#59 God with Us and in Us – Revelation 21:1&3-5

Revelation 21:1&3-5 NIV - 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" …

Journal Entry # 59

How amazing it will be when God will not only live in us as He does now by His Holy Spirit, but He will also live with us. In the old testament, the Israelites carried with them the tent – and later built the temple – in which the immediate presence of God dwelled (Exodus 29:44-45). In this way, He lived with His people as He desired (Exodus 25:8 & 29:46), but He was still inaccessible to them in any intimate sense. They could not enter the holy of holies with very few exceptions (Leviticus 16:2-6). Even when the temple was built, a curtain separated the most holy place from the rest of the temple (Exodus 26:33). There was a barrier that kept God from truly living among His people. And this was for their own protection for the mortal flesh of sinful man cannot endure the full presence of the holy and living God unless God took great care to protect them (Exodus 19:21). But then God became a man and full of grace and truth, He lived among us (John 1:14) in the person of Jesus Christ. Now all who cared to could touch Him, speak to Him face to face. When Christ died, the curtain of the holy of holies tore in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:37-38) as a symbol that God was now immediately and intimately accessible to all who would come through faith in Christ. Now the Spirit of Christ lives in us, but even better things are coming. We cannot really know what it will be like then, for “no eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.(1 Corinthians 2:9)” but we know that it will be “more than we could ask or imagine”(Ephesians 3:20). In the fullest sense possible, God will be with us. The Lord says of His church, “this is my resting place forever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it. (Psalm 132:13-14)” We can be sure that this will be more immediate and intimate than we could ever comprehend. For God is a personally relational being who passionately desires a loving and intimate relationship with each of His children. Scripture says, “You must worship nothing else, for the Lord – whose very name is jealous* – is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you. (Exodus 34:14)” He loves us like a husband loves his bride (Ephesians 5:25-27) for the church is the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). When God makes all things new (v5), we will never again have a reason to cry, for all these things – death, mourning, crying, or pain – result from sin and all sin will be gone forever. As scripture says, “we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)”, and “nothing impure will ever enter it. (Revelation 21:27)” we need not fear the possibility of another fall for everyone who lives in God’s new creation will have seen the destructiveness of sin for what it is and will have no inclination toward it, being perfect in holiness and righteousness like Christ.

Come, let us pray, “Our great and amazing God, You made heaven and earth and will remake them to be prefect forever, we thank You for the promise that for all eternity You will be with us and in us. Your passionate love for us is so vast and eternal and amazing. We worship You for who You are*. Who is like You, God alone worthy, there is no one like You with justice and mercy.* Lord, simply catching a glimpse of how great is Your love for us that reaches beyond the heavens and faithfulness beyond the clouds (Psalm 36:5), we see how much You are worthy that we should love You with all our heart, soul, mind, strength (Mark 12:30). Lord, help us to love You even half as much as You love us, may we be even half as passionate about You as You are about us. May we desire to give You everything – all we are, all our love, all our lives. Lord, we groan to be fully redeemed in our bodies (Romans 8:23) and for the restoration of all things. May we watch and wait with expectant and joyful hearts for the day when You will take us home to be with You (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and then we will be like Christ, for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). We long for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! (Philippians 2:10-11) Lord, may You be glorified in Your saints now and forever! (2 Thessalonians 1:10) Amen.”

*See the songs Like No One Else, Who You Are, and Who is Like Thee.