New Jerusalem - Final Home

Revelation 21:9-12,22-27

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.”  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,  having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  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

(22) 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, and its lamp is the Lamb.  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.  But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The eternal living space for God’s children is the new Jerusalem.  Over 2 million square miles with 200-foot walls, larger than the countries of France or England as we know it.  No sun, no moon, no night.  The Lord’s light will shine eternally, and there will be no reason for a sun or moon to provide light.  God and the Lamb will be dwelling with mankind in this new realm.  We will be in His presence always; there is no need for a Temple, a synagogue, a holy of holies to seek God.  

Recall, if you will, the veil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem tore from top to bottom when Jesus Christ was crucified.  This veil was the separation from God’s presence in the temple and was restricted to the high priest only.  When the veil was torn, it opened up access to God through Jesus Christ directly.  In this new Jerusalem, there is no temple, no veil, no holy of holies; we are in the presence of God and Jesus at all times.

No evil, no unclean presence, or detestable thing will be in this realm.  God’s perfect presence is protected from all unrighteousness and impurities.  It will be a realm of holiness and righteousness only.  Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be accepted in, filled with goodness and love for each other and God, the Father.  Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:44, that our new resurrected bodies will be “spiritual” and capable of being in God’s presence and perfected glory.  Unlike our current existence, which is filled with original sin and unrighteousness.  We must be resurrected into our heavenly bodies to co-exist in the presence with God and the Lamb.

It is quite conceivable that nations will still exist in the new Jerusalem.  The definition of the design calls out 12 gates, one for each nation, tells us that there will at least be 12 nations in the new realm.  Also, we read in Revelation 12 that the promised Messiah “will rule over the nations”, and in Revelation 22, we will see that God talks about the leaves of the tree of life will heal all the nations.  

Much like the previous story of the Bridegroom going and preparing a place for Himself and the bride to live, Jesus told the disciples, in John 14, “I am going there to prepare a place for you . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”  This new Jerusalem is the place which Jesus, the Bridegroom, has prepared for you and me.  He will return, just as He said He would, one day to take us there, where we will live eternally with Him.  Jesus Christ is the Light of the World (John 8:12) and will provide the unquenchable light for all eternity in this new realm.

These are the promises by which we hold onto.  The truth that God has a better plan for us than the world in which we live today.  Read Revelation 21 completely for an in-depth description of this new Jerusalem, and you will be amazed at the beauty and eloquence of detail provided in John’s vision from God.  We are destined to live in luxury eternally with God, the Father.  So when we say “do not store up treasures on earth, but rather in heaven where moth and rust and thieves cannot destroy or steal” (Matthew 6:19-21), this is what we refer to.  Your heavenly realm will be unbelievably beautiful and plentiful with God and the Lamb forever.