“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9-10)
The people of the world today, despite the violence and hatred we see all around us, desire justice, equality, and peace. They hope and work for it with violence, political activism, legislation, education, shame, and media campaigns. That which they desire, we must tell them all, is found only by faith in and communion with Jesus Christ.
Here in Revelation we see this fulfilled in the glorious vision of the Church in heaven. John has just seen the sealing of the 144,000, a symbolic number that simply means the full number of the redeemed. This is confirmed by the fact that what John sees next is a vast uncountable number of people, the redeemed from every tribe and nation, much more than 144,000. This is the church, believers who have all faithfully suffered and endured through the great tribulation and received their reward: eternal joy in heaven free from sin, pain, fear and death in the presence of Jesus, the lamb who was slain.
Such a glorious image should make us long for our heavenly home. Therefore we must work to make the church on earth mirror that heavenly assembly now. We desire a church united, made up of people from every different ethnicity, race, and language. The Church must welcome these others of all the different nationalities and ethnicities as far as is possible and so fulfill the Lord’s commission. Our Church must indeed be a communion of people from every race, language and ethnicity all united by a common faith in Christ.