A Kingdom of Light

Revelation 21:23-24a

Recap:

· New Jerusalem is a city of elegance, the design and building goes beyond anything we can imagine.

· The use of precious jewels and gold speak of the wealth of the Lord. He has prepared a great place for us.

· Now remember, this city is not heaven, it is on earth. This will be a literal place that will reside on a new earth. So, this will be something that is still a good ways off by time.

· John continues to reveal things about this marvelous place that are important to understand.

Verse 23

“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:”

· John tells us about the light situation for this new place.

· As we began this chapter, John shared that there was a dramatic transformation that took place. He said that he saw a new heaven and new earth.

· Now this new heaven is the sky and space that he is referring too. Personally, I believe that the third heaven becomes visible and one could look from the ground and see the throne room of God.

· No longer are we seeing a blue sky, but instead we are seeing the splendor of heaven.

· John tells us something that I believe we may get wrong, look at this verse 23.

· When we read that verse, we assume then that there is no more sun or moon, that with the remaking of the heaven (the sky) that these celestial bodies are done away with.

· Well, that is not the case. Note what John is really saying here. There is no need for their light. It doesn’t mean that they are done away with, it just means that they are not the source of light for the world now.

· Now we can back this up by looking at scripture references.

o Psalm 148:3-6 “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.”

· So, what we see from this is that the Sun and Moon still exist, they are just not the light source for the New City of Jerusalem.

· The New Jerusalem will be a radiating city of light, with the presence of Christ there, it will illuminate the surrounding regions.

· So it may be that the sun and moon will continue to serve their present functions with respect to the nether regions of the earth.

· Now, we cannot be dogmatic in this though, it could be that there is no sun or moon. It may be like it was in early part of creation. God created light on the first day but the sun and moon were not created until the fourth day.

· So, why did God even create the sun and moon? Well, these serve as witnesses of God’s eternal promises.

o Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: 36 if those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.”

o Psalm 89:35-37 “Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.”

· Again what do we see in the word of God, that there is a continued existence of the sun and moon.

· Now some would say that this doesn’t apply in the New Creation, but my argument to that would be, why did God inspire the writer to say forever and ever? Which denotes exactly that.

· Now, here is another reason why I believe the sun and moon will still exist, for the keeping of time.

· Right now we measure time by the travel of the earth around the sun. It takes 365 days for the Earth to go around the sun. During those 365 days we break up the days into months.

· Now I tell you that, because in the New Kingdom, this process continues. In Revelation 22:2 the scripture clearly indicates that there are months.

· So, here is likely evidence that the sun and moon will continue on.

“For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof”

· Though the sun and moon may exist in the new creation, the light that these bodies give cannot compare to the light that resonates from God.

· You see, the glory of the Lord, also called the Shekinah glory of God, far exceeds the light that the sun and moon can give.

· In fact, their light pales in comparison. Think of it this way, say the sun that we know is like this flash light, and God is like the sun we know, the flashlight will never be able to outshine the sun. Nor will the sun be able to outshine God.

· Listen to what Isaiah says about this.

o Isaiah 24:23 “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”

· The tabernacle and temple both had a place called the holy of holies. This is where the glory of God resided. There was no light from the sun or the moon in this place, because the glory of God was sufficient.

· Well, remember, there is no temple in this place, the glory of God is free to shine throughout.

o Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

· The light that we read here in this verse should remind us, that same light is within us right now. With Christ Jesus, and that is why it is so important that we let that light shine. Through us and through this church.

Verse 24a.

“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.”

· Now this verse will take the remaining time, and part of our time next study. Because it brings a variety of questions.

· The opening talks about nations. What does this mean, it means that there are people from all over the current world who are in this New City.

· This is not a city of one nation of people. It is not an American City though there will be those from America there. It will not be a African City, though there will be those from Africa there, it will not be one nation’s city, because it will be made up of many different nations.

· Now this brings another thought, Will we retain characteristics of our nationalities.

· The scripture seems to indicate this. But though we come from different parts of the world, there is one thing that is in common. We are saved.

· No longer does the flag on a particular nation fly in the sky, now we are united under the banner of Christ.

· The only requirement to enter into this city is that a person is saved. There is no test, there is no fee, those who come in this city are those who have a relationship with Jesus.

· So these that are saved walk in the light of the glory of God. They walk in the light of the knowledge of God.

· They walk in the light of perfection and purity.

· These who walk in this city, will have the lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. A place for all who would believe.