One of my favorite stories from a professor in seminary came from Steve Wellum. We were talking about the difficulties of knowing how to minister in certain situations when he told me about the first time he went to visit a church member in the hospital who was dying at the first church he pastored. Knowing that her life was likely coming to an end soon, he decided he should go visit her, but he didn’t know what he was going to say. In fact, he was so unsure of what to say that when he got to the hospital, he decided to take the stairs. He argued that this would give him more time to think and pray, and maybe by the time he arrived at the lady’s room, he’d have the words to say.
But it didn’t happen as planned. After taking the long trek up the stairs, he arrived at her door, still unsure of what to say. Finally, he entered the room, greeted her, and then, still not knowing what to say, he just sat down next to her, opened his Bible, and started reading a text that told what awaited believers in eternity. After several minutes of reading, he thought to himself that he really should stop reading at some point and say something. So, still not knowing what to say, he finally built up the courage, stopped reading, and readied himself to speak, when the lady reached her hand over to him, touched him on the arm, and said, “Oh please keep reading. I need to be reminded of that.”
Aside from that being a lesson on the power of the Word and a reminder that God’s Words minister powerfully even as we are at a personal loss at what to say in desperate times, it is a reminder of the need for us to remember eternity, isn’t it? When we are little, we probably have all questions about eternity. Perhaps it consumed your thinking for long stretches of your childhood. But if we’re not careful, our orientation toward eternity will fade in light of the realities we’ve seen around us. We no longer ask questions about eternity because we feel there are more pressing matters. But that is not the outlook of the Scriptures. Paul said in Romans 8:18 that a key to enduring suffering was to recognize that the glory to be revealed is so much greater than the suffering we experience in this age that they’re almost beyond comparison, and eternity weighed so much on him that he declared to the Corinthians that if there were no resurrection to anticipate, then we should consider ourselves the most pitied of man (1 Cor. 15:19). His eyes were set on eternity.
Therefore, it is utterly fitting for this book of Revelation that is written to encourage tempted, tried, and persecuted believers to persevere in faith and faithful obedience ends on this note of the glories of eternity. Actually, it’s how the book begins and ends, isn’t it? You’ll remember from the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2-3 that each of them held out the blessings of eternity for those who persevered in the faith. They were told that those who conquer (meaning endure faithfully to death) would eat of the tree of life (2:7), receive the crown of life and not be hurt by the second death (2:10-11), reign with Christ (2:26-27), become a pillar in the temple of God (3:12), and sit with Christ on his throne (3:21). Those promises of the blessings to be consummated in eternity and now pictured at the end of the book.
So, even though it feels like much of this book focuses on the wrath of the Lamb borne by Christ’s enemies (and it does), it is bookended with the promises made of eternity and promises fulfilled in eternity. What we will look at this morning in Revelation 21:1-22:5 are the ultimate fulfillment of these promises in Revelation and from the whole of the Scripture. Revelation 21:1-22:5 provides for us a glorious picture of our eternal hope. If you’re a believer this morning, this is why you’re enduring in faith despite your struggles. It’s because you believe this day is coming and that the state of glory on that day will far outweigh any suffering you’ve faced in this age.
Therefore, with that said, what is it that we are given as a description of that glorious state of eternity for the believer? That’s what I want us to see this morning. What is eternity like? Well, first we can say:
Chapter 20 ended with a reference to earth and sky fleeing away, and chapter 21 then appropriately begins with John writing, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (21:1).
Now this idea isn’t unique to John. The biblical writers consistently talk about our eternal home being a new heavens and a new earth. The Lord declares in Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create a new heavens and new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” And again, in Isaiah 66:22, the Lord declares that he will make “the new heavens and a new earth.” Similarly, Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:13, “But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Finally, Paul speaks of the day when God’s children are raised from the dead and the created order that was subjected to a curse at the sin of Adam will be “set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).
So, what we find in Revelation 21:1 is a picture of the day when these promises will become a reality. You see, the Bible doesn’t picture our eternal existence as something that is no longer physical. Rather, just as we will spend eternity with resurrected, glorified, perfected bodies, so the created order – the earth and the heavens – will be made new as well. That doesn’t mean that this earth and the heavens we see above won’t dissolve or be consumed any more than the promise of resurrection for our bodies means they won’t be burned up. Our resurrection is not dependent on our bodies being preserved is it? We may be burned up, or return to dust in the ground, or obliterated with a nuclear weapon. But Christ will make us new, perfected bodies.
What will they be like? We’re not sure. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:37 that our body that dies is simply “a bare kernel” of the body that we will be given at the resurrection. But the key is that it will be a body that is no longer subject to sin and death and their effects. This is the same reality John shows us in these verses. The whole universe will be made new, like our bodies will be made new, and there will be no longer any reflection of the reign of death or sin or their effects.
That’s why it is a new heaven and new earth in this text. It is in one sense like this heavens and this earth that the Lord made and declared good before sin came in because it’s still called the earth. But we’ve never known this universe without the effects of death and sin, have we? Well, one day we will. This is why John says in 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
This is a universe with no sin, no death, no pain, no crying, and no tears. It’s as if it’s beyond description that if it were stated positively, we couldn’t comprehend the glory. But what we can comprehend is that everything that we are afflicted with now that brings us pain, mourning, and tears will be gone. It will be glorious.
And this glorious reality is certain because the Lord, who is sovereign over all things, has declared it. Thus, John writes, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment’” (21:5-7).
This is the home for all who persevere in faith in Christ. Those who don’t, who turn back from Christ in the face of trials, temptations, and persecutions will face the second death, as we’re reminded in 21:8. In fact, though all unbelievers will face the second death that is hell, perhaps John stresses here specifically one group of those unbelievers who revealed their true nature by turning back from a claim to Christ in light of temptation and persecution. Perhaps that is why he begins his description of this group with the word “cowardly” and ends with “liars.”
But those who hold fast to the faith will know a glorious eternity, where all is made new and death, sin, and their effects will be no longer felt. However, eternity is not just about a new heavens and new earth. In fact, that is not the centerpiece of eternity. We also see in this text that for those of us who trust in the crucified and risen Lord:
In fact, this point seems to be the prevailing theme of this text. It’s as if every chance John gets, he stresses that Christ’s people will dwell with their Lord and he with us. We see it first in the announcement of the holy city coming down. John writes in verse 2, “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Now, what can be confusing here is that the book of Revelation, as does all apocalyptic literature, overlaps metaphors. This is something we noted on our first day of study in the book. We try to watch our metaphors so that if you’re using the metaphor of a young child one moment, you don’t want to change the next moment and reference the child as a wife. We would tell a writer, “Don’t mix your metaphors. If you use the metaphor of a child and then skip to a metaphor of a wife, then it’s creepy and makes us think of a man marrying a child.” You try not to let your metaphors overlap or mix as we noted several weeks ago now. But not so in apocalyptic literature.
Jesus is the lion who is the lamb. And here, the holy city is the bride who is the people of God. John says this explicitly in 21:9-10, as he speaks of the angel saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Then John adds, “And he 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.” The heavenly city is the bride, and the bride is the church, God’s people. The metaphors overlap.
Therefore, as the new Jerusalem comes down “as a bride adorned for her husband,” John hears a loud voice in verse 3 declaring, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” And I want to come back to this statement because this language is intentional, but let me first show this theme of the Lord’s people dwelling with their Lord and he with them again and again in this text.
Remember that throughout the book, the number 12 and multiples of 12 were used to represent the Lord’s people. So, it is no mistake that there were 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, or 24 elders representing the Lord’s people around the throne. Similarly, when the Lord noted that he had sealed his people chapter 7 - “a great multitude that no one could number, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (7:9) – he attached a symbolic number to them, 144,000. So here, when this heavenly city is being measured, it’s not by mistake that this city has 12 gates, with 12 angels at the gates, with the 12 names of the tribes of Israel inscribed on them, that the wall has 12 foundations, with the 12 names of the 12 apostles, and that the city measures 12,000 stadia, a wall was 144 cubits, or that there were 12 glorious stones, with 12 pearls. These measurements aren’t meant to send us searching for the tables of weights and measurements in the back of our pew Bibles so that we can calculate just how long a cubit is and determine how big 144 cubits is. That’s missing the point. All these multiples of twelve given in the measurement of the city screams to us again and again, “God’s people are with their God, and he is with them.”
This is also why the glory of God is described as well. John says that the glory of God is with this city, and then he describes these glorious stones. Why? It’s because he has no idea how to begin to grasp at the glory of God’s presence, and so he just reaches for the most glorious objects on earth he knows as a basis of comparison. But the point is made. Our God is with us, his sons. Our heritage is with him (21:7).
And we are safe with him. Remember in chapter 11 how part of the temple was measured but another part was unmeasured because that part was to be trampled by the nations for a period. That symbolized that the church (measured) will be invincible in the sense that nothing that pluck us out of the Lord’s hand, and yet at the same time, the church (unmeasured) will be vulnerable to persecution and attacks that even lead to the deaths of believers. Well, now everything is measured. The Lord is saying, you’re with me, and you are secure – forever.
