The Child Will Soon Be Born, The Marriage Feast Begun

We all love the new, the fresh, the unspoiled, the perfect. What great possibilities stand before us when we have that which is new. So says John as he now shares the vision given to him.

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." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 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. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." - Rev 21:1-8 ESV

Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega in the very beginning of John's book:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." - Rev 1:8 ESV

The Greek John uses for "end" is telos. In this instance it does not mean the close or termination of all things. Quite the opposite. It refers to the end to which all creation relates, the aim, the purpose. All begins with Christ and all finds its fulfillment, purpose, meaning in Him. The Apostle put it this way:

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. - Rom 14:9 ESV

So the new heaven and new earth is described as the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the city whose origins is from God. This is a marriage and the bride is adorned for her husband. Forever and forever God is with His bride. All that is broken, confused, twisted and filled with pain, suffering and sorrow will be gone. All things are to be made new, fresh, clean, filled with potential and possibilities! In Christ the new has finally come and what shall be is beyond our imagining.

Referencing the ancient prophet Isaiah (Isa.64:4), Paul writes,

But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"-- - 1Co 2:9 ESV

 I have no experience, nor do you, of a world without murder, hate, lies, deception, betrayal, idolatry. What would it be like? We have no basis, no experience of such a world. How is it possible? How can there be a world without sickness, suffering, sorrow and death? It is beyond us. And yet that is what John's vision gives to us.

And Jesus proclaims this trustworthy and true word: IT IS DONE! This is the Word proclaimed from the cross and recorded only in John's Gospel: "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - Jhn 19:30 ESV That word in the Greek is the noun telos used as a verb: tetelestai. Not only is the great work finished, but all things now find their purpose, their meaning, their Alpha and their Omega in the cross of Christ. All sin is now wiped away, forgiven, forgotten. All men are set free from death forever. All things begin anew now.

The Apostle struggles to find the words to describe what this means also for all that God has created as he writes,

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. - Rom 8:19-23 ESV

So we humbly wait and patiently endure the pain of the present, knowing that these are but the pains of childbirth. Soon, soon, soon!

The Crown Of Life Awaits

Some say the Greek word for myrrh (smyrna - Matt. 2:11) supplied the name for the second city to which John's Revelation is addressed. In ancient times myrrh was the chief export of that city.  It had been around for hundreds of years, first as a Greek city and later as one of the principal cities of the Roman province of Asia. To the believers in Smyrna, John writes in the name of Christ,

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. "'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.' - Rev 2:8-11 ESV

The believers in Smyrna suffered tribulation, poverty and blasphemy. Jesus warned that believers will ever face such trials. He calls wars, famines and earthquakes the beginning of the birth pains. Added to them, He says, will be people falling from the faith, betraying and even hating one another. False prophets will also arise to lead many astray. Lawlessness, the rejection of God's revealed way of life, and a cold, calloused attitude toward believers will be part of the last days. But these are birth pains. Painful as they are, they are signs that Christ's return is imminent (Matt. 24:3-25). When He returns to judge all mankind the true children of God will be revealed and all will be made new forever (Rev. 21:5).

Already even now the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of believers, renewing them in the image and likeness of the Lord Himself. Paul writes,

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2Co 5:14-17 ESV

This is what we still observe. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, the Spirit re-creates men and women. They are literally new creations. They are no longer controlled by their sinful flesh, but begin to live for him who died and was raised. This Gospel is God's means of bringing His undeserved grace into the lives of believers.

Jesus Himself is called here the first and the last, a name already coined by John in the first chapter when he used the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet to describe Jesus as the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come (Rev. 1:8, 17-18). So we are all comforted as we remember that all is in His hands. When Israel was released by Pharaoh in the days of the Exodus, the Egyptian king changed his mind and sent his army after them. To calm Israel's fears Moses said,

"Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again." - Exo 14:13 ESV

We all need such strong words of comfort as we are persecuted. The LORD permits such trials so that our faith may be tested (Rom.5:3).

In turn, those persecuting the believers in Smyrna were called those who say that they are Jews and are not, but a synagogue of Satan. The Apostle Paul spoke also of false Jews, those who failed to see circumcision as a matter of the heart, but merely as an outward ritual. They relied upon their outward keeping of the Law. True believers, true Jews, always see circumcision as a "putting off of the body of the flesh," as being buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Him through faith in the God who also raised Jesus from the dead (Col. 2:12; Rom 6:3-5).

Moses admonished Israel in the same way in his final words. In days to come, he said, if they again abandoned their faith in the LORD who graciously brought them to the promised land. When they fell again into such a religion, based upon outward rituals, the LORD would again have to bring upon them the curses described earlier, curses like those that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah when "the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing" and no plant could sprout (Deut 29:23 ESV).

In the same way the LORD speaks to all believers in these final days, not only those in Smyrna. The LORD will permit Satan to throw them into prison and even to kill them. They will be tested. Do they trust only in the LORD? Do they understand that ultimately the devil cannot harm them? Do they realize that tribulation will only be for ten days? All of God's commands are summarized in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17). Ten plagues came upon Egypt before Pharaoh set Israel free (Exod 7-11). Ten nations conspired against Israel, laying crafty plans against God's people (Ps. 83:3-8).  But this is the constant message: the LORD is in control. The nations cannot prevail against Him. The LORD laughs at them as He puts limits on the devil and those who serve him.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. - Psa 2:1-4 ESV

So the Spirit, through John, concludes with added words of comfort. Their enemies may destroy their bodies, but they will not be hurt by the second death, the lake of fire that has no power over those who have died and risen again with Christ (Rev. 20:6, 14; 21:8).  They have already died spiritually and risen again. They cannot therefore ever die again. What awaits them is the crown of life, life that has already begun in them when they were raised with Christ to newness of life. The crown of that life is the resurrection of the body (1 Cor 15:19-26). So the final word to the believers in Smyrna and to all believers in all places and all times:

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.' - Rev 2:10-11 ESV