Revelation 21

Then New Heaven, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem

Revelation 21 – The New Heaven and New Earth and the City of God

Over the last several sermons from Revelation I have talked a great deal about the judgment of God and the wrath of God. In fact I am somewhat afraid that I overused the phrase “wrath of God”. I know that without the (whisper) wrath of God the Salvation of God would not be such a great deal. But it is a great deal when you consider the alternative which is…well you know. Remember last time I said “the end is in sight but the beginning is just around the corner.” Today we turn the corner. We will be looking at Revelation 21: The New Heaven, the New Earth and the City of God, New Jerusalem. In this passage we will look at the wonder of being there, the beauty of the City and the Glory of God being there. Let’s pray then we will get into God’s Word.

I know that this passage is 27 verses long and it would take some time to read it all together so again we will break it down into smaller chunks. We will start with Revelation 21:1-2 1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In chapter 20 verse 11 we saw that the earth and the heaven fled away from the One who sat on the great white throne judging the resurrected lost. That is what John is talking about in verse one of our passage this morning when he said he saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and earth had passed away. This would not have surprised the first hearers or readers of the Revelation. Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 made it clear that God would destroy His creation and make it new. Peter even spoke about it in 2 Peter 3 Verse 10 of that passage says: …[1] 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. What Peter and Isaiah prophesied is what John is seeing in this vision. John makes the observation that there were no more seas and thus far in Revelation and what we see in other parts of the Old Testament and even in the New Testament with Jesus calming storms and walking on water in a storm is that ‘the sea’ is always seen as a place of turmoil and struggle. Remember from the sea came the Beast, out of worldly upheaval and distress the Beast was able to declare himself the savior of humankind. When John makes the statement that there was “no more sea” he is making it abundantly clear that there is no more turmoil, strife, unknown danger or upheaval in mankind. All trials, struggles and unrest are gone. Just that one statement should be cause for us to celebrate. But there is yet more to see. In his vision John saw, coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband, the holy city, the New Jerusalem. John just kind of leaves us hanging there with that picture in our minds as he moves on to describe the wonder of life in the New Jerusalem.

But let me slow down here to make clear what this Holy City represents. Back in chapters 17, 18 and 19 we met the Harlot city Babylon and furthermore we saw her destruction. I described Babylon as the world system that is opposed to God, and killed the people of God. If you will remember I noted that this world system represented by a city is made up of people who oppose God and the people of God. Set that against the holy city, the New Jerusalem adorned as a bride for her husband and what would you suppose that represents? The New Jerusalem is the totality of the people of God, the bride of Christ that has been at the wedding supper of the Lamb. We will see this described more fully in a moment but suffice it to say that the city of Babylon represented those who oppose God and the New Jerusalem represents the People of God, as we will see, living in unity with God.

Now let’s take a look at verses 3-6a 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. John again hears another great voice coming from heaven, most likely God Himself, saying basically; “God lives with you and living with you He will Himself wipe away all the tears, all the pain, all the memories of suffering and strife. He has removed death and the sorrow it brings to His people. All the former things brought by the curse of the fall is gone, former things have passed away. And the One who sat on the throne said: “I make all things new, write that down, it is the truth.” Where Jesus had been on the great white throne for judgment of those who perished now He speaks not as a judge but as the Creator; “I have done it.” Christ, as the Alpha and Omega, is the first and last in so many ways. He is the “author and finisher” of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), signifying that He begins it and carries it through to completion. He is the totality, the sum and substance of the Scriptures, both of the Law and of the Gospel (John 1:1, 14). He is the fulfilling end of the Law (Matthew 5:17), and He is the beginning subject matter of the gospel of grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). He is found in the first verse of Genesis and in the last verse of Revelation. He is the first and last, the all in all of salvation, from the justification before God to the final sanctification of His people. He is the beginning and end and everything in between, He is the purpose of everything that transpires between the beginning and the end. In Him we live and move and have our being.

Folks if we see nothing else here we need to see that the curse of the fall will have its end in Christ. In the fall of man three things happened. He became guilty leading to death. Christ took our guilt, death is conquered being cast into hell. Mankind became corrupt. Christ through the Holy Spirit sanctifies us making us new creations. Humankind became miserable. In Christ we find joy and peace, all our tears will be wiped away. In the new heaven and new earth is the new Jerusalem populated by justified, sanctified, joy filled new creations in Christ Jesus.

In the second half of verse 6 through verse 8 we see the final invitation and the final warning. 6bI will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” In verses 6 and 7 we see the simplest of invitations. “If you are thirsty for real life I will give you all you want.” Jesus had said in John 7:37 at the feast of Tabernacles “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” And in John 4:14 we read this: 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”[2] I called this the simplest of invitations but only if one knows he has need of living water will he come to the fountain. We must be the ones to proclaim the urgent need by proclaiming that only in Christ will one be made new, the gospel must go forth.

Verse 7 is a continuation of the invitation by proclaiming the benefit of drinking the living water. You become a part of the family. Those who drink the water will be overcomers and will inherit the family abode. This describes what Paul called “more than conquerors” in Romans 8. But then Jesus goes on to make sure we understand the greatness of this by making it clear that those who recognize their need of living water (Jesus) and drink becoming overcomers will be sons and daughters of God. We can see very clearly from this that John the Revelator and the Apostle Paul are proclaiming the same Lord. In Romans 8:14-17 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.[3] The invitation is clear; drink of the living waters and be overcomers who are sons and daughters of God.

However verse 8 is the final warning. We have to remember, as we look at this verse, that the Revelation of Jesus Christ was not written to the world, it was written to the church or at least to all those in the congregation of the church. And the warning is as simple as the invitation: If you look just like the world that has been cast into the lake of fire then you are the world and you will be cast into the lake of fire. Need I go any further? The warning has been issued along with the invitation.

This next section of Scripture is by far the longest section and I will say the least about it. Let’s read 9-21 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred andforty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city wereadorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Back in chapter 17 when John is introduced to Babylon the great he was taken by one of the angels that had one of the seven bowls of wrath to the wilderness to see the “city of man” if you will. This time John is taken by one of the same angels (perhaps the same angel) to a mountain top to see the city of God, the New Jerusalem. I think this is reminiscent of Moses going up on Mt. Pisgah to see the land that had been promised to the people of Israel for a time. John is getting to look at the “land” that would be home of the redeemed for eternity. John got to see the prostitute who led people from God from the vantage point of the wilderness and now he sees the bride of the Lamb from a mountain top. Babylon is desolate but the Bride of the Lamb is alive and John gets to see her beauty. She reflects the very glory of God Himself. In this description of the New Jerusalem is a whole lot of symbolism, so much so that it is difficult to know how to understand it. How can the light of the city be like Jasper stone which is orange or chocolate in color and still be clear as glass? And how can the gold be gold and be as transparent as glass? Regardless of its purity it is still going to be a metal and gold in color. Don’t think that I am saying that the Scriptures are in error. They are true, always have been and always will be. So how do we reconcile the impossible description with what we know as reality? Simple enough, John was doing the best he could to describe the indescribable. If the glory of God is indescribable then we have to know that the reflection of His glory off of His creation is also beyond description. It would be like trying to describe a primary color like red, or blue, or yellow. How do you describe them? John is limited because he is a broken human being who has not yet been glorified in the presence of God. When we get there we will see it as it is and John’s description will make sense.

But there are some things that we can glean from the symbolism. First is the symbolism of security. There is a high wall all the way around the Lamb’s wife, new Jerusalem. The wall is measured to be 144 cubit or 2,592 feet high. In the wall are 12 gates, three on each side with an angel at each gate which is made of pearl and the wall of the jasper stone. Each gate had a tribe of Israel written on it. From what we can see here this is a very secure location, surrounded by a wall so high no one could ever scale and gates that are guarded by angels.

