Verse of the Day 12/30

Revelation 21:3-4  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God^{. 4} He will wipe away 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."    English Standard Version (ESV)

This passage in Revelation 21 speaks of the new heaven and earth, it is talking about eternity, and for those who believe and put their faith and trust in Jesus, it will be a place of no more death, pain, suffering and no more tears.

We've been considering Jesus as the Messiah, Immanuel, God with us, and these verses carry that to conclusion.  A few days ago I quoted the old hymn, Jesus, What a Friend of Sinners,  read once again that chorus and the last line:

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

We serve a risen Savior and while we celebrate Immanuel, God with us and we sings songs of praise to Him and look forward to that "end", in reality that end, the end of or earthly life is only a beginning, ushering us into a new life in a new world, a world where God dwells and is with man "continually".  We hope that the coming year will be one without personal illness, pain and tears.  If that proves not  to be the case, we can trust that we will see, we will enjoy an eternity of that with the Godhead Three in One.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Revelation 21:1-8The Message (MSG)

Everything New

21 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.

² I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.

^3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate."

^6-8 Then he said, "It's happened. I'm A to Z. I'm the Beginning, I'm the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I'll be God to them, they'll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it's Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!"