Revelation 21:5-8

These passages from here on are very different from the dark and terrible judgements we saw in earlier chapters of the book of Revelation. In Isaiah 28:21 (KJV), it says, “For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” This strange work and act are referred to in what Isaiah says by way of warning of God’s judgments. These are things that are rare and unusual for God. The word Perazim itself in Hebrew means “breakthrough,” as in the floods break through the dam. Isaiah here is making a statement to all that will trust in a false security and mock those who speak against it (in God’s favour) will learn a very painful lesson about God’s sovereignty, and I suspect it will be very sudden and overwhelming from its usage there.

We can know from Joshua 9 that God will be made angry by His people by making an agreement (I think this is the “covenant with death” that Isaiah is speaking about in verses 15-18 in the same chapter that God will cancel, probably with this massive and overwhelming sudden breakthrough) with an enemy of God. When Joshua made an agreement to leave the Gibeonites in peace, it was contrary to what God had told him. The Gibeonites, or Hivites, used deceit to make this agreement, and were ultimately held to account as they became the long-standing slaves of Israel instead of just getting away without fighting. They became “hewers of wood and drawers of water,” according to Joshua 9. Is there enough symbolism to make this a type or shadow of the coming agreement with the Antichrist? I’m uncertain, but there is a kind of parallel.

All I can really say for certain is that, speaking from these Old Testament metaphors, It seems that God will bring about His wrath as a result of these things, and that is what we read about earlier in the book itself. These are unusual works for a compassionate God, who still clearly has limits, and that limit seems to be about hos the nations treat what He has clearly identified as what and who are His. That is where we have been. Starting with last time we met, we began to see how God will be in eternity with His chosen people.

Last time, we saw How the Creator, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, according to John 1:1-3, will be making all things new, not as in never-before-seen, but rather will be making them of new quality and meaning for the enjoyment of all. I call that a renewal, but I could be corrected about my word use. At any rate, it is because He, the living God, will be with us in person, and there will be no more separation between Heaven and Earth, because our Lord and King will now live with us, His people, in person.

Our text this evening shows us what it will now be like at what I am calling the beginning of the Eternal state of humanity. It is a glorious theme, and one that makes me long for that time even more than I do every day now. I suppose you could call my state “homesick.” I know I long for that kingdom, I long to serve my King, free of all the current trouble and pain, both physical and spiritual. I have no idea how that will affect me, but I know it will be worth anything I must endure here and now. I trust I am not the only one that longs, even thirsts, for this.

That all said, we should get into the text of the study. I divided the text into thought units as follows:

KV5: The Beginning of Eternity

5: And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

5: A Renewed Creation

6: Who is the One True King?

7: Who are the King’s Followers?

8: Who are the Disqualified?

I think it is here, after the global, perhaps universal conflict, is where I have the most clear view of the character of our Lord and King. We see His love for us in every detail He gives in the text. We see His benevolence toward us as His people in His gracious words and acts. We see the King who has now finished putting things right, and He has invited us all to be His citizens and servants, for eternity, and your mom or dad can’t call you home when it gets dark, because it is never going to get dark again. Let’s get into the text.

KV5: The Beginning of Eternity

5: And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Here, at the very beginning of eternity, everything has been renewed, and we are reading about new things, new relationships, new character of heart, new names, new states of being, new ways of doing things, seeing things, being in things, all in a new capital city, the New Jerusalem. I guess it all has to start somewhere, but I suggest that it first starts in our here and now, in our already/not yet kingdom of Christ, in our hearts and minds as they are renewed day by day. All of everything we are, have, and do is meant to drive us toward this end goal of living in His presence and serving Him for all eternity, in a perfect unity that much of Scripture speaks of in metaphorical detail. I invoked an old hymn last time: Where Jesus is, ’tis Heaven there. “What matters where on earth we dwell? // On mountain top, or in the dell, // In cottage, or a mansion fair, // Where Jesus is, ’tis heaven there. // O hallelujah! yes, ’tis heaven, // ’Tis heaven to know my sin’s forgiven; // On land or sea, what matters where? // Where Jesus is, ’tis heaven there.”

The text implies very strongly that we will be living on Earth, perhaps in the city of New Jerusalem itself. But does it really matter where it is if Christ is there in person? Maybe it does, but not to me. As long as I will be with Him, the one who paid the price for me, who cancelled the certificate of debt against me by nailing it to the cross in His own body, I don’t care where we are. I also got the impression things may be very different, but I don’t want to speculate, so I will leave that alone if I can. We will jump into our text now.

