S58P9 – This precious light: a picture of what is to come

Rev. 21:22‭-‬25
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

Until taking that trip, the closest she had come to seeing Europe was on the Las Vegas strip. She got to see a show at the Colosseum, which took her breath away by its size and beauty. She took photos in front of the miniature Eiffel Tower. One afternoon, she went for a gondola ride in the man-made Venetian canals. It was a truly exciting time for her, and she was in awe of everything she was seeing, even if these attractions were mere models of their greater versions. When she finally got the chance to see Paris, Venice and Rome in person, she realized that those models, awesome as they were, were really only a picture of what she would experience when being in the presence of the originals.

There is a great city that awaits those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Those names belong to the ones who have accepted the light of life that is available through the Lamb in this world. It is a light that saves and that works within and around us. It is an awesome and incredible light, and it is pointing us toward its greater version. Inside that great city mentioned in Revelation the light of the Lamb is visible for all to see. It is not something that is merely felt or experienced on some non-physical level. The Lamb himself will be the lamp that provides the light of God’s glory to illuminate that place for his people. As amazing as the light of life is for us in the here-and-now, there is a greater version awaiting us then in that city.

Let us be clear that God does not give us counterfeit or substandard versions of anything. The light that He makes available to us in this place is glorious and true. It is no less perfect than the light that awaits us in the New Jerusalem. The difference is the setting. We experience his light now in a place of imperfection and brokenness. We will experience his light then in a place that is holy and undefiled. Let us look forward to reaching that place where we can experience every facet of God’s light without obstacle or interruption. Father, thank You for giving us the light of life that we so desperately need in this place, and keep us looking forward to the greater version that awaits us in the next.