Fortastes & Downpayments- Part 2

This is a continuation of yesterday's post about foretastes and down payments now of what the Kingdom Age will be like as described in Revelation 21 and 22.

21:6 Quenching our thirst. Thirst in the Bible is usually a metaphor for strong desire. We think we thirst for money, power, sex, significance. But none of those satisfy, because what they are but shadows of is the need for God. Jeremiah said that the two great errors (Jer. 2:13) are to reject God who is the fountain of living water only to dig cisterns that are broken and can hold no water. That is a description of what all idolatry is.

In the Kingdom Age all that is over. We drink directly from the river of life. When we learn to do that spiritually now, we are getting a foretaste of the true refreshing water. When we pray for others to so drink, we are handing out bottle water, so to speak, from the fountains of heaven!

21:23 Everlasting light. There will be no need for sun or moon, because the Lamb will be our light. That light is manifest now when we see Him clearly, and when we see ourselves as He sees us and see others as He sees them. Learning to see with heaven's eyes is a foretaste of eternity

22:2 Healing. In the Kingdom we will be fully healed by the possession of resurrection bodies without blemish or decay. Now, every healing is but a down payment on our future bodies, a quickening of mortal flesh in anticipation of the immortal to come.

22:3 See His Face. Now we see as through a glass darkly; then face to face. But what is often overlooked is that we do see now. We get inner glimpses of who Jesus is, and every glimpse changes us.

22:5 Reigning with Him. In the fullness of the Kingdom we will reign over the new earth with Him. The promise that Adam lost through disobedience is restored through the obedience of the Second Adam. Now, we get foretastes of this as we learn to reign over our earthly lives, conquering sinful habits and destructive behaviors and bring God's order to our bodies, lives, families and spheres of influence.