The NIV 365 Day Devotional

A Happy Ending After All

We sense it at rare moments: The first real day of spring, when the air is heavy with the scent of blooms and new life sprouts everywhere. Or even in winter, when an unexpected snowstorm clothes a gray, dingy city in pure white. Or when we watch a baby animal at play in the zoo. Or remember the first sweet twinge of romantic love.

This world may be full of pollution, war, crime and hate. But inside all of us linger remnants that remind us of what the world could be like— of what we could be like. The Old Testament prophets dreamed of “that day” when creation would be made new. And those sensations, following a dismal monotone of predicted catastrophes, burst out of the last few chapters of Revelation. That perfect world is not merely a dream; it will come to be.

A New World at Last

There will be no more tears then, no more pain. Wild animals will frolic, not kill. Once again creation will work the way God intended. Peace will reign not only between God and individuals but also between him and all creation. The kingdom comes out into the open. The Holy City of God flings wide its gates.

Revelation ends on a note of great triumph. Somehow, out of all the bad news augured here, good news emerges— spectacular Good News. To those who believe, Revelation becomes not a book of fear, but a book of hope. God will prevail. All will be made new.

The Bible began back in Genesis with a tragic defeat when humanity, made in the image of God, rebelled. It ends with a reunion— a marriage, Revelation calls it. There is a happy ending after all.

Life Question: If you could design a perfect world, what would it look like?

Taken from the NIV Student Bible.