Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
Heb.12:22
As we get to Rev.21:2 we should note that John is now seeing his first vision of the eternal state. Most of what he has seen so far has been devastation and suffering. He has witnessed judgments one after the other. He has seen death at an unimaginable scale, but now, all judgments are passed; the old earth and heavens are passed and a new heaven and a new earth appear to him.
21:2
And now, like a bride coming out of her chambers to meet her groom, the holy city, the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven. She is beautiful. She is the city of the saints. And she will come to rest on the new earth. During the ages prior to this moment she was being prepared by our Lord, John 14:2-3; Heb.11:10, 16.
Now some believe the holy city will be restored on this present earth and it has quite a few folks excited concerning this prospect. Some believe this city will be upon the earth during our Lord’s thousand year reign, and some believe it forever remains in the heavens.
I believe the Scriptures are clear that this beautifully adorned city of the saints will be ushered down to the earth as a bride to her bridegroom. That God the Father will come out of the vestibule of heaven as it were with this city on his arm, and present her to Jesus Christ. She is the home of the saints, thus she is for all the redeemed down through time. She is not brought down to a sin laden, disease cursed earth. No mortars will ravage her walls. No rats will infest her streets. No violence will disturb her peaceful courtyards. No screaming will be heard coming out of the many residences of the saints. No mourners will go streaming down her streets following the hearse to a cemetery. No ambulances will be racing to a sick or dying person’s home while loved ones are left standing in fear at the front door. No tax collectors will be gathering taxes to pay for upkeep of the city.
The adjective new is used again and once again it is kainos. A new quality Jerusalem is coming down. “Coming down” is an accusative, singular, feminine, present active participle from the Greek compound word, kata / a preposition meaning down and baino / meaning to come. This coming down is from God. The Greek preposition, from, (apo) is the preposition of source. Man did not build this city for God is its source. This city comes out of heaven as we have said. It is not like a city out of heaven, it is a literal city out of heaven. The Greek preposition out, ek, is the preposition meaning sphere. The New Jerusalem is from the sphere of heaven.
v.3
Once again John hears a great voice, a (Greek - megales phones), a loud voice. The voice sends forth the announcement that the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
What is the tabernacle of God? This tabernacle is the dwelling place of God. Although God the Father is omnipresent, he has never shown himself to anyone but the Son and the Holy Spirit.
In John 1:14 Jesus Christ is the incarnate form of God tabernacled; that is, he dwelled upon earth among fallen mankind. When the end of time comes and the heavenly city Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, the Father will usher it down and stay with us upon the new earth.
The new earth will be his new place of dwelling whereas now it is in the third heaven beyond the galaxies and stars.
When that new and final eternal day comes the Father will dwell with men. The one the lost fear the most is the one the saved can’t wait to see. We will see him along with our Savior during the eternal state. When John said in Jn.1:18 that no man but the Son has seen the Father John is referring to the essence of God as it is also noted in Jn.4:24 and
I Tim.1:17 that God is invisible; that he is a Spirit so he must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Only the Son has seen the Father, so this must mean the Father has an image. The Son as God’s incarnate form is Jesus Christ, he is the invisible second person of the godhead, who was given a sinless body and made visible over 2,000 years ago.
In the eternal state the Father will also make himself visible to all. So far only the Son has seen him as we have said. I think this bears repeating.
The verb will dwell is a [future active indicative verb from the Greek word, skene, to have one’s abode]. God will abide among his highest creation, mankind; but only saved, sinless and glorified mankind due to Jesus Christ. God will be adored, not mocked. His majesty will be more than an eternity can express.
As one author says, “It is remarkable that John’s picture of the final age to come focuses not on a platonic (a spiritual, non-physical) ideal heaven or distant paradise but on the reality of a new earth and heaven”.
So often we picture ourselves after death; being taken off and staying on some distant place out in God’s third heaven forever. And though after death we will be there for some time, we will not always be out in the third heavens. There is a time coming when the Trinity will restore the earth, and all the redeemed of God from all ages will live here on this beautiful new sinless earth forever.
v.4
And as a loving compassionate Father he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away [aorist active indicative verb from aperchomai].
He will make all that grieves mankind disappear. Sin causes all of our grief in one fashion or the other. Sin is directly or indirectly related to all sorrow. As Christians we are saved, but our bodies are cursed due to the principle of sin which has been passed on to all mankind through the seed of Adam, and because of sin our planet is also cursed. One day this will all be removed forever.
Isa.65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
All things and all thoughts that would cause one to morn the past will be erased from the face of the earth and memory for all eternity. This will already be the case for glorified saints from ages past. All sense of mortality will be over at that time. No more human beings will be born and no more sense of death will be upon mankind. Every body in the eternal state will be glorified and sinless. No temptation will enter the thoughts of mankind.
I pray all of you are saved and have this glorious future awaiting you. If you are not saved you need Jesus Christ. Call on him today and you will be saved for all eternity, Rom.10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”