City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

1 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; 3 and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. 7 He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

Revelation 21:1-7

Reflection

People thirst for many things: some fame, others fortune, still others love and acceptance. But there are some who hunger and thirst for holiness, not just positionally but actually. When Christians stand in faith in Jesus, we stand holy and blameless before God. That is our position. How we live out our life on a daily basis may not always be actually consistent with our position in God. Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied (See Matthew 5:6).  It is a promise that one day those who are saved positionally will be transformed actually. 

The Stoic philosophy, which was popular at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, can be summed up in the saying, “Happy is he who does not desire what he cannot have.” Stoicism taught people not to hope for or desire things as a means of avoiding disappointment. Stoicism was a surrender to the limits of a life confined to a fallen world. 

Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:6 is essentially, “Happy is he who desires the right thing, for he can have that.” Unlike the Stoics, Jesus taught people to hope for the right things, and one of those right things is holiness.  

Application

Revelation 21:6 is a fast forward from the present to the time when Jesus will complete the promise He made to believers in Matthew 5: 6, to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Here, in Revelation 21:6, that thirst is finally and completely satisfied with an eternal spring of the water of life. There is no cost to us for access to this spring because Jesus paid the cost on the cross.  

All this is guaranteed by the divine imprimatur of Jesus, who declares He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Because He was there in the beginning and will be there in the end, Jesus is in a unique position to ensure the promise of our completed holiness.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for for guaranteeing not only my position of holiness with the Father but my transformation into Your image. Amen.