Revelation 21:1-4
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s tabernacle is with people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more; for the first things have passed away.””
This passage is from the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. Written by John (likely while exiled on Patmos), it uses vivid symbolic language to convey a vision of God's ultimate triumph over evil and the establishment of a renewed creation for his followers. It's addressed to early Christian communities facing persecution.
What aspects of this vision resonate with your own longings for hope and renewal?