6.2 Healing of the Nations

God's grace and the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth can never end. They are major cornerstones of the everlasting Covenant of Peace.

Heaven is not some distant place in the physical universe - you cannot take a rocket ship to get there! Likewise, God is not an abstract being who sits capriciously on his throne. He looks for those whose hearts are inclined to Him. He calls us and makes us worthy and righteous by faith in His Son. It is the miracle of grace through faith and obedience. God has made provision for us to partake of Jesus, the manna from heaven. Hallelujah, he lives and reigns forevermore!

Man forfeited his dominion by eating the forbidden fruit, resulting in a sin-laden mentality. This condition can only be cured by the rescue and redemption of our Savior. Those who become redeemed by Jesus Christ, the firstborn Adam of a greater covenant, and led by God the Holy Spirit, take on the nature of the new Adam. Dominion becomes restored to redeemed humanity, beginning with dominion over one's choices. Solomon taught this concept in Proverbs 16:32:

1 Proverbs 16:32

32 One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.

Deuteronomy 11:24-25 talks about the inheritance of Old Testament Israel:

2 Deuteronomy 11:24-25

24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.

25 No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.

Why should we be surprised that the Great Commission extends this promise of influence and possession to the ends of the earth? This is the dominion of the Holy Spirit. God infuses Himself into redeemed humanity to carry on His mission. By the everlasting Covenant of Peace, in which God writes his laws on the hearts of believers, the prayer "On earth as it is in heaven," becomes a reality.

First, it becomes a reality for individuals who have chosen the path of obedience and holiness. Next, it becomes a reality for families, churches, and businesses. It becomes a reality for an entire nation. Ultimately it becomes what God intended for mankind in the very beginning, the kingdom of God reigning over every nation.

God's original purpose for creating man was to give him dominion, and according to the New Covenant, God has restored dominion to those who are made new in Christ.

The journey toward any of these outcomes always begins with individual people. It requires an awareness of the need for salvation and trust that following God's ways is the most rewarding. That means there will always be a choice to accept and follow God's ways or deny Him. There is no real relationship with God without that choice. Love cannot be forced. As they say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink."

Access to the Tree of Life was impossible until Jesus made a way back by forgiving sin. Jesus IS the Tree of Life. Communion is all about feasting on the Tree of Life and receiving eternal reward.

Revelation 22:1-2 speaks about the tree of life having leaves and bearing fruit for the healing of nations:

2 Revelation 22:1-2

1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The leaves provide shade while the tree of life faithfully produces fruit in cadence with each new month. The peace and healing power of the Holy Spirit continues to attract souls to Jesus, fill and transform them, and restore all things according to God's timing. We have been living in an era of the healing of the nations for quite some time with no end in sight - it is the perpetual nature of the New Everlasting Covenant!

The Lamb resides at the throne of God in the New Jerusalem. This heavenly Jerusalem exists outside space and time but arrived on earth through Jesus Christ. It is perpetuated by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who produces fruit-bearing disciples. This should be no surprise, as described in Ephesians 2:4-7, in which the term "ages to come" speaks of the perpetuity of God's new covenant:

4 Ephesians 2:4-7

4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-

6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;

It doesn't take leaving this world to have access to the water of life. The Holy Spirit IS the water of life! Jesus emphatically made this point in John 7:37-39:

3 John 7:37-39

37 Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!

38 He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water."

39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn't yet glorified.

Psalms 1:1-3 tells of becoming like a tree that produces its fruit in season:

3 Psalms 1:1-3

1 Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in Yahweh's law. On his law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.

This is much more of a reality in the New Covenant with its greater glory.

The whole earth is God's possession. He desires every nation to be blessed and healed by the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the divine nature of the Holy Spirit. Habakkuk 2:14 provides a New Covenant plan of God's intention for the whole earth:

1 Habakkuk 2:14

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh's glory, as the waters cover the sea.

Verses 3-5 of Revelation 22 provide an understanding of our covenantal relationship with God. This is how we experience Jesus even while on earth. This is our Sabbath rest, the source of our supernatural peace, and the means of bearing the fruit of the Spirit to bring healing to the nations:

3 Revelation 22:3-5

3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.

There is no more curse because Jesus became a curse for us on the cross. We are sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit and walk in the light of His supernatural glory. From generation to generation, saints reign over all things in their lives and align their environments with God's kingdom purposes.

As we read Revelation 22:10-17, we sense an urgency in the writer's words, "for the time is at hand" and "behold I come quickly." There is always an urgency to preach and obey God's words. The consequences of good and bad behavior are spelled out:

8 Revelation 22:10-17

10 He said to me, "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still."

12 "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.

15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.

17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Verse 17 cries out in grace like an evangelist, excitedly saying to all hungry hearers, "Just come, freely partake of the waters of life" (my paraphrase). Do you hear the voice of the Lord calling you? Is faith like a mustard seed beginning to grow in your heart? Come and be made whole!