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Revelation 21-22 "The New Jerusalem"
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)
The conclusion to the book of Revelation is also the conclusion
to the whole Bible. What should we look for in the conclusion to the
Bible? Well, the Bible is God’s word, His message to us. In the
Bible God tells us everything that we need to know so that we can worship
Him correctly, be freed by Him from sin, be used of Him for good, and
live with Him for eternity. In the conclusion we get to see what that
eternity will look like.
The first thing we find out is that it won’t be the same old earth
that we are used to walking around now. This should be obvious from
all of the catastrophic things that have taken place already in the
book of Revelation. Actually John is quite soft-spoken about how the
earth will finish. He simply says that it "passed away". Peter
tells us how, "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved
by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:7) As soon as the great white
throne judgment is finished, the earth and sky as we know it will be
burned up. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the
elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that
are in it will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10) My son was reading
a book about stars to me the other morning. It said that when a star
dies, it explodes into what is called a supernova. There is an incredible
amount of energy that rapidly expands to great distances. If our sun
did this our world would as Peter says, "melt". However, that
is not the end. There is a new heaven and a new earth.
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He said to me, "It is done!" I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:2-8)
We will read that this New Jerusalem is quite an amazing structure. It is vast in size and made out of the most beautiful materials known to man. However, what is most important to God is not its construction but who it is. Just as in our time the church is never a building that we go to, but a people that worships God. The New Jerusalem is not so much a city as a bride. It is made up of all of us who love Jesus and are saved by His grace. When God planned you into His world from the very beginning of time it was this end that He had in mind. From the very beginning He was considering where you would fit in the New Jerusalem. It does have a physical construction, just as the church building that we are in has a physical construction. But the purpose of the New Jerusalem could never be fulfilled by mere gold or precious stones. Look with me at verse 3, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men." The dwelling place of God is in the heart of men. God’s plan from the very beginning was to build a place for Himself to live with men and so He started to build such a place out of living stones. Each stone is able to filled with God in a unique way that no other stone can match. Each stone is hand-picked by God for His purpose. Separately, each stone does not look like much, but when they are joined together by the Master, when the work is finally done, they will be this glorious city where God will dwell in glory with His people. That work of joining living stone to living stone is starting now, here, as Jesus builds His church.
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:9-27)
The physical dimensions and construction of this city are amazing. It would seem to be a cube. For the length, width and height of it are all equal. The measurement, twelve thousand furlongs, comes out to be about 1500 miles. If you were to think of it as a ball it would be just a little larger than the moon. It would seem that rather than being a planet upon which we would walk, it is fully inhabited all the way through. With my imagination I can only picture it as a huge spaceship. However it is still different from those which have been created in the minds of science fiction writers and movie producers. The Word tells us that this city is completely transparent, made from pure gold and precious gems. In fact even the streets will be made from the stuff so that it will look as if those who walk on them are simply floating in space. The reason for this is that from the middle of the city, God Himself will be shining, not just for the people of the city, but for the whole universe. The sun and the moon will no longer be needed, and indeed will no longer be there as they have "passed away". Nothing in the city will block out God’s light, but instead His light will shine right through. I think that this is a beautiful picture of how our Christian life should be. The more transparent you are, the more God can shine through you. It is when you are concerned about how good you look to others, or that they might know your sin that God’s light is dimmed, diffused, or shut off completely in our lives. I thought about how would we live if everyone could always see everything that we did. There would be no room where we could lock the door and just be by ourselves. If you did your friend could just look through the transparent door and say "Hi". Talk about living in a fishbowl! But it will be perfectly fine, because there will no longer be anything to be ashamed of. No lies, no sin, nothing to hide. Everything will always be totally open between God and us, and us and everyone else.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits each tree yielding its fruit every month. 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. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of he prophecy of this book." (Revelation 22:1-7)
In verse 26 of Chapter 21, the nations are described bringing their glory and honor into the city of New Jerusalem. And here the leaves of the tree of life are said to be for the healing of the nations. But I am perplexed about who these nations will be. The old earth has been melted! These obviously won’t be Japan and America and Germany and Israel and China and the other world powers that we have today. And yet, here it talks about the nations. Again we saw at the great white throne judgment that those who are not written in the Book of Life are thrown into the lake of fire, and those who are written in the Book of Life comes into the New Jerusalem. Who is left to be the nations? I am sure that this will be all too clear when we get there, but perhaps we are thinking far too three dimensionally (to quote a favorite movie). Would it be possible that when God creates the new heavens and new earth that it is the revised, edited, improved, version 2.0? Couldn’t God simply give us back everything that we have ever loved and enjoyed about the earth we have now, just removing all the bugs and problems brought about by sin? Or perhaps He will give it back to us just like it was from the very beginning and let us do it all over again, but this time with the benefit of God dwelling with us. Or maybe time won’t progress linearly at all but instead every age and every nation will be accessible by us and we can go back and apply God’s grace to those times. This is very appealing to me as I am sure that there were many thousands of years when most of Asia had no witness to the gospel at all and despite what the Mormons teach, the Americas were also without the gospel for most of its history. Perhaps, as many have suggested we will each be given a world of our own out in the universe to manage for God and maybe it is to these nations that the healing is meant. I do not know, but I am sure that the creativity of God will surprise and amaze even the most imaginative among us. And when He does we will applaud because it will be so good and so right.
Now I, John saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his wrk. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" and let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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