EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS
Revelation 22:1-5, 20 NKJV
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
It’s probably a good thing that the Lord does not share too much about what eternity will be like. We all may want to check out early, and we still have work to do down here. I do appreciate what is revealed.
For example, the pure river of the water of life that flows from the throne and is clear as crystal. That must be beautiful. The thought struck me as I read this chapter of how clean things will be in heaven and in the new earth. With no curse and decay, there will be no dirt, fading or anything putrid or rotting. No garbage, clutter, germs, or anything stinky. What a blessing that will be.
And from what I can discern, there will be no sun or nighttime. God will be the light. No lamps or need for streetlights because the darkness will be no more. This is really going to be something. Just another good reason to share the good news all over the world so that everyone has an opportunity to receive Christ as Savior and reign with Him forever.
And the tree of life beside the river of life with fruit every month. I wonder if the fruit changes, giving new meaning to the fruit of the month club. And with leaves that are for the healing of the nations. Who the nations are that will need healing is a bit beyond me, but the fact that the God that healed long ago still heals today and will be healing in the future. Our God is good!
As John concludes the Revelation, Jesus reminds him twice that He is coming quickly. We can see that Heaven’s quickly is far different from earth’s quickly. But if Jesus was coming quickly in the day John wrote these words, how much closer are we today! And Jesus will be coming back. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, gave us additional insight into Jesus’ return. In Acts 1:9-11 ESV, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
To the disciples and people who watched Jesus ascend and heard the words of the angels, Jesus was coming again and soon. This may have been the reason for the urgency we see in the early church. They were preparing for their Lord to come back anytime. With Jesus coming back so soon, the need for long-term planning went out the window. Remember, the early church had many who sold all their material goods and created a common supply that took care of everyone. But after many years, it dawned on the church that Jesus was coming again, but not as soon as they thought. We do not find any other occurrences of a community pool of funds and everyone having all things common.
Peter warns in his second letter to not say that the Lord is not coming. Paul makes it even more clear that the Lord is returning in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
So, if this day is in our day or after we have departed this earth for heaven, the Lord is coming back. And we will always be with the Lord. These are comforting words. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”