Project 119: Heaven and Nature Sing | Revelation 22
| Project 119
Reading for Saturday, December 12: Revelation 22
Now, amen, we sing Your victory,
High on Your eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Your own;
Oh come quickly, oh, come quickly!
Everlasting God, come down.
-"Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending"
Advent is one of those seasons in church life that looks in two directions. It looks back to Jesus’ birth and invites us to prepare to celebrate its significance for our salvation yet again. But it also looks ahead to Jesus’ second coming and how His return will consummate God’s redemptive purposes fully and forever.
This hymn, “Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending,” points to the future promise of how Christ’s return will mark the end of our earthly existence too often marked by mourning, crying, and pain as the victory of our faith transports us to the New Jerusalem where “all things will become new.” Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, describes the scene vividly as a restoration of Eden, where the tree of life yields its fruit every month and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
I like to think of this final chapter as God’s big bow on the gift of everlasting life. As all of us know, every present has to be adorned with such a bow in order for it to be presentable. Think of this chapter’s promises as the crowning touch on our salvation, as King Jesus calls us to share in His victory forevermore.
In a day when we find it increasingly more difficult to hold up in the face of the challenges that come our way in this life, the vision of God’s new day gives us the strength we need to keep going, one faithful foot in front of the other. And as we do, the song on our lips makes our destination seem so much nearer. “Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.”