Revelation 21:5 “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” So the Lord says from this point on everything is going to remain young, fresh, and new for eternity. The reason things grow old and die today b/c we are under the curse of sin right now. The curse won’t be completely lifted in the millennial kingdom but it will be here when we’ve moved from time into eternity. Now we would have already, by this time, been made brand new at the Rapture so He’s speaking of everything else. We will receive our glorified bodies when we are raptured so we will be made perfect and brand new. Romans 8:18-25 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” So our spirits have already been made perfect but it’s not until this time that our physical bodies will be made perfect when He comes back but the creation will still be groaning. Sin affected and infected the entire universe. So John was allowed to see this vision on the Island of Patmos and he was told to write all of these things down, not just for his time but for all those after him.
Revelation 21:6 “And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Jesus said it was finished at the cross but here it says it is done. Now there are different levels to our salvation. First we have been saved from the penalty of sin (Hell) and that was due to the work that Jesus accomplished at the cross, hence “It is finished”. Second, we are being saved from the power of sin every day. This is the power of sanctification but this daily process won’t be complete until the Rapture. When we finally see Him we will be like Him with our glorified bodies. Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” This is the Rapture. And thirdly, we will finally be saved from the presence of sin and this is the “It is done” here in this verse. This is Jesus speaking here b/c He is the beginning and the end. Jesus said this in Isaiah 41:4 “Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first;”. Isaiah 44:6 ““Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” Jesus went on to say He will give the fountain of life to the person who thirsts. Remember the woman at the well? John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Jesus used a physical thirst to show a spiritual truth, He is so awesome. When you are stranded and dying of thirst, the only thing you can think about is water, not bills money etc., only water. We all were created with that thirst for Christ in us but the problem is, some ignore that thirst for pure water or try to satisfy it with other substitutions like pop. People will put their trust, faith, and hope into anything and everything else except Christ. They do this b/c they don’t want Him or anybody else controlling their lives except themselves.
Revelation 21:7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Both women and men will be a son of God. And anyone who puts their faith in Christ will be an overcomer.
Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Now we’ve all lied and done other things on this list. But this is not a list of sins individually, these are actually categories of sinners. Sinners produce sin but the “called out” ones are a new creation so we now produce new fruits of Christ’s righteousness. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” So these are those who choose to live the life of a sinner even though at any time they were able to repent. They practice sin and these are the one who will be separated from God for an eternity. They choose to turn their backs on the offer of life. They choose to live self-centered lives. Many Americans are being snared in this self-centered trap today. The definition of self-centered is concerned solely or chiefly with one’s own interests, welfare, etc.; engrossed in self; selfish; egotistical, independent. This is one of the main gospels of America today but Jesus wants us to refocus our attention from ourselves and place it back on Him.
Revelation 21:9 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” So John sees that same angel that was in chapter 16 which was 1000 years ago but since he’s outside of time it’s like he just saw him. The city is not the bride here but it is being described and identified by the ones whom dwell within it which are the bride.
Revelation 21:10-11 “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” This city is so big that God had to take John far away on top of a mountain just to be able to fully see and appreciate the beauty and size of New Jerusalem. Once John sees it he then begins describing it. The 1st thing John notices about the city is its light so this thing must have been brilliantly bright. But back up, he says “having the glory of God” then goes right into “Her light” so this city must somehow be absorbing His glory, then turning around and radiating it outward into the world. Remember how Moses came down from the mountain after being in the presence of God’s glory and he was literally shining, well this must be what’s happening with the city. So this really is another testament, example and description of the glory of God. John said this city was one big crystal or flawless diamond type of stone. Have you ever seen light shine through a crystal, it’s like a prism and just shoots colors of like everywhere that must be the appearance of this city illuminating light. So John tried to describe this city as best he could. This is going to be the most spectacular sight that the human eye has ever seen.
Revelation 21:12-13 “Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.” Even though is the bride’s city, she won’t be the only one living in it. The Old Testament saints and also the Tribulation saints will also dwell in the new city. The Jews will live here in this city, not b/c they are Jews but b/c of God’s promise to bring them back to Him.
Revelation 21:14 “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” I believe this just signifies those that dwell in the city. In verse 12 is speaks of the twelve tribes of Israel and here it speaks of the twelve apostles of the Lamb so I believe this shows both Old Testament and New Testament saints will be living here in this city.
Revelation 21:15-16 “And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.” This shows us that this is a very real city and not symbolic because God does into detail on the measurements of the city. He didn’t want us spiritualizing this city, it is literal. John says “Its length, breadth, and height are equal” so this not just a square on the ground like today’s cities, it is a cube with all equal sides horizontally and vertically. It is said that the city’s walls are 1380 miles high and long cube. Can you imagine that? Remember now, we will have our glorified bodies living in this city so we will be like the angels, no longer limited by gravity so we’re going to be traveling by zipping up and down through this city. This is a humongous city. Think about all the people who have ever lived since Adam and maybe that’s about 100 billion people, give or take 1 or 2. 20% of those people were saved b/c narrow is the Gate, right? That means that around 20 billion people will be living in the city of New Jerusalem. What?!?! How will they fit? Well I’m so glad you asked. It is said that if God gave to every one of those people a 75 acre cube/mansion to live in, that would only take up 25% of this city with 75% left for whatever else God will place in the city so this will be an incredible place.
Revelation 21:17 “Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” Now here the angel seems to be measuring the wall’s thickness which is 144 cubits. A cubit was considered the distance from the elbow to the tip of your hand. Unfortunately, that varied from person to person but the average is about 18 inches. 18X144=2592 inches=216 feet thick walls. Once again, this is not spiritual, this is literal. John shows us this by saying “according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” Meaning whether this is being measured by a man or an angel, 1 foot is 1 foot.
Revelation 21:18 “The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” This gold is so pure that the city is made of that it’s translucent. This is the hope that we’ve been waiting on. This is going to be far beyond anything that we could ever imagine. What John saw was way beyond his ability to describe but he did as best he could. So as you are going through your trials, tribulations, and storms today just keep your eyes on the finish line. Just remember that in the end it is more than worth it. Finish your race well and keep your mind set on Christ through all things in your life. And when you near the end of this test/life just know that now your true life will begin. Having this mindset will cause you to not slow down near the end of your race due to exhaustion but to speed up and run faster. And then once we finally take that last breath and cross that finish line, waiting there with open arms and a huge proud parent smile will be Jesus Christ saying “Well done My faithful servant.”
Love You Saints
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