THE CITY OF GOD
Revelation 21:1-27
Most of us are too young to remember this, but years ago, before World War II, there was a radio news broadcaster by the name of H.V. Kaltenborn. He always began his news broadcast with the words, Well, we’ve got good news today!
That is the way I would like to start this last section of Revelation. We have great news! The judgments are past, the terrible plagues upon the earth are ended. We begin with a view of heaven coming down to earth; a time when the prayers of God’s people for centuries, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, will be answered.
On the night before His death, Jesus made a wonderful promise to all who believe in Him. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:1-3
The Father’s house Jesus referred to is the New Jerusalem, where God will live with His people forever.
Just as a person preparing to travel to a foreign country desires information about that country, so believers have longed for a glimpse of that city where they will live forever.
Knowing our desire, God has provided us with a description of heaven. Though only a few details are given, they are staggering.
This is the city that Abraham was looking for, the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10
What Abraham and the rest of the redeemed have anticipated by faith, was revealed to and described to John. That is what we are looking at.
Read vs 1-4
What beautiful words! They bring us full circle, to the beginning of the Bible again. Genesis 1:1 says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That creation is what is called here the old heavens and the old earth. They will pass away, as we are told, and a new heavens and a new earth are coming.
The Apostle Peter who tells us what happens to the present heavens and earth. He says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:10.
That ends the old heavens, but now a new heavens and earth appear where Jesus will continue his reign, not only upon earth, but throughout the entire reach of the vast universe of God.
The Purpose of the New Heavens and New Earth
There are four statements in this opening passage that tell us the purpose of the new heavens and the new earth.
1st Jerusalem the capital of the universe
The first verse suggests strongly that the New Jerusalem, this great city that John describes, is to be the capital of the whole new universe. And it will be a universe greatly changed. It will not be like the one we have now.
I believe that God will eliminate the present heavens and earth as we know it, most likely by changing and cleansing it. i.e. When we become Christians we become new creatures in Christ, but we are still the same persons, but now changed and cleansed.
We know today that the present universe in its farthest reaches (even farther than the new Hubble telescope can show us), is governed by the same laws. One of the laws is the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the law of entropy.
It states that this present universe is running down. It is decaying; losing its energy; it is growing cold. But in the new heavens and the new earth apparently that law is reversed.
Instead of running down the universe begins to come together again. Instead of losing energy it will gain it and manifest a unity, stability, symmetry and beauty that the old heavens and earth never had.
One aspect of this, pictured here, is that there will be no more sea. I’m not sure I like that because I love the ocean. But the one reason we have a salt sea that covers more than half of this planet is because it is God’s great antiseptic to cleanse the earth and make life possible on earth.
Had it not been for the ocean, and the salt in it particularly, life on this planet would have ceased many centuries ago. It is the ocean that purges, cleanses, and preserves it.
The sea is an antiseptic in which all the pollution and filth that man pours into it is absorbed, cleansed and changed. But there will be no more pollution, no more filth, no more need for cleansing in the new universe.
2nd The Bride
The second statement said here is, the New Jerusalem is called a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Everyone loves that picture, because everyone loves weddings, right?
The high point of a wedding is when the bride comes down the aisle, beautifully dressed for her husband! Everyone forgets that poor fellow waiting for her at the altar!
Every eye is on the bride because she has prepared herself for weeks to meet her husband there. This new city is called both a city and a woman. A city speaks of community, and a bride speaks of intimacy.
We will live in close intimacy, not only with the Lord himself, but with each other as well. I often think of that phrase in John’s letters where he says, It does not yet appear what we shall be. 1 John 3:2 KJV.
I keep looking in the mirror for signs of change in me. But what do I see? You don’t want to know! But it won’t be like that then. We will all have glorified bodies that will be like Jesus’.
3rd God’s home
The third thing we are told here is that this will be the dwelling place of God. God’s home! The place where God lives, in his people. This is when his name Immanuel (God with us), will be fulfilled. It is all in this beautiful setting.
Heaven, someone has well said, is the place of no more, no more death, no more sorrow, no more parting, no more pain, no more tears, no more evil!
A wonderful hope, don’t you think?
John brackets all of time in the phrases, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Everything in between comes from him. These are words of truth that help us to believe.
Remember on the cross our Lord uttered the words It is finished, John 19:30. After the gloom, the darkness, pain, sorrow and anguish of his separation from the Father, he cried out, It is finished!
Jesus now says, It is done! Redemption is complete. The redeemed are safe, home in glory. Everything that God wants done is done! Not one thing is left unfinished.
4th the home of the redeemed
The fourth thing the passage suggests as the purpose of the New Jerusalem is that it will be the home of the redeemed.
This city will be the home of the redeemed, and he will quench every thirst. Nothing on earth satisfies for long. Wealth, fame, pleasures and treasures, none will meet that deep thirst of the soul. That is why the rich, the wealthy, the beautiful people, all are looking for something more. They are not satisfied.
But here is the promise to satisfy that thirst. People who want more, who want God, are promised that they shall drink of the water of the spring of life. These are also called overcomers who inherit all this, all that God has created.
In contrast to this, there is the reference to what we have seen of the previous judgment is in vs 8, a description of those who are not admitted.
As we have seen all through this book, God does not want that. He is very reluctant that anybody should be judged or condemned, but as the word points out, they judge themselves.
Here there are three attitudes of heart which result in five visible deeds that mark the lost.
The three attitudes are the reasons why some will miss this beautiful city.
