At the return of Jesus Christ to Planet Earth, He will have a physical presence closely associated with the historical Jerusalem. But the New Jerusalem, depicted in the Book of Revelation, communicates a new, present spiritual reality that is superior to the Old Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple, which were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. At Revelation 21:22-24, we read,
I saw no temple in it [the New Jerusalem] for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its Temple. And the city has no need for the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Of great significance, there is no temple in the New Jerusalem. All of the Old Jewish Temples depicted and taught us about a separation between God and humankind because of our sin. However, because of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross, there is now no separation between God and mankind. We now have unprecedented access to God by faith. Now, we believers reside in God, and He resides in us (Col. 3:3). There is a double envelopment.
Verse 23 of the text mentions that the New Jerusalem has no need for the sun or moon. This verse should not be over-literalized. This verse is not teaching us about a new kind of solar system. Now, Jesus Christ is our model of how to live the spiritual life. At John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.” In order to please God, we must walk by the Spirit and Word. Jesus illuminates our path. Jesus Christ is the archetype of how to live in a way that is pleasing to God.
At the return of Jesus Christ to Planet Earth, certain faithful servants will rule over the nations. The New Jerusalem is depicted as the capital city of the Kingdom of God. The New Jerusalem is an image of God’s eschatological rule over His Kingdom through Jesus Christ and His faithful servants. The wealth and glory of the nations will be brought into the capital city. However, in an important sense, God is now already ruling through Jesus Christ and His faithful servants. Jesus Christ is ruling in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. Further, God’s faithful servants living on Planet Earth can impact history by their prayers and their living of the Christian Spiritual Life.
At Revelation 21:25-27, we read,
In the daytime (for there will be no night there), its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
As mentioned above, the New Jerusalem is not describing a new physical and material reality. Most likely, Planet Earth will continue to rotate on its axis, and Planet Earth will continue to experience night and day. However, when we reside in the New Jerusalem, we avoid spiritual darkness, and further, in our future, there will no longer be spiritual darkness. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The gates of the New Jerusalem are open to all of humanity, but most are not interested in entering its gates. Sadly, it seems most prefer to live in darkness. At verse 27, we once again see the language of exclusion. We are required to live as faithful servants.
The Lamb’s Book of Life contains the names of God’s faithful servants. The Lamb’s Book of Life was first mentioned at Psalm 69:28. There, we learned that the names of righteous believers are recorded in the Book of Life. The names of the “righteous” are synonymous with the names of the “faithful servants.” At Philippians 4:3, Paul taught that several of his faithful workers in the spreading of the Gospel were recorded in the Book of Life. The Book of Life is mentioned several times in Revelation. At Revelation 3:5, we read,
The one who overcomes will be clothed in the same way, in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
In my opinion, the Book of Life is equivalent to the Book of Remembrance mentioned at Malachi 3:16-18, which records the names of “those who fear the Lord and esteem His name.” This is simply another description of the faithful servants of God. In my opinion, Christianity has done a good job in emphasizing the importance of believing that Jesus is the Son of God. However, Christianity has not properly emphasized the importance of us believers being faithful servants of God.
If we are not faithful servants of God, we experience the Lake of Fire, which is an apocalyptic image of the wrath of God. It is not a literal lake. Both those who never believed and those who fall away from their walk of faith will experience the wrath of God, which will ultimately be experienced as a loss of many blessings and rewards. The disobedient will not uniquely share in the life of God, the glory of God, or the rule of God. They will not receive glory, praise, or honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7).
Those wanting to learn additional information about the New Jerusalem are encouraged to view this Bible class uploaded to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRrZgFvdDMw
