I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Rev. 21:22-23))
This will come as news to many, but in fact it should be central to the world-view of the Christian. The whole of Christian theology is based on the goodness of creation, yet the goodness of creation consists partly in this, that it points beyond itself to the new creation. It isn’t the case that the new creation was an afterthought, a Plan B once the first creation had gone so badly wrong. Human sin has meant that God’s eventual design has had to be arrived at by a long, winding and often tear-stained and blood-spattered route, the most important tears and blood being those of God himself, in the person of the lamb. But, as with the triumphant conclusion of Exodus, so with Revelation, the goal is achieved by the power of sheer mercy and grace, the mercy and grace through which creation is not abolished but fulfilled, not thrown away and replaced but renewed from top to bottom.
Wright, T. (2011). Revelation for Everyone (p. 198). SPCK; Westminster John Knox.
We close out this year and I’m as weary, if not more, than 2020. There was so much hope for 2021 just because it wasn’t 2020… except it became 2020 2.0 in a lot of ways.
Still, we walk in hope. Ending each year with reading in Revelation is HOPE. Not because I’m “rapture ready.” I’ve long ago jettisoned that flawed theology. I am anchored by Revelation and its hope. It is the hope of renewal. It is the hope that through the exhaustion of human sin and suffering and rebellion we will still see King Jesus set this right, creation will be renewed, and his presence will be fully here.
Longing for that day…
Maranatha.
Apprentice 2 Jesus 