For he [Abraham] was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. - Hebrews 11:10
In last week’s message, we began talking about the New Heaven and Earth. Following the Millennium, God will lift His curse on creation and make it new. The earth and sky will be restored to their original perfection and splendor, just as they were created in the beginning. The springs and rivers will flow with the water of life and the tree of life will again produce its fruit. God the Father will dwell there, along with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The righteous will see Him face-to-face and serve Him forever with joy and gladness. There will be no more death, mourning, tears, or pain.
In today’s message, we will discuss one of the New Heaven and Earth’s most prominent and glorious features. The great and historic city of Jerusalem will be remade and will become the leading city on earth for all of eternity. God will be enthroned there, and Christ will reign over His kingdom without end.
I. THE CITY AND ITS WALL (Revelation 21:2,9-11,15-18,21b)
John wrote that one of the angels who had poured out the 7 bowls of God’s wrath (Revelation 16) spoke to him. The angel invited him to come and see “the bride, the wife of the Lamb”. John was carried away by the Spirit to a high mountaintop, where he saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven full of glory, brilliant as crystal-clear jasper, and prepared as a bride for her husband.
The Bible clearly teaches that the New Testament Church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27). In fact, earlier in his vision John already saw and described the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which celebrated the union between Jesus and raptured Christians (Revelation 19:7-9). So why then is the New Jerusalem now spoken of as His bride? To answer this question, we must recognize that the Church is a people, while the New Jerusalem is a place. Oftentimes, a group of people and the place where they reside are referred to synonymously. For example, “Atlanta celebrated all night after winning the World Series.” Following this literary principle, many commentators propose that the New Jerusalem is metaphorically called the “bride of the Lamb” because it will serve as the eternal home of the Christian Church.
Many theologians teach that true Israel should be viewed as the wife of God the Father. After all, she was and is His chosen nation and people. As such, spiritually speaking of course, Israel (which is sometimes referred to narrowly as Jerusalem) is the mother of Jesus Christ the Son and, by extension, His bride the Church (Galatians 4:26). Thus, when the Persons of God are considered distinctly, the Father is married to Israel (and both will descend to earth after the Millennium) and the Son is married to the Church (and both will return before the Millennium). When considered in unison, “the bride of the Lamb” is also the wife of the Father - they are a single and united people made up of believing Jews and Gentiles, just as Jesus and the Father are one God (John 10:30)
John then watched as the angel used a gold measuring rod to measure the dimensions of the city and its outer wall. The city was laid out as a square, or most literally a cube, measuring 12,000 stadia in length, width, and height. This equates to approximately 1,400 miles in each direction. For perspective, this is about the distance from Dallas to Los Angeles. In other words, the New Jerusalem will be a huge and spacious city! Its wall was 144 cubits high, which is roughly 216 feet. The wall was made of jasper and the city and its streets of pure gold, like transparent glass.
II. ITS GATES AND FOUNDATIONS (Revelation 21:12-14,19-21a)
John described the great, high wall of the city as having 12 gates. There was an angel stationed at each gate and the names of the 12 tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There were 3 gates on each side of the city’s wall, on the north, south, east, and west. This is somewhat reminiscent of the camping arrangement of the 12 tribes during the exodus (Numbers 2). These city gates were made of pearl, with each divinely fashioned from a large single pearl.
The wall of the city sat on 12 foundation stones. Each of these was a precious stone - namely jasper, sapphire, chalcedony (onyx or agate), emerald, sardonyx, sardius (ruby), chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst. Inscribed on each of the foundation stones were the names of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.
There is some overlap between the stones mentioned here, and those which were displayed upon the breastplate of the high priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses (Exodus 28:17-20). The stones on the breastplate represented the 12 tribes of Israel, while these foundation stones bear the names of the 12 apostles. Clearly, the gates and the foundations together indicate that this holy city, the New Jerusalem, will be occupied by the redeemed of all generations - including Old and New Testament believers, both Jew and Gentile alike.
