Title and other images: Wikimedia Commons
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for
the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also
gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne,
saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his
people. God himself will be with
them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there
will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said,
“Look, I am making everything new!” And
then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and
true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and
the End. To all who are thirsty I will
give freely from the springs of the water of life. All
who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God,
and they will be my children. “But
cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice
witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of
burning sulfur. This is the second
death.” Then one of the seven
angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said
to me, “Come with me! I will show you
the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” So
he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the
holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It
shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as
clear as crystal. The city wall was broad and high, with
twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There
were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west. The
wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked to me held in his
hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. When
he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were
each 1,400 miles. Then he measured the walls and found
them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the
angel). The wall was made of
jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The
wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious
stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the
fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh
chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the
eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were made of
pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And
the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for the
Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the
city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and
the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its
light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its
gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night
there. And all the nations will bring their glory and
honor into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to
enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those
whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Then the angel showed me a river with the
water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the
Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the
nations. No longer will there
be a curse upon anything. For the throne
of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And
they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And
there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will
shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 21:1 – 22:5
For a change we are not going
to deal with judgment and penalty. All
the way through Revelation there have been plagues, death, and slaughter. Today we turn our attention to happier
things. We are like the little boy who
was offered his pick of the puppies in the store window. When asked which he would choose, he pointed
at a hyper little mutt that was jumping around and shaking its' back end like a
snake's tail, and said, I want the one
with the happy ending! Well, we
finally got there… the happy ending; we look at the City of God.
What heaven is like is a favorite topic for
Christians and unbelievers as well. One
man said: Heaven is a little like South Florida, great climate, and everybody's
got relatives there.
New Things
We should make the distinction
between Heaven and the New Jerusalem. Heaven is God's throne. New Jerusalem is going to be a city, a real
place, a wonderful new city that Christian believers are going to occupy. In this chapter John is using fulfillment language to
describe the indescribable. Fulfillment
language is futuristic and dogmatic. It
simply takes what the Bible has said will come about, and describes it as
already having happened. The prophets
used this manner of communicating about the future. They spoke of future events so forcefully it
put them in the past tense. We have an
expression we use: You can take that to the bank.
We say that when we're certain something is going to happen, it is a
done-deal. John knew New Jerusalem is more than a blessed
hope; it is a certainty.
New is not restricted to a sense
of time in this passage, but includes new in the sense of kind. When God makes us new creatures in Christ, we are not just starting over in time, we
are changed in kind. We are transformed
into something else. Old ways of
thinking pass off the scene, we love differently. We are being conformed to the image of Christ.
That is how you can tell the difference between someone who truly got
saved, and someone who is just playing
church or someone who got religion. Someone who truly has been born again, received
new birth, is a changed person,
not just a clean slate. You see a new her
or him!
One rabbit to chase as we
begin. You cannot preach on heaven
without certain things getting in the way.
One question that haunts people, especially people who are grieving over
deceased loved ones, is: Will
I know him/her in heaven? Will
I know my wife, husband, brother, mother...when I get to heaven? I want to give you what I consider the best
answer I've ever discovered on that subject.
That great Baptist preacher, G. Campbell Morgan was asked that question:
Will
you know your wife over there?
Morgan replied: I do not expect to be a bigger fool in
heaven than I am here, and I know my loved ones here.[1]
Over the next three sermons we
will look at this passage under the general heading, City of God. Three topics
are in view,
·
The New Place for the People of God,
·
The New People in the City of God, and
·
The New Fulfillment of the Purpose of God.
This morning we look at a New
Place for the People of God.
If you will, recall our time
reference:
·
Armageddon is over, Satan has been defeated and thrown into the lake of
fire.
·
The Great White Throne judgment is past, and all who rejected Christ are
now in the lake of fire with the Devil.
·
The millennial rule of Christ has been consummated, and time has ceased.
·
believers are perched on the edge of eternity.
Now John has a new vision; he
is shown the New Jerusalem, a new earth
and heaven. Behold, says God, Almighty, I make all things new...
