Eternity with God, Part Two
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Revelation 21:9
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Here, the theme of us being God’s bride is continued with the image of God preparing us as we participate in the good works which he has prepared for us to walk in. These two ideas are communicated to us by Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 5:25-27.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Last week I salted you with this question: Is the new Jerusalem a people, or a structure, or is it both?
As we go through the text we will discover the answer to this question.
We will also see God’s glory, which has been prepared for us to enjoy for all eternity.
Revelation 21:10-11.
10 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,
11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
Wait! What was the angel showing John in verse nine? He was showing him the bride of the Lamb.
Why then is he now showing him the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God?
I would propose it is because they are one and the same. The New Jerusalem is the bride of, the and the wife of Yahweh.
John is intentionally mixing metaphors here of God’s people being a bride and God’s people being a city.
Does this metaphoric reading then rule out a physical New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God?
I do not think the metaphorical and literal have to be mutually exclusive.
My theological training has focused on the literal interpretation of this passage. Though this is a valid viewpoint, I think it has caused me to miss how we have been prepared by the Trinity for eternity, and how we have the honor and privileged to participate in the work that he has begun in and will accomplish in us, his people.
With the mixed metaphors in mind, let’s journey through this passage, discovering the breadth and depth of what Yaweh has in store for his people.
The idea of the people of God shining the glory of God is not a foreign one to Scripture. The first one that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Our individual bodies, and us as the body of Christ, are to bring glory to God. If we are going with the metaphor of “shining” in verse 11, we are to shine with God’s glory by doing the works which he has prepared for us to do. This idea is also communicated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14-16.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Just a reminder that that light (God’s glory) it not sourced within ourselves, but it is Jesus’ light shining through us, as seen in John 8:12.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We, then, are called to shine forth the glory of God, and God is preparing us as his people, both Jew and Greek, to shine his glory for eternity.
And yes, I do think there will be a physical city called the New Jerusalem that will shine God’s glory as well.
So as we journey to eternity, may we keep in mind the words of Helen Lemmel.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.
Revelation 21:12-14.
12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—
13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The OT parallel for verses twelve and thirteen is Ezekiel 48:30-35.
The futurist sees Ezekiel 40-48 as the restoration of the temple and city of Jerusalem during the thousand year reign of Christ.
The idealist and the preterist see Ezekiel 40-48 as a metaphor for the eternal state. They would see Revelation 21 interpreting the Ezekiel passages.
What is evident in these verses is the unity and diversity in the people of God.
We are unified in that we are one city, one bride.
We are diverse in that we retain our identity in the program of God. Here we see both Israel and the Church represented.
Israel is represented by the twelve gates into the city, three on each side. What do you do with a gate when there is no threat? You go through it. It many ways Israel is the gateway to the blessing we Gentiles have recieved, for Jesus was a Jew and God did promise Abraham and Jacob that this would happen in Genesis 12:3; 28:14.
The Church is represented by the twelve Apostles as twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. Paul uses this metaphor in Ephesians 2:11-22.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
The metaphor is also presented to us by Peter in 1 Peter 2:4-10
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Church, we are the New Jerusalem, with distinction as Jew and Gentile, standing unified as the people of God, prepared by him to shine his glory for all eternity.
The literal interpretation applies here as well - the city will have twelve gates with the names of the tribes of Israel written on them. There will be twelve massive foundation stones with the names of the apostles written upon them. Jesus, the Master Builder, has been preparing this city for us. It will be awesome. Yet let us not forget he is preparing us, as well.
Revelation 21:15-17.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.
17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.
So this is a big city. 12,000 stadia is 1,380 miles, that is 1,380 miles cubed. Those numbers are so large it is hard to visualize it. One side of the city would reach roughly from New York City to Miami Florida. It is cubed, so its height is 197 times the height of cruising altitude for commercial airlines. The current earth’s atmosphere stops at 62 miles. This would mean that the New Jerusalem would extend into space 1,318 miles. This is a big city which Jesus has prepared for us.
The physical greatness of this city has many scholars leaning more into John’s use of the metaphorical meaning, rather than its size. I think it speaks to both. Metaphorically, it speaks to the greatness of God’s work in his people. I also think that it speaks to the creative power of Jesus who spoke the world into being and can easily create a city that defies physics as we know them, for he is a great and awesome God. And Church, we have the privileged and honor to shine his glory now and into eternity.
Revelation 21:18-21.
18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
John describes the building materials of the city. We need to take note that it is made with precious metals and gems.
The OT background for these verses is Exodus 26-28 in the building of the tabernacle and in the making of the high priest’s garments.
Gold and precious stones were worn by the priesthood who represented God to the people and the people to God.
We have already read how Peter picks up on this as a metaphor in describing us as a holy priesthood and living stones, chosen and precious to God.
Who are we? We are a holy priesthood and living stones, chosen and precious.
This idea of precious material continues with Paul in his description of the Judgement Seat of Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Here again we are reminded that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to walk in the good works he has prepared for us. These are the works that will last into eternity, shining God’s glory.
So let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the source of our life, the source of our precious building supplies, and let us build with endurance, shining his glory now and into eternity, for he who promised is faithful, and he will surely complete his shared work in us.