“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him“

And there shall be no more curse,

There is no curse at all in Heaven. After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God placed a curse on them and the earth (Genesis 3:14,17; Galatians 3:10,13). The word “curse” here is an intensive word. It denotes an accursed thing. God placed a ban on the person cursed from His presence.

but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it,

John now turns to the throne of God and of the Lamb. The throne is now the center of God’s presence, replacing the temple. The throne of God will be in this city, and the saints will serve Him.

God’s throne indicates that He will sovereignly rule. There will be perfect government in the eternal state. There will be no courts or jails there.

and His servants shall serve Him.

The word “serve” is for priestly service. This service means to worship, to serve God. Our service will never diminish or decline. While service here is imperfect, our service there will be pure. We mar our service here with the flesh, with false motives, and with pride. We often use service to get ahead or be famous. But our service there will be without fault.

Principle:

God will remove the curse of the Garden of Eden forever.

Application:

There will be no curse in New Jerusalem. There will be no hospitals in this city, nor will there be any police stations or funeral homes. The basic structure of this city will be different from any that preceded it. Neither will there be a Devil or a sin capacity. There will be no accompanying train of pain there.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:18-23).

God will create a new unspoiled universe and earth. Until then, this earth will be filled with corruption, deceit, and immorality. Scars will cover the face of the earth as long as there is sin, and humans will continue to live for themselves. Pride will be a problem until Jesus comes back.

Weeds grow faster than grass. It is difficult to persuade things to grow in our day, but in the eternal state, that will not be a problem.

Fellowship in Heaven will exceed fellowship here on earth. Fellowship here is imperfect because of our capacity for sin. Other people see our imperfections just as clearly as we can see theirs. These deficiencies hinder our fellowship here. But our fellowship there will be free from flaws.

All those who operate under the law are under a curse.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)….” (Galatians 3:13).

Jesus is the one who heals us for eternity. He forgives our sins for eternity when we believe that He died on the cross for our sins.

“…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).