THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW – PART TWO
The City of God
Revelation 21
June 20, 2004
Introduction:
Last week we looked at The Day After Tomorrow in the context of the worries that we have about the future. Whether it be weather related worries like in the movie or family or finances or one of a million other things that we worry about. We looked at these in the light of the immanent return of Jesus Christ and saw that as concerning as many of these things are there are more important issues at stake. Like am I ready to stand before Jesus when he returns? How have I invested my life?
This morning I want to go a step further. I want to go beyond the return of Christ and see what happens next. So today we will turn our attention to The City of God as it is described in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation.
But I am going to be taking a little different look at this passage than what you may be used to. I am not as interested in what the future heaven will be like – I think that will take care of itself in time – as I am in what this passage means for us today. And so I want to show you that for the Christian everyday can be heaven on earth. Everyday we can experience a foretaste of our eternal paradise. You may be interested or even surprised to find that the images found here all describe in some measure the experience of the Christian life. They all describe the New Testament, Christian era. In eternity these things will be perfected or brought to completion.
Before we begin I want to share a story with you. A couple from north Oklahoma decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because they both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on Thursday, and his wife would follow the next day. Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the motel. He decided to open his laptop and send his wife an e-mail back home. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address, and sent the e-mail without realizing the error. In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband’s funeral. He was a pastor of many years who had been called home to glory. The widow checked her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
TO: My loving wife
FROM: Your departed husband
SUBJECT: I’ve arrived!
MESSAGE: I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here. (SermonCentral/Greg Madden)
The City of God Is:
A City of Grace
The City of God is a city of grace. John introduces us to the city of God with these words: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (21:1-2). The first thing we learn is that the old has passed away and so God is making a new creation. This reminds us of what Paul taught in 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” My old life of sin and selfishness has passed away and in its place is a new and righteous life through faith in Jesus Christ. I am no longer the same person. What I used to be no longer counts. “What counts is a new creation.” (Gal. 6:15) God has made of us a new creation “in order that … we too may live a new life.” (Rom. 6:4)
This is grace – that my sins are no longer held against me - that my old life is gone and in its place is life that is pleasing to God. By God’s grace I am enabled to live a new life – a heavenly life – right here and right now. You don’t need to wait for heaven to start living a heavenly life. Start today.
We also see the city of God coming down out of heaven. That this city comes from heaven reminds us of where we truly come from. Now that our old lives are gone and our new lives have come ‘our citizenship is in heaven.” (Php. 3:20) You are a citizen of heaven now. So live like it now. Act like it now.
That this city is God’s bride tells us that we, the church, are this city. Earlier in Revelation the Bride is clearly identified as the saints. “His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)” (19:7-8) You see in God’s eyes the city is not primarily the buildings and streets and walls, but the people. As the bride of Christ we must remain faithful to our husband. There is much in the world today that would tempt us to cheat on Christ – to commit spiritual adultery. But we are no longer of this world. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are a new creation. We are the bride of Christ. So remain faithful.
Then John heard a loud voice saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.” (21:3) This reminds us of the precious name of our Lord and Savior. His name is Immanuel. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.’” (Mt. 1:23) Jesus Christ is “God with us.” You don’t have to wait for heaven to experience the blessed reality of these words. If Jesus is your savior then he is with you right now and every moment of every day.
John shows us that when we live with God “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (21:4) To be sure we do still experience physical death in this age, but we have a foretaste in that we no longer experience spiritual death. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live … But God … made us alive with Christ … and raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 2:1-6) It is a spiritual reality that at this moment your are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. So live a heavenly life.
Do we mourn the passing of loved ones? Absolutely! But for the Christian it is different. “We do not want you to … grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” (1 Thes. 4:13) Dr. W. A Criswell, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas Texas, said on one occasion on an airplane flight he found himself seated beside a well-known theologian. He desperately wanted to start a conversation and they did get to talk. The man told Dr. Criswell about how he had recently lost his little boy through death. Dr. Criswell listened as he told his story: He said he had come home from school with a fever and we thought it was just one of those childhood things, but it was a very virulent form of meningitis. The doctor said we cannot save your little boy. He’ll die.
And so this seminary professor, loving his son as he did, sat by the bedside to watch this death vigil. It was the middle of the day and the little boy whose strength was going from him and whose vision and brain was getting clouded said, "Daddy, it’s getting dark isn’t it?" The professor said to his son, "Yes son it is getting dark, very dark." Of course it was very dark for him. He said, "Daddy, I guess it’s time for me to go to sleep isn’t it?"
He said, "Yes, son, it’s time for you to go to sleep."
The professor said the little fellow had a way of fixing his pillow just so, and putting his head on his hands when he slept and he fixed his pillow like that and laid his head on his hands and said, "Good night Daddy. I will see you in the morning." He then closed his eyes in death and stepped over into heaven.
Dr. Criswell said the professor didn’t say anymore after that. He just looked out the window of that airplane for a long time. Then he turned back and he looked at Dr Criswell with the scalding tears coming down his cheeks and he said, "Dr. Criswell, I can hardly wait till the morning." (SOURCE: Charles Lindquist, Jr./SermonCentral PRO)
For the Christian our mourning is mingled with hope. The hope of the resurrection of the dead. The hope of being reunited with our loved ones. The hope that the grave is not the end of the story, but only the end of the chapter. Turn the page and you will find that the story goes on for ever and ever.
When we mourn God comforts us as is symbolized by his wiping away our tears. Paul described God as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4) Will you receive his comfort this morning? “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7)
Then God says, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” (21:6) This echos Jesus’ words to the woman at the well. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water … Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn. 4:10-13) Or as he said later at the closing of the Feast of Tabernacles, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” (Jn. 7:37-39) Today as believers in Jesus Christ we have the Holy Spirit living within us – giving us life, guiding us, directing us, correcting us, purifying us, conforming us to the image of Christ, comforting us, encouraging us, helping us with our prayers, ect. We experience the fulfillment of Jesus words not just in the future heaven, but today. So live a life of heaven on earth.
Surely this is a city of grace. But who gets to experience all this. “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (21:7) And who overcomes? The one who is in Jesus Christ. “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37) Those of us who have placed are faith in Jesus Christ are conquers – overcomers- and all of this is our inheritance. But even more than that God tells John that we will be God’s children. But we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven for this is a present reality. “You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ … that we may also share in his glory.” (Rom. 8:15-17)
You are God’s heir and all of this is your inheritance by grace. That is why this is a city of grace. You will never deserve such an inheritance. No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you give – you will never earn admission to this city. The only way to get in is by believing in Jesus, but more about that in a moment. First we must sadly look at the experience of those who don’t believe. “But … the unbelieving … their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (21:8)
What is the second death? Typically it is understood that physical death is the first death. That is the separation of the soul from the body. The second death is then the separation of the soul from God when the unbeliever is cast into hell or the lake of fire. For the unbeliever there is something of this experience even now. Even now they experience spiritual death. As we saw earlier from the book of Ephesians they are dead in their trespasses and sins. They are separated from God and have no spiritual life. However, in this age, the hope of their salvation remains and so it is the duty of believers to reach out to these who are spiritually dead with hope of the gospel. Paul told Timothy, “Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.” (2 Tim. 1:10-11) It is our responsibility to tell the world how they can enter the city of God. How do you enter? You have to enter through the gate. Fortunately the city of God is also …
A City of Gateways
“It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb … The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl … On no day will its gates ever be shut.” (21:12-14,21,25)
The great, high wall shows us that this city is impregnable. No one who doesn’t belong will ever be able to gain access. They only way to get in is through the gates which are each guarded by an angel. It is interesting that when Isaiah prophesied of the eschatological city of God he said, “You will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.” (Is. 60:18) That the walls of the city are called Salvation teaches us that they only way to enter into the city of God is through the experience of salvation which, as we will see in a moment, comes through Jesus Christ.
