Pleasures Forevermore - "The 3 pleasures"
Last week we looked at the End of Evil, the destruction of sin and sinners and Christ’s triumph at the end of time. Today we look at life after sin and what it will look like.
1. All eyes shall see
As was plain in our last study, evil has now been destroyed and according to Malachi 4:1-3, burned to ashes. The victory is won, with Christ at the helm, the redeemed rejoice and sing praises unto His name. Revelation 21:1-4
“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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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. 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.”
This is a grand affair, one that cannot even be fathomed by the human mind. Even though we experienced the great power that satan held while here on earth, they have seen, as never before, that no power but that of Christ could have made them conquerors. It is revealed in the Spirit of Prophecy that all, saint and sinner alike, beheld in the coronation of Christ as ruler over the heavens and the earth. The martyrs were able to witness the rewards of their unyielding faith as they were persecuted for Christ, and the wicked who slain the prophets were witness to a great triumph that they once saw as fiction. In the Great Controversy it is written:
“Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their truehearted brethren, and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight. His mother is there to witness the result of [668] her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder.
There are papist priests and prelates, who claimed to be Christ’s ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control the consciences of His people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God and presumed to change the law of the Most High. Those pretended fathers of the church have an account to render to God from which they would fain be excused. Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One is jealous of His law and that He will in no wise clear the guilty. They learn now that Christ identifies His interest with that of His suffering people; and they feel the force of His own words: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Matthew 25:40.”
Darkness has finally seen what the light has been preaching about for thousands of years, all eyes beheld the Creator and true God.
2. The 12 Gates
John was then carried away in vision expounding as we read in Revelation 21:9-14
“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. 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, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”
As made clear in the text, each entrance that leads into the City of the new Jerusalem has twelve gates and in order to enter the city the saints must enter into one of the twelve gates. Here we can see God fulfilling His promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He would make their seed a great nation, but little did they know that that nation was not to just be a nation here on earth, but that nation, God’s people, were to dwell in the land that God had setup for them, His land, His kingdom, forevermore. By accepting the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you have been given the blessing and the privilege to walk through one of the gates of the 12 tribes of Israel that solidifies your place in the family of God, because we are His people, and by Genesis 12:3, all the families of Israel shall be blessed.
We now continue in Revelation 21:15;
“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
The walls of the city were made out of the material of the twelve precious stones listed here, and similarly to the Priest’s breastplate of judgment in Exodus 28:15, this represents God’s explicit will and the adorning of the city to be a Minister for His greatness and covering unto His people as the Priest was His Minister inside the sanctuary and mediator between God and His people.
“In the city of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, [432] and shall ever be far from its close. ”
3. The Beginning of Forevermore
In her book, entitled the Story of Redemption, Sis White says;
“And as the years of eternity roll, they will bring richer and more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of [433] His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed beat with a stronger devotion, and they sweep the harps of gold with a firmer hand; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.”
This is an interesting parallel to our modern day context, where knowledge and misinformation are used to enslave or overpower others. Sis. White here says that knowledge will be progressive, and with knowledge comes an increase in love, reverence and happiness. The more we learn of God is the more we love Him even more, as this shows us exactly who He is and the character that He has. In a world made new, all we will ever need is God and He has lovingly endured hatred, deception, unfaithfulness and all other manner of sin from us over the years. He had spent His time preparing a place for those who chose to reject a life of sin. He carefully designed and crafted a beautiful experience for us that will not only last a lifetime, but will increase in joy and love each and every day. This experience that lasts a lifetime can only be made possible by the ultimate promise that was made at the beginning of time.
We read Revelation 21:1-5;
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. 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. 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: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 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.
To learn more about the end of earth’s history and life after the second coming, join our Bible Class on zoom, every Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm. For links to the zoom meeting visit our social media pages below:
My next article will look at the topic “Heroes of the Bible: Abraham”