Joel M Bradshaw

5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6He said to me [John]: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”–Revelation 21

1. God had a message, a warning, to deliver to John’s original readers in the seven churches.
2. It does us well to receive the warning, as well.
3. But first, God pronounced that whatever He accomplished was and is DONE.
4. His message first is for the victorious. Remember, we overcome by the blood of Jesus and by the message brought by our lives that have been transformed by Jesus (Revelation 12:11).
5. Followers of Jesus get an identity as God’s children and will be inheritors of the things of God. They will also enjoy eternal life. This means that Christians only die once.
6. The ones who chose to reject Jesus have no hope of eternal life. They instead die a second time. An eternal death in the lake of fire.
7. The warning is clear. If you live to please yourself, your destiny ultimately is the lake of fire. If you live to honor Jesus, your destiny is eternal life with Him.–JMB