ISSL Reflections August 7 2022 Revelation 21:1–9 Post 1

I.
Beginning this week and for the following three weeks we will turn our attention to passages from Revelation.

I suspect that by calling attention to Revelation, we will likely hear at least a few groans and some who prefer not to go there.

But maybe we need to pay attention to the words of encouragement and hope we can find there.

The seer asks us to “See, the throne of God is among mortals.

In the words given below, take your time and begin to notice what you see.

II.
Revelation 21:1-9 (New Revised Standard Version)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

III.
Of the ways the “… home of God … among mortals …” is described, what stands you to the most?

What about that image draws your attention? Does it give you hope? Does it give comfort? Does it challenge you to trust in a future promised by God?

What do you most want to experience in the “home”?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}


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