It’s All Good

Revelation 22:1-5

 

“It’s all good”, is a popular response nowadays that means, nothing is bad. But the irony is that some things are bad, painful, irreversible and even life-changing. Is it all good after having a still born baby or when a family member dies unexpectedly? Is it all good when you get fired from your job of 30 years? Is it all good when a relationship is irreconcilable? Is it all good when life feels like there’s no hope?

 

At the time when John wrote the book of Revelation, the believers in Asia Minor were on the verge of suffering sever persecution for being a follower of Jesus. The Roman authorities were beginning to enforce emperor worship which would be unacceptable for a Christian.  What could this persecution mean for an individual?

 

“Nero was quite insane, and is reported to have tortured Christians with great cruelties for his own enjoyment. According to the Roman historian Tacitus:

Besides being put to death they [the Christians] were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beast and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed.”

 

“It’s all good”, would seem like a hollow response at best.

 

In the Book of Revelation, John gave the persecuted church a future with eternal hope through these words:

 

“And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, ² coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. ³ There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.”          TLB

 

For the first century believers, as well as for us, these words bring great hope. It’s not that “it’s all good”, but we can have faith in a loving sovereign God that He has a future for us without pain and suffering. In other words, evil and pain do not have the last word… God does.

 

 

 

Now THAT IS all good.