Rev 21 New Heaven and New Earth
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We are getting to the end of our Journey In The Revelation o Jesus Christ. God willing next we will finish. But before we get into it tonight let’s review where we have been.
Chapter 1 we had the promise of blessing to those who would read the book. We saw the vision of Jesus and the 7 churches as well as the Divine Outline in Rev 1:19 where John was instructed;
19 “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
So Ch 1 is the things seen, Chapters 2 & 3 the things which are, which are the 7 letters to the churches, and revealed the Church Age, Church history unfolded in order. Finally John is told to write the things which will take place after these things; meta tauta. After what things, the things of the Church Age,
Ch 4 begins with meta tauta, 4 comes after 2&3, it always has - so Ch 4 - 22 occur after the Church Age. Ch 4 includes a vision where John hears a trumpet and is called up to heaven and there we see the church represented. The church, the Greek word Eklessia is not used after chapter 3.
Beginning with Ch 6 we see the great tribulation beginning and which continues to ch 19 where we have the war of Armegeddon and the return of Christ with His bride, you and and me.
We now have moved past the Great tribulation, The Second Coming, and even the Millennium, to eternity. This may be the time of the vision of third heaven the Paul spoke of in 2 Co 12:3, 4 he speaks of things too wonderful to be expressed in words.
3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—
4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
Perhaps, this new Heaven and Earth are what he spoke about in
1 Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
We are talking about things that no man has seen yet so let these last two chapters serve as a travel brochure on what we can expect to see. Keep in mind that this is what God has envisioned for us from the “get go”, a true Utopia.
Read Ch 21 verse 1 -4
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
V1- I saw a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth has past away. Past away in the Greek tense indicates in an instant it is gone. It’s interesting how close Isaiah echos Revelation;
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
The word “create” in this verse is the Hebrew “bara”. Also used in Gen 1:1, meaning to create from nothing. There is a second word for “create”, “Asa”, and means to create out of existing matter. God alone can speak things into existence. as in;
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
So what happens to the present earth?
See 2 Peter
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Note: V7-Reserved for fire – can mean has stored up fire. We don’t know how things are held together atomically in science. Protons should repel each other as they all are positively charged but somehow they hold together. Scientists call it atomic glue and the CERN project thinks they discovered the mechanism, called the Higg – Bosen Particle or God particle. Their aim being to break apart the bonds and recreate the Creation moment.
The bible give us a simple answer in Col 1:15;
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
They will be held together until He decides to let them melt in fervent heat.
John ends V1 with an interesting observation, and there is no longer any sea. This new earth will be quite different. The current Earth is 71% water. Sorry ocean fisherman! Probably what is more intended is that the sea, symbolic of the Gentile world, no longer exists.
V2 -3 the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
I can’t help but envision a huge extra dimensional spaceship floating down from heaven created for us by God. Who knows! But it will be awesome..
Several NT passages speak about this special place.
This is the Jerusalem of hope;
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
the Jerusalem above
26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
the place of our real citizenship
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
The terms holy and new distinguish the city. Because it is holy and new, it is different from any earthly city. The name Jerusalem gives it continuity with earth, especially with the place of our redemption.
It is significant that this glorious dwelling place of God and His people is described as the holy city. Cities are places where there are many people, and people interact with each other. This isn't isolation, but a perfect community of the people of God.
The Christian concept of heaven as a city - a place of life, activity, interest, and people - is very different from Hindu conception of a blank "Nirvana." "The consummation of the Christian hope is supremely social. It is no 'flight of the alone to the Alone' but life in the redeemed community of heaven." (Hunter)
This idea sheds new light on the importance of “not forsaking the gathering together” of Christian Fellowship. We are meant to be together.
Think about the fact that Man has never known a community unmarred by sin. Adam and Eve only knew a limited community, and community in a larger context only came long after the Fall. Here, in the New Jerusalem, we have something totally unique: a sinless, pure, community of righteousness, a holy city.
Problems arise when believers expect this kind of community now, or fail to realize that it only comes down out of heaven. This city is not, and never can be, the achievement of man, but only a gift from God.
John calls the city “as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband”. We can only imagine how spectacular it will look. We will talk more about this towards the end of the chapter.
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
V4 he will wipe away every tear and death will be no more, no crying no pain. How awesome!! From this we can surmise that memories of the lost and memories of terrible things will be done away.
However is does appear that we will know recognize each other just without the bad stuff..
We move on;
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
V5 a. I am making everything new! Paul said something interesting about this;
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Notice V5 b. – 8 .” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”When Jesus says write this down, write it down.
I am done. The great carpenter has finished His work. Think about His statement that “He goes to prepare a place for us”. That was 2,000 years ago. He finished creation in just 6 days. This will be no starter home, or fixer upper. This is going to be magnificent.
Note: a great city must have abundant water. You can have as much as you want at no cost. Drinking and thirst are common pictures of God's supply and man's spiritual need. Drinking is an action, but an action of receiving - like faith, it is doing something, but it is not a merit-earning work in itself.
"What does a thirsty man do to get rid of his thirst? He drinks. Perhaps there is no better representation of faith in all the Word of God than that. To drink is to receive-to take in the refreshing draught-and that is all. A man's face may be unwashed, but yet he can drink; he may be a very unworthy character, but yet a draught of water will remove his thirst. Drinking is such a remarkably easy thing, it is even more simple than eating." (Spurgeon)
John now references who will not be there;
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
I have always found intriguing that among what is considered more heinous sins to us are the “cowardly and unbelieving.” A stern message to our current culture regarding fear. Fear and unbelief are linked.
Notice the list. As Paul side “such were some of you..” But we are under the blood of Christ.
V9 –27 A description of the New Jersualem
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone 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; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
It shone with God’s Glory, Brilliant like Jasper (Diamonds)
It has a great high wall. Not defensive, perhaps to mark the perimeter or a picture that our lives Have been hidden in Christ.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
It has 12 gates, 3 on each side with a tribal name, with an angel at each gate. Symbolic for the fact that we entered faith through Israel and the OT.
Notice it has 12 foundations each with the apostle’s names. As our faith is built on Christ as the cornerstone and then the foundation of the Apostles’. Paul writes;
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The city is a 1,500 miles square cube. This is the same distance from Maine to Florida; the square footage would approximate the size of the Moon. Henry Morris, guessing that there will have been 100 billion people in the human race, and that 20% of them will be saved, calculates that each person would have a "block" with about 75 acres on each face to "call their own."
In the Greek text the measurements are 144 cubits according to human measurements which are apparently equal to angelic measurements. A cubit was the length of a mans arm from the elbow to the tip of the finger. Typically about 18 inches. BTW - the word cubit comes from the Latin cubitus which is Latin for elbow.
The foundation walls are decorated with precious stones. Some believe they correspond to the 12 stones in High Priests breastplate. Some have said that the colors of the stones represent the rainbow.
Notice also the famous Pearly Gates – gigantic pearls make each gate and Streets are made of transparent gold. The most treasured material thing on this earth is nothing but beautiful asphalt in the Jerusalem.
More details are given;
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
There will be No temple there, God is its temple. there will be No Sun or Moon- God gives its light
God has prepared this all for you and me. It is exclusively for those written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Make sure your name is written there.
Pray