"Our Future Hope - The Holy Jerusalem"
Revelation 21:19-21
“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, having the glory of God.” [Rev 21:10-11a]
Our future hope is the New Jerusalem, a Holy Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is not a new creation like the “new heaven and new earth” in 21:1. It is a Holy City where God Himself dwells in the fullness of Glory.
There are three heavens that our English word describes: A heavenly atmosphere [i.e., the sky and clouds]; a heavenly outer sphere [i.e., outer space, the sun, moon, and stars]; and a heavenly place where God dwells in the fullness of Holiness. It is this last place [the “third heaven”] that is the “holy Jerusalem.”
But before the Holy Jerusalem descends “out of heaven from God, having the glory of God,” God must create a new heaven [a new atmosphere and outer sphere] and new earth to receive it.
The New Jerusalem is an Eternal City reserved for perfected holy vessels, and thus only those in their perfected resurrected bodies can enter.
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” [Jn 14:2-3]
Then in just a few short hours Jesus did what He said He was going to do; He went to the Cross of Calvary and prepared a place for us in His Father’s House, that Holy City in the Third Heaven. Our only part is to believe on the name of Jesus and what He did on the Cross, and then He promises us a perfected holy vessel [a resurrected body] to enter the holy Jerusalem.
Heaven, the “holy Jerusalem,” is an eternal place with real physical dimensions; “twelve thousand furlongs” long, wide, and high [i.e., a 1,500-mile cube]. It is “adorned with all kinds of precious stones.” John writes, “the city was pure gold, like clear glass,” describing its eternal value, purity, and holiness.
“For we know in part…” seems to be on target when pondering these brief descriptions of heaven. While there is a wealth of Millennium Scriptures; very few exist on heaven. Have you ever noticed that? It is because heaven is simply too enormously glorious to describe [and comprehend] in the here and now.
We can, however, tuck these few descriptions in our hearts and simply trust God’s word that the best is yet to come.
