HAPPY ENDING
Bible: Revelation 22:1-7
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb . . . On each side of the river stood the tree of life.
Revelation 22:1-2
Reading
The story of the Bible ends up very much where it began. The broken relationship between God and human beings has healed over at last, and the brokenness of Genesis 3 is finally fixed. Borrowing images from the Garden of Eden, Revelation pictures a river and a tree of life (REVELATION 22:1-2; SEE GENESIS 2:9-10). But this time a city replaces the garden—a city filled with people who love God. No death or sadness will ever darken that scene. When we wake up in the new heaven and new earth, we will have a happy ending at last.
Heaven is not an afterthought or an optional extra. It is the place we were made for. The Bible never minimises our pain, anxiety, depression, loneliness or issues. No book in history is as understanding and honest as the Bible. But it does add one key word: temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. The time for the new heaven and new earth will come. Every wrong will be made right. God’s world will once again be “very good” (GENESIS 1:31) If you feel trapped in your school, with the people you hang out with, in your family, in your mental health—heaven promises a future of health and wholeness and happiness and peace. The Bible begins with the promise of a Rescuer in the book of Genesis (3:15) and ends with that same promise (REVELATION 21:1-7)—a guarantee of future reality. The end will be the beginning.
Completing the picture . . .
In a sense, the story of the Bible is a tale of three trees. The first tree: In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life, because they wanted to be their own bosses. The second tree: Jesus came to pay for their sin (and our sin) in full. He took on the “curse” of sin for us by dying on the cross, “For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (GALATIANS 3:13 NLT). The third tree: Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are now invited again to the tree of life in heaven. “The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse” (REVELATION 22:2-3).
YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries
HEAVEN PROMISES A FUTURE OF HEALTH AND WHOLENESS AND HAPPINESS AND PEACE.
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