“And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1-5, NASB)

What makes heaven a heaven? Eternal life? No more tears, sadness, pain? No more darkness? No more Satan? Streets of gold? Rewards? What if you had all of these but no God? Would it still be heaven? Heaven is heaven because God will be there. Here is what our life in heaven will look like. In today’s passage, John takes us inside the city of God, the new Jerusalem, and shows us what our life will be like there. It says,

“And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 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. 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; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 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.”

Look at some of these wonderful things that will be there for us—the river of the water of life, the tree of life, twelve kinds of fruit every month, leaves of the tree for healing, no more curses, no more darkness, no more need for the sun. Some people interpret this as God restoring the Garden of Eden for us, but to me, it is more than that. It is a new world with a new creation of all things. The Garden of Eden was nothing more than a shadow of things to come! And the best thing about it all is that our God will be there sitting on His throne, and we will serve and reign with Him forever and ever.

To me, it is the throne of God in the middle of it all that will make heaven a heaven. I love the picture of the river of water of life coming from the throne of God, which implies that He is the source of all these wonderful things. The water of life flows from God, and it gives life to the trees, fruit, and leaves. We have no need of any sunlight because God Himself is our light and He will illumine us forever and ever. There will be no curse because God Himself is our blessing. We can say that God ultimately provides all these things for His people, as it says that the “leaves” of the trees are for the “healing of the nations.” The beneficiaries of the trees, fruit, leaves, and light are every bond-servant of God. The beneficiaries of the new world where there will be no more curses are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev.21:27). The fact that every bond-servant of God will bear His name on their forehead shows that our source of life, blessing, and power comes from God, too.

Every day for all eternity, every one of these bond-servants of God will “see His face,” “serve Him,” and “reign forever and ever” with Him. To me, this is the greatest reward and blessing we will receive in heaven, and it makes heaven a heaven! The “throne of God and of the Lamb” is the central piece and the source of life for everything in heaven. You can have all the wonderful and amazing things you dream about in heaven, but if God is not there, it will no longer be heaven. So this is what our life in heaven will look like. We will live forever and ever, and we will move about enjoying, never knowing curse again, never in the dark, and serving God who sits on the throne. Heaven is heaven because God will be there, and I want to go there and be His servant forever and ever.

• What can you picture in your mind about heaven as you read today’s passage?
• What kind of work do you picture us doing in heaven, as it says we will “serve” Him and “reign” with Him forever?
• Of the things mentioned, what is your favorite part about heaven?