Revelation 21:1–7

Explore the Bible
Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, University of Mobile

The Final Act

Revelation 21:1–7

God’s New Provision (1–2)

The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Gen. 1:1). This was God’s pristine, untarnished creation. Here is where He placed Adam and Eve. They were to enjoy and have dominion over the world. Yet Adam and Eve fell short of this expectation. As a result of their sin God cursed them — He said they would die — and He cursed the earth (Gen. 3).

But this will all change one day. John has a vision of “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1). So the old, cursed world — where we presently live — will vanish. And a new creation will take its place. This is what God promises in Isaiah 65:17: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” In the new creation believers will not even remember the sorrows of the old creation.

This is all made possible through Jesus Christ. The crushing blow that Jesus dealt to Satan on the cross reverses the effects of sin and death over mankind. Believers in Jesus will be raised to dwell on a new heaven and earth. This is the future that awaits those who put their faith in Jesus. There could not be a better ending.

God’s Presence Celebrated (3–4)

God will dwell with His people in the new heavens and new earth (v. 3) as when Adam and Eve dwelled with God in the garden. It will be, if you will, life in a new Eden. Here God “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,” fulfilling Isaiah’s expectation of a new creation with no trace of sin (Isa. 25:8, 35:10, 65:19).

By this point in the story, death has been cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). So there is no way it will spoil God’s new creation. Sin will never again rear its ugly head to separate God and man. From this point on God will dwell with His people permanently.

The Promise Fulfilled (5–7)

The story that began in Genesis is now coming to an end. The old has passed and all things are being made new (v. 5).

Those who persevere in their faith in Christ “will receive an inheritance” (v. 7). What is the inheritance? It is the new heavens and earth. It is the same expectation that Paul has in Romans 4:13 in saying that Abraham and his offspring “are the heirs of the world.” Everything promised in the future world belongs to God’s children. In his commentary on Revelation, Jim Hamilton makes an important connection to what Paul says to the Corinthians: “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21–23). We now see that the story ends well for Christians. It will end exactly as God intended it. We will go from old creation to new creation, curse to redemption, sorrow to joy and separation from God to eternal union with Him.

And as the story comes to an end it makes me think that fairytales are true. They are true in the sense that they look forward to a better place and a better time, a place with no sorrow or grief, a place where love really does win. They all, in their own way, look forward to a new heaven and new earth. Here the Lord and His bride, like Cinderella and her prince, will dwell forever in perfect harmony. You can almost hear the words “and they lived happily ever after.”