Revelation 7:15 Commentary and Bible Study

Heaven is the permanent home of the saints. They are there by right. Certainly they are there by grace, but grace has given them a right and therefore it is all the more marvellous in their eyes. The present tense – ‘they are before the throne of God’ – describes what will ever be true of them. They can dare to look forward to uninterrupted eternal bliss. Their hope can expand in a way that was not easy while they were still living under the shadow of death. They are given the highest privilege that it is possible for man to have. For there is no greater gift than the service of God. Does human pride think that it is demeaning for man to have to serve? Is it full of suspicion towards God that he requires this? The saints do not think so; they know better than that. They serve the Lord out of love for him. They have lost sight of their own glory, as an end in itself. Their attention is focused entirely on the Lord. They can never repay what they have received from Christ. They will be forever in his debt. Why should we mind serving one who is so meek and lowly in heart? We banish all feelings that we are being taken advantage of. They will serve without tiring or needing rest, as on earth. The resurrection body will be capable of ceaseless activity. Sleep as a figure of death belongs to this fallen world. Where are the saints? They are in the temple of God. The temple of God on earth was the place where God dwelt in Israel, but his presence was largely symbolic. The church and the individual Christian are called the temple of God in the New Testament and Spirit of God dwells among his people and in every believer, but still all is known by faith. Now it is different. The saints are in the true temple and see God face to face and yet live. They have uninterrupted fellowship with God. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, they see God and look upon his beauty forever. The hunger spoken of here then is hunger for God’s presence, thirst for understanding of his word, longing to be away from the presence of sin, both within their own hearts and in the world around them, desire to be clothed with their resurrection bodies and to dwell in the new heavens and earth. Now all this longing comes to an end as faith gives way to sight and hope to the present enjoyment of that hope.All things were originally made for man’s good. The earth was a perfect environment for him to live in. But after the curse all was changed. The burning heat of the sun as it exists in this fallen world is made to stand for this. Nature which was made to provide for all man’s needs became in many ways hostile to him. No more in heaven shall the creation itself seem to oppose man, but all will live in a world where there is no hint of God’s displeasure, and all things communicate his benevolence towards his people.