ODJ: Future Victory

September 13, 2017 

READ: Revelation 22:1-6 

No longer will there be a curse upon anything (v.3).

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs baseball team won the World Series (North America’s pro baseball championship) for the first time since 1908. After their win, people everywhere declared that “the Curse” had been lifted. The curse supposedly originated in 1945, when William Sianis tried to bring his pet goat into Wrigley Field during a game. Guards denied them access and Sianis reportedly said, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”

Unlike that questionable curse, the earth truly is under a curse as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:17). Thankfully, this condition will not last forever. We know this because an angel showed John a vision of the New Jerusalem—a place where there will “no longer . . . be a curse upon anything” (Revelation 22:3).

In the New Jerusalem, as in ancient Eden, human beings and God will dwell in peace. God’s servants will see Him and worship Him in person, because His throne will be present there in the city. From God’s throne, a crystalline river will run through the land, flanked by trees on each side (vv.1-2). Instead of the sun, God’s glory will light up the entire place, and believers from every nation will always be whole&mdashunthreatened by death, war or any other kind of evil (Revelation 21:23-27).

Perhaps my favourite thing about this curse-free place is that everyone who knows God here on earth will rule with Him in the New Jerusalem. Believers in Jesus who suffer, struggle and lose in this fallen world will enjoy abundant, eternal life. Experiences with defeat and failure will be just a wisp of a memory as we revel in the victory of Jesus Christ. And with God, we “will reign forever and ever” (22:5).

—Jennifer Schuldt

365-day-plan: John 13:21-38