Tagged: return of Christ
The Restoration of Eden
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.
Old Testament scholar Sandra Richter writes:
[E]verything that lies in between Eden’s gate and the New Jerusalem, the bulk of our Bibles, is in essence a huge rescue plan. In fact, we could summarize the plot line of the Bible into one cosmic question: “How do we get Adam back into the garden?” In Genesis 3, humanity was driven out; in Revelation 21-22, they are welcomed home.
The Garden of Eden is a temple where humans enjoy face-to-face friendship with their creator. The Fall results in human banishment from Eden and a divinely prescribed distance between holy God and sinful people. Even Moses, the great lawgiver, is forbidden to see the face of God because God has declared, “No one may see me and live” (Exod. 33:20 NIV). Moses is allowed only to see God’s back as he passes by (v. 23). In the ancient world, criminals are banished from the presence of the king and not allowed to see his face, an apt picture of our separation from God (Esth. 7:8; cf. 2 Sam. 14:24).
John asserts that no person has seen God at any time. Even so, Jesus has declared God as deity veiled in human flesh (John 1:18). Jesus teaches that only the pure in heart will see God (Matt. 5:8). So, consider the transformation that takes place when the redeemed in eternity see God face-to-face and become like him (1 John 3:2).
Continue reading Lifting the Curse
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.
In the midst of John’s blissful vision of the new heavens and earth, he records these simple but profound words: “and there will no longer be any curse” (Rev. 22:3). What’s the curse to which John refers? And who or what causes the curse to end?
John’s reference to the curse takes us back to Genesis 3 and the Fall. There, Adam’s sin plunges all creation into a morass of death and decay. John also whisks us through the pages of the Old Testament, where we see the parallel tracks of sin’s destruction and God’s promise of a virgin-born redeemer.
And he reminds us of the New Testament truth that Jesus of Nazareth burst onto the scene two thousand years ago, divinely conceived, perfect in humanity, and sent into a world sagging beneath the weight of sin. The Messiah’s sinless life and finished work on the cross conquer Satan, sin, and death, and his promise to return enables us to rest in the certainty that the curse cannot last forever.
Continue reading Features of New Jerusalem: Part 4
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.
In the previous posts (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3), we explored some key features of New Jerusalem. We conclude this study now.
New Jerusalem features a river, a broad street, a tree, and a throne (Rev. 22:1-5).
The first five verses of the final chapter of Revelation describe four prominent objects in New Jerusalem.
A river
First, the river of living water. John describes the water as “clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street” (vv. 1-2). Just a few verses earlier, the one seated on the throne says, “I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life” (Rev. 21:6).
This promise draws deeply from the Old and New Testaments and speaks of eternal life received by God’s grace through faith. The Greek word potamos is translated “river,” “flood,” or “stream” and is used metaphorically in John 7:38 to describe the blessing of eternal satisfaction found in Christ.
Continue reading Features of New Jerusalem: Part 3
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.
In the previous posts (Part 1; Part 2), we explored some key features of New Jerusalem. We continue this study now.
New Jerusalem lacks a temple, stellar lights, a closing time, and anything unclean (Rev. 21:22-27).
After a detailed description of New Jerusalem’s exterior, John turns his attention inside the city walls. He notes first of all the absence of a temple “because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (v. 22).
Historical Jerusalem is known as the city of God because his presence resides there in the temple (1 Kings 8:10-13). The people of God approach him through a mediator, a high priest who offers atoning sacrifices for the peoples’ sins in the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement.
The atoning blood is carried through a thick veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat, above which the Shekinahglory blazes. There, the wrath of God is satisfied and his mercy is extended to sinful creatures. All of this activity inside the cube-shaped holy of holies bears forward-looking significance. The day is coming when God himself provides a sacrifice – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Continue reading Features of New Jerusalem: Part 2
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.
In the previous post, we began to explore some key features of New Jerusalem. We continue this study now.
New Jerusalem is arrayed with God’s glory.
John writes of New Jerusalem, “Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (21:11). The most significant quality of New Jerusalem is stated at the outset: it is the radiance of God, the sign of his visible presence.
As in the burning bush, the pillar of cloud and fire, the Shekinah glory in the holy of holies, and the brilliance of Jesus’ presence on the mount of transfiguration, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Isaiah foretells the work of the divine warrior who penetrates the earth’s spiritual darkness (Isa. 59:17-21). As a result, Isaiah exults, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you” (Isa. 60:1).
In a similar fashion, Ezekiel sees the glory of God returning through the eastern gate of the temple, from which the glory had earlier departed. He describes it in these terms: “I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of a huge torrent, and the earth shone with his glory” (Ezek. 43:2).
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