To pass through the wall of salvation one must enter through the gates which in Revelation and also in Ezekiel are named one for each tribe of Israel. However, in Isaiah we saw that the gates were named Praise. It is interesting that Judah, which was the most important tribe, means Praise. Also Christ was of the tribe of Judah. So there is no contradiction if we understand that all twelve tribes of spiritual Israel are included in Christ in Judah. The gates being named for the twelve tribes signifies that through Israel God made a way for the world to enter the city of God. Jesus said, “Salvation is from the Jews.” (Jn. 4:22) Since Jesus was a Jew this may be just another way of saying that salvation is through Jesus Christ. Jesus also said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (Jn. 10:9)
That there are gates on every side of the city speaks of universal access. Jesus said, “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 13:29) This is not universal access in the sense that everyone will one day be granted access, but universal in the sense that everyone who comes to Christ will be granted admission. There is no limit to the number who may enter – the city of God will never be “sold out.”
The walls of the city have twelve foundations and each foundation is named for one of the twelve apostles. This clearly identifies this city as the community of believers in Christ – the church – because Paul taught that the church was “built on the foundation of the apostles.” (Eph. 2:20) This is the city for which Abraham was searching. “[Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:10) What Abraham was looking forward to is a present reality for you as a member of the church – the community of believers in Jesus Christ – the city of God.
Next we see that each gate was made of a single pearl. It is insightful to think about what a pearl is and how it is formed. When a grain of sand gets into an oyster and irritates its tissues the oyster will secrete a substance that changes the sand into a pearl. The source of the irritation is transformed into a pearl. Therefore the pearl stands for suffering transformed into blessing. When we understand it like this we then see that the pearl is symbolic of what Paul taught when he said, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22) So the next time you are experiencing hardships or suffering remind yourself that you are walking through the very gateway to heaven.
We also see that these gates will never be shut. This does not mean that people will always have the opportunity to enter for we know that one day Christ will return and the opportunity to have accepted him will have passed. The Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina sent the following letter to a deceased individual. "Your food stamps will be stopped effective March, 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." (Sermon Central/Richard Crow) If you pass away before you accept Christ their will be no change in your circumstances nor will there be if you haven’t accepted Christ on the day of his return. Don’t delay!
What the open gates symbolize is the security of the city – the security of the believer. In the old days the gates of a city were shut to protect themselves from invading armies. This city will never be threatened or in danger and so there will never be any need to shut the gates. Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (Jn. 10:28) We do not need to wait until we get to heaven to experience such security for it is the present reality of the believer.
All of these blessing are available to you right now, but you must make a choice. The choice you must make is between which city you will be a part of. You see there are two cities in the book of Revelation. There is the city of God symbolized as the new Jerusalem and then there is the city of man symbolized as Babylon. Babylon speaks of all that man is and does apart from and in rebellion against God. Which city will you choose? If you have not, you may enter the city of God this morning through the gateway of Jesus Christ by faith.
If Babylon is symbolic of the moral wickedness of the community of unbelievers, then the city of God is …
A City of Goodness
“The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using … Nothing impure will ever enter it, not will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (21:15-17, 27)
What does all this measuring have to do with the goodness or holiness or righteousness of the city? According to Alan F. Johnson, “The act of measuring signifies securing something for blessing, to preserve it from spiritual harm or defilement … The measuring reveals the perfection, fulfillment, or completion of all God’s purposes for his elect bride.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 12, pg. 596). And what of the numbers? Are we to take them literally? Johnson says, “These dimensions should not be interpreted as providing architectural information about the city. Rather, we should think of them as theologically symbolic.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 12, pg. 596) Considering that 12,000 stadia would be approximately 1,500 miles his analysis seems wise. Can you imagine a city that was 1,500 miles tall? But what are these numbers symbolic of? Chilton says “The numbers are obviously symbolic, the multiples of twelve being a reference to the majesty, vastness, and perfection of the church.” (Revelation: Four Views – A Parallel Commentary, pg. 495, ed. Steve Gregg) So the measuring then is symbolic of God preserving the goodness or holiness of his bride. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to begin living the life of holiness. Paul commands us, “Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:24) This “home of righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13) is not only a future hope, but also a present reality.
