Last time we led up to where we are tonight. We said that the new heavens and the new earth will have a capital city, a specific place where the presence of God will be centered and where the Lord Jesus Christ will live and rule the universe. That place is called the New Jerusalem.
Actually there are several names by which the capital city will be known.
- The New Jerusalem.
- The Heavenly Jerusalem.
- The Holy City.
- Holy Jerusalem.
- The City of My God.
- The Great City.
So what will this city be like? It is indescribable. It’s like trying to describe God. How can human language describe God? By the same token, how can the human language describe the city where God’s presence is centered and where Jesus Christ dwells? This is the problem that John had in trying to describe the New Jerusalem.
There are no earthly things beautiful enough to be part of God’s city. So John did all he could: he used the most beautiful and precious things on earth to describe the city. So this passage tonight tells us what God wants us to know about the New Jerusalem. God has given us the privilege of being a citizen of His great city. So let’s look at the description of this beautiful place. PRAYER.
READ 9-10. This is the last vision that God gives John. Note who it is that God sends to take John to the city, one of the seven angels who had cast one of the bowl judgments on the earth.
There is symbolism in this. God has a message of warning for the earth—judgment is coming. But God also has a message of hope and glory for the earth. That message of hope is the New Jerusalem that is also coming to the earth. And every person can live with God in the glory of that city. How do we get to be a citizen of that city? By believing in the Son of God. The angel carries John away to a high mountain and shows him the glorious city of God. John describes the city with 8 descriptions. READ 11.
We see the glory of the city in verse 11. The glory is the very glory of God himself. The glory of God gives light to the whole city. It shines so brightly that there is no need for the sun or for any other heavenly body to give light.
The glory of God shines throughout the city; the city actually shines and has a sparkling sheen to it. The city shines like the green of a jasper, but it is as clear as crystal. The glory of God glitters off the city as though the buildings are crystal clear. Everything glitters in the most beautiful green of the jasper.
Have you ever walked among the trees on an icy day when the trees are covered with ice? It’s like walking in the midst of a crystal forest. Everything sparkles and glitters—the green needles of the pines, the bare branches of the trees, the small branches and trunks of the saplings, the leaves lying on the ground.
As the sun shines on the ice, it sparkles like a crystal ice palace. It’s one of the most beautiful sights on earth in my opinion. This is a very faint idea of the sparkle and glitter of the glory of God throughout the crystal clear city of God.
READ 12. Here we see the city’s walls. They are great and very high. The idea of it all is protection, of perfect security. When believers reach the New Jerusalem, they will be behind the walls of perfection. They will be secure.
READ 13. Now we look at the twelve gates. Three things are said about the gates:
1. They have the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on them. This is symbolic that the only way to come to God is through the Messiah of the 12 tribes, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. God sent His salvation, his own Son, through the Jews. No person can enter the heavenly city unless he comes through the gates of salvation provided by God.
2. The second thing about the gates is that they are guarded by 12 angels. The entrance to the city is protected. No person is allowed to enter the city unless they are approved by God.
3. The third thing to be said is that there are three gates on each of the four walls of the city, 12 gates altogether. Since these gates face every direction on earth, it symbolizes that everyone on earth is invited to enter the city. I wonder which gate I will walk through.
READ 14. Here we see the city’s twelve foundations. They have the names of the twelve apostles inscribed on them. Note that the twelve apostles are clearly identified as apostles “of the Lamb.” That means that the foundation of the city is the testimony of the 12 apostles. That testimony is that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. It is the sacrificial death of Jesus as the Lamb of God that makes the city available to people.
Unless Jesus had died for man, no person would ever be free of sin and made acceptable to God. If Jesus hadn’t died for our sins, no person could ever enter the city, because every person would still be bearing his own sins. The very foundation of the city is the testimony of the Lamb declared by the apostles. So a person must build his life upon that testimony—upon that foundation.
READ 15-17. Here we have the city’s shape and size. There are three facts given.
1. The city is square. There is one side each facing to the east, north, south, and west.
2. The city is enormous. Its size is beyond anything we would ever dream. It is 12,000 stadia or 1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles high. This totals 2,250,000 square miles. It’s almost 4 billion cubic miles in size.
Picture a huge space station that man might build in a century or two and orbit around the earth. If Jesus delays His coming long enough, the idea that man might be forced to build a large city in outer space to handle the population has already crossed the mind of man.
The God who created a moon to orbit around the earth, and planets to orbit around the sun has created a city that is far more beautiful than any city man will ever build. It will someday descend from heaven to earth and be the capital city of the universe.
God is going to reclaim the earth from all the evil that has engulfed it, and He is going to do the most marvelous thing: make the earth the center of the universe. The earth will be the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious picture of the great salvation and sovereign majesty of God.
3. The third fact is the thickness of the wall and gates. They are 144 cubits or 216 feet thick. Again this symbolizes the great security we will have as citizens of the New Jerusalem. The important thing to note is that the size of the city is large enough to take care of all who will enter it. There is room for all who will come to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
READ 18-21. Here we see the city’s materials. We have to keep in mind that in some cases the gems or precious stones that are mentioned in this passage differed from the valuable stones that we know today. The main thing to note here is the spectacular beauty and variety of color in the city.
