I recently spent several weeks listening to lectures from Dr. M. Robert Mullholland from Asbury Seminary about the book of Revelation. He had a very different viewpoint than what I have heard before. It has caused me to rethink some of my previously held views. One of the concluding statements that is made in that class is that Revelation is a call to discipleship to live as faithful followers of Christ and citizens of New Jerusalem in a fallen Babylon world. There are several other conclusions that I made.
I don't know if you have ever gone to a worship service and felt dissatisfied with it. You walk away feel like there must be something more and feel like while it was nice that there was something missing. Maybe you felt like you really didn't meet with God, but only heard a viewpoint from a man or woman who was speaking. Well, the good news of this passage is that this will one day change. One day as citizens of New Jerusalem we will dwell with God and our worship of Him will be face to face and no longer missing anything. Revelation 22:3-4 says
"And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and HIs name shall be on their foreheads."
This longing for something more will one day be fulfilled by God himself. The second thing is that one day God will have the final word in his creation and make things right. Even the best leaders of our country when you look back on history have had major weaknesses. Whether it is JFK who was incredibly unfaithful to his spouse and use to sneak women up the back steps of the White House to Nixon who created Watergate and resigned in disgrace or other mistakes that leaders have made. We aren't to put our ultimate hope in a world leader or party. Don't pin all your hopes to some man who makes mistakes.
While it is true that I am an American citizen, there is a sense in which all of us who are believers have a dual citizenship. We are not only citizens of this country, but also of New Jerusalem. We see our first glimpse of this in Revelation 21:1-2. In it the tabernacle or dwelling place of God dwells among men. It goes on to say,
"And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." vs.4
Several times then Jesus issues the invitation to drink of the water of life without costs Rev 21:6, 22:17. This book of Revelation is very difficult to understand. It takes a serious student of the Bible who can look at the history and think about what John's original readers would have thought of this and how they would have interpreted it. I heard someone say that the theme of Revelation really is the throne of God. I don't think that is far from the mark. This book begins and ends with a picture of the risen Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end Rev 1:8; 22:13. That while we live in a fallen world that is very much an adulterous and wicked generation we are called to live as citizens of a different kingdom. A kingdom of New Jerusalem, loyal to the Lamb, in the midst of a fall Babylon world.
Revelation 21:4 also mentions that there will no longer be any death. Death robs all of us of loved ones interrupting our lives and creating an emptiness. We miss those who have passed on before us. Even Dr.Mulholland who taught the class I mentioned passed away years ago. I am only able to see his lectures due to the fact that they were taped. In Revelation 20:10 we see that the evil one is thrown into the lake of fire where he is tormented forever. While at times it looks as though evil people win, that is only an illusion. Satan is an enemy who has been beaten by the cross and resurrection of Jesus. The citizens of New Jerusalem whose names are in the Lamb's book of life will one day be victorious. The church will one day worship in God's presence fully victorious. It says of Death
"And death and Hades (the grave) where thrown into the lake of fire. This the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Rev 20:14-15.
