What will the world be like when Christ returns to set all things right and make all things new? John first echoes the imagery of Ezekiel, who described a river flowing from the Temple of God that would heal the waters of the Dead Sea, allowing fish to live in what is now the saltiest body of water in the world. On the banks of that restored sea, Ezekiel saw trees bearing “fresh fruit every month.” “Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing,” he said (Ezekiel 47:1-12).

But John’s vision is even more magnificent. Because the trees surrounding the river of life are for the healing of all the nations, we know the whole world will be refreshed and renewed. In fact, John says that the coming of Christ will usher us all the way back into the Garden of Eden, the place where the “tree of life” first grew (22:2).

But when God comes to walk in His new garden in the cool of the day, we will no longer have reason to hide from him as Adam and Eve did (Genesis 3:8). No, there won’t be any need for the kind of curses their disobedience deserved (22:3). Instead, we will see God face to face (22:4). And we will worship Him and serve Him forever (22:3,5).

But John also says that we will reign with Him, and that also takes us back to the very beginning. For when God first made Adam and Eve, He told them to “subdue” the earth and to have “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

Yes, Adam’s sin meant he could no longer subdue the earth, but that it would produce “thorns and thistles” instead of crops (Genesis 3:17). And yes, after the days of Noah, God placed the “fear” and the “dread” of human beings “upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea” (Genesis 9:2).

But when Christ returns, His people will be restored to our original role as stewards of all of God’s creation, managing and directing every living thing for God’s glory. Paul puts it this way: on that day, “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

But since we already enjoy the light of God in Jesus Christ (22:5; John 8:12), and since Jesus has already deputized His followers to bear His light into the world, letting our light shine before others to glorify God (Matthew 5:14-16), why not get started on God’s great plan to renew the world? Why not work today for the healing of the nations by showing and sharing the love of Christ with everyone? Why not take care of God’s creation so that it might reveal more of His glory today?

Revelation 22:1-5 (NASB)

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
2 in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him;
4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.