Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God (Revelation 21:3).
We have traced the whole journey of God with man—from creation, through separation, to redemption, indwelling, union, and the final new creation. Now, in this brief part, let us stand back and behold the finished pattern, and hear once more the voice from the throne describing the end of all things:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people… And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:1–4).
And the One on the throne declares the whole work complete:
Behold, I make all things new… It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son (Revelation 21:5–7).
This is the great plan of the ages—the mystery of God, the mystery of Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul unfolds its final goal: that at the end, all things in heaven and earth will be gathered together in one, in Christ; for Christ is in us and among us.
…the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints… which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26–27).
Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians with the same sweeping vision—a God who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestined us to adoption, redeemed us by His blood, and purposes, “in the dispensation of the fulness of times,” to gather all things together in one in Christ:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him (Ephesians 1:10).
Here is the whole story in a single sentence. All that sin scattered, Christ gathers. All that was broken and separated—heaven from earth, God from man, man from man—is brought back together in Him. He is the center in whom the whole universe finds its unity again. “With us” in His coming; “in us” by His Spirit; and we “in Him” forever. That is the destiny of the redeemed, and the meaning of everything.381
Beautiful and Powerful Verses
Before we turn to the question of how to receive this salvation, let us set side by side a few of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture—words spoken by the Lord God in the Old Testament, and words spoken by the Lord Jesus in the New—and watch how they answer one another:
Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel… I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Isaiah 44:6).
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last (Isaiah 48:12).
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).
Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore… and have the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:17–18).
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13).
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star (Revelation 22:16).
The Lord God says, “I am the first and the last, and beside me there is no God.” The Lord Jesus says, “I am the first and the last… the root and the offspring of David.” The same titles, the same claim, upon the lips of Yahweh and upon the lips of Jesus—because they are one. And so the book of Revelation, and the whole of Scripture, closes with the church’s longing cry:
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).
Notes
- 381. Ephesians 1:10 speaks of God’s plan to “gather together in one” (Greek anakephalaiosasthai, “to sum up, unite under one head”) all things in Christ. This cosmic reconciliation (cf. Col. 1:20) is the consummation of redemptive history: everything fractured by sin is reunited under Christ as head. See Frank Thielman, Ephesians, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), 64–68. ↩