5.4 Satan's Defeat
Thus John's visions return with new emphasis to Satan's defeat and the supremacy of Christ's rule. The cry of the martyrs that had been heard in the opening of the fifth seal was finally answered. Satan is bound and the resurrected martyrs reign with Christ for a thousand years. As the great white throne of God opens to John's sight, all the dead stand and are judged before the throne "by what was written in the books, by what they had done." The "book of life" records the names of the faithful; anyone not there is condemned to the lake of fire.
John's last chapters breathe a sense of exhilaration and peace as he sees a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem. God is tenderly present with his people to "wipe away every tear from their eyes" (21:4). Paradise has been regained in a visionary city of "pure gold, clear as glass," and everlasting life in a perfect communion with God.