Revelation 21 — A New Heaven and a New Earth

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. This is the Book of Revelation, chapter twenty-one. The end of the Bible. The end of the story. The end that is also a new beginning. Tonight, after a long day in this present age, I let my mind rise to that age that is coming. A new heaven and a new earth. Not just heaven. Not the disembodied existence we sometimes imagine. A new earth too. The physical creation made new. The world we love, healed of all that has gone wrong with it. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away. What is broken is broken. The sin. The decay. The death. All of it gone in the new creation. Not patched. Not improved. Made new. The sea was no more. In the ancient world, the sea was the symbol of chaos, of unpredictability, of separation. In the new creation, no more chaos. No more separation. Even the sea is healed. The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. The new home for the new humanity. Coming down. Not us going up to it. It comes to us. Heaven and earth meet in the city of God. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. Eden restored. The intimate presence of God walking with His people, as it was in the garden before the fall, as it will be in the city after the consummation. He will dwell with them. With us. Tents pitched together. The God who became flesh and dwelt among us in Christ will dwell among us forever in the new creation. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. The covenant, fulfilled. The relationship that the entire Old Testament longed for. We will be His. He will be ours. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Read it slowly, Lord. Every tear. Mine. The ones I have cried. The ones I have not yet cried. The ones I am crying right now over things You have not yet healed. He Himself will wipe them away. With His own hand. Death shall be no more. The last enemy. Defeated. Forever. The thing that has shaped every human story, ended. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. Read each word. Mourning. Gone. Crying. Gone. Pain. Gone. Anymore. No more. For the former things have passed away. The past, with all its sorrow, gone. The present age, with all its struggle, gone. A new age. New everything. Behold, I am making all things new. Not making all new things, though that too. Making all things new. The very things we love. Made new. The relationships. The places. The people. New. Lord, this is my hope. This is the horizon I walk toward. Tonight, I sleep with this picture in my mind. The city coming down. The tears wiped away. The God who is with us forever. Whatever I am facing tomorrow is real. But it is not final. Whatever I have lost is real. But it is not lost forever. Whatever I am hoping for, the deepest desire of my heart, will be answered in the new creation, beyond what I could ask or imagine. He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.