“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That is the first verse of the Bible; that is where everything began. The last verse of that first chapter says, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good,” Genesis 1:1, 31. It’s just like God to make everything He made “very good”!
At the end of it all, the last two chapters of the Bible show a similar world. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away …” Revelation 21:1. Then, Revelation 22:1, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” God’s original plan has not changed!
Unlike the first creation (since at that point there was only one man and one woman) the new earth contains a city.
Rev 21:2-7 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 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.
It’s time to start smiling!
And like the first creation, there is no need of a Temple!
Rev 21:22-23 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Then, in the last chapter, including the verse mentioned above, Rev 22:1-7 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
The Bible closes with the wonderful promise repeated. Rev 22:20-21 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
(Scriptures are quoted from the NASB, 1995)
Everything is About God 