Not only is the measuring symbolic and the numbers symbolic, but even the shape is symbolic. That the city was laid out like a square reminds us of the Holy of Holies in the temple, which was 20 cubits by 20 cubits – a square. This is significant when we consider that in verse 22 Johns writes, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” On the one hand we see that God is the temple, but on the other hand the city itself is seen as the Holy of Holies. And this is, in fact, the nature of the church today – a place of God’s residence where he communes with men. Paul said, “You are … God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19-22) What is so interesting about that passage is that the Greek word translated as “temple” is noas (nah –os’). This word was “used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies (in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of gold was placed which is distinguished from the whole enclosure).” (studylight.org) In other words the word for temple did not refer to the whole temple but only to the Holy of Holies. Paul is teaching that today the church is the Holy of Holies and that is the same teaching that we see so beautifully and symbolically portrayed in Revelation.
A City of Gold
“The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone … The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.” (21:18-19,21)
Here we learn that the city was constructed of gold that had been so thoroughly refined as to become transparent. This highly refined gold symbolizes the purified nature of the sanctified believer. Malachi prophesied of the coming Messiah saying, “He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.” (Mal. 3:2-3) The gold and precious jewels speak of the beauty and purity of God’s bride. It is as Paul said in Ephesians: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Eph. 5:25-27)
The twelve gems mentioned here remind us of the twelve gems that were worn on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:15-21) only now they are identified with the apostles. This shows us that the leadership of God’s people has been transferred from the priesthood of the temple to the apostles of the church.
In the scriptures a street or a path or a highway is often used to represent a way of life. For example Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” And Isaiah 35:8-9 says, “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way … only the redeemed will walk there.” So the street of pure gold represents a lifestyle of true righteousness and holiness – the lifestyle of the community of believers who makeup the city of God.
A City of Glory
“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.” (21:23-24)
The city of God is lighted by the glory of God as was the original creation before God made the sun, moon and stars. On the first day of creation “God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.” (Gen. 1:5) But it wasn’t until day four that he created the sun, moon, and stars. Paul taught that the same glory of God now shines in the lives of believers. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6) Because his light is now shining in our lives we have become the light of the world. Jesus said, “you are the light of the world … Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:14,16)
In the original Holy of Holies there was no light source except for the Shekinah glory of God. Without the light of God’s presence that room was cast in absolute darkness. So without the light of the glory of God in our lives our souls would be cast in absolute darkness. But for the believer it is as Paul wrote: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
Conclusion:
And there we have it. A city of grace – a city of gateways – a city of goodness – a city of gold – a city of glory. The City of God. This city is not only a future expectation, but also a present reality in the life of every believer in Jesus Christ. In the Christian life we experience a foretaste of heaven in the here and now. For us life is a little bit of heaven on earth.
In Our Greatest Gift, Henri Nouwen tells a parable of faith and hope. He imagines twins–a brother and a sister–talking to each other in their mother’s womb:
The sister said to the brother, "I believe there is life after birth."
Her brother protested vehemently, "No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but to cling to the cord that feeds us."
The little girl insisted, "There must be something more than this dark place. There must be something else, a place with light where there is freedom to move." Still, she could not convince her twin brother.
After some silence, the sister said hesitantly, "I have something else to say, and I’m afraid you won’t believe that, either, but I think there is a mother."
Her brother became furious. "A mother!" he shouted. "What are you talking about? I have never seen a mother, and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have. Why do you always want more? This is not such a bad place, after all. We have all we need, so let’s be content."
The sister was quite overwhelmed by her brother’s response and for a while didn’t dare say anything more. But she couldn’t let go of her thoughts, and since she had only her twin brother to speak to, she finally said, "Don’t you feel these squeezes every once in a while? They’re quite unpleasant and sometimes even painful."
"Yes," he answered. "What’s special about that?"
"Well," the sister said, "I think that these squeezes are there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face-to-face. Don’t you think that’s exciting?"
The brother didn’t answer. He was fed up with the foolish talk of his sister and felt that the best thing would be simply to ignore her and hope that she would leave him alone. (Sermon Central/Corey Arnold)
All though we have focused on some of the many blessing of our Christian experience in the here and now never forget that this is just a foretaste. The fullness of the blessing – the perfection of these symbols lies ahead of us.
Please email me if you use this sermon or a revision of it. Thank you!
steveamanda8297@hotmail.com