5: A Renewed Creation

Let’s get right into the verse:

5: And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Our Creator will re-make everything again, only this time without the curse. The first sentence in this portion is from He who sits on the throne, and He says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Do I need to point out that He is still on the throne He was on in the last chapter? The one who sat on the θρόνον μέγαν λευκὸν is still sitting there. I have shared this before, but back on the farm, we only got to sit down when the work was finished. Beloved, His work is done, and it was done so well, He sits on a great (in terms of rank or position, remember), glowing (leukon can be considered to be glowing, though it would not surprise me to learn it is actually made of light) chair (throne).
There is a symmetry here as well. God’s bookshelf begins with Genesis, and the very first verse starts with God creating the heavens and the Earth. Our Lord apparently will conclude the story of the ages of Earth the same way: He will create a new Heaven and a new Earth, and according to Peter (2 Pet. 3:13), “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Beloved, He doesn’t need that world, He existed before it and created it out of nothing. He created it for us.
We need to remember that “new” here is the Greek word καινὰ, not νήα, the other word for “new.” The first word means “…that which is unaccustomed or unused, not “new” in time, recent, but “new” as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old,” according to Vine. The latter word means new in time, as in previously unknown. The word used here is reflective more of a change in form or quality. Some, like John MacArthur, have suggested from the text that life will no longer be based on the model we have now, where most things are water. I have no idea if He was correct, but I am certain that things will be different than they are now, and we will discover those things when we are there.
The next phrase out of the mouth of Jesus are amazing: “These words are faithful and true.” The word πιστοὶ is the masculine plural nominative adjective of “words,” and carries the meaning of trustworthy, as well as certain or sure. The words may be relied on as certain based on the nature of the speaker, who we know to be Christ. The word for “true” is ἀληθινοί. It is also the masculine plural nominative adjective modifier of “words,” and has the meaning of “real, ideal, and genuine.” I think the phrase I used to use for this is, “you can take this to the bank.” I know, I know, financial institutions serve a different master, but the parallel is there.

I consider this the beginning of a believer’s personal eternity with Christ. It begins in an entirely new reality than what we have now, and only righteousness will dwell there. In our text, we have only the most minimal of views, but it should inspire great hope and joy in your heart. If it does not, I won’t say you aren’t saved, but I would start asking questions that are designed to pull out that information, and maybe even preaching to you the gospel of repentance and faith. We would want to be certain you know the One True King. So who is this One True King? Next paragraph.

6: Who is the One True King?

I know, I know, it seems a bit redundant to go on and on about our Lord, but it is Him! Our Lord Jesus! The one who died in our place and then rose again from the grave to prove He had paid for our sins. However, there is a great deal more to this than just semi-emotional fondness. This One True King has shown Himself to be the real thing, and better than Coca-Cola, that “real thing” from the 1960s and 1970s. Let’s get into it.

6: Then He said to me, “ It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

The first thing we see is that He tells us who He is, and He uses very specific terms and names for Himself, which has meaning. The first thing He says is, “It is done.” I realize this sounds similar to “It is finished,” a form of the Greek word τέλειος (τετέλεσται). It is not, however! And I think that although it does include this idea, it means SO much more. The word in Greek is γέγοναν, the perfect-tense form of the active, indicative 3rd-person plural verb γίνομαι. The meaning here is “to become, to come into existence like a plant grows.” It is related to the verb εἰμί, meaning “to be.” The first person of to be is “I am.” Relax, He hasn’t precisely said it, but it is related. I think He is beginning to name Himself with the reference.
Then He says, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Those familiar with this will recognize the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet as an object lesson, and in case it wasn’t clear that He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, He says it here. For those that say Jesus is not God, you are incorrect. Isaiah 44:6 uses that kind of language when it says, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.’” Did you catch that? GOD said that. If it was only used in this place in Isaiah (it is not), I might agree, but there is another important use you need to see. Revelation 1:17 says, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last…’“. Who is this speaking? The next verse tells us, because it is a continuation of the same sentence. “and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Wait a minute: Who was dead and the rose from the dead? Beloved, I can name a few. The son of Shunamite woman. Lazarus. There may have been others. None of them could come back on their own, they didn’t have the keys. There is only One who did, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything, every life begins with Him, and everything, every life, ends with Him. And now, because He promised, none of us will end after this point in human history. We will be in and with our beginning and end, our Alpha and Omega.
He will give to whoever thirsts to drink from the spring of the water of life. I think this phrase is here to be an encouragement of our future. Now, we may only sip from the stream of the water of life. Then, we will drink from the spring, the actual source of the water of life, which I believe to be a metaphor for Christ, among other things. Is there a spring? I do not know. I grew up on a farm with a spring, and it was our source of water. It was crystal clear at the source. It was way deeper than it looked. It looked about 3 feet deep, but in reality it was 10-15 feet deep. It was about 4℃ year-round. It never froze, and it couldn’t be heated. It was refreshing. It also supplied the nearby airport with water. Everyone in the area benefitted from it. Imagine that spring of the water of life, open to any who wish to drink from it. I will say again, I see it as a metaphor for Christ. Some have suggested that it represents eternal life, and I do not disagree, but I see Christ as the source of that life.
He gives to drink of that spring FREELY. The Greek here is the adverb δωρεάν, meaning “a gift,” or as one commentator put it, “gratuitously.” It is a word based in the Latin gratia, that is, grace. This gives a very fresh meaning to eating His body and drinking His blood in communion with the saints, does it not? It speaks to at least a metaphorical presence of Christ in the elements when they are taken in worship of Him. I do think of the communion, the Lord’s Table, as an actual remembrance and a metaphor for the presence of Christ in that sharing. I’m not going to get into a discussion on the real presence versus memorial observance at this time. We might have a discussion on this at some point.

