Scripture: Revelation 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Devotional: We know that after Jesus returns, there will be a new heaven and new earth. But what exactly does that mean? Scripture gives us some great imagery of it, though it is important to understand that the John, the writer of Revelation, uses symbols and metaphors in his description of the new heavens and new earth because he is trying to explain the unexplainable. Our minds and hearts can only grasp so much in our human form, and the same was true of John. As such, he uses familiar terms and depictions of things that will help us make sense of what is to come to the best of our abilities.
One of the first comparisons that John makes is to the Garden of Eden. In the original creation account in the book of Genesis, we read about how God created the heavens and the earth, he created light, he created land and sea, and he created all of the living creatures. And then he created mankind. God declared all of this “good” and mankind “very good.” Then, sin entered the world. And the curse of God on this earth ensued.
But we see in Revelation, that as the new heaven and new earth come, the Garden of Eden is restored. The tree of life is there, consistently producing fruit because it has access to the river of life. This river and tree can sustain and nourish all of the new creation because it flows from the presence of God Himself. The curse is reversed. The place that God created for Adam and Eve to dwell in His presence and walk in intimacy with Him is now restored. With the new Garden of Eden, we all have the opportunity to live in eternal paradise with God.
Reflect:
- What do you imagine the Garden of Eden looked like?
- When you think of God restoring the Garden, how do you imagine it? We obviously do not know, other than to know that creation will be restored to how it was originally designed and will be a paradise we get to live in.
- Thank God that we get to experience His presence now by way of the Holy Spirit and that we look forward to living in eternity with Him.