REVELATION 22:1-6
Read Revelation 22:1-6.
Eternal life and the glory of God are inseparable. Where eternal life exists, the glory of God is revealed. Even in this life, our eternal life (not yet fully realized) expresses some of the glory of God in various forms. Character, attitudes, behavior… the glory of God cannot be hidden in a life filled with eternity in Christ.
Last week we looked at the New Earth and the construction of the New Jerusalem. Indeed, they will be incredibly beautiful. Today, we take a look inside. Inside we see eternal life and the glory of God together in their fullest manifestation. At center of the city is the throne of God. A river flows from the throne called “the water of life” – appropriately named because eternal life flows from God, and God alone. Its crystal clear description no doubt emphasizes the purity of our eternal life.
[I diverge for a moment… the river is said to flow down the middle of a great street. I have seen many rivers flowing beside freeways heading east on I-90, but never a river down a street. Judging from the size of the city and its features (e.g. 200′ thick walls), this must be one wide street. The fact that the tree of life stands along the street yielding crops (not just a few buckets) every month, this street must be stand out as a fairly prominent feature.]
As just mentioned, the tree of life yielding 12 crops of fruit (matching the 12 apostles and 12 tribes of Israel) every month tells of the eternal nature of our own lives in the New Jerusalem. Its leaves provide “healing for the nations” – a peculiar statement considering there will be no more pain or suffering in the New Earth. But as one commentator notes, “The word healing can be understood as “health-giving”. The English “therapeutic” is derived from this Greek word.” As such this need not be problematic. The tree of life provides in a sense eternal life and eternal comfort. Here we have both the water of life and the food of life provided in the river and tree. These provide for the essential needs of eternal life.
Not surprising then, at the center of this testimony of eternal life shines the glory of God. As already described in chapter 21, the glory of God will provide everlasting light for the city. His light will outshine even the sun (which is pretty bright even on a cloudy day like today). His light will never fade or set as the sun, but will remain forever bright.
In this short set of verses, the fullness of eternal life in the presence of our glorious God is emphasized. This is something we look forward to, but in part, we experience some of that today.
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. -2Cor. 3:18
Let’s be honest. We don’t always do a good job reflecting God’s glory. But there will come a day when we will reflect His glory perfectly. Until that time, we are being transformed with ever-increasing glory. Sometimes that can be a very slow process. We may think we will never reflect His glory adequately. And the truth of the matter is, we won’t in this fallen world of ours. But the picture given us of life in our eternal home is one that gives me hope that one day, yes, one day the fullness of God’s glory and eternal life will be finally realized.
-Mike
