Revelation 22:1-5
True Life
Jesus said to the Jews, “I came that [my sheep] may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). In this passage we see not only abundant but that rich eternal life that God gives his people in heaven. As our Creator and Redeemer, life is God’s greatest gift. God’s will from the beginning was life eternal, but we brought death and corruption upon ourselves through sin. God then rescued us from death and hell through His Son’s blood. Heaven is now the supreme place of life as only those who shall live forever may reside there. In that place is the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal.” And note that this river flows “from the throne of God and the Lamb.” God and the Lamb are the source of life both here and there, but there we shall experience life in that glorified state which only God and the Lamb can afford. In addition to the river of life is the tree of life which I take to be the same as the one in Eden. It yields fruit each month. There are a number of passages suggesting that we shall eat and drink in heaven—not that we should be subject to weaknesses such as hunger and thirst as we are in this world, but that we should partake of eternal refreshment. Even the leaves of the tree are medicinal. That’s what salvation is: healing. And that’s what we shall be in heaven—healed—our souls healed such that we should be free from sin and our bodies healed no longer bearing sins results.
Sin brought the curse upon the world—sickness, disease, sorrow, poverty, hurricanes, drought, famine—the whole range of all the things we suffer, and, of course, death. None of these things shall be in heaven, for sin—their origin—shall no longer dwell within us. And as was said in the passage before, nor shall heaven need sun or moon, for the Lord God is the light.
There is one more beautiful thing we should note—two actually: 1) We shall see His face; and, 2) His name shall be on our foreheads. Moses once said when enraptured for love of God: “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). God told him that no one could see His face and live but instead hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and let him see His “back,” which I take to mean one-nth of God’s glory. But in heaven, God will make us so that we shall be able to see His face and withstand the glory, for He shall have glorified us by placing His name—His character—upon us. (Before in chapter seven, He had placed His “seal,” on our foreheads which is His ownership—which is wonderful enough—but in heaven, His very “name!”) And we shall reign with Him “into the ages of ages,” the Greek says. This is life, the life God intended for us, the life He will share with us—and God will not be denied.