But let’s go back to that language of 21:3 – “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” That is carefully chosen language. That is the consistent language of God’s covenant promises to his people. In Leviticus 26:11-12, the Lord declared to his people whom he brought out of Egypt, “I will make my dwelling among you . . . And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
Yet Israel broke that covenant, being unfaithful to their God, whose bride they were supposed to be, and committed idolatry that the Lord aptly labeled “adultery.” Did the Lord then abandon this idea as his ultimate hope and aim? No. He made a promise of another covenant, declaring in Jeremiah 31:33 that he would have a people and, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” and again saying in Ezekiel 37:26-28, “I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. . . . My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people . . . when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Therefore, when John hears this voice in 21:3, it is a proclamation that God has fulfilled his covenant promises. God dwells with us, we’re his people, and we are his God, secure in his presence forever. That is the hope of eternity.
Yet there’s more in this vision. All is made new. We’re with God as his people and he as our God, protected and secure forever. And therefore, we also see that:
We see in this vision as well that everything will be about the honor and glory and worship of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. Since John uses the metaphor of the new Jerusalem, he capitalizes on it in verse 22. In the earthly Jerusalem, the center of the city was the temple. That was the reason why you went to Jerusalem – because that’s where the temple was, and that’s where God manifested his presence among his people. Well, at the center of this city, John tells us there is no temple. But what’s at the center of the city is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. John writes, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, admits lamp is the Lamb” (21:22-23).
Then, he continues this picture, reminding us of the security we will know as nothing unclean ever enters this city (21:27), but he also makes clear that everything is about honoring and worshiping our God. We read in verses 24-26, “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.”
This is picking up imagery from Isaiah 60 where in the new creation, all the nations are bringing the best of what they have to offer to the Lord in the holy city. The young camels of Midian and Ephah come in. They bring gold and frankincense. Those of Kedar bring their flocks. Those of Lebanon bring their cypress and pine. Those of Tarshish bring their ships. It’s as if everything glorious the Lord has given the nations of the earth – that on many occasions they have used for great evil – they are now using in tribute and honor and worship to the Lord. Well, that’s exactly what’s being pictured in Revelation 21:24-26. John is reminding us that in eternity, we will recognize and delight in the glory of our God and of the Lamb and everything will be about honoring, worshiping, exalting, and delighting in him – which will bring us greater joy than we have ever known.
And, finally, we see that:
In the very beginning of the Bible, we saw a glorious picture where God was with his children, and Adam and Eve were with him, in paradise. There was a tree of life in the midst of the garden, that could nourish them forever (Gen. 2:9). And there was river that flowed out of Eden so that everywhere it flowed there was life and beauty (Gen. 2:10).
Yet we remember what happened, don’t we? Adam and Eve rebelled against their Lord, sinning against him, and they were driven out of the garden, out of paradise. An angel was set guard at the gate of the garden lest the couple eat of the tree of life and live forever (Gen. 3:22-24). And since that time, we have lived in a world where we are reminded every day of our sin, sickness, and the inevitability of death. We need no one to tell us that paradise has been lost. We see it all around us.
But Revelation 22:1-5 reminds us that because of Christ’s glorious work in living for us, dying for our sins, and being raised for us, all of God’s promises and purposes are going to be fulfilled. That’s what was celebrated in Revelation 5 as the Lamb alone was worthy to open the scroll because he died and was raised. Well, Revelation 22:1-5 is the consummation of his glorious work of redemption.
Just listen to this paradise of eternal life and reigning with Christ that we will know forever. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (22:1-5).
We will know no sickness. We will know no death. There will be nothing accursed. We will be nourished for eternity by the Lord God and the Lamb. And throughout the Bible, that which was never possible – not even for Moses or David – seeing our Lord’s face will be an eternal blessing for us. We will see his face, and we will be his, with his name on our foreheads. We will reign in paradise with our Lord forever.
That glory is what Paul speaks of when he says that the suffering of this world isn’t even worth comparing to it (Rom. 8:18). This is our eternal hope. This is where we set our eyes. This is how we find strength to endure trial, hardships, temptation, persecution, and ever persecution that leads to our death. We remember that there is a day coming when all will be made new and death and sin and its effects will be forever gone. We remember that there is coming a day when we will dwell with our God and the Lamb, as his people, secure in him, forever. We remember that there is coming a day when nothing will distract us or impede the greatest delight in being able to worship, glorify, and enjoy our Lord forever. And we remember that there is coming a day when we will live, and reign with, and be nourished by our God forever as his beloved children, seeing his face.
In fact, as we now come to the table, it is an opportunity for us to be reminded this coming day is certain, for the one who gave his body and shed his blood promised that he would come and get us so that he could share this meal with us again. Therefore, let us come to the table now, delighting in the glories of our certain hope of eternity. Amen.