Paradise Perfected!

Revelation 21:10 (CSB)

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Revelation 21:22–22:5 (CSB)

22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates 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 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

no perfect church- even if you could find one it would not be perfect once we joined it.

Paradise Perfected: The Text In Its Context

Revelation 21:10 (CSB)

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Like life anywhere- it all starts with connecting with the right church! AMEN?

Paradise Has The First Perfect Church!

God Directly Leads The Church

Revelation 21:22 (CSB)

22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

John looks, and to his amazement he sees no temple in the city. To a Jew this is incomprehensible. The temple was the center of life- both in the city of Jerusalem and the nation. It would have been shocking to the pagans who heard those words as well. They didn’t worship the one, true God but the center of their political and social lives were also dominated by the temples in their cities.

In earlier chapters John spoke of the temple in in Heaven. That was in the old heavens- the place where we go to meet Jesus when we die. Truly a paradise- but not the final perfection that is the new heaven and new earth. In Paradise Perfected, the new Jerusalem, there is no need for a temple. The Tabernacle in Exodus, and the stone temple that followed were simply symbols that pointed us to the truth of a perfected paradise. They were places people went to envision God. In the new city of Jerusalem you don’t need to go anywhere to encounter God. God the Father and Son are impossible to miss. They are the temple!

Symbol gives way to blessed reality. The temple represented God’s presence, but believers now have God’s presence. And we will have it forever. We will have Him forever.

And just as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are in perfect accord with themselves all believers will be in perfect accord with each other, themselves, and with God!

God’s Peace Permeates The Church

Revelation 21:23–26 (CSB)

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates 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 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

Just as there is no temple- there is no need for a church. The physical building isn’t important anyway- it is just a place for the people following Jesus to gather. In New Jerusalem everybody is a believer. AMEN?

We will finally enjoy peace with God and the peace from God.

Philippians 4:6–7 (CSB)

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In the eternal city, we will not only live in God’s presence; we will also live without anything that will threaten or hinder our experience of his presence. Locked doors are a thing of the past. The gates are open all the time. Truthfully it bother me to lock the door of the church, but the reality of a sinful world mandates that we lock the doors when we are not here. In New Jerusalem we reflect God’s glory, our holiness There will be no temple, no sun or moon, no closed gates, no night, and nothing impure, shameful, or deceitful.

Our experience of God’s presence is limited now by many things (1 Cor. 13:12: “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face”). Then it will be completely perfect, without the limitations of a fallen world, without enemies, and without sin. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that while our experience of God’s presence is good now, it will be unimaginably great later. We have a lot to look forward to.

The Entire Congregation Reflects God’s Holiness

Revelation 21:27 (CSB)

27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

God is warning us to follow Christ in what we say and how we live. Let our walk match our talk, and both need to match our heart and our mind. The whole city will be God’s temple with no more division between the sacred and the secular; all will be sacred space. And the citizens will be wholehearted worshipers of God and the Lamb. Immorality and deception are specifically named as sins that will prevent one from entering the new Jerusalem.

This passage calls for God’s people to inspect their lives carefully for patterns of sin and challenges them to make radical choices about avoiding sin and following the Spirit. It is repeated throughout Scripture.

Galatians 5:19–21 (CSB)

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That is exactly John’s message here. While holiness may not be fashionable in some circles today, Revelation (and the entire Bible) repeatedly tells us to turn away from sin and to encourage others to do the same. Overcoming involves holiness!

In our Christian life, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Two key messages in Revelation—assurance and warning—serve to keep us walking true, resting in grace, and striving for holiness. The message of assurance will bring comfort when we struggle with soul-crushing condemnation. The message of warning will spur us on when we have become complacent.

Paradise Is The Garden Of Eden Perfected

Humanity was created to live in the Garden of Eden- we messed that up. Jesus provided us the path to redemption. In Revelations God promises that those who have received and believed in Jesus will live in a perfected Garden. Hasta La Vista Sin. You are terminated- We will be back!

The End of Hunger And Thirst

Revelation 22:1–2 (CSB)

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,

Do you see the imagery of the Garden of Eden? John, inspired by the Spirit, certainly does. The one “tree of life” seals that picture. John cares much more about the theological significance of these images than he does about geographical precision. The point is that God’s people are now totally surrounded by and engulfed in God’s life. Jesus promised the victors food from the tree of life in the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7), and now that promise is fulfilled. Whereas the trees in Ezekiel 47 were seasonal and the tree of life in Eden was off limits after the fall, these tree(s) of life never stop bearing fruit. For those who lived off the land and sometimes suffered famine and hunger, this promise of never-ending provision in the presence of God completely banishes all worry. With the river of life and tree(s) of life, God’s people will never hunger or thirst again (cf. 7:16–17; 21:6; 22:17; 1 Cor. 11:23–26). In addition to abundant provision, all disease will be totally eliminated from the new creation. Ezekiel says the leaves of these trees are for healing (47:12; cf. Isa. 65:20), and John adds “the healing of the nations,” emphasizing once again God’s plan to have a multicultural people (cf. 7:9; 21:24–25).

Remember John cares more about the theological significance than the details. An overly literalistic reading would say healing requires disease, but John is making the point that only healing exists in the new creation. The healing in view relates most of all to the absence of any curse, as specified in the next verse.

We Will Know God’s Perfect Peace

Revelation 22:3 (CSB)

3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.

Sin disrupts our bodies on earth. All disease is the result of sin, sometimes our own and sometimes simply the truth that sin is present in the world because of humanity’s failure. There will be no disease, pain, death, or tears in New Jerusalem.

Shalom is perfect peace- not just the absence of conflict but also the presence of fulfillment. While sin holds us in bondage we can only get get glimpses of such perfect peace. But with the curse brought by sin dispelled- we will be free of all sin. No curse- no sin endless peace

We Will Perfectly Know God

Revelation 22:4 (CSB)

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

God’s people will also bear his “name,” meaning they will belong to him, imitate his character, and live safely in his presence.

Today we are called to bear God’s name in the way we show love.

John 13:35 (CSB)

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In New Jerusalem peace and love abounds, and

We Will Reign With Our God

Revelation 22:5 (CSB)

5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Just as Adam and Eve were entrusted with ruling in the original garden (Gen. 1:26, 28), God will entrust the people of New Jerusalem to rule with Him over the New World. Our relationship with God will involve doing something productive under God’s guidance and for his glory. What began in the millennium (see 20:4–6) now continues throughout eternity. We will not be bored or lazy or lack opportunities to serve. Heaven is not the absence of responsibility and work; it is the fulfillment of and completion of such things. We will do meaningful work forevermore. And we humans will do it right this time around.

Seek Paradise Today : Contemporary Application

Live In Relationship

We live in a time like no other. Through the telecommunications network, our world has become much smaller. A grandchild in Michigan can speak “face-to-face” with his grandparents in Mexico through the wonders of internet services like Skype, Zoom, and Face-time.

Yet, as helpful and convenient as tools like this may be, they often serve to remind us of just how far short they fall of real, face-to-face connection: the pixilated screen, the time lag, the occasional freeze. All these things really make us hunger for the next time the grandparents can visit! And, no matter how clear the image, Grandma can’t wrap her arms around her grandson, hug him, and give him a kiss.

Covid has only made this problem worse. So many people now live in the confines of their home all the time. Groceries are brought to the front door. They work from home. They worship from home. Alone.

God made us to be in relationships. With God and each other. And we need real fellowship to thrive. Each of us has different needs regarding amounts- but we all need fellowship. And you don’t get it by facebook or youtube.

One day, we will see Jesus face-to-face. We will stand and bask in the presence of our heavenly Father. The barriers of sin and spiritual blindness will have been removed. That is good news!

Live Holy

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior you have been freed from the consequences of sin—eternal judgment and hell—we are not yet released from the struggle against sin. The end is certain, the war is won. Our redemption is as decisively sure and complete as Christ’s resurrection from the dead.… That miracle accomplished, we may now fight against the sin that once held us in its deathly grip, no longer as sin’s slaves but as God’s children.… We are no longer sinners struggling to be the children of God, but the children of God who struggle against sin, in the power of the Holy Spirit. We put sin to death, not so we may live, but because we do live.

So Live Holy today while anticipating complete Shalom in New Jerusalem. Let your holiness shine! Don’t fall for the lies that God loves you just as you are- that is a half truth meant to keep you from committing to honoring God in the way you live your life today. God loves us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us in the sinful muck He found us in. While holiness may not be fashionable in some circles today, Revelation (and the entire Bible) repeatedly tells us to turn away from sin and to encourage others to do the same. Overcoming involves holiness!

In our Christian life, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Two key messages in Revelation—assurance and warning—serve to keep us walking true, resting in grace, and striving for holiness. The message of assurance will bring comfort when we struggle with soul-crushing condemnation. The message of warning will spur us on when we have become complacent.

Share The Good News

God is on a mission to redeem people from every tribe, language, people, and nation. When we come to Jesus we are sent on the same mission.

John 20:21 (CSB)

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Keep your mind on Heaven, passionately long for the day you will get there. Let Jesus not be slow in coming back. But bring everybody you can with you. That is God’s desire for you.

Some have interpreted today’s scripture and concluded that all the nations will be converted. They think everyone will eventually be saved. But we cannot forget the images throughout Revelation that condemns unrepentant sin. The wicked have already been destroyed (19:18–21; 20:8–10, 13–15). This passage does not teach universal salvation. What it does teach is that the nations have either been condemned or given citizenship in the new Jerusalem, depending on the witness of the church and the nations’ response to God’s offer of salvation.

God longs for and celebrates ethnic diversity among his people. He created and loves all peoples. Sadly, the church in many places remains remarkably homogenous. A multicultural church by its very nature proclaims the liberating gospel of Christ and offers the world a window into heaven. Even more sad is the church that is too lethargic or self focused to share the Gospel with the people around us.

In New Jerusalem, God lives among His redeemed from all nations. God’s people will experience His perfect presence, worship Him, and reign with Him forever. In the meantime, we need to live in fellowship with each other and God, pursuing holiness while fighting our desire to sin, and sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the community around us.

Points To Ponder

“PRINCIPLES FOR TODAY” by Craig S. Keener

This passage provides many principles relevant for our lives today. (1) New Jerusalem is God’s creation (21:2: “from God”); all we can do is prepare our adornment with righteous acts (19:8; 21:2). Often even our Christian subculture invites competition with other Christians, denominations, ministers, and so forth. I find myself tempted at times to blend into some particular denomination’s or movement’s values to have a spiritual home; but God demands faithfulness above all, and those of us who achieve the most status in our Christian subcultures may actually have the least in the world to come (Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48). We may adorn ourselves for the new Jerusalem, but it is ours only by the grace of our heavenly Father’s love for us.

(2) The time for adorning ourselves with “righteous acts” (19:8) is now. Even though Revelation emphasizes the new Jerusalem as a future city, it is being built in the present. If the character of Babylon is evident in the world around us, the glory of God’s presence among us should be revealed at least in the way we live. In John’s theology, God’s glory is revealed in us through how we treat one another (John 13:34–35; 17:22–23; 1 John 4:12). In New Testament theology, though hope directs our attention toward the future, it also has implications for how we live in the present (Rom. 12:12; Col. 1:4–5; Titus 2:12–13; 1 John 3:3). The most faithful of John’s audience (esp. in Smyrna and Philadelphia) would have seen themselves as a persecuted minority; but Revelation also summons them to see themselves as heirs of the future. If we see ourselves according to the destiny to which God has called us, we will act accordingly.

(3) The promise that sorrows and troubles will pass is helpful in grief counseling, at funerals, but also in facing the obstacles of life; each reader and expositor probably can think of numerous specific applications for his or her own situations.

