We know that Jesus has conquered death and is even now preparing a place of unimaginable bliss for His people. There is no need for Christians to fear death, as it is only an experience on our way to our ‘new home’. Let us live in the knowledge of the security of our new home, pursue the kingdom of God and pray for its coming. Let us also seek to be faithful in the present, serving in society as salt and light and striving to lead others to Jesus, who is life, peace and blessing. Heaven or the lake of fire awaits every person. Trust in the finished work of Christ to secure your home in the New Jerusalem and spend eternity with God. He is waiting for you. God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the angels are beckoning you to come to your new Home.

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