The word heaven conveys to us feelings of comfort and hope. Of course, there are many different ideas and beliefs about heaven, but in Revelation 22:1-5, we see what the Christian faith believes about heaven. The essence of heaven is life with God.
In verse 1, John sees the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God, a picture that reminds us that God is the source of all life. The prophet Ezekiel saw in the future a river of water flowing from the temple of the Lord. The river became deeper and deeper and flowed into the Dead Sea, where it made the water turn fresh and there were fish and other living creatures in it.
The water from God is a sign of the Holy Spirit. Being dead in our sins, we can’t have life with God apart from the Spirit making us alive. You must be born again, said the Lord Jesus in John 3:3. In John 4, he told the Samaritan woman that the water he gives will become in that person a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
How do you know if you have drunk this water? Have you felt that your soul would die if not healed by Christ, and then the belief that he has provided for that need? Peter compares it to tasting that the Lord is good, meaning you have known the forgiveness, love, and kindness of Christ and believed the promised of eternal life. We tend not to think about this deeply enough. The promise of eternal life is of no small value.
The river of water in heaven says to the believer still on earth that in heaven the blessed taste you have on earth will be perfected in the abundance of blessedness in heaven. This same message is conveyed in verse 2, where John describes the tree of life as bearing continual fruit. It portrays an overflowing abundance of satisfaction for the redeemed in heaven.
The scene in heaven is that of a garden, a renewed paradise where men are restored to the joy of God. In Psalm16, David said, “In your presence there is fullness of joy.” Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” This is the destiny of those who know Christ.
For saints in the world, this teaches us to be heavenly minded and wean ourselves from the world and its degrading influences that lead us away from God. Psalm 1 says that the blessed man is like a tree planted by the water that bears its fruit in due season. We partake of the tree of life even now as we nourish our souls on Christ, and we bear fruit that lasts forever whenever we act out of love for him.
In verse 3, the activity of heaven is the worship of God and of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus came into this fallen world to bring us to the Father: “No one comes to the Father but through me.” Christ revealed God as having a Father’s love. If we love Christ, we know that we are loved by the Father. This is where our soul finds rest and we know rich, joyful worship in the public and private worship of God. If you don’t enjoy the worship of God, heaven is not the place for you.
Verse 4 contains the ultimate blessedness for the Christian: “They will see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.” The name of God upon you means that you know Christ, know in the sense of awe and love. Psalm 91says, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he knows my name.”
The goal of faith is to see God. We live by faith here; in heaven it will be by sight. The Puritans called this the beatific vision. Jonathan Edwards wrote, “This is that in which the blessedness of the saints in glory does chiefly consist. They shall see everything in God that tends to excite and inflame love, everything that is lovely, everything that tends to exalt their esteem and admiration, to warm and endear the heart. They shall see everything in God that gratifies love.”
Richard Sibbes said that the promise of seeing God promotes holiness in they who look to it and long for it. He wrote, “How can we enjoy the beatific vision if we indulge sinful courses and neglect Christ in this corrupt world?” Heaven is all light and all love, the blessed favor of God that promotes joy. Lord, give us these things in beginnings here, that we may possess them in full there.
