Resilient – A Revelation Daily Devotional – Day 46
Cedar Creek Church September 11, 2025

Day 46 – September 11

Read or listen to the audio version of the Bible Reading and Daily Devotional.

Revelation 21:9-27

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Today’s reading continues to reveal the future hope upon which believers are to build their lives in the present. For much of the original audience, John’s letter arrived in the midst of immense persecution and pressure to submit to Rome and compromise their way of life. The promises of this new reality would have seemed so wonderful, especially when the glory of Rome appeared to the first-century believer to be greater than any glory imaginable.

But John’s vision shatters those lies. The darkness that likely seemed like light to the first-century believer bends its knee to the glory John is granted to see. Hope is not found in the political power of the state, nor is it in the religious pursuits of the devout. It is not the arrival of some grandiose version of human enlightenment or the crown jewel of human achievement. No, this is a God-sized glory, and each image in today’s reading amplifies that point.

Be careful not to miss what is being said in this image: God is not making all new things; He is making all things new. Much of the imagery at the close of Scripture is familiar, with aspects of creation, humanity, and civilization present in the scene. The eternal hope is anchored in what is added to these familiar things.

Humanity was created to live fully in God’s presence on earth, but we abandoned that purpose for a desire to be like Him. The relentless pursuit of our own knowledge, plans, schemes, and purposes has robbed us of this initial purpose. The results have been death and judgment, which are not just promises of a future reality but also a present experience. God does not say to John that He will make all things new; instead, He says that He is making all things new.

This perspective shift allows us to see both suffering and prosperity for what they truly are: they are preparing our lives for what this eternity will be. In view of today’s vision, it is no wonder that Paul would say no suffering is worth comparing with the glory that awaits the believer.

Do we long for this day in our present? The question is not whether we hope to miss the gifts God has given us here, but rather, are these gifts producing a desire to truly meet the One who gave them and be immersed in His love and glory?

Pray: God, orient my heart to see your redemptive work in all my experiences. Transform me to be one who clings to you as I point others to the hope I have in you. Amen.