Chapter 21:1-8
John saw the new heaven and the new earth after the previous had been consumed by fire (2 Peter 3:7,12). After that he saw the new heavenly Jerusalem coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband (21:1-2). This is the city that Abraham had set his faith to focus on (Heb 11:10) as well as other faith pilgrims on the earth who desired the heavenly country. Scripture tells us God prepared this city for them (Heb 11:13-16) and for us.
This is the city to which we belong. This is the heavenly Jerusalem, the city to which we have citizenship (Phi 3:20). Although there is a new heaven and new earth at this point, the language seems to indicate that this city was always in existence and could have been the place that the saints who reign with Christ in the millennial reign had their home. This city may have been a part of the heavens above the earth that believers had access to and could somehow transport between throughout Christ’s reign.
What’s important though is that the new heavens and earth are now incorporating the new Jerusalem as the centrepiece of God and humanity’s dwelling place.The dwelling place of God is now not in a temple but with humanity. This would have to be my favourite verse in the Bible. One of a few I should probably clarify, but this verse sums up in many ways the narrative of salvation and redemption from God’s perspective.
I believe, from what I know about God and from what He has revealed in His Word, that His favourite name about Himself is Emmanuel. This is of course conjecture on my part but everything I know about the heart of my Father leads me to believe that at the grand central station of His plan for humanity lies Revelation 21:3.
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Now I know the fullness of God dwells within me already, but I long to be in the presence of God and I cannot wait to be with Him forever and for all eternity. To dwell with God in all of His fullness and to be where He is is the great desire of my heart. But did you ever stop to think about the fact that this is clearly and obviously the great desire of His heart? He has gone to a great deal of effort and planning to ensure a future exists with you in it.
It literally bankrupt heaven to pay for you to be granted entry into eternity with God.That’s how much He values being in your presence. He has manoeuvred the pieces of human history to lead to a point where the dwelling place of God is with manand that we love Him as our God and He loves us as His people. This is why I say that His favourite name about Himself must be Emmanuel. It is at the heart of all that He does.
His tender heart expressed in verse three is only reiterated in verse four when He wipes away every tear from our eyes. Why are there tears in heaven? Some have proposed it is because we have just seen loved ones thrown into the lake of fire. Others suggest it is because we realise the lost opportunities we could have taken. Although these are real possibilities and cannot be discounted in their entirety, it would appear that the context of the verse gives a greater application to what the meaning could be and that is: God is removing all suffering from human existence.
After the fall and up until this point, suffering has been a main ingredient in the story of mankind. Death, sorrow, disease, poverty, pain and injustice all resulted from the fall. This is the moment not that we remember the suffering, but that His comfort replaces our suffering. Not only are the heavens and earth renewed, but the former things are made new as well and all that turmoil has now passed away. This is not the moment we focus on the pain. This is the moment where God’s loving-kindness removes all remembrance of anything we either endured for Him or with Him in the former existence.
Jesus then turns to John and tells him to write, It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End and anyone who is thirsty can drink freely from the water of life. In the words of God Himself He promises that the overcomers will now inherit all things and be called God’s family.
The heavenly Jerusalem awaits us. Jerusalem in Hebrew is plural. This would likely be because there is a physical Jerusalem and a Heavenly Jerusalem. Much like Babylon which has already been destroyed, there was a physical Babylon and a spiritual Babylon. The city to which we are to live for is the city of God. Heavenly Jerusalem. And in that city, God has prepared a place for you. It is where He plans to dwell with you for all eternity. It is a place where His comfort and joy will replace all sorrow and loss of the former existence. A place where you will never thirst again because your whole life will be drenched in the very presence of God and that is the very definition of Heaven.
Here’s what we can live from these verses:
- God has Prepared a City To Spend Eternity With You. As part of the new heavens and new earth, there is a city that God has prepared for us to share with Him for eternity. It is the New Jerusalem, the abode of God which comes out of heaven and is joined to earth once again like in the Garden of Eden. Hebrews 11 talks about Abraham and the other faith heroes looking for and living for a city ‘which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God’ (Heb 11:10). Today let’s also live for this city. Let’s set our hearts and faith to a city whose builder and maker is God. It is after all the place of our citizenship (Phil 3:20).
- God Wants to Dwell With You. In everything God has done since the beginning, there is a narrative and a yearning from the heart of God to be with us. Creation itself was designed to be the place where God and humanity walked in the cool of the day together. When Adam fell it wasn’t Adam that went looking for God, it was God that went looking for Adam. Ever since then, He has been working a plan of redemption to lead us to Revelation 21:3.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God, Himself will be with them and be their God.
Today let’s live in the faith and understanding that God wants to be in our presence. Let’s not live like He went to all this trouble to be in a long-distance relationship. God wants to dwell with and in your every moment.
- God Wipes Away Our Every Tear. When everything is made new, and all the things have been restored,the overwhelming new that we are brought into removes all the knowledge of the suffering of the old. In that new heaven and earth, God’s comfort and restoration will be so all-encompassing that it will literally remove any trace of the old universe and its impact on our lives. Never again will suffering be a part of the human story, not even the remembrance of suffering.
Today, let’s live and access by faith the comfort of God in our lives that He wants to remove all suffering from our lives and restore even the hurtful memories of that suffering.
