Charitable Giving as Unto the Lord ~ Duet 26:1-11

City Planned and Built by God
Rev 21:1-8

Read and Recollect
For my own devotion, rewriting the passage in my journal helps me to appreciate the context and pick-up details in the passage.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Reflect

Reflect and meditate on the passage. God opens the eyes of those who seek to understand the truth of His word. Personal reflection keeps us from being misled by false teachings that take passages out of context and present to us what our itching ears want to hear. Develop the discipline of reflecting on scripture.

1. This passage is filled with symbolism. The first symbolism referenced in verse 1 is creation. There is a direct comparison to the original creation account in Genesis chapter 1 and 2, and what followed. The original perfect creation, intended to be permanent and lasting, was never realized by man. Man's choice to believe the deceiver and rebel against God, marred creation and all we can now see and experience is a world filled with sorrow, pain and death. It is referred to here as the 'former things', for they will pass and God is going to bring about a 'new heaven and new earth'. In spite of man having total freedom, God's plan will not be thwarted, rather it will surely be established. The passage testifies to this truth, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." Often, we see things around us that cause us to lose hope. It may seem like evil is prevailing and God either does not care or he does not exist. We could not be more wrong.

2. The second symbolism is the relational restoration. It is described through words of the marriage relationship. Even as Christians, we could tend to see marriage as a civil construct, where we merely include God as a witness. In reality marriage was instituted by God, as part of his perfect creation (Gen 2:18-24). It was instituted by God as a human relationship, which is modeled after God's relationship with mankind. This truth is noted in Ephesians 5:32 and here again in Rev 21:2. This should give us pause when we attempt to tamper with this relationship for secular accommodations and civil conveniences.

We have marred the marriage relationship so much, that even as a church we are not able fully agree on what would be pleasing to God. This is not new, the religious leaders of Jesus' day had trouble with God's standard, as did the people of Moses' time (Matt 19:3-12). Sexual immorality, adultery, abuse, divorce and remarriage are all part of the Christian debate. The true model of this relationship will be witnessed by us through the relationship between God and man in the new heaven and earth. There are truths that we can glean and apply in our marriage relationships today. First, we will focus on God to understand the husbands role in marriage. The passage says that God will dwell among his people and he will be their God and they will be his people. God's leadership includes presence and committed love. This is in sharp contrast to Adam, who seems absent when Eve was deceived. God's committed presence will keep his people safe. Second, we will focus on the bride, which is both the people and place (his people and Jerusalem). The bride only seeks to please her husband, God (verse 2). The bride is fully cared for and experiences no suffering, pain or death (verse 4). The bride is fully satisfied and enjoys abundant life (verse 6). Similarly, Christian husband's are called to care for their wives as the weaker vessel, nurturing their wives in the word and keeping them from being deceived (Eph 5:25-29, 1 Tim 2:8-15). The bride, is established as a co-heir, or son, in God's new heaven and earth. This is the notion of helper that God established in the Genesis 2. Similarly, in marriage wives are called to be submissive helpers, who are co-heirs with their husbands. We are called to model this God-man relationship in our marriages, which is truly impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. By faith, when men lead with love and care, and when women respectfully love and submit as helpers, God will be the third person who makes that bond to be preserved in strength for his glory (Ecc 4:12).

3. So why is God taking so long to complete his work of restoration and establish his perfect plan? 2 Pet 3:9 notes that God is patient, not slow, for he does not wish any to perish. However, the choice of whether we will be counted as His people, or will perish, is ours. Verse 7 says that the one who conquers, will be part of the heritage, of being counted as God's son. The one who conquers will do so by faith alone, not because of any special ability of their own. We have a host of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, of people who conquered. The faith described in Hebrews 11 is neither theoretical or an intellectual understanding of God's word. It is an active faith that is described best in Hebrews 10:39, the verse just before the beginning of Hebrews chapter 11, "But we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." The ones who perish are those who live for self-gratification (pleasures), they fear people more than they fear God seeking the praise of people (cowardly), they worship material things (idolatry) and they will increasingly justify wrong as right (verse 8).

Repent
This an important step of personal humble submission. We exercise faith when we truthfully apply the passage to us and commit to make changes. 

Lord renew the hope of your promise in me, that I will not take my eyes off the hope of restoration that you are working out in me, that at the right time will be revealed to all. As Abraham obeyed you in his day, not based on his earthly circumstances, "For he was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Lord, in your word you have revealed your entire plan of restoration. There is no more mystery. Help me to live with that same conviction as Abraham. Whatever sorrow, pain and injustice I face today, will not persist if I persevere and do not shrink back. I often get overwhelmed by my circumstances, forgive me God, for I know that I cannot please you unless I walk in faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Lord, you have promised to establish a perfect relationship with me, where I will ever be in your presence and my heritage will be to be known as your son. Lord, by your grace you have called me to model this relationship in my marriage. Help me Lord to persevere in this and be a servant-leader, who loves, cares and guides my wife in the truth of your word. Lord, you have in your grace, not given me more than I can handle. You have given me a wife who truly loves and respects me and submits to my leadership. You have given me a helper who counsels me and complements me well. Lord, it is my desire to recommit myself to humbly be present and lead, and honour you by keeping my wife from being deceived by earthly desires. Help me to be a patient, humble and loving husband.

Lord, there are many moments we get discouraged by our circumstances and the wickedness of people. As David cries out in Psalm 55:12-14, it hurts more because the ones who are wicked are not my enemies, but those who I consider my own. Lord, your promised restoration is true. The relationship that matters is really my relationship with you, which you have called me to in faith in my current circumstance. You have promised to establish this relationship permanently as my heritage, if I would conquer and finish well. Lord, I recommit myself to persevere in faith and not shrink and give-up.