Why Bible Prophecy Matters! The New Heavens & New Earth our Ultimate Home. Part Four

Let us turn to Revelation 21 in a moment and contemplate what awaits all true followers of Christ. The Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven…paradise and he exclaims in 2 Cor. 12: 4 “and he heard things that cannot be told, which man not utter”. Paul was left in awe and speechless, in contrast John saw the new heaven and a new earth and was some how able to write what he saw. The first heaven and earth passed away, and the sea was no more. Take a moment and consider what John just prophetically and accurately saw, everything that you and I are familiar with is gone, consumed by fire. But wait, that is not the end of the story.

Vs.2, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down form out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. A loud voice declares from the throne, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God”. The very heart of God will manifest with all of His love, compassion and with incredible beauty He will restore all that was lost at the fall and we will be in perfect relationship with Him forever. So amazing will this family reunion be, that all tears will be vanquished from our eyes, death itself will forever be an issue of the past, no mourning, no crying, no pain forevermore, for the former things have passed away. Isaiah foresaw the same events Isa. 25:8. Are you ready? Can you sense it what awaits you?

God Himself swears from His holy throne, “Behold, I am making all things new”. God then instructs John, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true”. God cannot lie, and therefore what He has promised is completely true and will come to pass one day in the future. The great question to God of every believer is, “do you love me” and the great question of God is to believers, “do you trust me”. Taken from Dr. Rob Riemer’s book “Soul Care”. I highly recommend it!

Do you trust God to bring you to your new home? The invitation has been made Vs. 7, it will cost us nothing as Jesus has paid the price in full for our adoption, however to receive our heritage we will need to conquer as He did. The full reward will be, “I will be his God, and he will be my son”. Remember He is calling you and me as sons and daughter into His eternal home and we all get the keys to the house. O ya, we will not need a key, but you get the point we will have free access to our Fathers house.

He reminds us all the pain, brokenness, lose and tragedy of life caused by sin and its consequences will NOT be there Vs.8…thank you Father! Then one of the mighty angels who brought the final bowl judgments upon the earth appears and tells John to “Come I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb”. The new Jerusalem will appear as a glorious adorned bride especially prepared for us as our new home. The very glory of God will manifest in the design and beauty of the city. John provides detailed descriptions of our eternal city. Rev. 21:10- 22: 1-5
• The holy city Jerusalem comes down from out of heaven from God.
• The city will have God’s glory as jasper, clear as crystal.
• The city has great high walls
• The city has 12 gates guarded by 12 angels
• Each gate has one of the 12 tribes of Israel inscribed on them
• The city is a huge cube with 3 gates on each side of the city
• The city has 12 foundations with the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb on them
• The city is foursquare with its length, width and height are all the same 1380 miles or 2221 km.
• The thickness of the walls are 144 cubits, approximately from your finger tip to your elbow equals one cubit. These are think walls.
• The walls built of jasper a beautiful multi-colour stone
• The city is pure gold and clear as glass…this will transcend our current gold
• The foundation of the city is adorned with every kind of jewel and they are listed as: Jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth and amethyst.
• 12 gates are twelve huge pearls
• Streets of the city are pure gold and transparent as glass
• There will be no physical temple in the final city as God and Jesus themselves will be the temple (we will see their perfection and worthiness and our hearts will extol eternal worship and gratitude).
• There will be no need of sun or moon, as the glory of Jesus and the Father will illuminate thee city Isa. 60: 19-20
• The very glory of God will bring light to the Nations as they walk with Him Isa. 60:3-5
• The city will have NO rebels, nothing detestable will be there or anything false, but only those who’s names are written in the Lamb’s book of life shall dwell there.
• The river of life shall flow from the throne of God and the Lamb through the city center
• On each side of the river banks the tree of life will flourish providing 12 kinds of fruit, and each month a new harvest will be available for us to enjoy
• The leaves of the tree of life provide healing to the nations (there must be some memory of life past)
• Nothing accursed shall be in this holy city
• The throne of God and the Lamb will be at the center of the royal city and we his servant will joyfully worship them.

•  We will see His face with no harm will come to us since we are now perfected.
  

• We will have His name on our forehead as we will be 100% identified in Him as His family
• Night will be no more and all the source of light will come from God Himself, and we will no longer need the sun or a lamp
• God our Father and Jesus our eternal Lamb will reign forever and ever.

Take God’s promises to the bank, Rev 22: 6-7 “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servant what must soon take place”. Jesus makes a final declaration, “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book”. My friends soon we will see Jesus face to face and all the incredibly difficult, challenging and painful things of this life will pass away. I hope you have a renewed and Biblical view of our progressive future and our eternal home. It will be awesome as we will be with Him and each other forever in love and perfect peace.

Next week I will start a new series Lord willing called “The Rebuilt Temple of Jerusalem”. This is an incredibly important sign post of Christ soon return and we will look at the prophetic significance and current events.

From a friend, Bill W…if you have found these studies insightful and encouraging pass them on to a friend! Maranatha…Our Lord, come!