Day 2 - Verse 98 - "I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband." Revelation 21:2

It is Easter morning 2016 and I'm looking out my window at my yard covered with snow!  What a beautiful picture to think about the whiteness of snow against the blood of Jesus.  With the resurrection taking place on Easter almost 2,000 years ago, the disciples will come to understand that the blood they saw shed on the cross on Friday has made each one of them bear their sins no more. For those of us who believe, the same is true today, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1;18

What a Savior we serve!  Death could not hold Him, Satan could not defeat Him...He is risen! He is risen indeed!!

And with His resurrection we have the assurance of His power over our physical death as well.  We will one day leave this earth, whether by death or by His coming, but oh the promises that we have been given!

John visually saw the promise of our new eternal lives...and in this verse he tells us of the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God! Throughout Revelation 21-22 John describes more and more of this new Holy City.  As Robert Morgan writes in 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, John...

"takes us on a tour of this celestial city of Foreveropolis.

1. The city from a distance (Rev. 21:9-11) Standing atop a mountain, John watched this massive diamond of a city descend to the new Earth.
2. The city up close.  (vv. 12-14) As it grew nearer, he marveled at the massive walls, foundations, and gates.
3. The size of the city. (vv. 15-17) Fourteen hundred miles in all directions!
4. The construction of the city. (vv. 18-21) The building materials included gold, jewels, pearls and crystal.
5. The interior of the city. (vv. 22-23) John was impressed by the light illumining the city and by the absence of a temple.
6. The commerce of the city. (vv. 24-27) Its gates are never shut as the produce and commodities of the new Earth flow in and out of it.
7. The city center. (vv. 22:1-2) At the heart of the city are the throne, the Crystal River, the Golden Boulevard, and Tree of Life Park.
8. The city's inhabitants. (vv. 3-5) God's children will be there worshipping, serving, reigning, and ruling forever with Him."

The new Jerusalem is a REAL place...God gave John a preview of it...but one day John will actually see it and experience it as he walks its streets.  And all who believe in Jesus' name as their Savior will be there too...walking along with John, with Peter, with Paul...with Jesus!  I want to be there, I long to be there.  I want all those I love to be there.

Two thousand years ago God made the way for us to join Him in this beautiful new world of eternity. His name is Jesus, and He died for our sins so that we could be found righteous and acceptable for a world that is free of sin, free of our sinful, self-centered desires.  And after Jesus died, He rose from the dead as proof that God IS victorious, and that we can have confidence in His ability to bring us from this "old world" into the new, forever world.

Jesus told His disciples that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life...God gave us the escape route from this world that is temporary into His world that is forever.  Isn't that proof of God's wonderful grace...He came to tell us how to get there.  The Way is Jesus.

Walk with me on the streets of the new Jerusalem...believe in God, believe in the One He has sent...

"You believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1
"Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”" John 6:29