Bible Study With Jairus Revelation 21 (part 3)

Sets of Three in the Book of Revelation: The Work of the Trinity, Three Types of Judgments and Rewards, and Three Times That God Says “It is Finished”

In this devotional, we will look at several sets of three revealed in Revelation and the Bible as a whole. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have a threefold work: the Father created the world and planned redemption, Jesus Christ finished the work of redemption, and the Holy Spirit completed the work of preparing the bride. By the time we reach Revelation 21, the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has been accomplished. As Christians, we must experience a threefold salvation of our spirit, soul, and body, and humanity will also face three different outcomes.

First, we will look at the Trinity’s three statements that “It is done.” Revelation 21:5-6 says, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’” Who is speaking here? My understanding is that it is God the Father. In fact, God says “It is finished” at three key points throughout the Bible.

• After completing the work of creation, God the Father said, “It is very good” (Genesis 1:31), and He rested (Genesis 2:2). The Father’s work of creation was finished.
• After Jesus completed the work of redemption on the cross, He also said, “It is finished,” and gave up His spirit (John 19:30). The Lord’s work of redemption was completed.
• In Revelation 21, God again says, “It is done.” The Holy Spirit is finished preparing the Church to be a spotless bride for Christ and God. God now renews everything and declares, “It is finished!”

At this point, the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has been accomplished.

In addition, the book of Revelation describes three outcomes for three different types of people.

• Overcomers will receive the inheritance and rewards.
• Those who do not overcome will undergo continued discipline.
• Those who reject and disobey God will be thrown into the lake of fire.

These are the three final outcomes for humanity as revealed in Revelation 21. The one who overcomes will inherit all things (Revelation 21:7), including all the blessings of the New Jerusalem and the privilege of drinking from the river of the water of life (21:6).

Where there are overcomers, there must also be those who do not overcome. Although this passage does not specify what will happen to those who do not overcome, we can make some inferences. The Bible clearly states that only the overcomers will inherit all things, implying that those who do not overcome will not have this heritage. I believe some people are saved but do not overcome.

The third group consists of those who have not been saved at all. These people reject God, and they will be thrown into the lake of fire. “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (21:8). May all people see God's threefold work and the threefold salvation we need, so that we may all enter eternity and be victorious.

The Words of Revelation 21:6 Might Have Been Spoken by the Father

The New Testament contains very few words spoken directly by God the Father. This has puzzled many Christians. Why does the Father speak so much in the Old Testament, yet He seems so sparing with His words in the New Testament? Hebrews 1 offers an explanation: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Much of what Jesus Christ said and did was based on what He saw the Father say and do (John 12:49). However, Revelation 21:5-7 says, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’” My personal understanding is that these are the words of the Father. He speaks in praise for the completion of the work of the Holy Spirit and declares that the overcomers will become sons of God. Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God and our elder brother; we are all sons of God. Therefore, I believe these are the words of the Father, affirming that the work of redemption, deliverance, and maturity has been accomplished, and that we are now able to become His sons.

The Father concludes by saying, “Behold, I am making all things new!” He then says, “It is finished.” Revelation contains this same phrase at least twice, and this may be the final instance. “It is finished” signifies the completion of God's economy and His plan. Then God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”

The relationship between the Father and Son will help us understand the Father’s role in the New Testament. The Father is the planner and designer of everything. Hebrews mentions that God is not only the designer and builder of the heavenly city, but of all things (Hebrews 3:4, 11:10).

So what is the role of Jesus Christ? Just like an executive team carries out the will of the board of directors, the Lord Jesus carries out the will of the Father. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, He said, “I have come to do the will of my Father. Whatever I see the Father doing, I do likewise. I do not act according to my own will, nor do I speak on my own authority.” While many people do not accurately perceive the Father's will or hear his words, Jesus understood the Father’s will perfectly. In this verse, Jesus was essentially saying, "I have come to fulfill the Father’s will. Whatever the Father says, I say; whatever the Father does not say, I do not say." This verse helps explain the scarcity of direct communication from the Father in the New Testament. While we seldom hear the Father speaking directly, this does not mean that He is not communicating. In fact, Jesus heard his voice clearly.

