A VIEW OF HEAVEN                                           PART 3 The past two weeks we have been discussing the view of heaven as presented by John in Revelation 21-22.   Let’s complete that today.  In Rev. 22:3-5, John references us back to the curse and the scene in the garden of Eden.  That is where Adam and Eve were cursed with suffering and death for their disobedience to God.   One of the main ideas of Jewish Apocalyptic is that paradise must be regained.  What has been at first must be again; man has been out of sorts with God, that must be put right.  As you read your Bible through, you may ask the questions, how will the story end, how will it all turn out?  It is here that we see the conclusion.   The tree of life that has been taken away from man is given back.  The curse which man has borne through all the long centuries is taken away.  Zechariah 14:11 had anticipated a time when the curse would be removed.   Here the curse means all of our physical disabilities, all the tears and sorrows and pains of this world, everything that hurts, everything that makes us weak---all this will be taken away.  It will be taken away because we will be in the presence of Almighty God the Father and the Lamb. The throne of God will be in heaven.  We are now separated from the throne of God by our sins.  We see here a picture of man as he will be on the other side, brought into perfect fellowship with God the Father.   There, as God’s servants, we will serve Him, but face to face.  In this world we can’t see God’s face.  In this world we have great weakness, not only of the flesh, but of the spirit.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”  And John elsewhere said, “we shall see Him as He is.”  Right now we can’t see Him as He is, we are separated by the flesh, by weakness, by the fact that He occupies the spiritual, and we the temporal, realm.  But someday, someday, all of these limitations will be removed and we shall see Him as He is, in all His glory. John then says, “. . . his name shall be in their foreheads.” (22:4).  This is a mark of God’s ownership, a mark of allegience.  Those who have succumbed to the temptations of the world have borne the mark of the beast on their foreheads. Christians, who have been sealed and protected by God through the persecution and the suffering on this earth, now wear proudly the name of God on their foreheads.  John is tying up some of the loose ends of symbolism that he has used throughout the book.  At the same time he gives us a scene which is so moving, so touching and suggestive that our hearts overflow as we read and think about it.  Why would anyone, after reading this want to miss heaven? Also, John says that there will be no night there.  This is very important,  John mentions this fact several times in this chapter.  Night represents evil and suffering and sin.  All of this will be taken away.  There’s no night because the Lord God will be the light.  This is an illumination not of the flesh, not of the physical eye, but an illumination of the life and the mind and the heart, an illumination which, in part, already begins here on earth as we learn and obey the will of God and practice it.  He then closes with a promise, “. . .and they shall reign forever and ever.” (22:5) Yes, God’s people will reign with God Himself.  This is not an earthly reign.  This is not a restored nation of Israel, but it is a glorification of God’s people with God.  The Scriptures give honor where honor is due, and those who have lived as God directs and have been faithful even to death receive the honor of reigning with Christ forever. It behooves us as we close this study to ask ourselves, “Is my name written there?”  We can know that it is.   How can I know my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, because my guide, the Scriptures.  The Holy Spirit, through Holy Writ, tells me how to be pleasing to God.  And my own spirit testifies to the things I have done in obedience in order to accept this grace.  The Scriptures tell us we need to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, we must be willing to turn from or repent of our sins, to confess publicly that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and be buried with Him in baptism for the remission of our sins.  From the watery grave of baptism we rise to walk in newness of life, setting firmly our feet on the road that leads to heaven. Bill Young