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God First, Man Second: New Year's Series


Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ~Revelation 21:1-3

This is a classic few verses from the last book of the Bible. It is very inspiring and can be very useful, like towards the end of an emotional movie when the hero has been beaten down beyond normal human comprehension, only to come back and achieve victory, even if it is only a partial and emotional victory achieved by getting the attention of a pretty girl.

But I digress.

These verses are best heard, read aloud by someone with a voice like that guy from the Allstate commercials. You can hear that. can't you. And even though my voice isn't so memorable as that, I want you to see where I would put the emphasis.

"Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people." See! We're going to be the guests at an eternal sleepover at God's house. It's God's place and we get to stay over.

"and he will dwell with them." Yeah, it's God's call and he is choosing to hang with us. If that doesn't leave you feeling a sense of worth, then nothing else will ever do. And that's kind of the point.

"They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." Belonging. It's not like God is just a part of some big hang-with-a-loser program. I could have used something like that in middle school. We belong to God. And the object always comes second to the owner.

God first, man second.
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