Revelation 21-22 shows the New Jerusalem — a people, a fortress, a glory, and a paradise — where God satisfies every longing his people have ever had.
Speakers
Matt Felton — teaching
Scott — Scripture reading
The people of the city
The city is also a people. The angel says "I will show you the bride," then shows John a city.
God is preparing a place for his people which will satisfy every longing they have ever experienced on this earth.
The twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed on the gates; the twelve apostles on the foundations. All God's people, old covenant and new.
The twelve jewels match those in Aaron's high priestly breastplate, worn to bring Israel's names to remembrance before the Lord.
John also sees the nations and even kings of the earth inside the city.
Five of the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 were told to repent; all seven were weak and endangered. Here those same churches are dazzling, built into heaven's structure.
So relate to fellow believers — however broken, weak, or annoying — as saints. One day they will shine.
The security of the city
Walls were the first line of defense in the ancient world. Matt and his wife stayed in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a fortress city of some 40,000 that stood unconquered for centuries behind its walls.
The gates are never shut and there is no night. Nobody in the New Jerusalem has locks on their doors — there are no enemies.
Eden was paradise but not impenetrable. One lie believed and acted on brought Hitlers, plagues, tsunamis, cancer, and death.
Find an undiscovered island in the South Pacific and it is already compromised — you bring your sin, and poisonous berries wait there for you.
Only Jesus was uncontaminated by the virus of sin. He died in his people's place and rose to open the gates of a world that can never be penetrated.
We overcome fear and insecurity by trusting the future God promises.
The glory of the city
Glory is all that God is — his holiness, love, power, mercy, grace, goodness — combined and displayed for the world to see.
John looked for a temple and found none. The Lord God and the Lamb are its temple.
The city is a perfect cube. The only other cube in Scripture is the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple. The whole city is now the Holy of Holies, with unhindered access for everyone.
An iPhone flashlight turned on at night lights the room; turned on at noon it goes unnoticed. God's glory outshines sun and moon that way.
The kings bring their glory in. Your art, food, buildings, knowledge, and culture done for God's glory will be redeemed into the heavenly city.
The life in the city
At the center: one throne shared by God and the Lamb, the river of the water of life, and the tree of life bearing twelve fruits.
The river may picture the Holy Spirit — John recorded Jesus' promise of rivers of living water in John 7.
The Bible ends where it began, in a garden. The sequel is better than the original.
Of 1,189 chapters in the Bible, only four — Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 — are untouched by the curse. Everything between is lies, murder, famine, and death.
12,000 stadia is roughly 1,500 miles — Leesburg to Denver, and 1,500 miles tall, about 250 Mount Everests.
Will you be there? Not by wishing, and not by works. The mark of the Lamb's people is worship — his name on their foreheads.
Key Takeaways
The more heavenly minded you are, the more earthly good you will do. C. S. Lewis: "the Christians who did the most for this present world were precisely those who thought the most of the next world."
Heaven is not only where you go; it is who you will be forever.
Nothing compromised by sin could ever scale the walls of the New Jerusalem.
Everything you make and build for God's glory makes its way into the eternal city.