Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 21:1-8 is divided into three parts as follows:
We learn the third point, namely the new ambience.
Revelation 21:4
21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
The new ambience is the one without the death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
The work of sin is death. It means that we are separated from God and others, we live in curse, labor, tears up to separation forever with God, and we are left behind when Jesus comes a second time. We perish in hell forever.
The ambience without the death is the one without sin.
In reality, since Adam and Eve have sinned and been cast to the world, all have sinned.
Romans 3:23
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
How can we be set free from the sin or death?
In the Old Testament, when the Israel went out of Egypt, all the doors of Israel had been signified by the blood of the lamb. The doors of Egypt had no sign of blood, so the death of firstborn happened.
In the New Testament, when the church of God goes out of the world to be lifted up to the glorious clouds, the church of God must have the blood of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:18-19
1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The church of God must experience the redemption by the blood of Jesus.
There are 3 names of Jesus' blood as follows:
God blesses us.
Revelation 21:1-8 is divided into three parts as follows:
- [Verse 1] A new heaven and a new earth.
- [Verse 2-3] New man.
- [Verse 4-8] New ambience.
We learn the third point, namely the new ambience.
Revelation 21:4
21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
The new ambience is the one without the death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
The work of sin is death. It means that we are separated from God and others, we live in curse, labor, tears up to separation forever with God, and we are left behind when Jesus comes a second time. We perish in hell forever.
The ambience without the death is the one without sin.
In reality, since Adam and Eve have sinned and been cast to the world, all have sinned.
Romans 3:23
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
How can we be set free from the sin or death?
In the Old Testament, when the Israel went out of Egypt, all the doors of Israel had been signified by the blood of the lamb. The doors of Egypt had no sign of blood, so the death of firstborn happened.
In the New Testament, when the church of God goes out of the world to be lifted up to the glorious clouds, the church of God must have the blood of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:18-19
1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The church of God must experience the redemption by the blood of Jesus.
There are 3 names of Jesus' blood as follows:
- The precious blood.
How great a man in the world, if he commits sins up to the peak, he is despicable and not precious in front of God.
The precious blood of Jesus is able to redeem the sinner that is not precious from all the inheritance of sin including the sin of tradition that is not according to the Word of God. It includes the own sin and its curse. Thus, our life becomes precious in front of God.
The process of redemption by the blood of Jesus is that we must confess the sin to God and others. If we are forgiven, do not sin anymore. We experience the deliverance from sin. We repent and live in righteousness and peace. Everything becomes easy and light. Satan cannot accuse us. God cannot point our sin. We cannot accuse others.
Psalms 5:12
5:12 For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
As a result, God will surround the righteous with gift and blessing. Our life becomes precious in front of God. - The blood of Lamb.
The meaning is the blood of Jesus that redeems our life from sin, so we can be shepherded well and correctly.
Why must we be shepherded well and correctly?
Psalms 49:14
49:14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.
If the shepherd and the sheep are not shepherded well and correctly, they will be shepherded by the death.
The requirements of being shepherded well and correctly are as follows:- Listening and obeying the voice of the shepherd or the true teaching Word.
John 10:3-5
10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
10:5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
We must run from the voice of strangers or gossips. Running means that we do not listen.
If we listen to the voice of strangers, we will fall in sin. We will be deceived by the false teaching, so we lose our way and perish forever. - Staying in the sheepfold.
Ezekiel 20:37
20:37 "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
One of the function of the rod of shepherd or the shepherding Word is bringing the sheep into the perseverance in the sheepfold (three kinds of main services to God).
Why must we have perseverance in the sheepfold?- The sheep in the sheepfold will be counted by God. Even though our life is like a strand of hair that is small and hopeless, but we are noticed, cared, and owned by God forever.
- If we walk about, we will meet the lion that will devour.
1 Peter 5:8
5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
In the sheepfold, we are protected from sins and false teaching, so we are firm in the righteousness and holiness. Thus, we are equipped with the ministry and the gift of Holy Spirit to be employed in the revival of Holy Spirit at the last rain that is guided by the shepherd. It starts from marriage, shepherding, inter-shepherding, until the Israel and the Gentiles become one perfect body of Christ.
John 10:4
10:4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
If we refuse to be employed in the revival of Holy Spirit at the last rain (inter-shepherding), we will be devoured by the shepherd until we become withered.
If we are willing to be employed by God, our life will become beautiful up to the most beautiful one on the glorious clouds.
- The sheep in the sheepfold will be counted by God. Even though our life is like a strand of hair that is small and hopeless, but we are noticed, cared, and owned by God forever.
- Listening and obeying the voice of the shepherd or the true teaching Word.
- The blood without blemish and without spot = the sprinkling of blood.
1 Peter 1:19
1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The sprinkling of blood = the flesh suffering together with Jesus for two things as follows:- Purification from the sins that we often do not realize.
Job 32:1-2
32:1 So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.
Job was blessed by God, so he justified himself. Be careful when we are blessed or when we suffer! Do not be hard-hearted, so we will not justify ourselves!
The self-truth = covering the sin with blaming at others, God or the true teaching Word.
The self-truth is a bundle with self-interest and self-will.
God allowed Job to experience the sprinkling of blood, so Job could confess as the clay. All the false words must be revoked.
Job 42:5-6
42:5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
The characteristic of self-truth is talking a lot, so one has a lot of mistakes and self-prides. - Resulting the glorious Spirit.
1 Peter 4:14
4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
If we confess as clay, the Holy Spirit as the glorious Spirit will be poured. The hands of God hold our life.- Holy Spirit changes us from carnal man to the spiritual one like Jesus.
Matthew 11:28-30
11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
We learn from Jesus on the cross as follows:- Being humble = the ability to confess the sin to God and others. If we are forgiven, do not sin anymore!
Being humble = the ability to recognize other's superiority. - Being gentle = the ability to receive the teaching Word, no matter how hard it is.
Being gentle = the ability to forgive other's sin.
- Being humble = the ability to confess the sin to God and others. If we are forgiven, do not sin anymore!
- We can obey the Word of God until the flesh does not speak anymore, and we surrender fully to Him.
John 21:18-19
21:18 "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
21:19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
The hands of Holy Spirit unite us. It starts from marriage, shepherding, until the one perfect body of Christ.
Isaiah 40:11
40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.
The hands of God gather the lambs with His arm. It means carrying all the burden, labor, and tears. We are happy in God. All the impossible problems are finished by God. God leads us to the beautiful and successful future. His hands change us little by little until we become perfect like Jesus to greet His second coming.
- Holy Spirit changes us from carnal man to the spiritual one like Jesus.
- Purification from the sins that we often do not realize.
God blesses us.