Rev. 21:1-7
When John wrote Rev., he and the church is under persecution. The Lord comfort them for letting John to see and know about the future. The hope substains them for the hardship today. With this in mind, today passages is not only about a "paradise," but also it serves as a practical help to us today.
In v.1, John mentions the first heaven and earth, which is what we have today. They will pass away. What we treasure today will vanish one day. Upon where here shall we put we focus?
In v.2, the new Jerusalem is where the believers dwells and it descends from the heaven to the earth. In other words, we were with Christ on the heaven before this happen (see Rev. 1-20). Then we down to the earth. The most important thing is in the new heaven and earth we are waiting for something good to happen, just like the bride who has all dressed up and waiting for the groom. This reflects the wedding tradition more like the Chinese one than the Western one. The groom visit the bride's family in the moring to take the bride with him to the wedding.
In v.3-4 we know what is the good thing. What caught my attention is v.4, all the death, mourning, crying and pain is has a root, the old order of things. What is it? In v.5, God said He has made everything new. Then what is the old? I thing it is the fact that we do have the presence of God (v.3). Surprisely, the presence of God is the most important thing to us! It is the fact that can wipe all our sorrows away! He is the one who can sastify our souls (v.6). With our souls thirsty and dry we have all the agony. We do not have the presence of God physically like the day in Rev. 21, but we have the presence of God in our heart spritually. On one hand, we look forward to those day, on the other hand, we can have a glimpse of it in our heart.
When John wrote Rev., he and the church is under persecution. The Lord comfort them for letting John to see and know about the future. The hope substains them for the hardship today. With this in mind, today passages is not only about a "paradise," but also it serves as a practical help to us today.
In v.1, John mentions the first heaven and earth, which is what we have today. They will pass away. What we treasure today will vanish one day. Upon where here shall we put we focus?
In v.2, the new Jerusalem is where the believers dwells and it descends from the heaven to the earth. In other words, we were with Christ on the heaven before this happen (see Rev. 1-20). Then we down to the earth. The most important thing is in the new heaven and earth we are waiting for something good to happen, just like the bride who has all dressed up and waiting for the groom. This reflects the wedding tradition more like the Chinese one than the Western one. The groom visit the bride's family in the moring to take the bride with him to the wedding.
In v.3-4 we know what is the good thing. What caught my attention is v.4, all the death, mourning, crying and pain is has a root, the old order of things. What is it? In v.5, God said He has made everything new. Then what is the old? I thing it is the fact that we do have the presence of God (v.3). Surprisely, the presence of God is the most important thing to us! It is the fact that can wipe all our sorrows away! He is the one who can sastify our souls (v.6). With our souls thirsty and dry we have all the agony. We do not have the presence of God physically like the day in Rev. 21, but we have the presence of God in our heart spritually. On one hand, we look forward to those day, on the other hand, we can have a glimpse of it in our heart.
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