Genesis to Jesus
Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
“The Spirit of God,” the Holy Spirit, moved upon the earth and still does.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
“And God said….” His Word created everything! And everything was “good.” There was nothing created that was not “good.”
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Up to here, there is God, singular. Now, God is plural. Who else is part of God? We know the Holy Spirit is there. Anybody else? Who is God talking to?
Also, for this creation, God says “make.” All the others were just spoken into existence but man was to be made.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Finally, God describes all His creation as “very” good. God “created” man, in His own image. What image? Did man look like God physically? Or, was He referring to His own spiritual image? Is God more than spirit?
Then, God caused all living creatures to reproduce after their own kind. He provided food for each species. No big bang, no evolving from different species. God created all things through His Word and then He rested, setting man in stewardship of all the earth.
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
It has been said that God just set things in motion and then set back and let it all happen. It was on autopilot and man was in stewardship, so God just lost interest. But, that is not how the story proceeds.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
There was no rain but the vegetation was watered by a mist. God provided for His creation.
At this point, the story backtracks and lets us know how God made man.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
God did not speak man into existence. He got down in the dirt and the mud and created man and then breathed into his mouth the breath of life. Man was made with a living soul, which God breathed into him. No such notation for any other living thing that He made.
He provided herbs, vegetables and fruits for man to eat. No meat. There was no death, no killing, no hunting in the garden. The garden produced food for all creatures and the man tended it.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
In addition to the mist for water, there were 4 rivers in the garden. This loving God provided everything His new creations needed to sustain themselves. They had food, water, air, space, and beautiful, peaceful surroundings. But, He needed someone to maintain the garden. That was man’s job.
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The man could eat anything except the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Interesting that there is no notation that the man was to guard the tree and make sure that no other creatures ate from it. Only the man was forbidden to eat of this tree. Why? Perhaps the man was only created being that was in danger of being hurt by it. He was the only creature that had a living soul.
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found an help meet for him.
Didn’t God know that none of the other creatures were like the man? Of course, He knew that. He created them all and knew them intimately, as only a creator can know his creation. I believe this was to show the man, to teach him, that he was unique among all the other creations God had made. This way the man would understand that he was special to God.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
God could, of course, have simply gotten back into the mud and created the woman. That would have been no problem for Him. Again, I think God’s purpose was in teaching the man and helping him to feel protective of his own flesh and blood, similarly to how a parent feels about his/her child.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
It’s interesting that this comment is placed here. As far as we know, there were no children yet, so why would the subject of an adult child leaving home come up? We have to bear in mind, though, that this was not written at the time it occurred. Moses wrote these things hundreds of years later. Therefore, we can’t expect thoughts to occur in a necessarily logical manner. Moses knew that this was start of God’s plan for women and men to marry and have children, raise them, and then release them to their our spouse, just as this man and woman were the first spouses.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
All the creatures were naked. All creatures, except man, remain naked today, and are not ashamed. Why did man lose his innocence?
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Could all the animals talk? Eve doesn’t seem the least concerned about a talking serpent, which leads to believe that some, at least, did talk on a regular basis.
