Revelation 21:1-6a (NRSV)
Read Revelation 21:1-6a on biblegateway.com
Chapter 21Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Verse 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Verse 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; Verse 4he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Verse 5And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Verse 6Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
Devotion
The New Testament begins with the promise of God’s presence: “‘The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23). And, indeed, God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus.
The New Testament also ends with the promise of God’s presence: “He will dwell with them.” God’s place has always been and will always be among God’s people. And God’s presence is not passive, but is always healing, comforting and bringing life.
God promises that this work will be made complete in the new creation: “... he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.” The healing and comfort God offers us now is a beautiful foretaste of our promised future, when the suffering of creation will pass away entirely as God makes all things new.
Prayer
Everlasting God, you have promised that death and mourning and pain will not have the final word. Send your healing into the broken places of the world, and fill us with the sure and certain hope of the joyful and eternal future that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen.