And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 21:22–22:5)
In front of us is a breathtaking view of the Celestial City, New Jerusalem. Earlier, John says the Spirit showed him the beauty of the Eternal City: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:10-11)
At a time when our nation’s capital faces persistent gridlock and persistent problems of societal justice, many are completely disillusioned and even worse, at the point of cynical despair. I want to show you a well-functioning eternal city for the next few minutes. You have a million things to do and dozen worries as you sit here this morning, but lay all that aside for the next few minutes. For the next few minutes, I want to invite you into the city planning office of heaven. On one occasion, just before Jesus left the earth during what we call the Ascension, Jesus said these words: “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)
God has rolled up His sleeves as He’s been doing some urban planning. The good news is all the inspections and permits are complete. His city is compliant with all the zoning and ordinance codes. He’s accounted for urban sprawl and He’s even reduced His carbon footprint.
Today, I want to be your tour guide. Be aware, human language has its limits. And the beauty, the magnificence and the joy set before you will stretch the very limits of human thought and our communication skills. Let’s start from the outskirts of the city and move inward…
1. The Walls of the City
Fort Knox is famous for being the stronghold where America’s gold is held. And it is thought to be an impregnable fortress. The United States Department of the Treasury has held the nation’s deposit of gold bullion there since 1937. Fort Knox holds 5,050 tons of gold, worth billions and billions of dollars. Our nation’s gold vault is lined with granite walls and a blast-proof door that weighs some 20 tons. The casing for the vault is approximately 25 inches thick. In fact, to secure this valuable asset, the depository was constructed with 16,000 cubic feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing steel, and 670 tons of structural steel. People cannot be trusted, so “No single person is entrusted with the entire combination to the vault. Ten members of the Depository staff must dial separate combinations known only to them. Beyond the main vault door, smaller internal cells provide [even] further protection.” Several fences surround the facility, and as you would imagine they have armed guards also present. But in addition to this, Fort Knox is also protected by layers of physical security, alarms, video cameras, microphones, minefields, barbed razor wire, electric fences, heavily armed guards, and the Army units based at Fort Knox, including unmarked Apache helicopter gunships. In contrast, the Bible describes heaven as a city that it is indescribably beautiful yet “its gates will never be shut by day…” (Revelation 21:25a).
1.1 The Walls’ Measurement
“It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed” (Revelation 21:12)
High walls ensure protection and security. It is impregnable for evil to conquer. Its vast dimensions speak of security. The citizens of this Celestial City will protected for all time from every conceivable form of danger. Look around the walls for you’ll see 12 gates inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12b-13) And twelve foundations to the twelve walls of the city inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:12b-13) This shows the completeness of both the Old and New Covenants – all the people of God are gathered. You are safe in this city: “The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.” (Revelation 21:16) Now a stadia is about 607 feet making the city walls to measure some 1,380 miles in each direction. The physical dimensions of these cube-shaped city walls are over 200 feet thick (Revelation 21:17).
1.2 The Walls Aren’t the Security
According to the book Jerusalem Besieged, the city has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. So you’ll be thankful for the walls. Yet, the real security of the city lies elsewhere: “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Revelation 21:27) Even when the city’s gates are wide-open 24 hours a day … even then … nothing evil, nothing wicked, nothing nefarious will wander through the Eternal City’s gates.
1. The Walls of the City
2. The Age of the City
As you move inside the walls of the Celestial City, take note of both the age of the city as well as the superior quality of the construction of the city: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1) This recalls the ancient words found in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Jesus Himself said, “heaven and earth will pass away” (Matthew 5:18b). “But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 3:7)
2.1 A New Garden
The reason the present earth and universe will one day be discarded is that everything was spoiled and polluted as result of the “First Couple’s” rebellion. The Garden is redone and it now a garden city.
2.1.1 River of Water of Life
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city…” (Revelation 22:1-2a) Here is a pollution free river and it recalls the first Paradise, the Garden of Eden. It was one river that flowed from the Garden of Eden and it divided into 4 (Genesis 2:10, 14). Note carefully that the river flows “from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1b).
2.1.2 The Tree of Life
“also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month” (Revelation 22:2b)
We have been here before. It was the Tree of Life that God has placed in the original Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). It was there that Adam and Eve choose to disobey God and lost access to Paradise. Here the Tree of Life has been replaced with a river lined with trees Where on earth, trees produced fruit only in season, here in the new heaven and earth, the trees marvelously “[yield] its fruit each month” (Revelation 22:2b). This new heaven and new earth is untainted by any of the sinful residue from Adam and Eve’s actions in Genesis 3. There’s no mention that Adam and Eve ate of the original Tree of Life, but here we have free access to it. Where God barred the “First Couple” from eating of the Tree of Life that would allow them to live forever (Genesis 3:23)… … now you and I have free access to the Tree. Gone is sin and gone is the barrier between God and us.
