2019-06-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As promised, I’ve been commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue writing on the question: What is it like to be “revealed in glory with Christ?” The Greek word for “glory” is “doxa,” from which the word “doxology” comes. Glory can be associated with honor, renown, and splendor. We had been examining REV, and now it is time to look at REV 21, a chapter that takes place in our future. Back in JER 31: 31-34, God said, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” As I have written before, the picture of what God offers us for staying faithful to Jesus Christ gets progressively clearer as we study His word is laid out. REV 21: 1-8, describes the replacement of Jerusalem with the new Jerusalem and what that city will have in it. Truthfully, I was surprised the first time I read this in how many details were in this description. God’s voice can be heard saying He will be with His people and will wipe away the tears from their eyes. There will be no more crying or pain. The old things have disappeared, and He is making all things new. “I am the First and the Last,” God will exclaim. Anyone thirsty can drink from the water of life with no payment expected. “I will be their God, and they will be My children.” Any people who are cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, immoral, magicians, liars, or idol worshippers will suffer spiritual (second) death. This means that lot will go to a place which burns with fire and (brimstone) sulfur. They will be barred from this new Jerusalem.
With the beginning of verse 9 and continuing through 27, the new Jerusalem was described to the apostle John by an angel as a Holy City “coming out of heaven and shining with God’s glory, like a precious stone-jasper clear as crystal.” It will have a high wall with 12 gates, each with an angel in charge of it. Each gate will have the name of one of the tribes of Israel on it. There are four sides of the walled City, each side with three gates on it. The wall itself will sit on a foundation stones with the names of the 12 apostles on them. While the wall is made of jasper, the city itself is fashioned out of “pure gold as clear as glass.” The foundation stones are made of the same 12 stones that the ancient Jewish High Priest wore on his ephod (a plate with one stone for each of the 12 tribes of Israel worn on his chest over his shirt). There was no need for a temple in this city, because the light of God shined enough to bathe the city in light. Nor was there a need for the sun or moon, because the city was lit by the Lamb of God, its Lamp. There was no need for the dark of night in this remarkable place. Nothing that is impure, only those whose names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of the Living will enter the city.
In the course of understanding why God has chosen to share what He does in REV, we must look at the question of why should we believe in Him, as a Promise-keeper, Who is right and just? PS 73: 21-26, takes up this question in the face of hurt feelings and bitter thoughts that occur to us when we are facing challenges, losses, and other troubles. God holds us by the hand at such times as these, receiving us with honor and guiding us with His instruction. Since I have You, what else could I want on earth or heaven? Despite that our minds and bodies grow weak, God is our strength and really is all we need.
We must put things together that we learn about God and His plan for those who spend their earthly lives obeying Him. Remember 1 COR 15: 51-54? That’s the passage that tells us when the last trumpet (shofar) sounds, the physically dead will rise, be changed in an instant, and will never die again. What is mortal is changed to what is immortal. The victory that Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection made available to us is complete! Any chance of spiritual death for the obediently faithful in Christ is destroyed! IS 25: 8 is made true.
PRAYER: Dearest Father, all these descriptions of our future are truly from You, and they are supernatural. All that You, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, teach us may not always be explained in mathematical and scientific terms, because so much of it requires our faith in You. Such intangibles can’t be quantified, weighed, or measured in earthly terms, but You are capable of so much more than that. We choose to be obediently faithful to You, because You have never lied or made false promises. Your perfect time for our glorification and other events of our future are Your decisions to make. We hold back from judgments of other people, as we are reminded that You will judge us, as we have judged them [MT 7: 1-2]. COL 3: 13 reminds us that we should forgive others as You have forgiven us. Some people simply say, “Heaven can’t be understood, except that we know it will be better than anything we’ve experienced on earth.” They tell the truth, but we are still grateful for the many things You have told us about it in the last two chapters of Revelation. We can’t know every detail, only that if we continue to obey You and have faith in Your Son, that we will gain eternal life. There is no greater goal than this one to have. Our trust is that You will keep this amazing promise and that You are with us every moment of every day and night, by means of the Holy Spirit. We thank and praise You for loving us that much, even though we are undeserving. What a great victory- You invite us to share at the wedding feast of the Lamb! That is the wedding of Christ to all the human believers (the church) at the beginning of our eternal life. We gaze at the Eternal Light (Ner Tamid in Hebrew) that burns brightly in our churches and synagogues, knowing it symbolizes Your holy presence in our lives. This prayer is dedicated to You, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: There is still more the Holy Spirit wants me to write about the experience of appearing with Christ and sharing in His glory from the Scriptures. We are living in difficult times here on earth. Learning to overcome and rid ourselves of former prejudices practiced in our society is essential. God sees each person, and nothing can be kept hidden from Him [HE 4: 13]. However, in past times certain prejudices were injected into mankind’s thinking by Satan. Anti-Semitism, slavery of black people in this country’s history, and a host of other prejudices were carefully taught and practiced. Sometimes, a person doesn’t even realize he is prejudiced. Prejudicial backlash happens too. This hateful response to lack of equality and fairness is equally a problem. I admit to not realizing how frightened I was as a child at hearing a person speak with a German accent. As an adult, I now understand why. It was the constant reminders in my rearing of how Nazi’s had killed 6 million Jews and some Gentiles who helped some of them escape the death camps. It took the maturity of adulthood for me to realize that some people with German accents weren’t Nazis or their sympathizers. I mention this, because it’s important that we understand that God sees people for who and what they are. He doesn’t care about how many degrees are after their names, or how wealthy materially they are. God sees into our spirits and gave Rev. Martin Luther King these words: “I don’t judge a person by the color of his skin or his religious beliefs; I judge them by the content of their characters.” We can learn from people like him! Praise and thanks to God for loving us without conditions!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives