In The New Jerusalem, You're Either In Or Out (Rev. 21:6-22:21) Series

I'd like to start this morning by simply rereading our verses from last week, Revelation 21:1-8. They start, with what John "sees":

(1) and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth departed,

and the sea wasn't in it any longer,

(2) and the city-- the holy one-- a new Jerusalem-- I saw descending from heaven from God,

having been prepared like a bride adorned for her husband,

Starting in verse 3, John "hears" three things from God himself, that interprets what he saw:

(3) and I HEARD a great voice from the throne, saying,

"LOOK! The tabernacle of God [is] with the people,

and He will tabernacle/dwell with them,

and they, his peoples, they will be ["his peoples" is focused],

and God himself, with them, He will be ["with them" is focused],

(4) and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,

and death, there will no longer be,

Neither mourning, nor wailing, nor pain will any longer be.

The first things departed (same verb as vs. 1),"

(5) and He SAYS,

"Write that these words, faithful and true, they are ["faithful and true" is focused],"

(6) and He SAID to me,

"It has happened.

I [am] the Alpha (the "A") and the Omega (the "Z"), The Beginning and The End.

I, to the thirsty, I will give water from the spring of water of life, freely/as a gift.

(7) The one conquering will inherit these things,

and I will be to him, God,

and he will be to me, a son.

(8) Now, to the cowards and the faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idol-servers and all liars-- their share [will be] in the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

So in these 8 verses, we have this picture of God creating a fresh start for all of creation. There will be a new heaven and earth. And the main thing we need to see, and hear, is that this marks a new type of life between God and humans. The new Jerusalem is a place, where God will come and dwell among his peoples, plural.

And who gets to live in this place? God offers this life to those who conquer fear, and faithlessness, and detestable things, and immorality, and idolatry. Those who fail to conquer, end up in the lake of fire, which John calls the second death.

So if you want to live with God in the new Jerusalem, in a place where there is no suffering, or pain, or death, you need to conquer now. There are two possible paths that we can take in life, and they have two very different ends. And Revelation encourages us to look far enough down the road, that we make the right decision. Verses 1-6 paint the picture. And verses 7-8 give us a clear, straightforward application. Aim to live with God in the new Jerusalem.

With this, we come to verse 9. Here, we will find much of the same symbolic language, but God bends the language. The symbolism shifts beneath our feet, in a way that reminds us to be careful not to press the details literally, or chronologically. These are pictures, designed to grab our attention, and encourage us to faithfulness.

Verse 9:

(9) and he came-- one of the seven angels having the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues--

and he spoke with me, saying,

"Come!

I will show you THE BRIDE-- the wife of the Lamb--,

So, we were told in verse 2, that the new Jerusalem descended from God like a bride. Here, an angel speaks to John, calling him to come, and see "the bride, the wife of the Lamb." So what we should expect to see here is the church. Right? I promise I'm only sort of messing with you. We, the church, are the bride of Christ.

Verse 10-14:

(10) and he brought me away in spirit/Spirit to a great and lofty mountain,

and he showed me THE HOLY CITY JERUSALEM,

descending from heaven from God,

having God's glory-- its radiance [is] like a precious stone, like a jasper shining/clear like a crystal,

(12) having a great and lofty wall,

having twelve gates,

and at the gates, twelve angels,

and names having been written upon the gates,

which are the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel,

from the east, three gates,

and from the north, three gates,

and from the south, three gates,

and from the west, three gates,

(14) and the city wall having twelve foundations,

and upon them [are the] twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,

What is the bride of the Lamb? The holy city Jerusalem, descended from God. So the new Jerusalem isn't just a place where we get to live with God. The new Jerusalem, is also a way of describing God's people. The symbolism works two ways (sort of like in Revelation 17:9-10, where the seven heads meant two different things).