2.2 The Curse is Gone
“No longer will there be anything accursed…” (Revelation 22:3a). “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21 The curse has been undone (Romans 8:20). Again, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1)
Today, those of you who love antiques speak of patina. But inside the Eternal City gone is all the discoloration of the first creation. “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” (Revelation 21:5a) All of your brokenness is gone. All of your hurt is now banished. Indeed, “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2b) The emotional, spiritual, and physical healing you so longed for is now yours. All things are new. Here is a city where all glitters. Here is a city that you were designed for.
1. The Walls of the City
2. The Age of the City
3. The People of the City
3.1 Who Is Allowed into the City?
The Bible warns you that the only way to enter this city is to follow Christ: “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Revelation 21:27)
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
In fact, Revelation often talks about the Book of Life. And when your name is written in the Book of Life, you’ll be granted permission to enter this beautiful city: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:12)
“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” (Revelation 3:5) “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) You need to follow Christ and place your faith in Him.
This is the way, your name is included in the Book of Life.
John Bradford was an English religious Reformer and was later burnt at the stake: He said something that you need to hear … “if this universe out there, with all of it’s canyons and seas and skies and beauties and infinities and immensities, if this nature is what God gives to his enemies (which is what most of mankind is), what kind of world is he going to give to his friends?”
3.2 The Power of Hope
Richard Baxter was a very effective pastor in England in the 1600s. His whole adult life was spent battling one sickness after the other. He was harassed by a constant cough, frequent nosebleeds, migraine headaches, digestive ailments, kidney stones, and gallstones. He believed in supernatural healing and said several times he was restored to fruitful labor because of God’s direct intervention. He said once a cancerous looking tumor in his throat vanished while he was in the pulpit testifying to God's mercies in his own life. Yet suffering was with him to his very end, and he once said that from the age of 21 he was “seldom an hour free from pain.” One of the effects of this suffering was to make him intensely conscious of how temporary his life is and how inevitable death is. He took up the practice of meditating on heaven for a half hour each day because of the powerful impact it had on his life.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)
1. The Walls of the City
2. The Age of the City
3. The People of the City
But the thing I most excited to tell you is this last thing…
4. God is in the City
Now, we move to the inner life of the city. And there are three items I want you to see.
4.1 No Temple
“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:22)
The reason there is no temple is because the whole city is a temple. In fact, the dimensions of the city given earlier in Revelation 21 show us the city is a cube. In the architecture of the Old Testament Temple, God gave specific directions for the most holy place built on earth. This place was the known as the Holy of Holies and it was where the Ark of Covenant was placed. The place was so sacred that only the high priest could enter into its space one time a year on the Day of Atonement. The Holy of Holies was also a cube. Now, the entire city has been made into the Holy of Holies. Paradise is finally restored. The entire city is a Sanctuary.
4.2 God’s Glory
In fact, the presence of “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” provide light for the entire city: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23)
The sun and moon are no longer necessary. And the reason they’re no longer needed is at the end of verse 23: “for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23b) The sun and moon could not add to heaven’s illumination. If the sun were present, it would be like holding a candle at noon on a sunny day. Heaven’s citizens will be graced with the radiant glory of God Himself.
4.3 The Beatific Vision
Since the curse was placed and we were banished from the Garden, the one thing we’ve longed for is the very presence of God: “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)
This is what we’ve longed for since.
We’ve needed His presence and His healing.
We’ve sought for it and prayed for it.
And yet, we’ve only enjoyed glimpses of it. Yet, in the Celestial City, we’ll see finally Him: “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4) God Himself is in the City. Every square inch of the city is hallowed. This is the beatific vision is here - the Vision of God. Remember, Moses could not look at the face of God and live. But now, His people will bask in the presence of God Himself: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
John is saying that this experience of seeing God face to face is so powerful that the moment we see him we will be transformed into his likeness, and all of the love and glory and beauty will become ours: “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)
You will be satisfied. You will be home at last. Your wandering is over. Your restlessness is over: “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10)
Nothing will be like the presence of God in the Eternal City. Nothing.
Queen Of Sheba
If the Queen of Sheba could say to Solomon, “Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!” (1 Kings 10:8). If the Queen of Sheba could say this to Solomon, what must it be like to stand before the face of God and to drink in His glory? What must it be like to eat of the Tree of Life, and to eat the hidden manna, and to have Jesus Christ himself embrace you with His love?
Closing Prayer
Father, we long to walk with you as Adam and Eve did in the cool of the day. We long for heaven. Our longing isn’t for the streets, the ornate gates, or even to see the people – instead, we long to see you.
Invitation
I began our time by telling you Jesus had gone to prepare a place for you: : “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2) A place. If you desired to get into college or grad school, how would you do it? How would you go about preparing to enter such a place? Taking the SAT or the GRE? You would prepare to enter such a place with a high GPA and excellent credentials. But you cannot possibly enter heaven through your own achievements. Do you know the only way to gain access to the private parts of the White House? Do you know the only people who are allowed to come tumbling into the President’s private living quarters and into His bedroom at 2 am? It’s his daughters. The only way you’ll enter heaven is through a personal relationship with the One who has prepared it.