1. The walls are made of jasper. This is a crystal like rock that is green in color. The crystal green walls sparkle with the most beautiful color as the reflection of God’s glory strikes them.
2. The city is made of pure gold, a gold that is as clear as glass. There is no gold on earth as clear as glass. Imagine a city many times larger than New York or Tokyo being made out of pure gold, a gold so pure that it would be crystal clear. Now imagine the dazzling gold color of the New Jerusalem as the glory of God strikes it.
3. The 12 foundations are decorated with every kind of precious stone.
a. The first foundation is jasper, a green rock like crystal.
b. The second foundation is sapphire, a sky blue spotted with gold.
c. The third foundation is chalcedony, a green stone like the green on a peacock’s tail.
d. The fourth foundation is emerald, a green, the greenest of all greens.
e. The fifth foundation is sardonyx, a stone that has different shades of color, basically white with layers of red and brown breaking the white background.
f. The sixth foundation is carnelian or sardius, a blood red stone.
g. The seventh foundation is chrysolite, a shining stone with a gold radiance.
h. The eighth foundation is beryl, a sea blue or sea green stone.
i. The ninth foundation is topaz, a greenish gold stone that was transparent.
j. The tenth foundation is chrysoprase, an apple green stone.
k. The eleventh foundation is jacinth, a violet bluish purple stone.
l. The twelfth foundation is amethyst, also a violet bluish purple stone but more brilliant than the jacinth.
What color, what splendor.
4. The twelve gates are twelve huge pearls. This would be a 216 feet thick pearl. What magnificent beauty. What an oyster.
5. The streets are made of pure gold, but again the gold is transparent as glass.
This is a staggering picture of beauty and color. Imagine the brilliance and splendor as the glory of God reflects off these beautiful stones. The beauty is bound to be the most dazzling and staggering sight in all the universe.
Do the stones and color symbolize anything? There is bound to be at least this meaning behind this beauty: the heavenly city is worth any price to enter. It is priceless. No matter what a man has to sacrifice, he is a fool if he doesn’t give up everything he has to enter the heavenly city of God.
READ 22. Here we see the city’s worship. There is no temple in the heavenly city because both God and Christ are there. The very atmosphere will be heavy with God’s Spirit. Every person will be filled with God’s Spirit.
No believer will be without the full and perfect knowledge of God’s Spirit and presence. So that means there will be unbroken worship. No matter what service or work the believer will be performing, and no matter where the believer is serving throughout the universe, he will be in unbroken fellowship and communion with God.
So there is no need for a temple and its ceremonies and rituals to pull the human mind into the worship of God.
READ 23. No sun or moon is needed to light the New Jerusalem. The glory of God and of the Lamb will be all that is needed to light the city.
In a very real way, the homes we live in now are not our real homes, heaven is. The average person in America lives in a home for seven years. Our homes here are temporary, but heaven is eternal.
Living in light of heaven helps us realize that this life is just the warm up for the next. In fact, it’s only when we live with the realization that this life is short and eternity is forever that we can begin to understand what’s really important in this life. Think of it this way:
For the Christian, this present life is the closest we will come to Hell.
For the non-Christian, this is the closest they will come to Heaven.
While heaven will be our eternal home, it will not be the home of everyone. I’ll share with you about that next week. But let me get back to how wonderful heaven is going to be. There’s a song that the words express what we will see and feel: The words go:
"Finally Home." "But just think of stepping on shore & finding it heaven. Of touching a hand, & finding it’s Gods. Of breathing new air & find it’s celestial, Of Waking up in heaven, & finding it’s home." That’s what makes heaven so truly special. It will be home.
Conclusion:I want to conclude with a story that is about the well known preacher, George W. Truett. One day the preacher was invited to dinner at the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After their meal, his host led him to a hill where they had a good view of the surrounding area. Pointing to the oil wells, punctuating the landscape, the tycoon boasted, "Twenty five years ago, I had nothing. Now as far as you can see, in every direction is all mine." He paused expecting Dr. Truett’s compliment on his great success. Truett, however, placed one hand on the man’s shoulder, pointed to heaven with the other and asked, "How much do you have in that direction?" The man admitted he had never thought of that..
(Hand out the Green Cards) Our country gives out Green Cards to people who are from another country, but who are temporarily living in the US. In a similar way, each person who has accepted Christ as their Savior is living here only temporarily. (Read the card) Here is what it says, "Is a temporary resident of the planet earth and is authorized to further the work of Christ while living here. This authorization expires when all of God’s tasks for this person are completed. Departure to heaven will be made immediately upon expiration." (Write your name in the blank)
We are only visitors on this earth, but we will spend an eternity getting to know God in heaven.
So now we have this beautiful picture in our minds of what the New Jerusalem will look like. Again, these human terms pale in comparison to what it will really be. This beauty we will see if we know Jesus Christ in a personal way.
We stop here for tonight. Next time we will take a look at the citizens and the provisions of the New Jerusalem.
