What Will Be
February 6, 2016
Read: Revelation 22:1-5 | Bible in a Year: Exodus 39–40; Matthew 23:23-39
No longer will there be any curse.
Revelation 22:3
You and I have something in common. We live in a mixed-up, tarnished world and we have never known anything different. Adam and Eve, however, could remember what life was like before the curse. They could recall the world as God intended it to be—free of death, hardship, and pain (Gen. 3:16-19). In pre-fall Eden, hunger, unemployment, and illness did not exist. No one questioned God’s creative power or His plan for human relationships.
The world we have inherited resembles God’s perfect garden only slightly. To quote C. S. Lewis, “This is a good world gone wrong, but [it] still retains the memory of what ought to have been.” Fortunately, the cloudy memory of what the earth should have been is also a prophetic glimpse into eternity. There, just as Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, believers will see His face and serve Him directly. There will be nothing between God and us. “No longer will there be any curse” (Rev. 22:3). There will be no sin, no fear, and no shame.
God promises us eternal life in Heaven with Him.
The past and its consequences may cast a shadow on today, but a believer’s destiny carries the promise of something better—life in a place as perfect as Eden.
Dear God, help me to remember that even though this world does not measure up to Your original design there is much to enjoy and much to do for You and others. Thank You for the promise of life with You in a perfect setting.
One day God will put everything right.
INSIGHT:
In this description of our eternal home, what will be absent from that place is as important as what will be present. Notice that in verse 3 we are told that there will be no more curse, and verse 5 adds that there will be no more night. The curse of sin will no longer be present because sin and its consequences will be removed forever. There will be no more night or darkness because we will dwell perfectly and eternally in God’s wonderful light. No more curse and no more darkness. Our eternal home will clearly be a marvelous place!
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
February 6, 2016
Read: Revelation 22:1-5 | Bible in a Year: Exodus 39–40; Matthew 23:23-39
No longer will there be any curse.
Revelation 22:3
You and I have something in common. We live in a mixed-up, tarnished world and we have never known anything different. Adam and Eve, however, could remember what life was like before the curse. They could recall the world as God intended it to be—free of death, hardship, and pain (Gen. 3:16-19). In pre-fall Eden, hunger, unemployment, and illness did not exist. No one questioned God’s creative power or His plan for human relationships.
The world we have inherited resembles God’s perfect garden only slightly. To quote C. S. Lewis, “This is a good world gone wrong, but [it] still retains the memory of what ought to have been.” Fortunately, the cloudy memory of what the earth should have been is also a prophetic glimpse into eternity. There, just as Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, believers will see His face and serve Him directly. There will be nothing between God and us. “No longer will there be any curse” (Rev. 22:3). There will be no sin, no fear, and no shame.
God promises us eternal life in Heaven with Him.
The past and its consequences may cast a shadow on today, but a believer’s destiny carries the promise of something better—life in a place as perfect as Eden.
Dear God, help me to remember that even though this world does not measure up to Your original design there is much to enjoy and much to do for You and others. Thank You for the promise of life with You in a perfect setting.
One day God will put everything right.
INSIGHT:
In this description of our eternal home, what will be absent from that place is as important as what will be present. Notice that in verse 3 we are told that there will be no more curse, and verse 5 adds that there will be no more night. The curse of sin will no longer be present because sin and its consequences will be removed forever. There will be no more night or darkness because we will dwell perfectly and eternally in God’s wonderful light. No more curse and no more darkness. Our eternal home will clearly be a marvelous place!
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
