Waiting Day 15 All Of Creation: Digging Deeper

1) What is being seen, by who, and what scene precedes these verses? (verse 1 and Revelation 21:14-15)
John, Jesus’ disciple, was exiled to the Island of Patmos for preaching Christ. While there, the Lord Jesus gave him with an astounding vision meant to encourage the Church with vivid descriptions of Glory and resounding victory over Sin and Satan. (Revelation 1:1-3) John’s vision begins with strong assurance of coming victory as Jesus will surely return “coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him.” (Revelation 1:7) John pens twenty-one chapters describing the vision before his eyes as best as possible, often reminded to “write this down” (Revelation 1:11, 19, Revelation 21:5) and using descriptors such as “like” or “something like” in effort to help his audience grasp the Lord’s vision. (Revelation 9) Often John cues his audience for something new by stating, “Then I saw…” (Revelation 20:11, 21:1) This is the case for the opening of the final scene given by the Lord, not just to encourage the exile, John, but to fortify the Church. In the previous scene, Death had met its final match as it was cast into the lake of fire for eternity. (Revelation 20:14) A jubilant victory! Death has died forever! With the same breath, however, John scribbles this reality, “anyone not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the fire.” (Revelation 20:15) A sobering reminder that not all who exist and have a soul are welcomed into life. (Matthew 7:21) Only those who have trusted the One True God, acknowledging their sin and desperate need for a Savior, will be saved. (Acts 16:31) John closes this scene before transitioning with his next, “Then I saw…” with a final victory and a sobering reminder. In one sentence he urges his hearers to make certain their own salvation and give themselves entirely to Christ that more souls may be won for eternal life.

2) “New” and “passed away” seem to be significant markers in this passage; what is their purpose? (verses 1-2)
Just as a mother groans in the agony of childbirth, so the “old” grieves and aches with deep longing for redemption; we groan to be made new. Paul writes in Romans 8:19, “For the creation eagerly awaits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.” (emphasis mine) It’s painful, but we wait with eager hope, with hearts that groan, for all to be made new. Yet, for something to be made new, the old must pass away. Jesus uses this simple concept throughout His teachings to help us grasp the supernatural truth by means of a natural reality. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.“ (John 12:24) “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins…” (Mark 2:22) “Truly, I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Since Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden and humanity’s plunge into the wretched fallout of a sin nature, there has been an “old” of everything. Creation began aging, humanity began dying, death entered the world, but even so, God planned to make all things new! From the last words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, the coming newness is boldly declared, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make will remain before me – this is the Lord’s declaration — so your offspring and your name will remain. All humanity will come to worship Me…”. (Isaiah 66:22-23)

3) How is the “one who conquers” in verse 7 different from those listed in verse 8 that seem to categorize all of us? How can anyone possibly escape the destiny of burning in the second death?
John’s description of the new heavens and new earth is mind blowing! Unsurpassed beauty, perfect peace, and total lack of all pain, grief, or sadness. Every broken thing mended. Every tear redeemed and made whole. Astounding! The Lord declares Himself to be the One who has made all things new, the Author of all eternity, and the redeemer of all things. Bliss is unbound. Perfection has come, and sin is eradicated, for God dwells with mankind; all that is left is for humanity to enjoy God forever as He satisfies us freely from the water of rich, sweet LIFE. (verses 3-6) With great assurance, John writes the victorious words of God, “The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.” (verse 7) There is no better benediction! But, verse 8 comes crashing in, seemingly tearing down the beauty that was just built up, “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.” Surely all of us, though wishing we could identify as “conqueror” in verse 7, must, in the dark corners of our hearts, be forced to declare ourselves guilty of at least 1 or 2 descriptors in verse 8. Flying in the face of conqueror is “coward”. Unlike the perfectly faithful God, we are the “faithless”. Jesus said that anyone who is angry at another has committed murder in their heart. (Matthew 5:21-22) He also taught that lustful looks are equally as sinful as adultery. (Matthew 5:27) Which one of us has not worshipped someone or something by elevating it above God in our lives and so committing idolatry? Truth be told, all have lied. Which leaves all of us as earning the just punishment of burning in the lake that cannot be quenched.

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))