Adventure Day 49 - Holy Saturday, 4/11/09

Revelation 21:1-27 [Today's Adventure Scripture Reading] is for me one of the most precious chapters of the Bible. When giving pastoral care to a dying brother or sister, this is often the passage I am asked to read. It is a passage of overwhelming hope. Having seen Christ's enemies destroyed, John the Apostle finally sees "a new heaven and a new earth," which is the eternal home of the Lamb and his Church. Here, the Lord "...will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (v. 4).

The great blessing of heaven will be unhindered fellowship with God himself. "God will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God" (v.3). We will also enjoy deep friendship with one another. There will be a grand uniting of Old Testament and New Testament believers (signified in the New Jerusalem - the glorified Church and "Bride of Christ" - which will have gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Judah, and foundations inscribed with the names of the twelve Apostles). The symbols that describe the "Church Triumphant" are stunning (vv.9-27), yet the actual manifest presence of God - The LORD Almighty and the Lamb - is its defining and wondrous attribute.

And who goes to this wonderful place we call heaven? "...Only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (v27). So, as I am at the bedside of a dying friend, I finish the chapter's reading with the same question I'll ask you, my reader, as I finish today's blog post...

Is your name written there?

God's Peace, friend...
Pastor Paul