{"id":1119,"date":"2018-07-18T08:07:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T16:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2018-07-18T08:07:42","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T16:07:42","slug":"1119","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Revelation 21:1-4 Let\u2019s Talk About Forever Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revelation 21:1-4\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>Then I saw \u201ca new heaven and a new earth,\u201d\u00a0for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,\u00a0and there was no longer any sea.2\u00a0I saw the Holy City,\u00a0the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,\u00a0prepared as a bride\u00a0beautifully dressed for her husband.\u00a03\u00a0And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cLook! God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.\u00a0They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.\u00a04\u00a0\u2018He will wipe every tear from their eyes.\u00a0There will be no more death\u2019\u00a0or mourning or crying or pain,\u00a0for the old order of things has passed away.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0As previously discussed (7\/13\/18) the new comes and the old passes away.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026and there was no longer any sea\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 Many people wonder over this.\u00a0 Especially people like us who live in California and treasure living by the sea.\u00a0 Surfers especially.\u00a0\u00a0 It is where we go to admire the beauty of God\u2019s creation and to just relax.\u00a0 It seems very disappointing to many of us, especially those who like to surf, that there would be no sea.\u00a0 Yet we must remember that Revelations uses a lot symbolism. We must consider the general mindset of the people about sea at the time this was written.\u00a0 To these people, the sea was considered a place of danger, known and unknown.\u00a0 Also the sea was a symbol of constant change and turmoil (James 1:6<\/b>).\u00a0 It is also a source of evil where the beast comes out of (Revelation 13:1<\/b>).\u00a0 Evil men also are compared to it (Jude 1:13, Isaiah 57:20<\/b>).\u00a0 So while they are blessed by the seas (Fish to eat) they are also bewildered and frightened by it.\u00a0 Also the sea could be symbolic of something that separates (as continents).\u00a0 So to the Christian who lived at the time of the writing of Revelation, that a sea is not in the new world would bring comfort as God has eliminated unknown dangers, the evil and the evil men who were in the old world, uncertainties about life and concerns for safety, and the separation of God from men.\u00a0 Concerning this verse, we ought to, as always, trust God.\u00a0 We need not be concerned whether or not we will be absolutely in love with it.\u00a0 Besides, it is a much better address to have than the alternative!<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the Holy City,\u00a0the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,\u00a0prepared as a bride\u00a0beautifully dressed for her husband.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0Along with a new heaven and earth there is a new Jerusalem.\u00a0 It is a pure city that is coming directly from God.\u00a0 It is a gift from God.\u00a0 It is, as a bride is, meticulously prepared. \u00a0It will be a place of joy and celebration.\u00a0 It is a place for God and His people.\u00a0 The city, as the Bride of Christ is, has been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17<\/b>).\u00a0 The city is pure and in that way is infinitely and eternally superior to the previous earthly one.\u00a0 Just as the Holy Spirit has been within us, making us new because of the saving work of Jesus, our Savior, so God has \u201cprepared\u201d the New Jerusalem.\u00a0 At this point, we will enter into a fresh, new, wondrous city, prepared to live and serve our God forever.\u00a0 The eternal joy and rest has been consummated.\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cLook! God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.\u00a0They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In this wondrous city we shall forever live with God.\u00a0 We will see Him as we are seen by Him.\u00a0 We will live with those who love God and whose lives have born witness to the love of God within them.\u00a0 Family, we will be with God.\u00a0 Peace and joy are the only things we will know.\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 God visibly with us and us with Him.\u00a0 Our imagination cannot conceive all the beauty, wonder and peace of soul that God has awaiting us (1 Corinthians 2:9<\/b>).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will wipe every tear from their eyes.\u00a0There will be no more death\u2019\u00a0or mourning or crying or pain,\u00a0for the old order of things has passed away.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 No more tears, no more death, no more mourning, nor more crying and no more pain.\u00a0 God has already declared that our sins will no longer be remembered (Hebrews 8:12, Isaiah 43:25<\/b>) so we shall not know remorse.\u00a0 Family, the beauty, the peace, the wonder and the excitement that will be ours.\u00a0 How we forever live is beyond our imagination and, praise God that it is.\u00a0 We should daily stir up and be overjoyed at what is coming.\u00a0 It is coming soon.\u00a0 All troubles gone.\u00a0 Extra strong smile muscles.\u00a0 Laughter.\u00a0 Joy.\u00a0 Loving everyone and everyone loving us right back. Getting along\u2026wow\u2026getting along!\u00a0 It is what God has prepared for us.\u00a0 Living in the very presence of God.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 Just wow!\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 Yes, let\u2019s praise God for what is our absolute and certain destiny!\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 He is indeed, so very, very good!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revelation 21:1-4\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then I saw \u201ca new heaven and a new earth,\u201d\u00a0for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,\u00a0and there was no longer any sea.2\u00a0I saw the Holy City,\u00a0the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,\u00a0prepared as a bride\u00a0beautifully dressed for her husband.\u00a03\u00a0And I heard a loud voice from the throne…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[129,104,103,1700,2188,94,17,711],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-corinthians","tag-hebrews","tag-isaiah","tag-james","tag-jude","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-revelation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1121,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}