Revelation 21:26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
Have you ever wondered what would happen to everything that was created to the glory of God now when the earth gets renewed at the end of the ages? Does everything that is part of this world get eliminated and we start with a completely fresh slate in the new earth? Was everything done just a waste of time and energy?
This is a good question. The design of the world is such that when things are done in accordance with the original plan of God for this place, those things generally fair better against the ravages of sin than other things. When our generous and creativity are used to glorify God, do these things disappear? Will they last into eternity?
Well, our text today gives us a glimpse, although not a completely clear picture. I can easily see the glory and honor of nations being those things done in obedience to the LORD. If it was not done in this way and with this motive, it certainly wouldn’t be glorious or honoring. It would be self-promoting and self-aggrandizing.
But our text tells us that there is something from the nations that is brought into this new capital city, the city where God’s makes His physical presence known in a unique way. It certainly can’t be gold and silver. Those become like concrete in the New City. There is nothing special about them.
In the context of this book, glory and honor are something that other beings attribute to the LORD and no one else. Even angels won’t accept even a hint of it. Only the LORD is worthy of glory and honor.
So in this moment, the moment of our text, everything in creation is going to be set aright. It will become all that is was meant to be from the beginning. Humans and the LORD will live together. Humans will reign with Him, carrying out His creative ruling and reigning, subduing and cultivating.
When this happens, all will be for the glory and honor of the LORD. There will be no human exaltation, no selfish accomplishment, not photo ops for our scrapbooks. There won’t be “‘at a boy” walls in our dwellings. All our accomplishments will fade into their proper place.
Are you ready for your whole life to be to the glory and honor of the LORD? Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be now?
The Arnold Journey 