My dear readers,

(Extracts from “HEAVEN – a place, a city, a home” by E M Bounds in RPG December 1991, Edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. HEAVEN HAS NO NIGHT (Revelation 22:1-5)

What it will be in Heaven we cannot now imagine or comprehend, but we know it will be "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet 1:8), for we shall be in the very company and presence of the Lord. And what does the Psalmist David say? "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps 16:11).

Heaven, we are told, has no night. Why is this so? We can think of two reasons.
a) If God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5), and we are always in His presence (Rev 22:4), how can there be the darkness of night?

b) Night is an accompaniment of earth, a feature of the old creation. As part of the 24-hour day/night cycle, night was designed by our all-wise Maker for daily rest: the day's work is followed by the night's rest. In Heaven, earth's toil and travail are forever over, and night has for ever lost its usefulness.

No night with its dark shadow hangs as a pall over the Heavenly City. It will be the City of Light, forever free from the shades of night. In Heaven we need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light (Rev 22:5). Try and visualize a city without lamp-posts or flood-lights, and houses devoid of any lighting appliance, and for that matter, devoid of bed-rooms and beds!
In our present mortal state, we find all this bewildering and hard to grasp. But God's Word helps to clarify: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2). We shall all be changed!

THOUGHT: The City of Light is the City of Delight.
PRAYER: Lord, equip me now for the City above.

2. THERE SHALL BE NO MORE CURSE (Revelation 22:3-5)

The whole creation is under curse, the judicial sentence of the Almighty Creator in Eden's Garden. In the Genesis 3 record, we have the explanation for the present chaotic and unsettled state of the world, the social and medical problems which defy solution, and the occurrence of natural disasters around the globe. All these are the manifestations of "death" and "curse" in its many facets.

The Apostle Paul refers to this curse as the cause of the world's problems in Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." He further amplifies: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now ... waiting for the adoption, to wit (that is), the redemption of our body" (Rom 8:22,23). Left to himself man has no cure for the ills of the world.

It was for this reason that Christ came. The Creator himself came to pay the price of our redemption, and the redemption of the whole creation. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom 5:19). On the cross Jesus Christ the righteous became "the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 Jn 2:1,2). By His death "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us ..." (Gal 3:13). He took the curse away.

While the price of sin has been paid at Calvary, the work of redemption having been "finished" (Jn 19:30), nevertheless the curse will not be fully and finally removed until we arrive in Heaven. The cursed and corrupted earth is destined for destruction (2 Pet 3:10; Rev 21:1). In the new creation ("Behold, I make all things new" Rev 21:5) there shall be no more curse. Righteousness, goodness, joy and peace shall reign forever and ever.

QUESTION: Have you too been delivered from the curse?
PRAYER: Thank you Lord for your salvation so great and free.

3. KINGS AND PRIESTS OF GOD (Revelation 1:4-8; 5:9-10; 20:6)

Earth has no insight into the exalted glories which await the redeemed in heaven, no conception of the grandeur of salvation won by Jesus on the cross. Today's readings from Revelation tell one story: all who come in faith to Jesus for salvation shall be made kings and priests unto God the Father, admitted into the service of the Most High. This is the everlasting employment of the saints of God.

"... and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads" (Rev 22:3,4). Service of the most exalted kind will be our lot in Heaven. It will be one unending harmony of praise, with never a discordant note. "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev 5:9,10). Our service for God will be both on earth and in heaven.

For those who have followed the Lord faithfully to the end, "God is not ashamed to be called their God" (Heb 11:16), but owns them by sealing them with His name on their foreheads. Thus shall we forever bear the sign of His ownership, the distinctive mark of loyalty and consecration to God. God Himself, without the help of any priest or bishop, without any man-made ritual or ceremony, shall confer on each one the honour of royal appointment as kings and priests. May the Apostle Paul's words encourage today's suffering saints: "... the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18).

THOUGHT:Think of our royal appointment: OHMS, On His Majesty's Service.

God bless you dear readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor