The eternal state New Jerusalem Revelation 21v2.
We now come to the focal point of the new earth, new Jerusalem. New Jerusalem is the focus for activity in the new earth just as old Jerusalem was intended to be, but never realised because of sin. The degradation of old Jerusalem is summed up in chapter 11v8 "the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom & Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." God must make everything new and so we have the new covenant, the new wine, the new birth, the new creation, the new man, and now the new Jerusalem. There is very little said concerning the eternal state, so we cannot be dogmatic, nor should we speculate, simply to take the information as we have it to understand something which is wonderful and outside the realm of our thinking at the present time. Clearly new Jerusalem is a city of vast proportions with a wonderful lifestyle. Paul refers to it in Galatians 4v25 "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." He contrasts this with "Jerusalem which is now." Hebrews 12v22 speaks of the same thing "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." There is therefore a Jerusalem on earth and a Jerusalem in heaven, and as we shall see the heavenly Jerusalem descends from heaven to the earth. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of a city in chapters 40 - 48, but the dimensions outlined there, although vast, are only a fraction of the new Jerusalem described in chapter 21-22 of Revelation.
Hebrews chapter 11 contributes to the discussion where it records of Abraham in verse 1- "he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. Again in verse 16 of the same chapter it says "but now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for He hath prepared for them a city. Again in chapter 13v14 it is recorded "for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. What has been long expected, and long prophesied is now a vision in the eyes of John in a book which proclaims the future. What God has promised and what many have longed for will therefore become a reality. The details of this glorious city are expounded in the remainder of chapter 21 and it is not the time to go into these now. Enough to say that there are two features of the city presented in verse 2:
- She is described as the holy city; this proclaims her sanctity.
- She is described as a bride adorned for her husband; this proclaims her beauty.
It is difficult for us to visualise such things while we are bound by time and space; this city appears to represent a place and also a people who populate the place and both the people and the place are described as holy and beautiful as a bride. In accordance with the rest of revealed scripture the only entity described as the bride is the church (Ephesians 5v25-32) also (Revelation 19v6-8 & Revelation 21v9). where the city is described as "the bride the Lamb's wife." Jesus returned to heaven to "prepare a place for us"(John14v2). This is new Jerusalem, and will be the home of the church for all eternity and shared by the redeemed of all ages. We must surely recognise that the bride holds a very special place in His heart; There are three distinct presentations of the church in the book of Revelation:
- Chapters 1-3 - The church is described as the golden lampstands which bear testimony to the glories of Jesus Christ.
- Chapters 4-16 - The church is described as the twenty four elders, ruling in the wisdom and status that God has given to her.
- Chapters 19 - 22 - She is described as the bride of the Lamb in all her radiant beauty.
As the lampstand, she shines on earth and bears testimony to Christ; as the elders she is given the prominent place in heaven; as the bride she is displayed in both heaven and earth for all to see the wonder of what God has done with fallen human beings. It is noteworthy that 1000 years after the marriage, she is still called the bride! The passage of so much time has not diminished her beauty, nor the affection of her husband for her.
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