The Father also spoke to other disciples. For example, Peter heard the Father speaking and revealing Christ’s identity. In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say I am?” The disciples replied that many people thought he was Elijah, John the Baptist, or one of the prophets. However, Peter declared, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus told Peter, “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17 BSB). The Father revealed this important insight to Peter, and he can reveal his nature to us as well. Jesus said many times that no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father. The Father reveals to us the Son’s true nature and leads people to believe in the Son.

The Father, who works behind the scenes to design His eternal plans, then holds meetings with the Son and discusses how to execute them. The Bible mentions several such meetings. In Isaiah, we see the members of the Trinity having a meeting and asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah responded, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). In Genesis, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit met together and conferred about creation: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The Father created His plan, the Trinity met together to discuss it, and Jesus executed the plan.

What kind of plan is this? In eternity past, God made a plan to extend the eternal fellowship of the Trinity to mankind. In John 17:21, Jesus desires that humans join him in the unity that he already shared with his father: “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (NIV). God already had perfect fellowship within the Trinity, but he desired a larger family. He wanted humans to belong to him as his children and as his bride. This is God's great plan. It was hidden within creation but was not revealed for many years.

Most likely, God created angels before he created humans. There may have been quite a bit of time that elapsed between the creation of angels and mankind. However, when God created humans and revealed his plan to include mankind in the fellowship of the trinity, this must have made Satan jealous. Even though God created humans a little lower than angels, He allowed humans to share in God's life and enter into intimate fellowship with God. Though not equal to God, humans could approach God personally. This is something the angels, as ministering spirits, could never do. I believe Satan was shocked and jealous when he learned of God's plan, so he came up with a plan to ruin humankind. Satan turned his back on God and tried to ruin God’s plan by tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When humans sinned, they could no longer enjoy intimate fellowship with a holy God, and God's plan was temporarily ruined. However, God is sovereign, and He did not allow Satan to have the final word. He had a greater plan that included a plan to redeem mankind. God foresaw the fall of humanity, so He planned that the Son, Jesus Christ, would become flesh and remove our sins on the cross, bringing us back to God. This is the work that Jesus Christ completed. After Jesus Christ completed this work, He ascended to heaven, and the plan of redemption was finished.

When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He said, "It is finished," meaning that the work the Father entrusted to Him was complete. After the completion of the work the Father gave Him, He sat down on the throne, in the place of highest authority, and received the name which is above every name in heaven, on earth, and even under the earth. When Jesus ascended to His throne, the Father sent the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus to prepare a bride for the King.

In the Old Testament, Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. In the book of Esther, the eunuch anointed Esther with oil and prepared her to meet the king. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit anoints us with the words of the Lord Jesus. These words renew, regenerate, and transform us. The Holy Spirit applies the completed work of the Lord Jesus to our individual lives. Just as the eunuch anointed Esther with oil, we need to be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit from the inside out. We need to be cleansed by the water of the Word so we can become a spotless virgin prepared to meet our Bridegroom. This is the work of the Holy Spirit today.

The famous South African pastor, Andrew Murray, said that the work of the Holy Spirit is to apply the completed work of the Lord Jesus on the cross to the life of every believer. He said that when we pray, the indwelling Christ prays to the Christ in heaven. The work of the Holy Spirit in the church today is to sanctify us, make us holy, and transform us so we can become part of the New Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit Will Certainly Accomplish His Sanctifying Work in the Church

In this passage, the Father is praising the finished work of the Holy Spirit. He had already praised the work of the Son. When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Father does not speak much in the New Testament, but at that moment, He approved of the entire life work of Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, He said, “It is finished.” Although the Bible does not explicitly record the Father saying "It is finished," it is implied by what happened after the crucifixion and resurrection. God the Father exalted Jesus to the highest place, seated Him at His right hand, and gave Him a name which is above every name. These actions demonstrate that God the Father approved of Christ’s work.

Now, the process of sanctifying the church is the work of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit applies the word of the Lord Jesus to our hearts so we can be saved. Then, the Holy Spirit sanctifies and renews us, transforming us into part of the New Jerusalem. When the work of the Holy Spirit is complete, the Father says, “It is finished.” At that moment, God's plan has been accomplished through the cooperative work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

At this moment in history, the Father’s work of creation has been completed. In addition, the Father has completed his work of planning and preparing for our redemption. Jesus completed the work of redemption on the cross, and after that, the Father sent the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. The work of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify the church and make it a spotless bride. Today, the Holy Spirit is in the process of finishing this task.

However, in recent times, many people have seen the corruption and weakness of the church and have lost hope, believing that the church has no future. Rather than hoping for the church’s maturity, they simply hope that Jesus comes quickly, rescues the faithful few, and destroys the rest of the world. Many hold to this escapist theology. They believe the church cannot be sanctified, so they simply wait for Jesus to intervene at the end of time.

This is a completely erroneous understanding of the Bible’s teaching and reflects a lack of faith in the Holy Spirit. If this view were true, it would mean that the Father designed the plan of redemption, Jesus completed it on the cross, but now the Holy Spirit is failing in His role. However, the Bible says that the church will ultimately triumph. The Holy Spirit will certainly complete his work of sanctifying, consecrating, and filling us, making us part of the New Jerusalem.

We cannot destroy God’s plan, but we can delay it. The Holy Spirit’s work will not be complete until the church is victorious. If the church does not mature, it will continue to delay the completion of the Holy Spirit’s work. If believers continue to believe the erroneous escapist theology, it will have a significant impact on the church.

For example, believers who have an escapist theology focus only on praying a prayer of salvation and then waiting to go to heaven. They ignore the importance of cooperating with the Holy Spirit in the work of sanctification. This leads to spiritual immaturity and a lack of influence as the church fails to be salt and light in the world. The American church today is a case in point. Although 65% of the population claims to be Christians, the church has had very little impact on society at large. One would expect that if the majority of the population were Christians, these believers would have a positive impact on the media, entertainment, and educational platforms. But instead, we see increasing corruption in those areas. As a result, children in the U.S. are growing up without reverence for God. Has God’s word lost its power in American society and in the church? No. The state of American society does not mean that God’s word has lost its power, but that the church in America has stopped focusing on sanctification.

A simple example is divorce. We recognize that there are many reasons for divorce, and that God allows divorce in cases of adultery and domestic violence. However, many divorces happen because individuals are unwilling to accept the difficulty and spiritual growth involved in marriage. Furthermore, many divorces are due to adultery, which is a sin and a reflection of the lack of sanctification among believers. God’s word clearly states that what God has joined together, no man should separate (Matthew 19:6). However, many churches do not teach sanctification to believers. If the church continues to believe that these things don’t matter—that all that matters is praying the sinner’s prayer and going to heaven—it will continue to lose its influence in society.

I believe that this escapist mentality is a grave misunderstanding. In heaven, there will likely be continued discipline that will help us escape from the corruption that comes from lust so we can partake in God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The lack of teaching on such truths in the American church has led to a general tendency toward sin among believers.

Conclusion: We Must Continually Pursue Holiness to Overcome

The book of Hebrews says, "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). This shows that holiness is of great importance. Certainly, we experience a degree of holiness when we believe in Jesus for salvation. But we must also attain a greater level of holiness so we can become a part of the bride who is clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. If the bride is not prepared and does not wear fine linen, bright and pure, then Jesus Christ will not return and will not marry the bride.

The work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be completed, and the Holy Spirit will finish the work of sanctification in His bride, the church. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring individuals to repentance, cleanse us, sanctify our souls, and renew our minds. One day, He will also give life to our mortal bodies. On the collective side, the Holy Spirit will transform us from sinners into children of God, and ultimately into the bride of Christ. We will then become part of God’s holy temple, built together as living stones in the New Jerusalem.

The triune work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit corresponds with the threefold salvation of the spirit, soul, and body. We not only need to be filled with God's righteousness on the inside (soul and spirit), but also manifest God's righteous deeds externally (body). These righteous deeds are symbolized by fine linen. When we reach maturity, we will become part of the New Jerusalem and live as Christ’s bride for all of eternity.