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
We are not told that God instructed the woman about not eating of the tree in the midst in the garden. He told the man, so we assume that the man was a good and reliable partner for his wife and let her know that she would die if she ate of that fruit.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
The serpent could not only talk, but was very treacherous and intelligent. He understood that the man and woman would want to be gods, just as mankind has continued to desire to be gods throughout time. He also understood that the woman was the weaker vessel. Apparently, the man had a much stronger tie with God than the woman did. We don’t know how long Adam had been in the garden before his wife was created. He may have been there for hundreds of years. We are told Adam’s age at the time of his death but not hers. We also don’t know how long she had been there prior to this temptation. How long had she had to form a bond with God and learn to trust Him? We don’t know the role of the serpent prior to this either. Perhaps his job in the garden (if everyone had one) was to watch over the man and woman and help them. That would explain why the woman trusted him over what God had told Adam and Adam had presumably told her. It is also possible that God told her himself. We are not privy to that information. All we know is that she decided that the serpent was telling the truth and that she would trust that over what God and/or her husband had told her.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The woman gave also to Adam. We often hear women blamed for this entire incident but we are not told how much complicity Adam had in the whole affair. Was he standing right there with her? Did he hear the serpent tempt her? Was he also tempted by the serpent but was going to let her take all the risks? She gave to him immediately, it seems. It does not say that she ate and her eyes were open, so Adam saw that she did not die, so he felt safe to eat also. It sounds as if she reached up and took the fruit, bit into it, and handed it to him. It sounds as if Adam was there the entire time and was complicit. But, we are not told.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Now, they are even more different from all the other creatures. After having been made by the hand of God instead of being spoken into existence, and having had God breath into Adam (and the woman?) a living soul, but now they knew things the animals were never to know even to this day.
And they did not immediately die. Did God lie? Did they even know what death was? There had presumably been no death in the garden prior to this.
What were they thinking as they sewed together fig leaves? Were they angry at God for presumably lying to them? They were still alive and now they understood things they had not even considered previously.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
God walked in the garden, presumably on a regular basis, with his creations. He had fellowship with the people, so He was looking for them. Did He really not know where they were and what had happened? God knows everything so He had to have known. He especially would have know something like this had happened. It was something that would change everything between Him and mankind. Sin had been brought into this perfect and sinless world, and God cannot exist where sin is present. He was walking in the garden. He had to have known that things had changed. He had to have felt the presence of sin, which is so adamantly opposite to His nature. It certainly was not very prevalent yet so it did not prevent Him from being in their presence.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
I think this is an incident similar to a parent who knows the child, who is standing in front of him with marker all over his face, has gotten into the markers. The parent will try to illicit a confession from the child before acting on the incident. This appears to be what God was doing here. He obviously knew what they had done, as He specifically asks if they have eaten of the tree.
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
The blame game – Adam blames the woman, but he was there and apparently complicit. He ate the fruit as readily as she did.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Pass the buck – The woman blames the serpent, but she knew she was breaking the rules, as did Adam.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Again, it is obvious that God knew what happened. He doesn’t give the serpent a chance to defend himself. He immediately gives him punishment.
The serpent, which we always think of a snake, was apparently able to stand up. He was not already crawling on his belly as snakes do now. God somehow changed the serpent. He must have had some type of legs that God removed from him. What did he look like before? Was this an ancient dinosaur?
There is also a promise made to the serpent of a future punishment from the seed of the woman herself. Her offspring will bring her justice. This is a prophesy of the Messiah, who would bruise the serpent (Satan) by defeating the death that was brought into the world at this time, but He would also be injured through a cruel crucifixion, which was orchestrated by Satan himself.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Did she have any children prior to this? God “multiplied” her sorrow. What does that mean? Had childbirth been sorrowful for her already? If so, what changed? We always assume that the pain of childbirth is what is referred to here but maybe it was already painful and God “multiplied” it by increasing the pain or by making it take longer or be harder in some other way. We are not told.
Part of her punishment is to desire her husband. Had she not desired him already? And, he was to rule over her. Had he not already ruled over her? He was created before her and she was his “help meet.” What does that mean? She was not independent of him but perhaps she had more right to speak her mind. She certainly had made up her own mind when she took the fruit and then handed it to Adam!
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Adam’s punishment is that he must work by the sweat of his brow in order to till the ground for food and that food will not be as tasty as it was. We are now told that death has entered into the world. God said they would surely die and now death will overtake them, although not immediately. This comment is directed at the man but his wife will also taste of death.
