To answer your good question let’s read Revelation 22:1-5, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 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 they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

The first five verses of Revelation 22 continue the description of the New Jerusalem that began in chapter 21.  In this New Jerusalem, we have the ‘river of life’ in verse 1 and the ‘tree of life’ in verse 2.  In this eternal scene, this pure river flows from the ‘throne of God and of the lamb.’  We learn that the tree of life will produce twelve kinds of fruit and will produce fully grown fruit each month.  Even as the ‘river of life’ and the ‘tree of life’ indicate our eternal existence with the Lord, the fruit indicates a precious supply that will never run out.

After telling us what will be in this city, verse 3 tells us what will NOT be in the city.  “There shall be no more curse.”  When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, the Lord placed curses on the serpent, on them and on the world.  To the serpent, the Lord said in Genesis 3:14, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Genesis 3:16-19 says, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”  It is by virtue of the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross that this terrible curse will finally have been lifted.  Galatians 3:13 tells us that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

Those who died in their sins had already been cast into the lake of fire as we read in Revelation 20:11-15.  All those who remained had put their faith in Christ.  Of the believer, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “…ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”  So, the Lord removed the curse that He put on His world.

A.T. Pearson, a gifted writer summarized up verses 1-5 like this:

  • “And there shall be no more curse” – Perfect sinlessness
  • “But the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it” – Perfect government
  • “And His servants shall serve Him – Perfect service
  • “They shall see His face – Perfect communion
  • “His name shall be on their foreheads – Perfect resemblance
  • “And there shall be no night there – Perfect blessedness
  • “And they shall reign forever and ever” – Perfect glory  (188.8)