As we noted in the introduction from yesterday, many of us grew up with a picture of the end of the Biblical story that goes something like this: one day we die or Jesus returns, we leave this world behind, and we go up to be with God somewhere far away forever. For sure there are elements of truth in that version of the story. Paul says that to be away from the body is to be at home, or present, with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). But when we get to the last chapters of the Bible, John sees something moving in the opposite direction. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, is coming “down out of heaven from God.” His story doesn’t end with us going up and out, it ends with God coming down to stay.

Then, John hears the great announcement: “Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them.” That is the heartbeat of Revelation 21, of this entire story actually,  summed up in a sentence. Going all the way back to week 1, we stood in the garden and saw Eden as the palace where heaven and earth overlapped, where God walked with humans He had made. Rebellion broke that fellowship, and the rest of the Bible tells the twisting and winding story of God making a way back to Eden. He made a tabernacle in the wilderness, the temple in Jerusalem, and ultimately, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, before making us the very temple of the Spirit of God. All these were steps towards this moment John is trying to describe.

He describes details of the city like the equality of its length, width, and height, the same shape as the Most Holy Place in Solomon’s temple. The entire city has become the palace where God’s presence lives. There’s not even a temple in this city at all, because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” What was once veiled and hidden behind a curtain, only seen and approached once a year, now fills all of humanity for everyone, and everything to enjoy.

More striking to me than what appears is what disappears. In this bright city there are no tears, no death, no grief, no crying, and no pain. God doesn’t remove the earth, or bodies, or the nations He’s been working to redeem. He removes death and everything that has twisted and broken His good creation. Heaven-only thinking assumes the physical world is the problem. Revelation says the problem is sin and death. Thankfully, God deals with both so He can once again live and dwell within His New Creation.
 
Paul told us we don’t grieve like others, like those without hope. You and I aren’t waiting to be evacuated from a world God has given up on. We’re waiting for the King to finish what He started in the Garden, to set right what we have broken. It has always impressed me how the end of the story looks so much like the beginning. It ends just where God always wanted; with Him at home among His people.

When you think of and picture eternity, do you picture yourself going away to God or God coming to dwell with His people? Does the fact that John says He is coming to dwell with us here change how you hope?

Father, thank you for not giving up on us or the world You made for your people. Forgive me for when I’ve longed for this world to be something from which I can escape instead of a place You are redeeming. Focus and fix my hope on the day You’ll wipe away every tear and live with Your people forever. Teach me to live like someone who belongs to Your coming city and not like a stranger. Amen.

“When I imagine God living with His people forever, I most look forward to __________________.”