July 31 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

By God’s Word and Spirit the world was made, and he uses the same tools to rebuild the creaking cosmos. God does not save some souls from the wreckage of the planet; instead, the whole groaning creation must be delivered from bondage by the love and power of God.

Bible Reading:

Revelation 21:22–29

Bible Text:

I did not see a temple in the city.... Nothing impure will ever enter it (Rev. 21:22, 27)

Devotional:

We do not have a blueprint of the land of hope and glory. God did permit one of his servants to glimpse what lies beyond the horizon, however. And John recorded his impressions for us.

Our new world (or country or city) will be prepared by God. That's John's first message. It won't be a Babel constructed by autonomous human beings. Nor will it be built by faithful Christians. Work we do in Christlike love does have eternal value, but the coming of the new world requires the coming of the Lord himself.

"I did not see a temple in the city," John wrote. God doesn't need a special dwelling place in the new worId because God fills all of it. The new city has no designated house of worship because all of life is worship. There won't be a Sabbath to observe. Life in the new country the Sabbath rest for God's people. Every day is Sabbath—the enjoyment of God and God's creation.

'Nothing impure will ever enter it." The difficult lessons about holy or unholy, clean or unclean are now finished. Nothing in the city will be unclean. God dwells there, and his holiness has banished all unholiness.

We are going to live there. The Lamb who died for our sins has written our names in his book. The Lord's Spirit is preparing us for our destination. Anyone who observes us closely can see that we are getting ready to live in that city.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.