Revelation 21:6 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Revelation 21:6

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And he said unto me, It is done.’ This is Christ speaking. ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end’, the eternal Son of God. ‘I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that over cometh, shall inherit all things.’ We pick out the word ‘inherit’. It will come by grace. An inheritance is not earned or worked for or deserved. It is yours, by right; it passes down the family. You do nothing in order to secure it. And yet, we must overcome. While we are in the world the battle continues. There is no discharge until death; only then can we lay down our arms and rest. The death of the believer marks his final victory over the enemy. The choice before us is between loyalty to the world and loyalty to Christ. Whether we like it or not, we cannot take a neutral stance. Both sides call for our total support. Each side is implacably opposed to the other. Since, the fall every man woman and child is by default on the world’s side. The Christian has crossed over and engaged on the Lord’s side, but he must remain loyal to the end. Eternal security does not turn this battle into something artificial. It is true that the outcome is certain, but victory will not be gained without our involvement in the battle. Eternal security rather prevents us despairing when faced with an enemy who would otherwise be too great for us. It is not an excuse for fatalism or half-heartedness. The way God’s Spirit works in us never makes our own striving obsolete. ‘He that overcometh, shall inherit’ – because he is a child of God – ‘all things’ that we are going to read about next. ‘And I will be his God and he shall be my son.’ Not just ‘my child’; ‘my son’. That had special significance in those days: the son who would be especially looked upon and trained to take over the family smallholding or business or whatever. As Christian men, Christian women, we are all as privileged sons in the household of God, receiving his undivided attention.

Application

‘It is done’, it is fixed and cannot be changed. We may ask, ‘what if’? We imagine a thousand contingencies that might arise. But the plan of God is fixed. All things have been anticipated by God; indeed all things have been ordained by God. This is the believer’s consolation. From God’s perspective, nothing is contingent.

Who can undo what he has done? Who can change past, present, or future? He is Alpha and Omega and besides him there is no other. There is no other who can interfere with his work. There is no other god with whom he need consult. There are no other parallel universes which might throw his plans into confusion. He is outside of everything, the eternal God, dependent on nothing, upholding all things. There are no uncertainties for him at any level as there are to man. Always the world brings forth new ideas to erode our confidence in the one true God. Always, we have to reassert that God is beyond and above and outside of all things. Puny human minds cannot begin to ascend to his heights. Far less can they imagine what is more ultimate than God. All man’s dreams fall far below the reality of the glory of God.

The word ‘fountain’ is means ‘spring’ or ‘living well’. In Revelation it is used of natural rather than man-made fountains. These are places where water naturally bubbles up from the ground. Used as a metaphor for life, it implies great abundance. As a spring sends up far more water than would ever be drunk or collected by those who live near it, so it is with the water of life. There is such plenty that all thought of shortage is dismissed. Never mind what time of day or what season of the year people go to the spring; they are guaranteed to find all that they need. Christ uses the same metaphor to speak of himself. He is an inexhaustible spring of life to those who come to him. This is water that whoever drinks shall never thirst. It is an infinite supply because Christ himself is infinite. Those who are thirsty in their souls can come to him from afar, confident that they will receive more than enough to compensate them for all they have left behind. He is a spring that gives life in the soul, eternal life. It is offered freely. No man can pay for it because it is beyond price. We come as bankrupts who must cast themselves on the mercy of our divine Benefactor. We come and beg for what we can never afford. But if we do so, we will receive riches that that the world cannot afford.

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Revelation 21:6 Commentary and Bible Study