A New Size
The new city is immense. It is also different in kind, it isn’t a flat
parcel, it’s cubical. We are so
accustomed to square miles as a
measurement, it is hard to envision a city that large. The angel tells John the city is 1500 miles
long and wide, but also 1500 miles high!
This is probably one of those
things John had trouble understanding and describing, as he had never encountered
anything this wonderful. After all, he'd
never even seen a toaster, how could he comprehend a multi-level city,
suspended in air? Would John understand
the least bit about our orbiting satellites?
He had described the entire world viewing events, television. But he didn't know anything about electronic
circuitry and broadcast patterns.
An interesting fact about this
shape, is that it is the same as the altar in the Temple (Exodus 27). An altar is a place of worship. Scripture tells us there is no temple in this new city. There is no need for a representation when you
have the real thing. You can say
that because Jesus is the center of this city (Revelation 21.22). How big is it? It's big enough!
A New Spot
Where will this city be? Although many honest people disagree about
the location, I will add my thought to the pot.
I believe this city will be akin to our orbiting satellites, suspended
in a stationary orbit, directly over the old Jerusalem. It is in my mind's camera that I see the two
cities connected by what Scripture calls a street
of gold.
Again, John is using the only
language he has available. He cannot
imagine teleportation, or beaming up and down (e.g., Star Trek). I believe the golden street is figurative, a first
century picturesque description of incredibly fast communication and
transportation between the two cities.
Imagine, if you will, planet
earth and old Jerusalem. Hovering overhead is a great transparent
city. It is as wide, long, and high as
half the North American continent. There
is a great, wide, golden pathway of translucent electrons, emanating from the
throne of that city, from the person of Jesus, the Lamb. It extends all the way to the Old
Jerusalem. In that stream of Christ-lit
golden mist, believers, kings and rulers of heaven and earth, are traveling and
talking. What are they doing? They're walking in the light of the Lamb, they're
bringing glory and honor to the Lamb (Revelation 21:24). Eon upon eternity it never stops.
A new size, spot, and...
A New Start
Genesis 1:1 tells us in the beginning, God created the heaven and
earth. Holy Writ ends with God recreating that which
has been soiled by evil. The new city of
God is set in a new heaven, not physically, but a heaven untouched by sin. If God is going to dwell with man in earth,
sin cannot be part of the equation. The
city is said to be foursquare (Revelation 22:16). To the Greeks, foursquare means good.
That's what a clean start is
all about. It is a good thing to start
anew. The Psalmist tells us God's
mercies are new every day. The Prophets
also tell us God does new things. How
different from the epitaph written over so many church doors: We've
never done it that way before.
God is the author of new things!
The clean start means many old
things will have passed away:
· Holiness will be restored to the physical environment.
· Death, tears, and murder will all be faded memories.
In this account the jewels
mentioned as the construction materials of the new city's walls, are in exact
reverse order of the jewels as they appeared on the breastplate of Israel's
high priest, and the ancient zodiac. As
a representation, that means the reversal of man's way.
There's going to be a clean
start. God will reverse the old things –
they will pass away: New will be holy, and
pure. New will be life and joy.
Not only will there be a new
size, spot, and start, there will be...
A New Sight
There will be a new sight aesthetically. Revelation is a message alive with
colors, light, jewels and shining things.
John said the city was ...as a
bride adorned for her husband. As a Pastor I have performed scores of
weddings. I have never yet seen an ugly
bride. There is just something about
that moment. The groom's mama may be
looking at the guy and think he's cute, but every other eye in town is on the
bride. New Jerusalem's bridal appearance means it is different
from any other city that's ever been seen.
There will also be a new sight
environmentally. These verses tell us that we will know a new
heaven and new earth. I do not believe
that these will be so much new in location, as in purity. Now, before you lump me in with the kind of
fruitcakes who want to preserve the spotted owls at a cost of $100,000 each,
while children go hungry, please understand, we do have a problem with our ecological balance in this
world. It is a sin-touched world, and
that makes it a polluted world. In God's
creation, over which we are to be good stewards, we have instead polluted
streams and rivers to the point that walking on water is hardly a miracle
anymore in some places. Our atmosphere
is in trouble too. One eighth-grader
changed his poetry recital accordingly: I shot an arrow into the air...and it
stuck! That will change in the New
Jerusalem:
Nothing evil
will be allowed to enter…. Revelation 21.27a
God is going to see to the
purity level. It will be a wonderfully-clean
place to live.
