Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Here is the climax of many promises of the Bible: the Presence of God with us, and the covenant relationship between God and His people. The Eternal State described here at the end of ”The Book” completes the Restoration of Paradise lost at the beginning of ”The Book.”
In the Fall we lost the presence of God (“in the day you eat of it you shall die“), and we were banished from Paradise. The rest of the Story reveals what the Lord is doing to restore us to the Paradise of God, the Presence of God, and the Life of God. The presence of God dwelling on earth was in the Tabernacle of Moses. We knew where and how to find Him. Then He dwelled in the Temple of Solomon. We knew where and how to find Him. Then the Son of God “became flesh and dwelt among us.” We knew where where and how to find Him. Then the presence of God (the temple) moves into the hearts of believers (the Church) where the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments administered. We know where and how to find Him. Finally, we are ushered into the new heavens and new earth, in which all of it is filled with the visible and felt Presence of God all the time. We will walk by sight, not just by faith any longer.
In the Fall we also lost an intimate relationship with God, with one another, and with God’s created environment. This lost love relationship with God has been reconciled and restored in Christ. By faith ”we are His people and He is our God.” God Himself comes to live in us and be with us always. The promise of a visible and felt loving relationship will be experienced by all believers in That Day. For now, we enjoy that relationship by faith, and we live in the sure hope of experiencing it by sight in our future.