“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.'”
– Revelation 21:3
This verse is so important when we think about heaven. That’s where Revelation 21 is, it is a vision of heaven. I think if we’re not careful when we think about heaven, we immediately start to think about all the stuff in heaven. We even think about mansions in heaven and what will the streets be like and what will be like in this way or that way. We start to think about all those details that we don’t really have a lot of details about. Even if we did, the whole point here in Revelation 21, verse 3, we can’t miss it. What makes heaven heaven is that God will be with us perfectly. We will be in His perfect presence. No more sin.
Everything that comes after this, Revelation 21, verse 4, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more neither shall be there mourning or crying or pain anymore. All these things will be gone. Why? Because God is there in His perfect holiness, His presence made totally perfect among His people. That’s what makes heaven heaven. What we long for in heaven is not stuff, not like this or that that we’re going to look forward to.
Revelation 21:3 Talks About the Goodness of God
Yes, God is going grant us all kinds of good gifts, but they’re all going to flow from Him and His perfect presence. He is the One we long for, not nice stuff, not things. God, deliver us from our desire for more things as if things satisfy, as if this kind of mansion would satisfy, as if this or that possession would satisfy. Oh God, we look forward to being with You. That’s what Revelation 21:3 just beckons us to pray. Oh God, we want to be with You. We want to see You, we want to know You, and we want to be in Your presence. We know that You’re the Giver of every good gift and every good thing we have comes from You.
The thought of being in Your presence—knowing Your goodness is just poured out on us in all kinds of ways—oh God, that You in Your presence, You will wipe away every tear from our eyes. That thought is baffling. It’s wonderful. Just think about the mourning and the crying and the pain of this world and that You promise to personally wipe away the tears from our eyes that we might experience the peace and joy and fullness and love that are found in Your presence. Oh God, we long for that day. We long for that day when sin and suffering will be no more and we will be with You perfectly.
Revelation 21:3 is a Perfect Opportunity to Reconnect with God
Help us, help us, help us today to grow in relationship with You, to grow to know You more, love You more, because this is the end of all things—when we will know You perfectly, when we will be with You perfectly, when we will know You perfectly, and we will be with You perfectly. We will love You perfectly and we will experience Your perfect love for us, Your perfect presence with us. Oh God, we long for that day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
