Return to Eden - Revelation 21:1-8

Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. . . ..” (Revelation 21:5–6, NIV).   Thousands of years before this the Savior cried for Calvary: “It is finished.” (John 19:30, NIV). Now it is done!  John wrote, “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1, NIV).

At the beginning of the final judgement "from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. [1] Now we know what the plan is.  God has created a new heavens and a new earth. Of course this was prophesied even by Isaiah who recorded these words, ““As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.” (Isaiah 66:22, NIV).  

This new earth has "no sea."  "The allusion to Isaiah 65 and the immediate context suggest a focus on the sea as representing the threat of tribulation for God’s people, which will no longer exist in the eternal state. The assertion that “the sea is not any longer” is further explained in 21:4: “death will not be any longer, neither will there any longer be mourning or crying or pain.” [2]   This is also the culmination of the New Covenant.  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3, NIV).  Since Eden God's uninhibited presence with mankind has been non-existent.  Now God and man return to that Edenic experience of walking together in perfect communion and fellowship.

"Only God can make new. People may vainly imagine that by means of better education, a better environment, better legislation, and a more equitable distribution of wealth they are going to usher in a new era, a golden age, the Utopia of man’s ardent desire. Their dream remains a dream!" [3]

The One of the throne is God. “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 without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:6–7, NIV)

The curse of the Fall is reversed.  The creation is renewed.  God is with man.  Evil is vanquished. "Thus, just as John’s second vision had ended with the solemn note of God’s wrath poured out at a point in time on Babylon the Great (16:17–21), so now his third vision concludes." [4] 

Father it is impossible to imagine a world without sin.  It is impossible to imagine me without sin.  It is such a surreal thought to think of walking with You in the Garden.  Reunion, communion with God. This is Utopia.  What would this world be like, even in its serenity and beauty; even in its absence of sickness and sin, if You were not present?  But You are!  Today You dwell with us as a first instalment by Your Holy Spirit's indwelling.  On that day we will see You face-to-face in the fullness of Your reality and glory.  Amen.

 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2, NIV)  

 

 

  

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1.  The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Re 20:11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

2. Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (1042). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

3. Hendriksen, William (1998-06-01). More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (p. 200). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

4. Easley, K. H. (1998). Vol. 12: Revelation. Holman New Testament Commentary (397). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.