(4) God’s perfect dwelling will be with us; we will enjoy the intimacy of the Most Holy Place with him forever. If that is truly the future we yearn for, then we should enjoy the intimacy now available with him in prayer.98 That the new Jerusalem itself is a temple city promises us a continual experience of worship; as its citizens, we should begin to enjoy that worship now. Scripture indicates that we are already God’s temple and dwelling place (1 Cor. 3:16–17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21–22); his presence is what sustains us in the face of our trials (Jer. 1:8; Acts 18:10; Heb. 13:5–6). In the future we will continue to be his dwelling for worship, except without the current distractions.

(5) The passage is full of contrasts between Babylon and the new Jerusalem. When I preach from here, I focus on how much greater is God’s city than what this world offers, to remind us to live for God’s promises and not for present satisfaction.

God’s incredible love. John borrows the image of the new Jerusalem as Christ’s bride from earlier sources (ultimately Israel as God’s bride in the Hebrew Bible). But he probably intends to convey the same image of God’s intimacy and love for his people implied in those earlier sources. One time in my life when I felt deeply in love, the force of this passage struck me: No matter how much I might love, my love was only a shadow of Christ’s love for us. Perhaps any symbol communicates only imperfectly the depth of Jesus’ love for us, but our best approximations of unselfish love, such as a strong marriage, can provide us some beginning sense of it. The ultimate portrait of God’s love for us is Jesus’ dying for us on the cross while we were yet his enemies (Rom. 5:6–10). Paul tells us that the Spirit comes into our hearts, pointing to that cross, and declaring, “See, I love you! I love you! I love you!” (cf. Rom. 5:5).

To the overworked pastor who feels unappreciated, to the wounded wife abandoned by her husband, to the shy child teased by peers for her weight or his pimples, to any of us in our brokenness, the greatest comfort is God’s love. We can afford to be vulnerable with him concerning our pain, because we know he shares our pain with us. When the hardships seem too great to bear—as they must have seemed to many of the first Christians who heard Revelation read to them—we must remember that his love gives us a promise of fulfillment ahead. And if the hardships tempt us to doubt his present love and our future hope, we only need look back to the cross, where God in the flesh shared our pain with us and in our stead.

True wealth. We also recognize that the standard of wealth for which people strive in this world will be a common substance by the standards of the coming world (21:18, 21). The truest wealth is the glory of the Lamb (21:11, 23–26; 22:5). For which world’s wealth will we devote our own labors (3:17–18)?99 We need no worldly wealth, no physical temple, not even created lights like sun or moon (21:22–26); God is the direct source of all. Even water flows from his throne (22:1), nourishing also the tree whose fruit brings life (22:2). To practice for the future, we should learn to depend on him now.

Following Christ or the world’s values. The vice list (21:8, 27) warns that we cannot truly follow Christ, yet deny him in how we live; fear and unbelief dare not dissuade us from martyrdom, so we need to strengthen Christian faith now before the test comes. We dare not compromise with the world’s values or betray or slander fellow Christians before the world or indulge false prophets of compromise in the church.

The lists of sins provide the severest possible warnings against such offenses (21:8, 27). This includes sexual immorality and magic arts. I came home and wept when I first encountered ministers who believed that sexual immorality was irresistible or feared to preach against it lest they offend their congregations. Given the warning here, one wonders how a shepherd can be faithful to the call and not address such matters of spiritual life and death to whatever extent necessary.100 Many cultures distinguish between “black magic” and “white magic,” but Revelation offers no such distinction because all magical activity is rooted in the demonic (9:20–21; 21:8; 22:15). Today this (and related biblical prohibitions of divination) include such sources as the “psychic hotlines”; in at least some church circles where I have ministered, more professing Christians were involved in such practices than one would have guessed.