First, the cowards, i.e. the fearful, those who are afraid to take on the yoke of Christ, who fear to confess Christ, who are unwilling to be unpopular for a little while. They shrug their shoulders and turn away from the offer of life.
Second, there are the unbelieving, those who know it is true, but don’t want it and refuse the evidence, deliberately turning their backs on truth.
Third, there are the vile. The word means to become foul. You do not start out that way, but by feeding your mind with filthy things, foul literature, filthy attitudes, and filthy actions, you become foul-minded.
If any of these are your attitude, then out of it will flow murderers, sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts (witchcraft), the idolaters and all liars. None who practice these activities will be in the city of God.
The New Jerusalem
John now begins to describe the New Jerusalem in wonderfully symbolic language as the great city of God.
First, it’s structure vs 9-14
I am sure someone is asking, Is this literal or is it symbolic? I hope, by now, as we have been going through this book, you have come to realize that sometimes you do not have to make that choice.
God loves to use literal things that remain symbols. The cross behind me is literal, but it is also a symbol of the death of Jesus. It is both at the same time.
I believe there will be a great, visible city of incredible brilliance and glory, located somewhere above or within the atmosphere of the earth, which also will picture activities and relationships that are going on within the community of the saints.
The high wall of the city speaks of separation and of intimacy. If you want to have an intimate garden party, you meet in the yard behind a wall. That wall shuts out other things and people. It speaks of intimate fellowship and separation from intrusion. The whole of Scripture with one voice speaks of God’s desire to have what he calls a people for my own possession.
Everything in the universe is his possession. All the animals, all the creatures, are his. There are billions of angels and they all belong to him. But the saints, you and I, are peculiarly God’s own possession. He has paid a great price for us.
The gates describe means of access and egress from the city. In John 10 Jesus says, Whoever enters through me will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9
That seems to be a portrayal of the widespread ministry of believers throughout the eternal ages. The new universe will surely be as big or bigger than it is now, and it is mind-blowing in its immensity now!
Billions of galaxies, far larger than our own galaxy of the Milky Way, fill the heavens as far as the eye can see by means of the greatest telescopes we have, and still we have not reached the end.
That means that there will be new planets to develop, new principles to discover, new joys to experience. Every moment of eternity will be an adventure of discovery.
These gates are named for the tribes of Israel. Access to the city is through Israel. I believe that pictures the truth that has come to us through the Old Testament prophets and the godly practices of the nation.
The foundations speak of what is underneath which gives stability and permanence. They are named for the twelve apostles.
These foundations speak of New Testament truth and practice. Things that we only faintly grasp now will be wonderfully understood and experienced then, especially the three things that abide forever: faith, hope, and love! These three, says Paul, and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
I find myself unable to express fully the beauty that is portrayed here, but I hope that the eye of your imagination will make much of it. Now we are given the measurements of the city. vs 15-17
When God measures something it is a sign of his ownership. The number 12, which is everywhere in this account, 12,000 stadia, 144 cubits wide, is in Scripture the number of government.
So this is a fulfillment of that wonderful word in Isaiah, the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.
It is a city of beauty and of symmetry, just as long as it is wide, just as tall as it is long. It will be a city of perfect proportions. That is what it symbolizes, perfectly proportioned wholeness!
The one message of the Word of God is that you cannot find your own way. Try to fulfill yourself and you will lose yourself. But if you let God fulfill you, then you will be fully filled, a wholeness perfectly proportioned, containing nothing awkward, nothing out of balance, but all in harmony.
Not only is the size and shape of the city revealed, but the materials from which it is made are given to us. vs 18-21
Let your imagination picture that marvelous city, gleaming transparent gold, with foundations sparkling with light in cascading colors, pouring out from great jewels embedded in the sides, a kaleidoscope of light and glory!
The gates are made of single pearls. You have heard many jokes about St. Peter and the pearly gates, which we usually conceive of as a single great pair of gates. But there are twelve gates, each one is a gigantic pearl, and St. Peter is nowhere to be seen at any of them!
God must have some huge oysters somewhere in this new universe for each gate is but a single pearl! Pearls speak of beauty out of pain. Beauty comes from pain in an oyster. Because a pearl is formed when a tiny grain of sand gets inside an oyster’s shell and the oyster becomes very uncomfortable.
It feels like crackers in bed. To relieve its pain it covers the irritant with a soft lustrous nacre that hardens into a beautiful, glowing pearl. It describes beautifully how the redeemed come from the pain of Jesus.
Out of that pain came the church of Jesus Christ, the pearl of great price. He sold all that he had to buy it. This means that the redeemed will never forget for all eternity the pain and shame of the cross of Christ.
The transcendent light of this city is described next. vs 22-27
All through Revelation we have seen a temple in heaven described. That temple remains throughout the millennium, as the original of which the earthly temple is a copy. But in the new heavens and earth there is no temple. Why?
Because the true temple, of which the one in the old heavens is a picture is Jesus himself. God in man that is the temple! Thus Paul, in First Corinthians, says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you? 1 Corinthians 6:19
If God dwells in you, you are a part of this heavenly temple. You share the honor of being the home of God, the dwelling place of God. And from that comes radiant light. People can see all things by that truth. So glorious is it that there is no need for the sun or the moon. It does not say they are not there; it simply says there is no need for them in this city of God.
There will never be night there because it is lit continually by the glory which is God. The gates will never be shut because there is no night there and therefore no need for protection. Cities close their gates at night because they are in danger. But there is nothing to destroy in this new world to come. Nothing impure will enter because only the redeemed are admitted.
Are you ready to go?
