FROM START TO FINISH

“Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost’” (Revelation 21:6).

That God is the Alpha and the Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), the beginning and the end, means he is not subject to the movements of time as we experience it—past, present, future. He is both the origin (Jn. 1:1) and the aim of all things (Rom. 10:4), the sole source of life-giving waters. This Eternal One, the great I AM (Ex. 3:14) who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), reigns without peer. “Besides Me,” he says, “there is no God” (Is. 45:5-7). Anything else you might chase after, and worship, is but a poor imitation.

HEAVENLY WORK

“There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bondservants will serve Him” (Revelation 22:3).

The Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9) of the hereafter should not be understood as a cessation of activity. As the followers of Christ, our role as bondservants remains unchanged, even in eternity serving him day and night (Rev.7:15); a redeeming and enjoyable productivity that is to be seen in the building of houses and planting of vineyards (Is. 65:21-22). For those who are lazy and labor tirelessly to avoid work, who are more concerned about time off, the biblical depictions of the heavenly life offer no encouragement or relief.

EVERLASTING WORSHIP

“Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns’” (Revelation 19:6).

Besides “Sabbath rest” (Heb.4:9), another implication of those dwelling forever in the presence of God (Rev. 21:3) is a state of everlasting worship. As John describes it, it will be something like you have never experienced. There will be no quibbling over whether you liked it, you got anything out of it, or if it met your stylistic preferences. Unlike our present temporal realm, for the eternal saints in glory there will be no doubt regarding the object of their worship…and it won’t be you.

DECEPTIVE DIALOGUE

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed,’ has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’’ (Genesis 3:1)?

The question of the serpent points to the freedom that God has woven into the fabric of his created order. Questioning what God has said implies that his words are open to being debated, discussed, questioned and, thus, either accepted or rejected. Instead of mindless puppets on a string, God has created us as free will beings. By this he solicits the love of human kind as they make choices and decisions that seek to honor and glorify their heavenly Father.

REAPING AND REMEMBERING

“When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaming of your harvest, you are to leave them for the needy and the alien.  I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:22).

These words from the Lord to Moses, and spoken to the people, were part of the specific instructions for properly observing the Feast of Weeks (Harvest Feast), a festival of thanksgiving for God’s faithful provision. Our offerings of thanksgiving are incomplete when our only thoughts are of all that we have. Being beneficiaries of grace, our fullest expression of a truly thankful heart is to be seen in our advocacy and provision for those who are without, those on the outside looking in, those longing for more than what this life can offer.

REST NOT ROT

“Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).

Knowing that the hereafter carries the assurance of dwelling forever in the presence of God (Rev. 21:3), scripture offers several implications resulting from that abiding relationship. Among them is aSabbath rest—a participation in the rest God made evident upon his completion of the created order, an arrival to a place of crucial importance. This rest, however, is not a cessation of activity; for even after the creation accounts of Genesis, God has continued in his work of salvation to make all things new.

GOD’S INDWELLING DESIRE

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them’” (Revelation 21:3).

From the Garden to the tabernacle, from the temple to his incarnation in Christ Jesus, and now, to his eternal everlasting kingdom, God has repeatedly made known his desire to dwell among his people. Indeed, the Greek word for dwell in today’s passage is the same verb used in John 1:14 for the incarnation of the Word. Might the Lord find in us the same longing for him as he has displayed toward us.

A NEW PERMANENT

“‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make, will endure before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so will your descendants and your name endure’” (Isaiah 66:22).

The permanence of what is to come reminds us of the impermanence of what is. When cataclysmic shifts occur, the familiar disappears, and the unfamiliar is before you, the natural tendency is to lament for the good-old-days, and to grasp for the near, easy, familiar, that offering some semblance of what was. The call of Christ, however, ushers us into a life that transcends the natural; that is supernatural. The redemption God is accomplishing requires a forward wanting not a backwards wishing. The endurance that is to characterize the life of faith holds on for what lies ahead. Looking back is a failure to endure and says you’ve quit.

ILLUMINATING INSIGHT

“And those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

From the beginning of salvation history, God has appointed a chosen people to serve as a light to the world; a people upon whom his glory shall appear and to be an attraction to the nations (Is. 60:1-3). As such, the vocation of every believer is being the light of the world (Mt. 5:14). Unfortunately, the preponderance of those who would be the people God have failed to shine and shown greater inclination toward the tendencies of those who abide in darkness. Even so, God’s mercies continue to shine brighter than our dimwittedness.

HEAVEN COMES DOWN

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).

John’s vision of the hereafter and the eternal dwelling of God’s people is a sharp contrast to the Greek dualism embraced by most; the thought that the soul escapes the body, like a bird from a cage, and takes flight to a far away heavenly abode. Scripture finds the final resurrection life existing on a redeemed earth. Thus, Paul’s reminder that all creation groans waiting to be set free from its slavery to corruption (Rom. 8:19-22). Instead of the mythological and fictional accounts offered by Hollywood, popular books, or wishful thinking, believers must find their guidance and understanding of God’s plan through God’s word.