We can also see from the dimensions of the Lamb’s wife that there is room for all. The dimensions given are twelve thousand furlongs cubed. That is about 1500 miles or roughly the distance between NY City and Houston, Texas wide, deep and high. Whether you believe this is the dimensions of a literal city or you believe it symbolic makes no difference. Clearly the point is there is room for all who are the redeemed of God, the Lambs wife has a place to live. Jesus said He would go and prepare a place for His disciples and John is seeing in this vision the finished product.

The last thing I want to note here is the mention of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles of Christ. There are those who believe that the Old Testament Saints, those saved by grace through faith, and the New Testament Saints, those also saved by grace through faith, are separate, two distinct entities. I believe that what we see here is that the church, Old Testament Saints and New Testament Saints are united as the wife of the Lamb. The people of God are united in the Lamb.

The beauty of the city of God, the wife of the Lamb, is that there is security in Christ, there is a place for the bride in Christ and there is unity in Christ.

Now let’s look at the magnificence of His presence in and with the wife of the Lamb. Revelation 21:22-27 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.[4]

If there is one thing that the Old Testament does it is that it defines for us the separation between God and His prime creatures, mankind. Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden, Cain was exiled from the presence of his brothers, the need for blood sacrifices to draw near to God. Even the wilderness Tabernacle and later the Temple illustrated for man that he was separated from God. There was the court of the Gentiles, then the court of women, then the court of Israel and then there was the holy place where only the priests could go to offer the sacrifices. Finally there was the holy of holies where only one specific priest, the high priest could go and that was only once a year after he had cleansed himself and offered sacrifices on his own behalf. Clearly man is separated from God. The New Testament taught that man could be at peace with God through the work of Jesus on the cross. In fact He is called Emanuel, God with us. However there is still today a physical distance between God and humankind. But here in this passage that we just read it is clear that in the New Jerusalem, with the wife of the Lamb there is no separation of God and mankind. There is no temple because there is no need for someone to represent man to God or God to man. If there is one thing that those who trust in Christ has longed for it is the physical closeness of our beloved Lord, Savior, Friend and yes Hero. And in this vision of John we can see that all has been fulfilled and Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are in the presence of His people, the wife of the Lamb. Verse 23 in interesting because it does not say that there is no sun or moon but that there is no need of the sun or moon because the Lamb is the light for His wife. Get this picture if you will, even at high noon there are still shadows that are cast by the sun because that light cannot pass through what is solid and in the way. However in the holy city there are no shadows because God illuminates the city and the Lamb is its light and God and the Lamb are omnipresent, there can be no shadow or darkness at all where the light of God shines freely.

In verses 24-26 I believe we see again the unity of the wife of the Lamb, the church. The holy city consists of not just the ethnic Jews who have been converted, redeemed but it also has the nations, the gentiles who have been redeemed. It not only has the lowly but also the royalty. We have seen several times in Revelation that the kingdom of God is made up of every tribe, nation, tongue, color, ethnicity, and socio-economic class. And all glory in the wife of the Lamb is God’s glory. The glory and honor the kings of the nations bring into the holy city simply reflects God’s glory in redeeming some of all people groups.

Some people believe that verse 26 indicates that there will be lost people on the New Earth. However this is not the case. John is making clear in this vision that only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are in the presence of God forever in His holy city. Only the redeemed are the wife of the Lamb.

The fulfillment of all the promises of God are seen in the fact that the people of God dwell in unity with God and the Lamb with no separation for all eternity.

Let me sum this up then we will go. The curse of the fall of man has its end in the person of Jesus Christ. The invitation is simple; if you are thirsty come and drink of the water of life, Jesus Christ. When you drink of Him, you are an overcomer being made a son or daughter of God. Along with the invitation comes the final warning; if you look like the world then you might as well know you are the world and the world has its end in the lake of fire. For those who are the wife of the Lamb we have to remember that you cannot describe the indescribable but you can know that there is security in the Lamb, there is an eternal place for the wife of the Lamb in the home He has prepared for us and there is unity in the Lamb. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Pe 3:7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 4:14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ro 8:14–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 21:1–27). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.