Final Destination (Rev 21)

At the close of the Bible, this chapter is the ultimate climax of creation, the goal we are all working towards- the day when we will finally -and gloriously- be with Jesus forever.

The descending city of Jerusalem is real, but also metaphorical for the people of God. That means that we are the bride of Christ (cf Ephesians 5:25-32)- we will be united in intimacy with Him forever:
'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. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' (3-4)

It is a picture of stunning intimacy with the living God- a real relationship of love. And this is possible through God's grace to forgive us, and His efforts to reach us through Christ.

Jesus says 'I am making everything new!' (5) and then 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.' (6) Jesus thus declares His creative power, His sovereign authority, His eternal nature, and His offer of life to those who come to Him. This offer was given in John 4:14, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman that 'whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' What an amazing offer! Our response should be like the Samaritan woman's- astonishment, humility and worship. And most of all: love. Love is shown in her eagerness to tell others; love is the right response to Jesus' deep knowledge of our sinful hearts.

We need sometimes to remind ourselves of Jesus' tenderness- offering life and tear-wiping. If we persevere and 'overcome', this is our inheritance! Jesus' judgement when it falls will be terrible: 'the fiery lake of burning sulphur' (8) But He graciously offers us an alternative eternity completely different in character, if we love and trust Him. As we look forward to that eternity, may we love Him more each day that brings us closer to it.

The Jesus Who Knows and Loves Us (Rev 2)

The repeated refrain of all Jesus' words to the 7 churches is this: 'I know'. Jesus sees everything- nothing is hidden from His view. And more specifically, Jesus sees how we treat Him and how we respond to Him. He commends those who persevere believing in Him, who hate wickedness, who endure suffering for His Name, who are faithful to the end (2, 9-10). To those people, He offers life (7, 10). But His firm rebuke is for those who have 'forsaken' their 'first love' (4).

He's not talking about broken relationships and marriages falling apart. He's talking about Him and US. He is meant to be our first love- the highest in our hearts. That kind of intimacy may seem incredible, but it's true- that's the relationship God wants with us. The title of this blog is 'Treasuring Christ'- because the Bible makes it clear that we are to do that- to love Jesus and grow in love for Him over our lives.

The danger many of us face having been Christians for a while, is to lose our love for Jesus. We go through the motions of attending church, of getting our godly appearance right, but somewhere along the line we get too wrapped up in the politics of church life. And the fire in our soul, the flame of love for Christ slowly dwindles and wanes.

How can we fight that? We need to remember that Jesus is real, He is watching over us and He is with us. His words of encouragement to the church in Smyrna are an encouragement to us too- He died and came to life again, therefore He can handle our problems! (8) He knows our circumstances exactly, and He will act for our good in all situations, even through suffering.