City Life Starter

By Megan Meier

The Word

^“1Then 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 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. 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 anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, 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 spring of the water of life without payment. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’”

Revelation 21:1-7 (ESV)

Reflection 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Day of chocolate (lots of it!), hearts, cartoon and superhero themed valentine’s cards at school, and love, particularly romantic love and the idea of living happily ever after. Many fairy tales (and Hallmark movies) end with “and they lived happily ever after.” But this meant different things to different characters in different stories. What does happily ever after mean for us? The Book of Revelation gives us insight into our own happily ever after. 

There will be a new heaven and a new earth, I’m sorry to say I can see why the first earth and the sea will pass away (pollution and war), but why does the first heaven pass away? Why does God have a need for a new heaven? Maybe because the first one was tainted by Satan and his followers, and before the new heaven and new earth are created, he is thrown into the lake of fire, never to be let out (Revelation 20:10). The new Jerusalem comes from the new heaven. Like Cinderella leaving behind her old life to marry the prince, New Jerusalem is united with the Prince of Peace. What is, or rather, who is New Jerusalem? Unlike the former city (where Jesus opened the Way back to God), New Jerusalem is built by God and uncorrupted by sin, it is where all true believers will live. God will be with us in our new home, (another name for Jesus is Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)) where there will be no sorrow, no pain, no illness, no heinous crimes, but a completely perfect world, where God will make all things new. 

The Apostle John must have made many spelling errors in his first draft of this book due to his excitement in hearing the words of the Holiness of God being completed. This isn’t the end, but rather the true beginning of real life. Those who thirst for true life will be given the water of life, which is Jesus Christ, without payment as He has already paid the price. He told the Samaritan woman at the well:

“’¹⁴…whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

John 4:14 (ESV)

Those who conquer the world through Jesus Christ, who don’t give in to the world, but persevere in Jesus will inherit eternal life and be God’s treasured child. 

Application

C.S. Lewis wrote The Last Battle in The Chronicles of Narnia series as an allegory of the Book of Revelation, and he sums it up best on the last page of the story:

“But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

Our story will end greater than happily ever after. When you thirst, go to the Living Water. Conquer the world through Jesus Christ. Make your story one God will be proud of. 

Prayer

            Dear Jesus, thank You for completing the work on the cross so I can live happily ever after with You. While I live on this earth, help me to continue living fully for You and to persevere in You. In Your name I pray, amen.