III. OTHER DETAILS (Revelation 21:22-27; 22:5)
John did not see any temple in the city, because God Almighty and the Lamb were Themselves the temple. Neither did the city have a sun or moon to shine over it, as the glory of the Father and Son illuminated it. Because there will never be darkness or night there, the gates of the city will always remain open. The kings will bring the glory and honor of their nations into it. However, nothing unclean or abominable will ever enter into the city, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The Jewish temple was built to be the place where God’s glory would dwell among sinful men, but during the eternal state such a structure will be unnecessary. God will already be fully and manifestly present, as He was in the Garden of Eden. The brilliance of His shekinah glory will light up the new heaven and earth, in perhaps a similar way that it did from days 1 through 3 of creation (Genesis 1:1-13), before the sun and moon existed.
The gates of New Jerusalem will always be open, which speaks to the never ending access that believers will have to the presence of God. Obviously only the righteous and pure will enter, because the wicked and sinful will not be there (having already been cast into the lake of fire). While thousands of glorified people will live in this grand city, those outside its walls will freely come and go to see, learn, and converse with the LORD.
CONCLUSION
In closing, the preeminent city of the New Heaven and Earth will be the New Jerusalem. It will be the magnificent and beautiful city from which God - both Father and Son - will reign over redeemed humanity and creation forever. The righteous citizens of God’s eternal kingdom will have unrestricted and unlimited access to the city, as its gates will never close...
Like Abraham centuries ago, I long to see the New Jerusalem. It is the ultimate “destination city”. I want to walk through the pearly gates, stroll down the streets of gold, bask in the warm light that emanates directly from God Almighty, drink from the spring of living water, and eat fruit from the tree of life. I want to see God face-to-face, bow before King Jesus seated on His throne, fellowship with believers from every generation, and together serve the LORD joyfully - without any pain, sorrow, or death - forevermore.
This is my hope, my desire, my confidence… is it yours?
In last week’s message, we began talking about the New Heaven and Earth. Following the Millennium, God will lift His curse on creation and make it new. The earth and sky will be restored to their original perfection and splendor, just as they were created in the beginning. The springs and rivers will flow with the water of life and the tree of life will again produce its fruit. God the Father will dwell there, along with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The righteous will see Him face-to-face and serve Him forever with joy and gladness. There will be no more death, mourning, tears, or pain.
In today’s message, we will discuss one of the New Heaven and Earth’s most prominent and glorious features. The great and historic city of Jerusalem will be remade and will become the leading city on earth for all of eternity. God will be enthroned there, and Christ will reign over His kingdom without end.
I. THE CITY AND ITS WALL (Revelation 21:2,9-11,15-18,21b)
John wrote that one of the angels who had poured out the 7 bowls of God’s wrath (Revelation 16) spoke to him. The angel invited him to come and see “the bride, the wife of the Lamb”. John was carried away by the Spirit to a high mountaintop, where he saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven full of glory, brilliant as crystal-clear jasper, and prepared as a bride for her husband.
The Bible clearly teaches that the New Testament Church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27). In fact, earlier in his vision John already saw and described the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which celebrated the union between Jesus and raptured Christians (Revelation 19:7-9). So why then is the New Jerusalem now spoken of as His bride? To answer this question, we must recognize that the Church is a people, while the New Jerusalem is a place. Oftentimes, a group of people and the place where they reside are referred to synonymously. For example, “Atlanta celebrated all night after winning the World Series.” Following this literary principle, many commentators propose that the New Jerusalem is metaphorically called the “bride of the Lamb” because it will serve as the eternal home of the Christian Church.
