Throughout Revelation 21:1-22:5 the vision concerns the
New Jerusalem and the eternal state of believers. Some,
however, think 21:9-22:5 refers to the thousand-year reign
of Christ because of the reference nations and kings of the
earth and healing. Perhaps the best way to understand this
passage is to view the New Jerusalem as the abode of the
redeemed of all ages.
The new heaven and earth is not simply the old renovated but
an act of new creation. John said, he saw “the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made
ready as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
I saw descending out of heaven from God.”
Note that the city comes down out of heaven from God and is
in some way related to the earth. However, it is a heavenly
city, not an earthly city. “Made ready as a bride adorned
for her husband” compares the city to a bride, but this does
not limit the city to the church. All saints will ultimately
live in this city (Hebrews 11:10, 16). The figure of the
bride emphasizes first, as marriage is designed to be
permanent, so this will be our permanent or eternal abode.
Second, as a bride is beautifully adorned for her wedding,
so this stresses the beauty of this city as it is adorned
for the saints. Third, as the bride is to be pure, it
portrays the purity of the holy city.
While John is watching the descending city, he hears a loud
voice saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men,
and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself will be among them” (Revelation 213).
This verse denotes the intimate and close fellowship with
God in a perfect and unbroken way and on a face-to-face
basis. This will be far beyond the knowledge of His presence
and indwelling which believers can know today. Today we
speak to Him in prayer and He speaks to us in His Word, but
then He will be openly and visibly in our midst, personally
ministering to our needs. The full scope of this is far
beyond our comprehension today.
In this life, sorrows and perplexities are always with us.
Moreover, from the nature of this life we may wonder how
they can be removed. It is hard to imagine life without our
sorrows and pain. Take for instance the sorrow and regret
that one might have over sin and failures. What about the
loved one who never trusted in Jesus Christ, say a mother,
father, sister, son, or daughter, how can the pain of their
eternal separation ever be removed? These verses give us
God’s assurance that our present situation and sorrows, and
indeed even their remembrance, will be wiped away.
Verse 4 promises us no more tears, mourning, crying, or
pain. This means perfect, uninterrupted happiness and peace.
It appears that with God visibly and personally, in our
midst, there will be absolutely no possibility of
unhappiness. Today we all experience pain, sorrow, and
misery to some degree. Even with believers who are walking
intimately with the Lord and know the joy of His care there
are still many times we endure pain and sorrow. That is
life, as we know it today. Of course, the more we walk with
the Lord, rest in His goodness and care, the greater our
peace, and joy even in extreme pressure, but even then,
there will still be pain. The emphasis of these verses is
God’s visible and personal presence gives this perfect
happiness and blessing and not the removal of the sources of
our problems. This should be a reminder and an exhortation
to us to put fellowship with the living Christ as our number
one priority. We need to practice awareness of and faith in
the personal presence and care of our Lord.
“The first things have passed away” refers to all the
conditions of this present world, Satan, sin, a sinful
nature, and death, everything associated with Satan and his
rebellion and man, his fall and rebellion, everything except
believers themselves, will be removed, put away. In fact,
“the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind”
(Isaiah 65:17).
With the passing away of the old, something new must take
its place, “He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am
making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).
Creation has always been a mighty display of God’s sovereign
power, but man one way or another, under the delusions of
the evil one, has sought to remove God from His throne and
tried to enthrone himself as a god. In one way or another
has sought to ignore and reject the God of creation. The
Word of God teaches us that through the things that He has
made we can know God and that He can be intimately known
through the Scriptures. However, humanity as a whole rejects
the knowledge of God or the light of nature and Scripture
because his deeds are evil (John 3:19-21). Because of his
ungodliness and unrighteousness, man suppresses the
knowledge of God and in its place, he inserts his own idea
of creation; he deifies himself or sees himself as evolving
and becoming god-like in the vanity of his own darkened
imaginations and satanic delusions. He looks at the created
universe and comes up with such ideas as the doctrine of
evolution.
Contrary to what the ungodly and unrighteous claim, only
God, the One sitting on the throne, can make all things new.
Therefore, John is told, “write, for these words are
faithful and true.” Just as we can believe the words of
Scripture regarding the original creation, we can believe
the words of Scripture regarding the new creation.
In verse 6, John was told, “it is done. I am the Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end.” The question is to what
does this refer? Though the new creation is still in the
future, these words solidly affirm the creation of all
things new as though already accomplished. In addition, the
basis of this is the sovereignty of God as the Alpha and
Omega, the first and last word on all things.
The new things, first, there will be the water of life for
all who thirst. Here is the offer of salvation that comes as
a gift, “without cost.” “All who thirst” refers to all who
recognize their need, the spiritually parched condition of
their soul, and come to Christ as the source of the water of
life (John 4:10; 7:37-39). “Without cost” means of course,
by grace, as God’s gift to those who come to Christ by faith
(John 7:38), “the spring of the water of life” refers to the
complete satisfaction of life that will come to the child of
God in the eternal state.
Second, there is the promise of a full inheritance to the
one who overcomes. The promises of chapters 2 and 3 suggest
added blessings and delights, like reigning with Christ for
those who faithfully overcome the particular temptations and
testing they face. Here the overcomers are those who quench
their thirst by simple faith in Christ and, as a result,
become sons of God (1 John 5:4-5; Galatians 3:26). All of
God’s people, Old and New Testament saints alike, will
inherit the blessings of the eternal state, nothing will be
lacking.
Third, the overcomers will have complete and unbroken
fellowship with God.
Revelation 21:8 contains a contrast. Heaven will be
everything that this life cannot be because of the presence
of sin, darkness, sinful behavior, and Satan’s present
activity. Today, one of the great sources of pain and misery
is the very presence of those characterized by the things
listed in verse 8. By contrast to the believer who inherits
these new things, including a glorified resurrected body
without the presence of a sinful nature, is the unbeliever
who is permanently excluded by the second death, the eternal
lake of fire. In contrast to those, who will die in their
sins and who must, therefore, continue in their evil
character, are believers who, in their glorified state, can
never be guilty of such sins.
Revelation 21:8 is often presented as describing the kind of
character that disqualifies one from the New Jerusalem and
the eternal state. If anyone is characterized by any of the
sins listed, then he cannot be in the New Jerusalem.
However, this suggests salvation by works. To escape this
works mentality, it is sometimes argued that verse 8 is
viewed as giving a general picture of the type of things
that characterize the unbeliever and demonstrate his lack of
faith in Christ. Because the unbeliever has rejected God
these things will often overcome him and characterize his
life. It is also claimed these things are also described as
habitual behavior versus an occasional sin. It is then
argued that such people are not lost because they habitually
do such things, but that they habitually act as they do
because they are lost. However, this approach misses the
point of the passage. In the first place, many unbelievers
are not characterized by most of the things listed here.
Apart from being “unbelieving,” many unbelievers are moral
and characterized by integrity, yet they will be excluded
because of their unbelief. Jesus said, “If you do not
believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John
8;24). Unbelievers die in a state of sinfulness. They remain
sinners forever.
Revelation 21:8 says nothing about whether believers
actually sin prior to death or not. Of course, we know that
they do. However, that is not in view in Rev 21:8. What is
actually in view is the continued unregenerate and
unjustified state of the lost. Because unbelievers upon
death are sealed permanently as those who are unjustified,
they remain sinners in God’s sight forever. There will be no
sinners and no sin in the new heavens and the new earth.
According to 1 John 3:2, “when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him.”
