Indescribable Glory - January 24 Readings: Revelation 21:1-8, 22:1-6

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage: Revelation 21:1-8, 22:1-6

Revelation 21

Then 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. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 22

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.
6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 49–50, Matthew 15:10–39, Psalm 15, Proverbs 3:19-20

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Indescribable Glory 

People have spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what the descriptions of John in Revelation mean. There is a cottage industry assigning modern-day identities to his first-century visions. Bible teachers, even conservatives, have a plethora of views of the meaning of the book and it is not the intent of a devotional to settle that here. It is my view that John saw visions of "things to come" and described them in best way he could. Words were inadequate to communicate in human language what will be experienced in eternal glory.

Revelation 21 and 22 describe heaven in the clearest terms the Bible offers, and yet most of it stills confuses us. There are descriptions of bejeweled streets and walls and dimensions are given. Most of the descriptions are negatives.

• There's no sea (21:1). This may refer to the sinful nations of the world. The roiling and political machination is gone and Jesus reigns supreme. 
• Death no longer exists (21:4). Jesus has once and for all defeated the enemy of humanity and it is no longer a threat. 
• There's no tears, grief, crying or pain (21:4). All the "former things" have passed away as the new order of things has taken over. God is now in charge and all is well. Every trace of sin, of the curse and all of its effects has been forever banished. 
• There's no sanctuary (21:22). No sacrifice or place of worship is needed. God is there personally. 
• There's no source of light - sun or moon (21:23). It's not needed because the glory of God provides all the light that is needed. 
• There's no closing time (21:25). The gates are open eternally. 
• There's nothing profane (21:27). Sin has been banished once and for all. 

Revelation 21:5 summarizes heaven's glory, the eternal purposes of God, and the reason that we have such difficulty understanding the eternal state. " I am making everything new." What awaits us is unlike anything we have ever experienced here on earth. What will be is nothing like what is.

Heaven is so outside of our experience that John could only describe it in the negative; what will not be there. What will be there? Jesus. Joy. Eternal rest. Paul promises us that our current sufferings will seem like nothing in comparison to the glories that will be revealed as we enter glory.

John struggled to describe heaven, but this we know: it is unending glory for those who are in Christ. You and I may have hard days, frustrating days, stressful days, sorrowful days, and painful days here on earth, but we know that glorious days await us at the end of it all. Whatever you are going through today you can rejoice because your future, assured in Christ, is amazing.

Thank you, Father, for the glory that awaits us in heaven. Help me to remember the future you have guaranteed me when I struggle day by day. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Think through the blessings of heaven described in Revelations 21 and 22.
Give thanks to God for the future he has prepared for you.