The audio for this devotional is not available for now, but you can have your device read it to you.
Reading options
Verse:I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” —Revelation 21:3
Ever since that fateful afternoon in the Garden of Eden, God has been looking for us, seeking to restore His relationship with humanity and with each of us individually. He developed a relationship with the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He invited the Israelites to make a place in which He could “dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). After centuries of prophets and expectancy, Jesus “made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). At Pentecost, God’s Spirit was sent to dwell in His people in a new and more intimate way. The ultimate and final move in this trajectory is God establishing His “dwelling” among His people. This is not only about geography or proximity but signifies a renewal of a personal relationship. The same God who called out with longing and sorrow that afternoon in Eden is now reconnected with the human beings whose fear caused them to hide from His presence. Many times since, God’s children have withdrawn in fear and chosen to trust their doubts. But that brokenness is undone. “In Genesis, human beings became hostages to distrust, alienation, fear, and the need to keep distance. In Revelation, the reversal is complete.”* The God who seeks became the “God who sees,” became “God with us,” and becomes the God who dwells with us forever. The God who was their God becomes the God who is our God.
With this one existential relationship restored, healing flows to all our relationships. The curses of Genesis are undone. Living with this expectation means that those curses will begin to lose their hold on us, even as we continue to live with their effects.
The reversal has already begun.
* Sigve K. Tonstad, Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019), 332.