Part III
Revelation 21:9-21
Purpose: To highlight the glory and permanence of eternal life.
Aim: I want the listener to be in awe of the glories that await believers.
INTRODUCTION: Let’s take a bird’s eye view of the entire book of Revelation:
Chapters 1-3 Jesus is the Lord over the church
Chapters 4-20 Jesus is the Lion over the nations
Chapters 21-22 Jesus is the Lamb among believers
When I worked in the business world, most of that time I was a salesman. Salesmen are taught the importance of stressing the "OB’s" or owner benefits of what they are selling. Peter came to Jesus one day and asked what the "owner benefits" were of Christ’s followers.
Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You." And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life." (Luke 18:28--30).
REVIEW:
1:1-20 I. John’s Vision of the Past "the things which you have seen"
2:1-5:14 II. Christ’s Vision of the Present "the things which are"
Ch.6-22 III. John’s Vision of the Future "things which will take places"
6-7; 12-14 A. Satan’s war against God’s creation- the first six seals
8-11; 13:11-18; 15-18 B. Savior’s war against Satan: The wrath of God- the seventh seal
Ch.19-20 C. The worship of God
Ch.21-22 D. The wonder of eternal bliss
Vs.1-8 1. God makes all things new
LESSON:
Vs.9-11 2. God unveils a new paradise: the new Jerusalem
These verses give us a fuller description of what we saw in the first three verses of this chapter.
Warren Wiersbe gives us an interesting contrast between the first three chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters of Revelation.
Genesis Revelation
1:1 Heavens and earth created 21:1 New heavens and earth
1:16 Sun created 21:23 No need of the sun
1:5 he night established 22:5 No night there
1:10 The seas created 21:1 No more seas
3:14-17 The curse announced 22:3 No more curse
3:19 Death enters history 21:4 No more death
3:24 Man driven form the tree 22:14 Man restored to paradise
3:17 Sorrow and pain begin 21:4 No more tears or pain [1]
Vs.9-10 a. It is God made "from God"
Jesus died for our sins and He prepared our eternal dwelling place. Our salvation is all of God. "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2--3). So now we will see the house that Jesus has prepared for us.
Back in verse 2 we saw that the New Jerusalem was LIKE "a bride adorned for her husband" and here the bride IS the New Jerusalem. It is clear from what we will learn today that this is a literal city, but in one way it is hard to separate the bride’s dwelling place from the bride. Peter told us that God’s spiritual house, which later becomes the Bride of Christ, begins with Jesus as "a living stone" is made up of believers who are also "living stones" (1 Peter 2:4-5).
It is also interesting to note that the same angel who showed John the city of Babylon in chapter 17 shows him the city of God. The same God who hates sin and annihilates His enemies also forgives sinners.
Vs.11 b. It is glorious "glory of God...brilliance"
jasper. A transliteration, not a translation, of the Gr. word. Rather than the modern opaque jasper, the term actually refers to a completely clear diamond, a perfect gem with the brilliant light of God’s glory shining out of it and streaming over the new heaven and the new earth (cf. 4:3). [2]
What makes the New Jerusalem so wonderful, so glorious, is that it contains the unending presence of the Lamb of God. "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory " (Isaiah 60:19).
John is trying to describe the indescribable, picture the unimaginable, and explain the unexplainable.
Vs.12-21 3. God describes this new paradise
In these verses we see the outside of the city. In chapter 22:1-5 we will see what the inside of the city looks like. As we go through this description of the New Jerusalem we will see seven groups of twelve: tribes of Israel, foundations, apostles, gates, angels, pearls, and fruit.
Every part of this city displays an important blessing.
Vs.12a a. It is a safe place: the walls "great high wall"
According to verse 17 this wall is 200 feet high. Walls picture protection. Eternity with Jesus will be completely safe. We will have eternal security.
Vs.12b-13 b. It is a public place: the gates "twelve gates"
There are three gates on each side of the city. In other words, it isn’t hard to enter. The names of the twelve tribes (or families) of Israel are on the gates because salvation came through the Jews. Jesus said, "... salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).
Most gates serve as an entrance as well as a way to keep people out when they are closed. Not so here! "In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed" (Revelation 21:25).
"Your gates will be open continually; They will not be closed day or night, So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, With their kings led in procession" (Isaiah 60:11).
Vs.14 c. It is a place of truth: the foundations "twelve apostles"
The twelve foundations are the church because the truth of the Gospel came through the Apostles. "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone " (Ephesians 2:19--20).
Heaven is built on the same truth that the Apostles proclaimed. "And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers ..." (1 Corinthians 12:28).
This is indeed "... the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10).
Vs.15-17 d. It is a real place: the measurements "gold measuring rod"
The detail here shows that this is not just an imaginary place. It is real. The Lord is being careful to show us that this place where we will spend all of eternity is REAL.
It will be about 1,500 miles long, wide, and high. That equals 2.25 million square miles. This could be the shape of a cube or a pyramid. For comparison purposes, Philadelphia is 135 square miles with about 1.5 million people living in it.
If the New Jerusalem was placed in the United States it would reach from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border and from the east coast to Colorado. If there were 20 billion people in the New Jerusalem each person would have 75 acres to himself.
Vs.18-21 e. It is a pure place: the stones "pure gold"
Since the meaning for many of these stones have changed over the last 2,000 years it is difficult to know for sure what each one really looks like. It does seem to parallel the twelve stones that were in Aaron’s breastplate when he served as Israel’s High Priest.
Here is the best guess as to what these stones may have looked like:
Jasper: clear crystal
Sapphire: blue
Chalcedony: greenish-blue
Emerald: green
Sardonyz: white with brown streaks
Sardius: blood red
Chysolite: yellow
Beryl: green
Topaz: yellow green
Chrysoprase: gold tinted or apple green
Jacinth: blue or yellow
Amethyst: light to deep violet
"Each of the gates of the city is a single, 1,500-mile-high pearl. Even as earthly pearls are formed in response to the wounding of oyster flesh, so these gigantic, supernatural pearls will remind saints throughout eternity of the magnitude of Christ’s suffering and its eternal benefit." [3]
CONCLUSION: The important thing we know for sure is that heaven will be beautiful beyond our wildest imaginations.
"Our God is a God of beauty, and He will lavish His beauty on the city He is preparing for His people. Perhaps Peter had the holy city in mind when he wrote about the "manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10), for the word translated "manifold" means "many colored, variegated." [4]
What is it about the future that captivates your imagination? What are you looking forward to? Paul described it perfectly when he said, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better" (Philippians 1:21--23).
"Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end" (Hebrews 3:6).
Heaven must be in you before you can be in heaven.
George Swinnock [5]
[1]
[2]
[3]MacArthur, J. J. (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.). Nashville: Word Pub.
[4]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[5]What makes the New Jerusalem so wonderful, so glorious, is that it contains the unending presence of the Lamb of God. "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory " (Isaiah 60:19).
