Below is another devotion from my friend Angel Torres. I pray it blesses you!
As I was preparing for my church’s Wednesday night Bible study, I came across Revelation 21:27. You see, in this verse God has given us a very comforting promise that we can eagerly look forward to: “But nothing unclean will ever enter [New Jerusalem], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” It’s no secret that we’re living in a world full of violence, betrayal, and pain. Just one glance at the news headlines will reveal as much. But in Revelation 21, God gives John a special glimpse of what believers everywhere have to get excited about. Unlike our present world, New Jerusalem will be a place without even the slightest trace of uncleanness or brokenness. All things will be bright and beautiful, because God Himself will be at the center of it all!
Perhaps today you’re feeling a little discouraged or downcast. Maybe you’ve just gone through a difficult season in your life, or know of some people who have. Regardless of what’s going on right now, you can rejoice in what God has planned for all those who love Him. If you have been born again through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus (see John 3), then you have a wonderful eternal destiny to eagerly anticipate. The only inhabitants of New Jerusalem will be those who love God, and God Himself will dwell in the midst of this amazing City.
Now, I believe that we should take this information and ask God to help us use it so that we can point others to the wonderful hope that has been made available through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For fellow believers who are hurting, why not encourage them by sending them passages from Revelation 21-22? That will be their forever home, not this present world. And for those whom you know that aren’t Christians, perhaps this can be a good starting point for conversation. Look for opportunities within conversations to ask them about eternity and if they’ve ever given much thought about it. (You can use current world events as springboards for conversation, too.) Concerning Revelation 21:27, New Testament professor Alan F. Johnson said this: “The exhortation warns present readers that the only way to participate in the future city is to turn one’s loyalties to the Lamb now.”1 Ultimately, however, I hope and pray that you’ll be encouraged and motivated to live in light of what is to come.
1 Study Guide for Revelation 21 by David Guzik (blueletterbible.org)
“Unlike our present world, New Jerusalem will be a place without even the slightest trace of uncleanness or brokenness.”
“That will be their forever home, not this present world.”
Bible commentators have differed on the meaning of the New Jerusalem. Here are some alternative thoughts that should be considered.
While we can be comforted with many promises from John’s vision, this vision is not of heaven. This city that John sees is distinct from heaven because it comes down “out of heaven” (Rev 21.2). The New Jerusalem is also as much a people as it is a place. John sees the New Jerusalem as a “bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21.2). Later, when the angel takes John to see the bride, the Lamb’s wife, he shows him a detailed vision of this holy city, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21.9-10). This vision is not of heaven, but it is of a heavenly city. That heavenly city is the church, the bride of Christ.
Paul uses the same imagery as John in his letters when describing the church. In Galatians 4.21ff. he speaks of those in Christ as children of the Jerusalem that is “from above.” In Ephesians 5 Paul speaks about the church as being the bride/wife of Christ. In fact, Paul spoke to the Corinthian church about how he betrothed them to Christ and that his aim was to present the church as a pure virgin (2Cor 11.2).
Among all the other characteristics of the holy city, the church, we are to be characterized by peace. This is the peace that God intends for his city of peace. This is who we are. This is who we are to become. Be at peace.
The Jerusalem above, Paul says, is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26). When we come to worship God on the Lord’s Day, we do not come to an earthly mountain that can be touched (Heb. 12:18), but rather to a heavenly Zion (Heb. 12:22), a heavenly Jerusalem. And when the angel gives the invitation to John to come and see, the invitation is to see whom? The Bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:2); 21:9-10). Who is that? Well, of course, the Bride of Christ is the Christian Church (Eph. 5:25). This city, made of transparent gold (Rev. 21:18), is a perfect cube. What else in the Bible is a perfect cube? The Holy of Holies in the Temple is that shape, and the Christian Church is explicitly described as the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19). So the New Jerusalem is the Christian Church, being gradually manifested through the course of history, gradually revealed in all her glory.
Hello Dave! Thank you for reading, and for taking the time to leave a comment. Firstly, I agree that John’s vision of New Jerusalem does not pertain to heaven. New Jerusalem will be a real city located on the renewed and cleansed earth. It is true, however, that this “present world” will not be our final home. This earth will be cleansed by fire at an appointed time in the future: “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7 KJV).
Additionally, though New Jerusalem will be comprised of only those who love God (i.e., Christians), John still saw a real, literal city. We are given its measurements (see Rev. 20:12-17) and some of its particular physical features (Rev. 20:18-21), as well as the landscape (Rev. 22:1-2). The imagery given to us at the beginning of Revelation 22 clearly hearkens back to the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2, and we know that the Garden of Eden was a real location (see Joel 2:3 and Ezekiel 28:13 for confirmation of this).
Amazingly, all believers will one day see the Lord Jesus face-to-face in a real, physical location (Rev. 22:3-4). This is what God has in store for us! May we echo Abraham’s longing to see this wonderful place: “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10 KJV).