The Faithful and True—The Book of Revelation
Next we come to Revelation 21:5-8:
And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
The Lord here reiterates that He is going to make all things new, as He speaks here of being the Beginning and the End. This could also be interpreted as He is the One who created all things, and He will be the One to complete all things. The Lord is the One who will write the end of this story, and it is going to be a great ending!
Even so, there is still business to take care of. First, He appeals to the thirsty to come to the"spring of the water of life", which is Jesus. There is no cost because He already paid for everything, in full—just come. No one will ever deserve it, or be given it because they are so righteous, wise, or faithful. It can only be received freely. It is His gift.
Then He speaks to the overcomers who will inherit these things—He will be their God and they will be His own children. All will be subjects of the kingdom, but the overcomers will be His heirs.
Then He lists all who will have their place in the lake of fire. This is a list that none of us want to make. This is the ultimate punishment that is final and a permanent destruction, and it begins with the cowardly. These are the ones that feared men more than they feared The Lord, as we are warned about throughout the Scriptures. When it was their opportunity to be His witness, and when such a witness was so desperately needed, they heeded their fear of man rather than the fear of The Lord. It will be better to have never known the truth than to have known it, but not stand for it.
When the evil has been vanquished and utterly destroyed, the attention is given to the main purpose for the last age—the bride, the wife of The Lamb.
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:9).
This bride has been one of the primary reasons why The Lord created the earth and mankind. His union with His bride will be one of His chief joys, as well as a chief joy of the earth. The first Adam and his bride lived in a perfect world, but chose to disobey. The last Adam will have a bride that will have walked the earth during the darkest of times. When all of the evil in creation has been cast down to the earth and opposes her with the most terrible onslaught, she will still chose to obey. For this reason, even the greatest angelic majesties will acknowledge that she is worthy to be their judges.
There is no higher calling in the universe or eternity than to be a part of the bride of Christ. How could this fail to be the chief endeavor of all who know Him? How could there be any purpose higher than helping her to “make herself ready.”
A Personal Note from Rick
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