Revelation 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.'
In heaven God acts as the eternal pastor. He's defeated the Dragon, the harlots, the beasts, and the faltering compromisers of the faith. His redemptive victory is seen in the halos his faithful overcomers have received. He wipes away every tear, and in Him he has eliminated death. No more pain, no more stress and suffering. No more calamity and persecution for his people. He makes everything new. So much so that there will not even be a remembrance of those things.
Imagine that. Uninterrupted joy.
No church PTSD.
Somehow The Father cures not only the sins of the past, but he cures the damaged mind. So much so that the people wil thirst for these precious promises. And they'll receive it because it's a free gift. They'll inherit all these things, by the right of inheritance as the sons and daughters of God. And God's prophetic promise is made even more magnificent by contrast when we read about the fate of the wicked. These compromisers must die another death after their natural death. The followers of the Devil's lies must suffer the agonies and terrors of their choices. First the natural death and then the second death with far greater terrors and agonies. They are consigned to die and to be always dying.
"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 21:8
The cowards: in the Greek deilos
Jesus used this word when he rebuked the disciples while they were sailing in the storm. He called them "ye of little faith", "why are you afraid?"
The faithless: basically the unbelievers
The destestable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars:
They are polluted with unnatural lust. Adulterers, fornicators, whores, prostitutes. Pretenders of the supernatural forces and powers, they worship pagan gods. Those who reject Jesus' truth and who make themselves apostate, they make themselves into gods of their own passions. These people are specifically prohibited from entering the New Jerusalem.
What's really going on here?
Sin ripped man out of God's garden paradise and from the presence of Him. God cannot live among the darkness, or dwell with evil, and sin. So the Lord establishes a new earth and even a new heaven as a new hone for those who have been made new, reborn ftom above, in Christ Jesus. Through the victory of Christ on the cross and the rule of his kingdom, the children of God can finally cone home. A new home in a direct and complete relationship with The Father. And meanwhile those who renounce their faith; those who are unbelievers, and who engage in the sins of the world, those who loved their life more than they loved the Lord, they will inherit an eternal deathbed in the lake of fire.
What's really going on is God overcomes the sins of mankind. And invites everyone to come into his new creation through faith in the name and redemption of Jesus Christ.
Jesus promised:
"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14)
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.." (Matthew 21:22)
And the apostolic witnesses confirmed:
1 John 5:14
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."
Acts 4:12
"there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Friends,
Hold on tight to these truths and keep your faith alive and at work, always ready for His coming. Please choose life in the new creation over the short lived pleasures of this world. Avoid the lies and snares of sin that trap the believers. Resist the devils of nature. Stay in prayer always. Lean on Jesus in your daily walk. Trust the promptings of the Spirit in your conscience. He'll goad you in the right way of things.
And I'll see you in paradise.
God bless you and keep you always in the Spirit.