10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

11 shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.

22 But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

— Revelation 21:10-11; 22-23

19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.

23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

— Romans 8:19-23

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

The New Jerusalem is believers’ ultimate eternal resting home prepared by God for them. John saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, “coming down out of heaven from God, possibly referring to a literal descent. But his description may actually be of an eternal home on a newly redeemed earth. The Greek word ‘Kainos’ used for “new,” means new in quality, or fresh. In Romans, Paul states that creation groans, eagerly anticipating God’s liberation from bondage to decay.

The eternal home Jesus promised to prepare returns God’s creation to the perfect, pristine, pure world described in Genesis. God’s redemptive plan reclaims paradise, where His people freely access the river of the water of life and the Tree of life. Our eternal home comes down from heaven because only Almighty God can regenerate a planet and a people corrupted by sin, decay, and death.