There is another type of death which occurred on that very day. They both died spiritually. The sin they had introduced into the world separated them from God their own innocence, making them carnal creatures.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
This, again, makes me wonder if Eve already had given birth. “The mother of all living” has no meaning if the two of them were the only humans on earth. I don’t think it is just because Moses took things out of context here because it still presumes that if Adam called Eve by that name, with that meaning, there must have been some other living person that she was the mother of.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
God’s love was still abounding and evident. He knew Adam and Eve had no idea how to make clothing (although they did know something about sewing, apparently), so he makes coats of skin. Death has entered the world and now God is the first to take life from his creation by killing animals to use their coats and He showed the man and woman how to do that.
We don’t know how long God remained with them, nor how much He mourned as He explained to them the gravity of what they had done. He apparently gave them a good amount of education and instruction on how to survive outside of the garden before He removed them from it.
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Interesting that the tree of life was also in the garden and He had never instructed Adam to not eat of it. Of course, Adam could have lived forever if he had not brought sin and death into the world by eating of the tree of knowledge. The tree of life had probably sustained Adam’s life until now, as well as the other animals that ate from it. But, now Adam could not be allowed to live forever so the tree of life had to be outside of his reach. Presumably, it would not have mattered if he had continued to eat from the tree of knowledge. The damage was already done.
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
God placed protection for the tree of life at the east entrance to the garden. What about the other sides? Was the east the only way in? Also, it says “to keep the way of the tree of life.” What does mean? It doesn’t say that this was to prevent them from partaking of it, unless that was the meaning of “keep the way.”
Summary of Genesis
So, we see that God made all of creation, mostly by the spoken word. We also see that God created man differently, by hand and breath. We see that God had a special relationship with the man. We see that the man was obedient to God until he has a help meet and that help meet struggled with obedience and/or trust in God. We see that the perfect world God created was inhabited by a serpent that was not so perfect. We see that Adam and Eve were deceived into violating God’s law and they were severely punished for their disobedience, as was the serpent that deceived them. We see that the perfect life God gave his creation was interrupted by man’s disobedience, but there is a promise that God will exact vengeance on the serpent for his deception.
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
God’s spoken Word was the operating force during the creation. We saw God and the Holy Spirit clearly in the Genesis account of creation. With the establishment of the church, it was time for mankind to know how God created all through His Word. The Word was Jesus, and He created all things. Even the man, who was made by God getting down into the mud and putting Him carefully together and breathing life and a living soul into the man, was created by Jesus out of the raw materials He had already created. Therefore, all things were created by Jesus, the Word.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
In Jesus was light (John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He came to redeem mankind from the death caused by Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience. They brought darkness, sin, and death into this world, causing a great divide between God and man. Jesus became a man to take on our sins and die a spiritual death in our stead. If we accept this redemption, we will walk in the light on this earth and then will have a home with God and Jesus in the new heaven and the new earth.
Darkness does not comprehend Jesus nor what He did for all of mankind. Those who embrace the darkness/sin instead of Jesus will continue in death, sin, and destruction.
(John 9:39) “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” There were religious leaders in the world who thought they could see the light but they did not accept Jesus and were blinded to their Messiah. But, those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are able to see the light. This removal of the blindfold of darkness is accomplished through the Word and through the Holy Spirit, which helps us to conquer the darkness and blindness. John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things…“
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
God planned from the day of the fall, the day that the serpent deceived mankind into accepting sin and death as a normal part of their lives, to send a seed of that woman into the world to redeem that sin and all the following sins so that God and man could walk together. Initially, we walk with Him inside of us as the Holy Spirit, guiding and directing us, helping us to be strong and faithful, pruning off the dead parts that remain within us and perfecting us as children of God. Eventually, we will be part of His Kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth that is to come.
