“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
Revelation 22:1-5
It is so inspiring and beautiful how the Bible ends! While the book of Revelation is filled with terrifying judgment, the Bible does not end on that note. It ends with re-creation and a final invitation.
The passage above has numerous ties back to Genesis one and two.
- The river of life — four rivers flowed out from Eden. Jesus alone offers the water of life!
- The tree of life, from which mankind has been cut off since the rebellion of Adam and Eve, is again accessible to us!
- Fruit from the tree — not forbidden and not just one kind but twelve kinds of fruit and also special leaves for healing (not for covering sin).
- No curse and no separation from God as when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, but union with God on His throne with unlimited opportunity to worship in a glorified temple.
- Not only will we see God, but His name will be on our foreheads forever identifying us as belonging to Him!
- Light. No darkness, no chaos, no danger or temptation or death. Just as Jesus spoke light into existence, so His light will illumine the new creation forever.
- And we will reign with Christ as Adam and Eve were supposed to from the beginning!
Check out how the Bible Project presents the union of heaven and earth that started in the Garden of Eden and will be perfectly ours in the new creation!
Jesus is uniting, reconciling and restoring all things right now through the church. When He returns He will finish that work completely.
“Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him… And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
Ephesians 1:9-10, 22-23
For now we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. For eternity we will reign with Jesus over the new world.
“He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.”
Ephesians 4:10
This is why it’s no surprise that Jesus chose as His mission statement Isaiah 61.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Isaiah 61:1-2a
Now is the time of God’s favor. Now is the time of rebuilding. We are the servants of the Lord joining Him in the work of prayerfully bringing the kingdom into this dark and broken world. Thankfully, there are promises all over Scripture that our work cannot fail (because it is God’s work in and through us)!
“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
Isaiah 61:11
Where can you bring light into darkness today? Where can you bring healing where there is pain today? On our own we can do nothing, but as we abide in Christ He will bear much fruit through us. Look at how the Bible ends:
“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
Revelation 22:17
This calls back to Isaiah 55 and Jesus’ application of it with the Samaritan woman in John 4. For now the water of life remains available to any who are thirsty enough to come to Jesus to drink. To whom can you offer this water today?