ODJ: village of eternity

June 16, 2013 

READ: Revelation 22:1-21 

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him (v.3).

Journalist Tracey Lawson visited Campodimele, Italy, and dubbed it the “Village of Eternity.” The 1,000 year old town rests like a crown atop a mountain, and the average resident lives 95 years. The locals eat well—mostly simple, fresh food. According to Lawson, the village is a “little cluster of medieval houses [with] olive trees on the slopes in the background.” The main piazza boasts a panoramic view of the Liri Valley, and twilight patrons of the Moonlight Café can sit outside and watch the moon ascend like a slow-moving lantern.

So what’s to stop us all from buying one-way tickets to Campodimele? The promise of somewhere even better. This divine venue of the future in Israel and is called “the New Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:1-2). In this place . . .

We will interact directly with God (22:3). “The throne of God . . . will be there, and His servants will worship Him” (v.3). The word worship in this verse could be rendered serve. Either way, our acts of honour will be performed face-to-face with our Creator (v.4).

We will experience God’s glorious light (v.5). One day we’ll live in His radiance, which will negate the need for lamps, light bulbs and even the sun!

We will reign forever and ever (v.5). Our lives will go on indefinitely without the threat of evil (v.15). We’ll finally experience the wonder of the words: “Everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Christian writer C. S. Lewis said, “If I [have] a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the [best] explanation is that I was made for another world.” Do you desire limitless time and the continual joy that comes from God’s presence? (Psalm 21:6). If so, you were made for God’s ‘village of eternity’.

—Jennifer Benson Schuldt

› John 1:19-34