Suffice it to say that our One True King is our Lord Jesus Christ. At this time, there will not be a person alive who does not know and love Him for who He is and what He has done for us. Our King is also our God, the one to whom we owe all our obedience and worship, now and forevermore. However, having seen our Lord and King, we must see the other people groups that the text will introduce. Next thought unit.

7: Who are the King’s Followers?

We have seen the King, but the citizens of His kingdom are also seen, and in fact, introduced in terms of qualifications of the citizens of the realm. Hint: it isn’t rocket science, and it isn’t a trick question.

7: He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

Right at the beginning of the verse, we see the sorting qualification of the citizens of the King. If the words themselves mean anything, and they always do as far as I am concerned, they overcome. What did they overcome? Through Christ, they overcame the world, the flesh and the devil. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. These are the same things that caused the fall of humanity in the Garden, and these are the same things that Christ faced when Satan confronted Him in the wilderness at the end of a 40-day fast. In fact, if overcoming is a requirement for citizenship in His eternal kingdom, it means that the struggle against sin, Satan, and the world isn’t just “in the way” of the Christian, it means that it is necessary in the here and now. One commentary puts it like this: “Thirsting for salvation is the first beginning of, and continues for ever (in the sense of an appetite and relish for divine joys) a characteristic of the believer. In a different sense, the believer ‘shall never thirst.’“
In fact, verses 7 and 8 can be seen as a distinction in the results of the choice to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ or to live for the comforts of this world and the ease which can be afforded by choice. Will you be a victorious overcomer, rich in faith and courageous in your choices to stand for Christ and His standards and laws? If you make that choice, Jesus says that you will inherit all the benefits and privileges that go with it.
What is more, He will be your God, and you shall be His son. I should point out that there are two words that are often seen in contrast that are sometimes translated as “son.” One of these is υἱός, the other is τέκνον. The latter is best translated as “child,” of either sex. What is being defined here is the maturity of the individual. The τέκνον is an immature child, in both literal and figurative senses. It does give a nod to the idea of the fact of birth to a parental figure (like God the Father, for example), but υἱός stresses more of the maturity, dignity, and character of the relationship rather than just the fact of birth. The difference is best brought out in Romans 8:14-21. That reads, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons [υἱός] of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons [υἱοθεσία, adopted sons] by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children [τέκνον] of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Paul is saying that we may not understand what we will be, but it is not worthy to be compared to the trials and troubles we face now – any of them. The Apostle John says, “Beloved, now we are children [τέκνον] of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:2) We are His children now, then we will have matured into the fully grown individuals that God intended us to be at our creation, and even before that.

That is ours if we will now choose Christ and to stand for and follow Him wherever He leads, whether that be a desired place of privilege or a lion’s pit in some arena somewhere. Our choice now will determine our eternal destiny, friends. And I must say, to “cross that bridge when we come to it” is nothing but a choice to NOT follow Christ and wander your own way. When I was a boy, my dad and I were getting a haircut at our local barber. My dad encountered a local evangelist and engaged him in conversation. I do not know the man’s name. He preached a solid gospel to my dad, and my dad’s soul-chilling response was “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” He may have talked himself into hell in that conversation. I shudder to think about it, and my dad has now gone on to his eternal reward (sure, I guess it is a reward of a kind). I hope that my dad changed his mind. Don’t you make the same mistake, friends. Let’s look at those who chose the disqualifying choice.

