Eden Restored
12/26/25 Bible Thought (Revelation 22)
God’s plans in history will be brought to His ordained conclusion.
A Look at Revelation 22
As we turn our eyes to the final chapter of the Bible, we see that the original Edenic vision of creation is finally restored.
We see the centrality of our enthroned God with unveiled access to Him—even beholding His face! Furthermore, the river and tree of life show us that God’s creative purposes have come full circle.
I cannot think of anything on earth that compares to the vision of the new Jerusalem in Revelation. Surely a lot of the language John uses is symbolic simply because human beings don’t have words sufficient to express the glorious future that is to come!
No longer will there be anything accursed (Rev. 22:3), and the effects of the fall will finally be swallowed up in a new creation in which righteousness dwells.
The deadness of winter will be no more, for the tree of life will always bear fruit (Rev. 22:2), and there will be no more night (Rev. 22:5). The inextinguishable light of Christ will have triumphed once and for all over all darkness (see Jn. 1:5).
As we see the end of the story, it should help us to heed the apostle Paul’s admonition to “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). It should remind us that we were created for another country (Heb. 11:16).
Christ’s coming and the dawn of recreation are imminent.
Since the resurrection, we’ve been living in the last days. Each generation has had reason to believe that the end of all things was at hand, for it is. One scholar has helpfully noted, “The biblical warnings involve a spiritual and moral tension of expectancy and perspective.”[1]
Bringing it Home
As we are generally consumed with the hustle and bustle of life and our earthly plans, let us remember that all that is down here is temporary, and that which is true life is still to come.
Let us then, take heed, for He is coming at an hour we do not expect (Matt. 24:44).
Now, while this should not cause us to live with an escapist mentality where we don’t save for retirement or put a new roof on our house, it should cause us to reorient our priorities and ensure our lives are first and foremost devoted to His purposes.
As we find ourselves in the in-between, let us retain our hope, and let us retain the two-fold message of “come” that is found in this passage.
The Spirit and the Bride (the church) say come: the one who is thirsty can come and drink the water of life freely without price (Rev. 22:17).
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. We have a window of mercy between the two advents that will one day be closed; let us heed this time well and invite others to wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
Secondly, the church’s message is come: Come Lord Jesus. This initial cry of the church in Aramaic was Maranatha. A word that should frequently be on our lips, too. We should all be eager for God’s purposes to be finally fulfilled.
On that day, if we have trusted in Christ and been counted amongst the redeemed, we will enjoy an eternal Eden, and that hope should strengthen us to persevere until then, no matter what comes our way.
Challenge for Today:
Do I think regularly of the new creation that is coming and the return of Christ, or do I get distracted and consumed with matters of this life?
[1] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), 290.