Revelation 21
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
We think of the church as the bride of Christ, but this passage clearly indicates that Jerusalem, the holy city, is the bride of Christ. Not the Jerusalem we know that sits in the Middle East. This will be a new Jerusalem, perfected to be Christ’s bride and dwelling place.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Right now on earth, all the saved in Christ are the temple of God. Our bodies house the Holy Spirit and that is how God communes with us and molds us into His perfect children, shining light on us from within, which light we are expected to shine outward to others so that all who see the light and accept the Holy Spirit into themselves will be added to the body of Christ, the Kingdom of God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Jesus conquered death, sorrow, and pain on the cross. In the new heaven and new earth they will not exist. The inhabitants will be the people who saw the Light of Jesus and brought the Holy Spirit inside of them through baptism for the remission of sins. Their sins are wiped out while they are on this earth and when we leave this earth we can have fellowship with God because the separator – sin, which God cannot be in the presence of – has been removed through baptism into Jesus. Jesus became sin for us and offered us the gift of putting all of our sins into the grave with Him, thereby, being sin-free. He also sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us and help us to avoid sin. Of course, being fallible humans we will sin, but the Holy Spirit helps us the recognize that we have sinned and will help us to repent, purifying us with His fire that burns off the old man with his sin and death.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
It is not all roses, of course. We must “overcome.” Overcome what? We will experience trials and tribulations. The world hates Jesus and the light that He brought to conquer the darkness, which Light is within us – the Holy Spirit. The carnal world loves the darkness and will do unspeakable things to remain in darkness and to try to extinguish the Light. We will endure much trial and hardship, as well as the hatred of the world, but we must overcome to be partakers of the true Light and citizens of the Kingdom.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Fear, deception, and lies are the most pervasive and cunning things that must be overcome first.
9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Again, we see that the bride of Christ is the holy city, Jerusalem.
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Jesus is the Light of the city, as well as the temple of it. There will be no sun but we will clearly see because Jesus shines brighter than the sun.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
There is no need for a gate. Nothing that defiles can possibly enter into the city. On this earth we need gates and other protections against evil but only those who chose Jesus and those who walked in the Light on this earth will enter into this divine city to continue in that Light. There will no night. How could there be night. Jesus is the Light and He dwells there constantly.
Revelation 22
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The city will be set up very similar to the Garden of Eden, which had the tree of life and had four rivers running through it and precious stones. God will have restored His original creation – but better!!
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
The curse of the serpent’s deception and fall of mankind will be gone forever. We shall dwell in God’s holy city forever, serving Him with rejoicing, and having His name constantly on our minds – our Lord and King!
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
God wants us, while we are still on this earth – worshiping and enduring – to know that these things will come to pass. He wants us to have joy on earth in the knowledge that Jesus has overcome the darkness and we will have a great reward with Him.
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
We must not venerate the angels, for they are our fellow servants. We must worship God only!
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
The prophecies of the book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine are similar in content to those in the book of Daniel, which was written many centuries earlier. Daniel was told not to reveal what he wrote in the book he was told to write while being shown similar visions. In fact, he was told to eat it! The time was not right yet. All of God’s plan is very dependent on His timing. Mankind was not ready to understand these prophecies that soon. However, the angel that showed John these things told him to leave it unsealed. It was to be made known to mankind. The time was at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Don’t be deceived by those who say there is no work needed for salvation. We are clearly told that we must “do” His commandments. This teaching of not needing to work to be saved is damnation! James 2:26, “For the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” John 3:5 “Jesus answered and said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
We must be baptized (born of water and of spirit) and we must obey the commandments.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Yes, come, Lord Jesus! The plan of salvation and redemption of mankind that was set up in the Garden of Eden and God has continued to systematically roll out over the centuries is awesome! God wants to be close to His special creation but that special creature lost his way upon a tree due to the deception of the wicked one. It now has been restored – upon a tree. That serpent – Satan – became the prince of this world because he deceived naïve humans into falling away from grace and separating themselves from their God and creator.
However, the love, wisdom, and planning of God have reversed the curse that was on mankind, for all who choose to accept His loving gift of salvation and the invitation to join Him for all of eternity!
(John 3:16-17) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than Light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the Light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”