8: Who are the Disqualified?

Put simply, those who are disqualified from this glorious inheritance are those who did not choose in life to be a subject of the King. Before you take issue with my use of the word choice, I will put it into biblical context. Though all of the redeemed will have been chosen before the foundations of the world were laid, it does not mean that the choice of a man has nothing to do with salvation. Those of us who follow the doctrines of grace that Scripture teaches can get tied into knots as we think only of God’s choosing of the elect. What we seem to forget is that no violence is ever done to the will of the creature. Those verse in John where we like to translate the phrase “dragged kicking and screaming” ring in our minds. But that isn’t really the way it works, is it (not a question). When God calls us, He regenerates us, and changes our heart. He isn’t doing something against our will to “make” us get saved, He is changing our hearts so that we will not want to say no to Him. Or can you give me one example from anyone in history that was actually dragged, kicking and screaming, into the salvation of Christ against their own will? You cannot. And I know you are trying, though it is in vain. We just looked at those who overcame the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now we will view those who did not choose to obey Christ.

8: But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Look at the list here! The first characteristic of those who did not obey Christ are called “cowardly.” The Greek word here is δειλοῖς, meaning “timid.” The word comes from δεος, meaning fear. Beloved, I must admit that I know what this means. It is the chest-tightening, freezing fear that paralyzes you inot non-action, both figuratively and literally. This will seem strange to you, because I have been a good salesman for over 40 years, but it is not without cost. There have been short periods of making cold calls, mercifully short periods, where I literally could not make myself dial the next number on the call list. My chest tightened, my breathing became rapid, I could see my pulse as the dimmer switch built into my eyes compressed my optic nerves at 120 beats per minute or more. In short, I was having an anxiety attack. In that moment, I was the strangest of contradictions. I was a telephone salesman afraid to make telephone calls. Had I remained in that state, I would have been a true coward. To be honest, there were times when that beast won, and I had to do something different for a few minutes, and then go back to it again. “Timid.” No, Beloved, Jesus loves you. You can do it if He is calling you to it.
The next character is “unbelieving,” and it is ἀπίστοις in Greek. It carries the meaning of “not having faith.” I have heard it translated as “those who will not trust [God].” This is a constructed negation in Greek. Take the word pistois [meaning beliefs] and put the letter alpha in front of it to reverse the meaning, and you get apistois. It is the opposite of believing. We have seen something like this previously in the difference between Christ and Antichrist. The first is our Lord and Saviour. The second, with the addition of the Greek prefix Anti meaning “in place of,” you get “substitute Christ.”
These are also said to be abominable. This is the Greek word ἐβδελυγμένοις, meaning abomination, loathsome, detestable, or abhorrent. How does one gain such a horrid description? I think it is the way we give ourselves to sin that provides a clue. As we give into sin, we become abominable to God in thought, word, and deed. The continued practice of sinfulness will accomplish this, and it is why we must now at least try to walk in the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
“Murderers” is the next characteristic. The Greek word is φονεῦσιν, meaning “murderer,” and is used in the general sense (as opposed to specific acts). You will recall the words of our Lord Jesus in Matt 5:22, which say, “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” That word “fool” is the Greek word mōrē, a form of moros, which we anglicize as “moron.” It is not a judgment of intelligence but is one of morality. A moron in a moral sense is incapable of making moral choices if they are kicking him toward the right choice, as a way of understanding it. Individuals who make such judgments are filled with hubris, that is, pride, and put everyone else beneath themselves as incapable of making their own decisions.
“Immoral persons” is a the Greek word πόρνοις, a form of porneia. This is speaking in a sexual context, meaning fornicators, that is sex outside of marriage, or adulterers, sex with someone other than the one with whom you are married. It’s pretty clear here, but the Lord Jesus says this also has a deeper meaning in Scripture, again in Matt. 5:28, “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” We are not only speaking of the act but of the heart-based thoughts of lust. Immorality is a character trait as well as an act of sin.
“Sorcerers” here is the Greek word φαρμάκοις, meaning “devoted to magical arts,” is used as a noun, “a sorcerer,” especially one who uses drugs, potions, spells, and enchantments. Though we get our word Pharmacy in English from this, it does not necessarily relate to that. I think these are practitioners of the occult and Satanic religious rites we know are practiced even today. It is, in my opinion, and not just my opinion, a religion of personal power through these means.
Another attribute of sorts seen in the list is the Greek word εἰδωλολάτραις. Transliterated, we say “idolaters.” Though this is a character trait of the disqualified, I see a stern warning for the people of God today, and it is a warning to believers against turning away from God to idolatry, whether “openly or secretly, consciously or unconsciously” (Cremer, as quoted by Vine).
The final characteristic seen among the disqualified is “all liars.” The Greek phrase is πᾶσιν τοῖς ψευδέσιν, and it is literally saying “all the liars.” The word τοῖς is a form of ó, the definite article. The word for liars means “that which is false.” This obviously means those who tell non-truths. However, this can be expanded to all those who tell lies with their lives. People who say, for example, that there are 358 genders or whatever when there are two (maybe three, though I argue against that) in humans. Or maybe people who say they love Christ but live like that means nothing to them. We call that last class hypocritical, and these are the equivalent to our very own modern-day Pharisees.
All of the people who willingly chose to live or reflect these characteristics will not be citizens of the eternal kingdom. That’s a scary thought when that kingdom will include all of the new heavens and new earth. They will literally be outside of everything. I think that this must at some level be a willing choice to not obey God and His commands. That may have myriad reasons and expressions, but it will be a choice, from a simple “no” to the salvation that God offers to taking the mark of the beast and removing all hope of any form of eternal salvation from yourself for a lie. There are other options in between, and ALL of those reasons are the reasons we will continue to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. God became a man to pay the price for sin that man was incapable of paying, and he did on a cross about 2000 years ago, and then rose from death to demonstrate that He had indeed paid the price for any who would turn to Him and away from their own evil desires.

