John concluded the book of Revelation with a benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." The grace of our Lord saved John and sustained him during his exile at Patmos. It also provided him with the privilege of seeing sights of God and His position in heaven, and the privilege of learning and writing about the Lord's future plans.

It is completely by the grace of our Lord Jesus that God saves sinners, provides for all their needs, allows them to serve Him, and keeps them until the final day of redemption. When we reach heaven, we will not boast about what we accomplished on earth. We will sing about the grace that saved us, sustained us in every trial, met our every need, secured our safe passage to heaven, and granted us the privilege of seeing our Savior face to face. Grace abolishes every human tendency to bask in self-glory, and it causes us to give God all the glory for what He has accomplished in our lives.

Revelation 22:14–21 concludes the epilogue begun in verse 6. It contains promises, blessing, an invitation, a warning, and a benediction. The Old Testament closed with the promise that the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings (Malachi 4:2). The New Testament closes with the promise that the ''bright and morning star'' will come. Just as the morning star appears before the sun arises, so Jesus will come for the church before He returns to restore Israel to Himself.

John sees additional images of New Jerusalem. The city's depiction stands in contrast to the ruin experienced during the tribulation, and evokes comparisons to the garden of Eden from the book of Genesis. After this, John relates several commands and messages from Jesus Christ. Among these are a dire warning not to manipulate the words of this message. Revelation, along with the canon of Scripture, ends with a benediction and prayer for Jesus to return.

This passage completes the description of New Jerusalem. Earlier chapters in Revelation described the final judgments against sin and death. Genesis chapter 3 described humanity's loss of paradise; Revelation 22 describes paradise regained. Concluding remarks by Jesus begin in verse 6 and continue through verse 20. Verse 21 records the apostle John's benediction, which marks the end of the New Testament canon.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''

Accessed 11/21/2024 7:57:31 AM

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