The Tale of the 2nd City

Revelation 21:1–22:5 NIV

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Introduction: Russia and Ukraine Conflict - Threat of a World War III - Everything about this Conflict reminds us of the Pattern of the Nations throughout the book of Revelation - The Pattern?

Where is our Hope in times like this?

39-We Long for a New Creation.

Show list of OT References - Most of this Imagry has already been alluded to in the book of Revelation - Conclusion: This passage is the culmination of the entire O.T. and New Testemant longing.

In the very beginning of time, and at the start of the Bible, we are given a glimpse of God’s intention for humanity.

-In Genesis 1:28, “be fruitful and multiply” and “have dominion over” (rule) creation.

Genesis 2:15–17, Eat from the Tree of life, but not the tree of Good and Evil

(Genesis 3:1–7). The Fall - Explains all that has gone wrong with the world. The rest of the Bible is about getting to this point - The restoration of all things.

The 7 Churches - The first Readers were longing for the end of things - They were looking at persecution by the Roman Empire -”The Beast” who was empowered by Satan.

Contrast to the first City - The Prostitute - Rome who was alluring all the nations away from God towards Idolatry, Emperor Worship, and Luxurious living on the backs of conquered peoples and slaves.

This Second City instead of a picture of coercion and seduction, is the Bride of Christ a picture of Invitation, Commitment, and Nurture.

What is undone in Genesis 3 -

Seperation from God - God’s dwelling is with humans

Death - No more dying

Pain - No More Pain

Working for Food - Food and water provided so we are free to love each other and care for creation.

Does God fulfill this longing?

40-The New Creation is God’s Goal for History.

Mike Wilkins:

Our eternal destination is not an escape from the material, natural world, it is a purification and intensification of that world. Heaven is not the big retirement in the sky, it is the place where all of God’s purposes for you and for the world come together.

Book of Revelation Describes this Life as a Conflict of Two cities. One led by human reliance on itself - Economic, Political, Military Power led by Greed, Injustice, and the Enemy behind the scenes. But that Jesus will in the end defeat all of the idolatries, and evil in our world by the Word of the Gospel - His mercy, demonstrated in his life, death, resurrection, Spirit, and final judgment.

- The word New means “renewed,” or “Refreshed”. It is the greek word not for something new that wasn’t there before like a brand new car, but new in the way we say of a restored car, “It’s like its brand new.” Just as we are new creations in Christ even now, though you cannot yet see a physical change, so too the earth will be transformed and made a new creation. In the next verse, John sees the new Jerusalem “coming down out of heaven.” This is an important point as we consider the climax of history, the end of time, does not conclude with spiritual beings rising to heaven but with heaven coming down to earth and radically transforming our world. Ultimately, heaven is not a place you go to, but rather, it is a place that will come to us.

“Again Christian readers must remind themselves that the bride, the city, is none other than the church of Christ. The churches of John’s day, the churches of our own day, all of us are looking into a mirror in these verses. We are not merely spectators—we are ourselves the spectacle: it is we who are ‘God’s building’ (1 Cor. 3:9). The city shown to us here is what we shall be in the age to come, what in a sense we already are, on the level of ‘the heavenlies’, and what in our earthly experience God is presently making of us” (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1975], 207, Logos).

- Combination of imagry of the New Jerusalem.

41 - 42 - 1400 - 1500 miles in all directions - So about the size of the known world around the Mediteranean See - Symbolic covering the world.

A Box with lots of Gold - This city is a very large Holy of Holies - The place in the Temple where God’s presence was - In other words

43 - The mention of the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 Apostles, the 12 precious stones representing the 12 tribes combined with the 12 apostle foundation, and gates in all directions for people from all tribes, languages, and nations to enter. -

What does this all represent? This New Jerusalem is the culmination of the imagry we have seen in Revelation - the 24 Elders representing the 12 tribes/12 Apostles, the Bride of Christ who saved from the Great Prostitute, the 144,000 military sensus, and the great multitude from every tribe, nation, language who washed their robes in the blood of the lamb. This New Jerusalem is the people of God from all times and all places. “The Church” - The Church now is the Holy of Holies, but there is no need for a physical temple, because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the residing in the Church is present within the Church. All of the New Creation is the Temple, because God is fully present there.

B. 1. Present with God for Eternity - Presence

C. 2. Free from pain, sorrow, death, disease. - Freedom

D. 3. Sin and the curse is abolished - Saved

E. 4. Never ending supply of Life, the Holy Spirit. -Life

F. 5. We live as the kids of the king. - Children

G. 6. Free from the fear of harm. – Free of Fear

H. 7. Jesus’ Guidance is as instant as light. - Light

I. 8. Culture, Good Works purified and presented to God. – Good Works

It also means that all the good that humanity has produced can be redeemed - Art, Science, Technology. It will be redeemed from any evil purposes it was used for. This is good news for what we do now, is that it has purpose into eternity. What will it be like to watch a baseball game in the new heaven and new earth? No sign stealing controversies that is for sure.

J. 9. Diversity of People in Complete Unity - Diversity

K. 10. Jesus rules, and we rule. – Jesus Rules

The most important restoration is our full restoration with God - No temple is needed as the Earth is God’s temple. - Notice all of the elements are there from the Garden

• God’s presence,

• Tree of Life

• Water of Life - flowing out to bring life to the world - Holy Spirit.

• Fruit gives God’s life for eternity.

• It’s leaves heal all of the nations - reconciliation - no more war, racism, animosity, etc… - All the nations bring their gifts into Jerusalem.

44 - Bible Project Collage Video

So how does this shape the 7 churches life, and how does it shape our life?

45 - We Patiently Endure for the Hope of the New Creation.

1. When Paul described the Christian walk, he sometimes likened it to a race. Using the images of the Roman Colosseum, he pictures us running while believers who have gone before cheered us on (Hebrews 11–12). While there is something to be said about having others cheer us on, there is the personal accomplishment side that reminds us that the race we run and win becomes a real part of us. A great example of finishing the race and what it feels like is found in the article “How It Feels to Cross the Finish Line” by Erin Mink Garvey. The encouragement of Garvey is key: “You are capable of doing really hard things, my friend, and that capability now applies to all aspects of your life. Through training for and then racing a marathon, half, ultra, or full at SF, you’ve willingly given yourself numerous opportunities to work through hard circumstances, times when it would have been much easier to stop and quit than to struggle and possibly fail. The tenacity that you’ve developed through training for, and racing, a race of that magnitude is impressive and will serve you well in life” (“How It Feels to Cross the Finish Line,” San Francisco Marathon, July 23, 2018, https://www.thesfmarathon.com/blog/2018/07/23/how-it-feels-to-cross-the-finish-line/). A great reminder that God has made us to finish and in the finish is a great, personal reward

46 - The Book of Revelation is an encouragement to a suffering, persecuted church to Conquer not by military power, but by....

• Patiently Enduring the hardships of living in a world with Beastly Nations

• Resisting Evil

• Being Faithful to Jesus till Death

• Not denying Faith in Jesus

• Not relying on riches

• Living a Life of Gratitude through service, love others

• Those who conquer are promised Paradise, a share in this restored home, paradise.

• And so this is a hopeful picture for those who believe, because it envisions a close relationship with Jesus in the future, but our need to be close to Jesus in our present struggles to empower us to endure.

Conclusion: What Hope do you see in this passage? Do you think of those who have passed? Do you think of the present world? Do you think of your own struggles?