Living God,
help us to hear your holy Word with open hearts
so that we may truly understand;
and, understanding, that we may believe;
and, believing, that we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience,
seeking your honor and glory in all that we do.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
This is it – the final day of reading! Congratulations for being here! The joy is not merely in the accomplishment of reading this incredible book from cover to cover, although that is a great accomplishment. The joy is in receiving God’s revelation of who he is, what he is doing, and how he loves us.
When God created everything and saw that it was good, especially male and female created in his very image – we were there. When Adam and Eve sinned, and humankind was banished from God’s special presence – we were there. When God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants to be their God forever – we were there. Every cycle of slavery and freedom, bondage to sin and restoration, wandering from God like silly sheep and God bringing back like a good shepherd – we were there. When Jesus died on the cross, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us back into God’s special presence – we were there! Romans 6:3-5 says, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” This is our story!
Now we finish the book of Revelation. These last chapters are the culmination of the love story. God, as always, is drawing us to him, and this is the picture of how our story transitions from now into eternity.
From passages like Ephesians 5:22-33 we know that the church is the bride of Christ, represented here as Jerusalem. After reading the Bible so quickly and seeing big themes, I hope you see how glorious the statement in Revelation 21:3 is – “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” There is no need for a temple or light because God is both of those. The tree of life is there. Everything comes full-circle! God wins!
What better words to finish off the most important book in the entire world than these:
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
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