A New Security
There will be a new security internationally. Throughout the ages nations have fought over
territory and resources. New Jerusalem
will be a place where all the nations will finally live in harmony.
Politicians in every century
have tried for peace. We have had wars
to end all wars, and government programs to end poverty, racism, and
hatred. What a welcome new sight to
tired eyes when the lion nations lie down with the lamb countries. There will be no bomb shelters, DMZ's, and
checkpoints.
The gates of this city are
wide open day and night! There is no
fear. There was a lady in Memphis who
was so concerned about her safety that she finally bought a pistol and learned
how to use it. She carried it in her
purse. She came out of the mall one
day. There was a man sitting behind the
steering wheel in her car. She pulled
the pistol out and pointed it at him, Get
out of my car, she yelled. The man
got wide-eyed, opened the door, and ran.
She was shaken, but got in the car.
When she put the key in the ignition, it didn't work – it wasn't her
car![2]
The City Hall in the New
Jerusalem will not issue permits to carry guns.
There won't be any guns – not on the streets, and not in schools. There won't even be any police. There won't be child and spouse abuse. There will be no locks on doors. You won't even need a pin number for your ATM
card. You won't have an ATM card. Everything will be free because Jesus will
see to every need we have. There's going
to be...
A New Glory
Then the angel
showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the
throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the
nations. No longer will there be a curse
upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his
servants will worship him. And
they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night
there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22.1-5
Best of all, we are going to
get the one thing in New Jerusalem that's been missing from this life, the
sight of Jesus' face. There is no temple
in the new city. The reason is that
Jesus and His Father ARE the temple; they are the center
of it all. Their presence simply
inspires worship, love, and obedience.
The New Jerusalem will be a wonderful place. Can you imagine moving into the New
Jerusalem? It's a new home we're talking
about. New in time, new in kind. It's going to be so different. Can you imagine,
·
Living without shame, guilt,
and sadness for past sins?
·
Living without sinful thoughts?
·
Doing good things, just
because doing good feels so good?
·
Living with complete trust
towards other people?
·
Never losing your temper?
The New Jerusalem will be like
that. It will be a wonderful place to
live.
A little girl was walking with
her father in the country. There were no
neon signs, no automobile headlights, or streetlights. It was a crisp evening. As she looked into the deep blue velvet sky,
studded with an array of diamonds that put the most dazzling Tiffany display to
shame, she said: Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what do you think
the right side will be like?
We certainly have only a
meager understanding of what our new home is going to be like. But some people are willing to settle for so
little.
Paul Azinger is a professional
golfer. He is a dedicated Christian man. Some years ago he had a major struggle with
lymphatic cancer. He wrote about it, and
how his priorities have changed so dramatically:
My friend Mike got on an airplane one day and saw one of the strangest
things he had ever seen in his life. The
man sitting next to him in first class was dressed in a bathrobe and slippers. The man's seat was a beautiful leather chair,
but my friend's was simply made of fabric. The man said to my friend: ‘I see you have noticed my chair. This chair is made of the finest leathers
money can buy.’ Then my friend noticed
that the man had a mahogany tray table. Again,
the man said, ‘Ahh, you have noticed my gorgeous tray table.’ My friend looked up and saw that the guy had a
ceiling fan. The rich man was also
surrounded by a VCR, TV, a CD player, and a computer. My friend was flabbergasted. He asked the rich man: ‘Why would anyone go to the expense to have
all these things installed in an airplane?’ The man replied bluntly: Because this is my home.’ My friend thought, ‘What a shame! A place that was intended to be a journey, he
has made his home.’[3]
How appropriate for us to
remember that the place we're now living in and on, is not our home. We're looking for a new home, a New
Jerusalem, the City of God.
Glory…all Glory!
[1]J.
Vernon McGee, First Corinthians, 157
[2]From
a sermon by Dr. Frank Pollard, The
Baptist Hour, BHa7-94TV
[3]Paul
Azinger, Zinger, (Zondervan,
1995), 216.
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