Revelation 21:6 (NKJV)
John 19:30 (NKJV)
Genesis 2:2 (NKJV)
The Beginning, Part 4
The beginning of Revelation 21:6 is a definitive declaration from God. This verse begins with, “And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
Without reservation God declared it is done, finished, and completed. When I read that I am reminded of the words Jesus used on the cross. In John 19:30, John (the same John who was at the cross when Jesus died) wrote, “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
It’s almost like there is a correlation between God finishing creation in Genesis 2:2, Jesus giving up his physical body on the cross in John 19:30, and the declaration in Revelation 21:6 when He announced, “it is done.”
In Genesis the declaration that it was finished was followed by rest. The Hebrew word was Shabbat or sabbath. God was telling man on the 7th day he would need to rest. For six days man was to work, but on the 7th day he needed to rest.
In John 19:30, Jesus had given his all to His followers and at the cross when He gave up His Spirit, dying to His physical body. Three days later, Jesus arose conquering death and He appeared to the women and His disciples. In Acts 1:9, Jesus ascended to heaven before their eyes.
In revelation 21:6, God announced the final “it is done! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
From creation in Genesis to the sacrifice of the lamb of God, to the completion at the end of Revelation, God was there fulfilling His plan.
Then in the second section of Revelation 21:6, John wrote, “I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
Aside from occasional brief periods of being thirsty, I’ve never really know thirst. I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City. We had a good water supply that I could get from the kitchen or the bathroom. I’ve never been told I need to limit my use of water. Whenever I was not at home I could usually find a drinking fountain, even if I was at a park.
Once, when I worked for a non-profit organization in the mid-1970’s, I met a wonderful woman of color who was a great ‘teacher’ as I learned my job. One day we were talking and somehow the subject of going to a park to play and getting a drink came up. She told me about a time (not long ago) when she wasn’t allowed to take her children to a park without carry water “in” for them to drink. I asked her why there wasn’t a drinking fountain at the park. She said there was a fountain but they were not allowed to drink from the fountain. Being naive, I asked her why?
I was shocked at her answer. She said when she was growing up and even when her children were growing up they were not allowed to drink from the fountain because of the color of their skin.
When I went home that day I cried for hours. I honestly had no idea at one time only white skinned people could drink from public fountains. Thankfully, that had changed by the time we had that conversation. However, the conversation we had that day forever changed ME. I realized that God is all inclusive. Everyone and anyone can drink from the fountain of life. We are all welcome.
Revelation 21:6b makes it clear that anyone who thirsts can freely drink.
God created us all. The old song that I sang as a child, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world” is what I was taught as a child. We are all the created in God’s image. We are all loved and accepted at the fountain. We are all children of God.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Quench your thirst
What do you thirst for today? Is it righteousness, or acceptance? Is it forgiveness for something you struggle with? Whatever you thirst for, God will give you...open your hands and receive what God has for you.
In God, Deborah
acrazyjourney.com
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