REVELATION 22:1-5

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Way back on January 6 we read Ezekiel’s vision of a River of Life. Here we see in John’s vision that the reality is even better than what Ezekiel foresaw: how the Tree of Life spans the river and produces fruit and leaves that heal and delight.

And then there is that beautiful note that the servants of God and the Lamb will “reign forever.”

God’s plan is not to take away human freedom, but to allow it to flourish in its proper place. This was the plan from the beginning, and one day it will be realized.

[God’s] kingdom turns out to be quite unlike the beast’s. It finds its fulfillment not in the subjection of God’s ‘servants’ (22:3) to his rule, but in their reigning with him (22:5). The point is not that they reign over anyone: the point is that God’s rule over them is for them a participation in his rule. The image expresses the eschatological reconciliation of God’s rule and human freedom, which is also expressed in the paradox that God’s service is perfect freedom (cf. 1 Pet. 2:16). Because God’s will is the moral truth of our own being as his creatures, we shall find our fulfillment only when, through our free obedience, his will becomes also the spontaneous desire of our hearts. Therefore in the perfection of God’s kingdom theonomoy (God’s rule) and human autonomy (self-determination) will fully coincide.” - Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation

God’s will is for us to reign!