The Bible Course Ejemplo

Judgment, the City, and the Glory – a vision of New Creation  

Reflect  

Have you ever wished things could be different?  

Can you recall a moment when you thought, ‘It can’t get better than this’? 

Life is complex. We live in a beautiful and broken world.  

Revelation reminds us it won’t be always like this. There’s going to be a day when brokenness goes and all that is left is beauty. But that beauty is like nothing we’ve ever experienced here! 

What is our future home going to be like?   

Firstly, a new creation. God is not just committed to saving souls but the whole cosmos. So John sees a vision of a Garden of Eden paradise is restored. God made humans to have our feet firmly on planet earth. So that’s our future. And the resurrection of Jesus guarantees a perfect body for us. There will be no more sickness or death. What a hope! So no matter how gym-toned you are right now or how frail and sick you may feel – you are only a shadow of your future self! If you are a Christian, your best days lie ahead of you. 

Secondly, in the new creation, we see a new Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem was the urban center of the people of God. Now here in Revelation, God’s people are seen coming down out of heaven, like a New Jerusalem, to populate the pristine world, and this new world population will be one family – a truly United Nations. There will be no more wars, racism, or violence. Humanity will be ONE. In the days we live in, we need to let this future hope shape the way we live and respond to issues of racism and violence today. 

Thirdly, a New Temple. In Revelation, the dimensions of this New Jerusalem are a perfect cube. Why? That was the exact shape of the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple – God’s holy room. So, in this vision of the end, it’s as if the Holy of Holies has expanded to fill the whole cosmos. John, says: ‘I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (21.22). There’s no need for a separate building for God to live in – now the whole earth is full of God’s glory.  

What difference does this hope make today?  

Do you feel like you’re about to give up?  

Is it all too much?  

Do you wish it all could be made new?  

One day it will be.  

Till then, cling to this hope. Jesus will return.  

Respond 

Read Revelation 21 again slowly. Let your imagination open to what awaits.