Communicating eternal judgment and eternal bliss. America’s culture of tolerance has made talk of eternal judgment unfashionable, but we must find relevant ways to communicate that image at the appropriate time.101 “Four sections in the latter part of John’s prophecy end on the same note of stern warning (20:15; 21:8, 27; 22:15).”102 The only alternative to damnation in this passage is “overcoming” (21:7–8); chapters 2–3 reveal that each church faces different tests, but all are called to overcome.

The use of numbers 12,000 and 144 (21:16–17) emphasize, as we have noted, that the new Jerusalem is a city prepared for God’s servants (7:4–8). The magnificent dimensions also emphasize that God’s tiny remnant in this age (cf. 7:4; 11:1–2) have a glorious future, higher than the tower of Babel could have been and more splendid than Babylon in this age.

That the tree is for “the healing of the nations” (22:2) does not indicate that all people who have ever lived with be saved, a proposal that blatantly contradicts the theology of Revelation.103 Rather, it reminds us that representatives of all peoples will follow the Lamb in this age and constitute the nations in their ideal character in the world to come (21:24), bringing the gifts of all cultures to worship Jesus (see comment on 7:9). Indeed, the single tree of life in 22:2 (in contrast to Ezekiel’s trees) and single street in 21:21 and 22:2 may point to the fact that God has provided only one source of life and one “way” into the new Jerusalem (cf. John 14:6). To be sure, that street’s singleness refers to the main street and is a figure of speech (11:8), as may be the tree; but taken together with Revelation’s other Christocentric images, they emphasize the necessity of being in the Lamb’s book of life, of being the Lamb’s followers (14:4; 21:27).

[Craig S. Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 508–511.]

“No Night There” by Kendell H. Easley

With all its splendid buildings—temple and palace—the Jerusalem of Solomon was a glittering city on a hill by day. By night, however, Jerusalem was dark, with only the pale flicker of olive-oil lamps to illumine the indoors, and a few scattered torches struggling against the night. Before the modern inventions of the electric (or gas) light, even the best of cities could be terrifying in the dark.

Thus, the promise that “there will be no night there” would have had a more profound impact on John’s original readers than it does for us. Think about “night” as a symbol for the darkness that sin and evil have brought into your own experience. Perhaps you are involved in broken relationships, diseases, habits, actions done by you or to you that can only be described as night. This chapter is a wonderful reminder that God’s goodness and greatness will conquer all of them, for “There will be no night there”

A blind preacher, George Matheson, understood this more profoundly than most of us can. As he reflected on the coming of everlasting light, he penned the following, part of his great poem “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.”

O Light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to Thee

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee,

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

Kendell H. Easley, Revelation, vol. 12, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 404–405.

Question Needing Answers

How drastically has the world changed in your lifetime? What are some examples of such changes? How do these help you imagine the difference between our time and the new creation?

What are the parallels between the most holy place in the Old Testament and the new Jerusalem? What do these parallels tell us about this city?

What does it mean that God and the Lamb are the temple in the new Jerusalem?

Why do you think John emphasizes “the nations” in Revelation 21–22?

In what ways does this city look like the garden of Eden? How is it different?

What does the garden imagery in this passage tell us about the mission of God in the whole Bible?

What is the connection between service and worship in the Christian life? How do you practice both of these?

Why is seeing the face of God the greatest blessing of all in the new creation?

What questions do you wrestle with about the doctrine of heaven? Does the Bible give clear answers to your questions? Hints? Is it silent?

How does the doctrine of the new heavens and the new earth contradict popular conceptions about heaven among Christians or the wider culture?

A Week’s Worth of Scripture

Monday

Numbers 6:22–27 (CSB)22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them, 24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’ 27 In this way they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Tuesday

Genesis 2:9 (CSB) 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16–17 (CSB) 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Wednesday

Exodus 33:18–23 (CSB) 18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” 19 He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” 21 The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, 22 and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”

Thursday

Revelation 11:19 (CSB) 19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail.

Friday

John 8:12 (CSB) 12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

Saturday

2 Timothy 2:12 (CSB) 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;