Many theologians teach that true Israel should be viewed as the wife of God the Father. After all, she was and is His chosen nation and people. As such, spiritually speaking of course, Israel (which is sometimes referred to narrowly as Jerusalem) is the mother of Jesus Christ the Son and, by extension, His bride the Church (Galatians 4:26). Thus, when the Persons of God are considered distinctly, the Father is married to Israel (and both will descend to earth after the Millennium) and the Son is married to the Church (and both will return before the Millennium). When considered in unison, “the bride of the Lamb” is also the wife of the Father - they are a single and united people made up of believing Jews and Gentiles, just as Jesus and the Father are one God (John 10:30)
John then watched as the angel used a gold measuring rod to measure the dimensions of the city and its outer wall. The city was laid out as a square, or most literally a cube, measuring 12,000 stadia in length, width, and height. This equates to approximately 1,400 miles in each direction. For perspective, this is about the distance from Dallas to Los Angeles. In other words, the New Jerusalem will be a huge and spacious city! Its wall was 144 cubits high, which is roughly 216 feet. The wall was made of jasper and the city and its streets of pure gold, like transparent glass.
II. ITS GATES AND FOUNDATIONS (Revelation 21:12-14,19-21a)
John described the great, high wall of the city as having 12 gates. There was an angel stationed at each gate and the names of the 12 tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There were 3 gates on each side of the city’s wall, on the north, south, east, and west. This is somewhat reminiscent of the camping arrangement of the 12 tribes during the exodus (Numbers 2). These city gates were made of pearl, with each divinely fashioned from a large single pearl.
The wall of the city sat on 12 foundation stones. Each of these was a precious stone - namely jasper, sapphire, chalcedony (onyx or agate), emerald, sardonyx, sardius (ruby), chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst. Inscribed on each of the foundation stones were the names of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.
There is some overlap between the stones mentioned here, and those which were displayed upon the breastplate of the high priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses (Exodus 28:17-20). The stones on the breastplate represented the 12 tribes of Israel, while these foundation stones bear the names of the 12 apostles. Clearly, the gates and the foundations together indicate that this holy city, the New Jerusalem, will be occupied by the redeemed of all generations - including Old and New Testament believers, both Jew and Gentile alike.
III. OTHER DETAILS (Revelation 21:22-27; 22:5)
John did not see any temple in the city, because God Almighty and the Lamb were Themselves the temple. Neither did the city have a sun or moon to shine over it, as the glory of the Father and Son illuminated it. Because there will never be darkness or night there, the gates of the city will always remain open. The kings will bring the glory and honor of their nations into it. However, nothing unclean or abominable will ever enter into the city, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The Jewish temple was built to be the place where God’s glory would dwell among sinful men, but during the eternal state such a structure will be unnecessary. God will already be fully and manifestly present, as He was in the Garden of Eden. The brilliance of His shekinah glory will light up the new heaven and earth, in perhaps a similar way that it did from days 1 through 3 of creation (Genesis 1:1-13), before the sun and moon existed.
The gates of New Jerusalem will always be open, which speaks to the never ending access that believers will have to the presence of God. Obviously only the righteous and pure will enter, because the wicked and sinful will not be there (having already been cast into the lake of fire). While thousands of glorified people will live in this grand city, those outside its walls will freely come and go to see, learn, and converse with the LORD.
CONCLUSION
In closing, the preeminent city of the New Heaven and Earth will be the New Jerusalem. It will be the magnificent and beautiful city from which God - both Father and Son - will reign over redeemed humanity and creation forever. The righteous citizens of God’s eternal kingdom will have unrestricted and unlimited access to the city, as its gates will never close...
Like Abraham centuries ago, I long to see the New Jerusalem. It is the ultimate “destination city”. I want to walk through the pearly gates, stroll down the streets of gold, bask in the warm light that emanates directly from God Almighty, drink from the spring of living water, and eat fruit from the tree of life. I want to see God face-to-face, bow before King Jesus seated on His throne, fellowship with believers from every generation, and together serve the LORD joyfully - without any pain, sorrow, or death - forevermore.
This is my hope, my desire, my confidence… is it yours?