God's future for the saints

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal…

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.  The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 21-22).

On All Saints’ Day, we fix our eyes on the future.  We remember our loved ones who died in the faith, and we look forward with eagerness to the day when we will see them again.  That reunion will occur in heaven when we die; the angels of the Lord will gently scoop us up in their arms and deliver us to Jesus, who has opened heaven's gates and waits for our arrival with outstretched arms and a welcoming smile.

But heaven is not our final destination.  When Christ returns in glory, all the dead will rise for judgment.  Satan and his followers will be sent away to God’s eternal prison.  The earth will be scoured clean by fire; all trace of evil will be destroyed.  Then God will remake this world into the paradise that it was in the beginning, and we will finally experience heaven on earth. 

What will that future life be like?  In the last chapters of Revelation, Saint John is allowed a glimpse.  He struggles to help us understand what he saw, but no human words can do justice to the sight.  Nevertheless, let’s reflect on John’s Revelation and see what we can learn about our eternal home with God and each other.

The angel said Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.  The Lamb, of course, refers to Jesus.  Back in the time of Moses, God sent an angel of death to punish the Egyptians who were holding the Israelites in slavery.  Moses told the Israelites how to protect their homes—they were to select a lamb without spot or blemish, kill it, and paint their front doorway with the lamb’s blood.  When the angel of death saw the lamb’s blood he passed over that home, sparing those inside.  Through this ritual, God taught His people that the only way to avoid death was to trust in the blood of the perfect lamb.

God was teaching the Israelites about Jesus.  When our Lord began His ministry centuries later, John the Baptist pointed to Him and said Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) Jesus is the perfect lamb.  He is perfect because He never committed any sin.  He behaved like a lamb when it came time for Him to die; Isaiah wrote (chapter 53) He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  Jesus was innocent, yet He was treated like a criminal.  He assumed responsibility for our sins and was put to death for them; He did this willingly, offering no word of protest.  When Jesus died, the punishment for our sins died with Him.  He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world!

The Lamb of God suffered and died because He loves us.  God’s Son loves us with an everlasting love, a love that appreciates us despite our weaknesses and mistakes.  He did not have to commit Himself to our welfare—rather, He chose to make that commitment, just as a husband who loves his bride chooses to seal that love through the commitment of marriage.  The Lamb of God chooses us to be His bride, and when we are finally all together in the same place, it will be time for a wedding celebration like you’ve never experienced!  Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son (Matthew 22:2).  The Son is Jesus, and God the Father is preparing the banquet for us even now.  Isaiah describes what’s on the menu: On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever (chapter 25).  Talk about something worth celebrating!

John goes on: [the angel] carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  This is not the Jerusalem of Israel today, a city divided between Jews, Christians and Muslims, most of whom hate each other.  This is the perfect Jerusalem, the capitol city of God’s eternal kingdom.  This is the city Abraham looked forward to; Hebrews chapter 11 says that he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 

A capitol is different from other cities.  Wherever you go in town, you can always see the capitol building; even miles out on the highway, your eyes are still drawn to the seat of power.  So it is with God’s capitol, the New Jerusalem.  It will be the center point of our attention.  Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, God’s presence and rule will always be clear to us. 

John writes, the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  For centuries, followers of Christ have honored Him with works of beauty—music and art, poetry and sculpture.  The Vatican is filled with masterpieces designed to honor God and the Lamb.  But the New Jerusalem will outstrip any art gallery or concert hall; it will be filled with the best that a grateful and joyous world can offer to the King of heaven and earth.

This city will be like nothing we’ve ever experienced.  Our cities are dirty, congested, noisy and riddled with crime.  Not so the New Jerusalem.  John describes it this way: its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  Clean air, sparkling with light, a bright and cheerful place that is gorgeous to look at.  A place that is free of crime: Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful.  With our sins taken away by Jesus’ blood, we won’t be tempted to lie or cheat, to argue or fight, to show prejudice or jealousy.  The dream of a perfect society will at last come true.

In ancient times, cities were built with walls and gates.  At night the gates were closed to protect the residents from criminals and wild animals.  Although we don’t build such walls today, we still have policemen roaming the streets, and some wealthy citizens live in ‘gated communities.’   But gates and police won’t be necessary in God’s holy city.  The future earth will be a perfect place that is perfectly safe.  Wild animals will not be a problem; through Isaiah God says, The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD (chapter 11).  Nor will there be criminals or terrorists; Revelation chapter 20 says, If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.  No one who chooses sin over Jesus will have life in God’s eternal kingdom.

In order to be a citizen, you must have your name recorded in the Book of Life.  Jesus is the author of life; it is He who records our names in the Book.  Jesus said, Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be (John 12:26).  He also said, He who overcomes will…be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life (Revelation 3:5). 

Jesus promises eternal life in paradise to those who reject sin and follow Him.  Sadly, none of us is that good—we constantly take our eyes off of Jesus so we can focus on sinful things.  This is why we need Christ; we’ve got to have His forgiveness or we’ll never be clean enough to enter God’s spotless home. We are supposed to walk the way of righteousness but we always end up stumbling into the ditch; thankfully, Jesus continually picks us up, dusts us off, and leads us by the hand. Paul writes, it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:13).

John says, No longer will there be any curse.  This refers back to the Garden of Eden.  Because Adam and Eve broke God’s law, God cursed them with hard labor and certain death.  But when God remakes this world in perfection, the curse will be lifted.  The wages of sin is death, Paul wrote in Romans, but in a world without sin there will be no more death.  God says, There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4). 

Agriculture will be transformed.  Part of the curse affected our ability to grow food; the earth started producing thorns and thistles, and work was both hard and sweaty.  With the curse gone, raising food will be easy.  The curse also cut people off from the Tree of Life, a special tree whose fruit prevented aging and death.  With the curse lifted, we will be able to eat from that miraculous tree.  It will yield its fruit every month year round, a never-depleted source of health.  And its leaves provide healing for all—there will be no more diabetes, no more blindness, no more cancer.  When we eat from the Tree of Life, God’s power will correct all the damage sin has inflicted upon our bodies.  For the first time we will be perfect, both spiritually and physically.

Don’t worry—we’re not going to lay around and get chubby.  John writes, his servants will serve him.  Adam and Eve had work to do in the Garden of God, and we will be busy too—busy doing work that is satisfying because it serves the Lord.  We’ll never have to work in the dark, because the glory of God will give us perfect light, light that nourishes body and soul yet doesn’t damage the skin or the eyes.  That light will not be blinding; for the first time we will be able to see God’s face and not be destroyed like a moth that gets too close to the flame. 

And there will be water there—water that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb.  This is the Water of Life that Jesus spoke of to a woman at Jacob’s well: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).  This is the Water of Life that flowed from Jesus’ side when He died on the cross: one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34).  In Revelation chapter 21 Jesus said, To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.  He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 

Jesus is our source of life—life that lasts forever.  Because of Him we have hope for rejoining our loved ones in paradise, never having to say goodbye to them again.  Because of Him we have something to look forward to so that when death comes knocking, we don’t have to back away in fear.  Jesus is our Savior today and our hope for tomorrow.