If there is any grand lesson in this text that I want to emphasize (and there are several possible lessons here), it would be that the believer must overcome his present suffering to be a citizen of this coming eternal kingdom. We must be deliberate in our activities in life, and we must be bold in our chosen actions. We must have the faith that God give us and walk in it by deliberate choice, avoiding sin, not judging others, keeping ourselves pure, not walking in an attempt to gather power to ourselves (we are not in control anyway), to fear the right God, not the wrong god, and to speak and walk in truth all of our days. It is a tall order.

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of speaking at All-Saints Lutheran Church in Ottawa, Canada. I spoke on what a number of theologians have called “the great exchange.” It is the situation or place where we exchange our own paltry and twisted lives of insignificance for His glorious life of strength and significance. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Paul was giving us the key to living Christianity for real. When I read through that list of disqualifying characteristics, I admit my heart sank. I cannot avoid these things, and I think at one point or other in my life, I have violated every single one, at least in my heart. Worse, left to my own resources, I cannot do otherwise! I have known the pure frustration of trying my best to be better than I am and failing miserably every time. And then I remember this verse, given by Paul in angry correction to the churches in the Galatian region. I have died with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ! It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That is to say, I have a continuous connection with the True Vine as a branch in John 15. I can draw on His resources, and it is the only way I can walk with Him. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live “by the faith of the Son of God.” I walk by faith. It isn’t even MY paltry and failing faith. It is His mighty and perfect faith. Although I am not capable or qualified to walk in His grace and salvation, He makes me both capable and qualified, and He even does the walking. I may rest in Him and our spiritual union. And then all the anxiety leaves, my chest allows me to breathe again, and my pulse slows. I am His and He is mine, and with no apology to Keats whatsoever, THAT is all ye need to know.

That is the main relationship with God and Christ in His eternal kingdom, and it waits for all those who dare to stand for Him. Will you come with me? I leave the decision to you.

And that’s what I saw in the text this time.

Next time, we will look at verses 9-14, the New Jerusalem. I think there will be a lot there, because there was a lot in these four verse this evening. After that, we will look at 15-21, but we will look at that in January, because that will be Christmas Day, and one week later, New Year’s day. I would like that time with my family, so I’m taking it off. Also, the week of the 1st, more precisely, the 4th of January, 2026, I will be once again at All-Saints Lutheran Church, to give their communion service and a sermon following. If you are in the Ottawa area and available, I invite you to come and participate with this community of dear saints. That makes the first study of 2026 on the 8th of January. That’s when we will look at verses 15-21.