Revelation 21, 22: The Seventh Facet

Week 10, Monday: The New Heavens and New Earth
John’s vision reaches beyond time as we know it to time as it will be forever. And what a blessed prospect! Only the barest outline is provided, but just the right words are given to the Apostle to make us long for this homeland which is yet to be.

The seventh and final facet of Revelation opens with a brilliant glimpse into the glory that is to come.

Read Revelation 21

Meditate on Revelation 21.1-8
1.      There are several indicators in this passage that we’re dealing with the eternal estate of the redeemed. For example, how is this suggested in verses 1, 4, 6, and 8? Time as we know it will end. But time as such does not end for us, because we are creatures, and creatures are made “into” time, which is itself a creature of God. Only God is without time, beyond time, and through all time. How does this passage provoke your curiosity concerning the nature of “eternal” time? In what ways will it be like time as we know it now? How will it be different?

2.      The new heavens and new earth are likened to the tabernacle Moses constructed in the wilderness (v. 3). What does this suggest about the nature of our experience of God during eternal time? But John seems deliberately to be playing on his own words in John 1.14, where the Greek root for “dwell” and “tabernacle” is the same. How does this add to our understanding of eternal time and how we will experience it (meditate on 1 Cor. 15.28 and Eph. 1.23)?

3.      Meditate on verses 4-7. What is promised in these verses? How does this address our need for “patient endurance” (“overcomes”) amid the tribulations of this world?

4.      This is the “hope of glory” toward which all look and long who truly belong to Christ. Why is this such a hopeful and glorious prospect? Ah, but look at Romans 5.1 and 2. Paul says we “stand” in this “hope” right now! What are the implications of our promised “then and there” for our daily “here and now”?

5.      The ground and basis for all this glorious hope is what is declared in the first part of verse 6. Does this help to explain all the constant singing and praising and bowing and rejoicing in heaven? Explain.

My Reflection
As a Kingdom citizen and follower of Christ, what is your great and blessed hope? How does this hope inform your exercise of patient endurance amid the tribulations of your daily life?

The Glory of God
“And He said to me, ‘It is done!’” What is done? What has Jesus done so as to be able to offer this great and glorious eternal hope to all who overcome?

Glory to Glory
You long for the glory to come, and you stand in that glory today. How does this “hope of glory” affect your daily walk with the Lord?

Memorize
Our memory verses for this week are Revelation 21.6, 7. Write these verses on an index card, using your preferred translation of the Bible. Carry this with you throughout the week, and spend some time each day working to memorize this passage. How should these verses encourage you in your walk with and work for the Lord?

Closing Prayer
Compose a prayer expressing the hope of glory as you look forward to it and as you stand in it today and every day.

T. M. Moore

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The book of Revelation is the culminating episode in the story of God’s covenant. To learn more about that covenant, and to discover the way it integrates all of Scripture into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.