“On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Revelation 22:2 (NIV)
I am so grateful for this vision of the tree of life with the leaves for the healing of all nations.
The picture is wonderful - it paints for us a vision of a renewed earth, where the earth itself heals, for the earth has been set free from the bondage of sin.
It is a new earth in the sense that there is no longer any sin, and so it is once again the Garden of Eden, yet it is more than the Garden for it is the dwelling place of the Lord God, and therefore contains the source of life.
It solidifies for the believer the truth about God’s will concerning sickness-
for God’s will is that we would all be healed.
It solidifies for the believer the truth that complete healing waits –
it waits for our eschatological hope to be made real in the new heaven and new earth.
And it solidifies for the believer the truth about our loved ones who died in Christ –
for they entered into complete healing when they entered their Lord’s Presence.
There will be a day in my life and yours (if the Lord doesn’t come back first) when we suffer from the sickness from which we will die.
May God grant us the grace to believe these three truths as we face the time of our departure, may we eagerly look forward to seeing our Lord, our balm of Gilead.
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