December 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Revelation 21:

¹And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
²And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
³And 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.
⁴And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
⁵And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
⁶And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
⁷He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
⁸But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
⁹And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
¹⁰And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
¹¹Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
¹²And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
¹³On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
¹⁵And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
¹⁶And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
¹⁷And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
¹⁸And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
¹⁹And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
²⁰The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
²²And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
²³And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
²⁴And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
²⁵And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
²⁶And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
²⁷And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Devotional:

How could God describe to our sin-darkened minds the New Jerusalem? How could He invoke in us a response to the triumph, the beauty, and the wonder of it all? He chose to describe it as a 'bride adorned for her husband' (21:2).

One day the dwelling of God will be with men and God Himself will live with His people. They will be His people in a new sense and He will be their God in a way never before known. 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be his God, and he shall be my son' (21:7). God the Father speaks here.

What, really, is this Holy City, the New Jerusalem of which we read? 'Come hither. I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.' (21:9). 'And he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God' (21:10).

In this Book of Revelation, a book of climax, God continues His metaphors of the family. We, His church, the bride, will celebrate our marriage with the Lamb of God, His only-begotten Son, at the marriage supper! The marriage relationship, existing now in figure, will then be consummated. No more will we need to be reprimanded for spiritual adultery. Forever we will be completely true to our Husband who has always been completely true to us!