Jan. 08, 2025
“REVELATION”
REVELATION 21:1-27
Human history begins in a Garden and ends in a City that is like a garden paradise. In the apostle John’s day, Rome was the admired city; yet God compared it to a harlot:
The eternal city is compared to a bride, because it is the eternal home for God’s beloved people.
Revelation 21:9 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
God’s statements recorded in Revelation 21:5-6 aptly summarize these final two chapters: “Behold, I make all things new.” And “It is done!” What began in Genesis is brought to completion in Revelation, as the following summarizes:
Genesis Revelation
Heaven and earth created- 1:1 New Heaven and Earth- 21:3
Sun created- 1:16 No need for the sun-21:23
The night established- 1:5 No night there- 22:5
The seas created- 1:10 No more seas- 21:1
The curse announced- 3:14-17 No more curse- 22:3
Death enters history- 3:19. No more death- 21:4
Man driven from the tree- 3:24. Man restored to paradise- 22:14
Sorrow and pain begin- 3:17. No more tears or pain- 21:4
What Will Heaven Be Like?
- The New Heaven and The New Earth- Revelation 21:1
John was given a new vision in this chapter and begins its introduction in a way that had become his familiar pattern:
Revelation 21:1 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”
The statement that, “…there was no more sea.” Is fascinating, because today three-quarters of the world is water.
2. The New Jerusalem- Revelation 21:2-21
The second feature of John’s revelation was the center of the new heaven and the new earth, a literal city, the new Jerusalem:
Revelation 21:2 “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
*The Characteristics of the City
As we saw earlier in our study, the word “heaven” is used several ways in the Bible:
*The First Heaven- is the atmosphere, the air we breathe, where the birds and airplanes fly.
*The Second Heaven- is outer space where the sun, the moons, the planets, and the galaxies are located.
*The Third Heaven- in the Bible is where God resides.
2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
It is also the third heaven that Paul was caught up into.
2 Corinthians 12:2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.”
*The Fourth Heaven- is the new heaven and the new earth that have yet to be created.
Psalm 37:9 “For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.”
When John wrote:
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Our ultimate destiny is not to go “up there somewhere” where God is. Instead, John saw the tabernacle of God coming down so He can dwell here with us.
That’s exactly what John is saying in verse 4. John saw a new heaven and a new earth, and he saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to earth. This city will be the centerpiece of the new heaven and the new earth God will create.
*The Architect of the City
The fact that there’s going to be a literal city that will be the capital of the new heaven and the new earth is no mystery:
Hebrews 11:10 “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
The member of the Godhead who is responsible for the designing and building this new Jerusalem identifies Himself:
Revelation 21:5-6 “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
“The Alfa and the Omega” is the same description Jesus used of Himself in Revelation 1:8.
We sometimes get so overcome by the beauty of Jesus’ words in John 14 that we don’t see what He is actually saying:
Jesus is the architect of the new city called the new Jerusalem.
*The Inhabitants of the City
The only people who will have a place in the new Jerusalem are the overcomers.
Revelation 21:7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Those who truly believe in Christ are going to obey Christ. They will overcome the trials and temptations of this world.
1 John 5:4-5 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. 5Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Everybody is not going to heaven, as Jesus explained:
Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Paul was not saying that if you’ve ever done one of these things, you can’t be saved. On the contrary, he continued.
1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
*The Description of the City
John’s description of the new Jerusalem is stunning in its details, which were revealed to him by an angel.
Revelation 21:9-14 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The word “jasper” in verse 11 could be any number of stones. Most people think it’s a diamond.
Verses 12-14 also say that the new Jerusalem will have a very high wall, with gates and stones bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of Jesus, respectively.
*The Size of the New Jerusalem is Stunning
Have you ever worried that heaven is not going to be big enough to accommodate everybody?
Revelation 21:15-21 “And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand [k]furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
But this city is not square; it is a cube with measurements of 1,500 miles by 1,500 miles. The average story on a skyscraper is twelve feet high, which means that the new Jerusalem will be over 660,000 stories high, with each story having more than two million square feet.
3. A New Relationship with God- Revelation 21:22-27
John hinted at our relationship with God earlier in Revelation 21
Revelation 21:3, 7-8 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 7He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
But in the closing verses of this chapter, he gets more specific about the new relationship we will have with God in the eternal state.
Revelation 21:22-27 “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
The gates of the new Jerusalem will be open, but only forgiven people will be welcomed into heaven. The life you are living is either leading you to heaven or to hell. Which road are you on right now?
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