Book of Revelation
“God’s Ultimate Purpose”
Revelation 21

We ended our time last week with the end of the universe and all those who refused to believe in Jesus Christ while they were upon this earth. Now, this isn’t my interpretation, it comes from Jesus Himself when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)

And so the universe has been suddenly and violently ended, “fled,” and “passed away,” as the Apostle John describes it in chapters 20 and 21. The universe has been engulfed in flames from a massive explosion, and this world and universe as we presently know it will be gone, because there was no place found in them in God’s new world, God’s new kingdom.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10 NIV)

And with this then the promise

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13 NIV)

The White Throne Judgment of God has ended as well, and all those not found written in the “Book of Life,” or as John describes it in chapter 21, “the Lambs Book of Life,” are tossed into the Lake of Fire created by God, not for humans, mind you, but for Satan and his demonic forces. Those who find themselves at the White Throne Judgment and tossed into the Lake of Fire are those who chose this ending by rejecting Jesus Christ and God’s ultimate plan of salvation.

Which brings us to God’s ultimate plan and purpose for humanity, which is what God had planned when He first created the earth and humanity. But because of Adam and Eve’s sin, and thus the sin nature being passed down to all humanity, God’s ultimate plan and purpose had to be put on hold, that is, until now.

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” (Revelation 21:1 NKJV)

What we see are several new things listed in Revelation 21, which makes this truly a chapter of new beginnings. There’s a new heaven and new earth (vs. 1), a New Jerusalem (vs. 2), and all things will be made new (vs. 5).

The New Heaven and Earth

Although not much is stated on what the new heaven and earth will look like, what we know is that the description used here is what we talk about when we talk of heaven. So this new earth will truly be heaven on earth.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NKJV)

Just as everything physical within today’s universe is gone, so is all the junk we had to go through the first time when we were residents on this earth. The emotions and abuse we endured as human beings are “passed away,” never to be experienced again in this new heaven and earth.

Further, we’ll forever be in the presence of the Lord. When we die the Bible says that we’ll be in God’s presence, although not in our new glorified bodies, but rather what makes us uniquely who we are and who God created us to be, that is, our souls and spirits will be with God.

And while the Bible says that it’s been given unto humanity to die once and then face judgment, Hebrews 9:27, the Apostle Paul had this confidence saying, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV)

That as believers in Jesus Christ we have this confidence that we won’t face the Father at the White Throne Judgment, but rather we’ll face Jesus Christ, or what is referred to as the Reward Seat of Christ, with heaven, and then the new heaven and earth, and the New Jerusalem as our home.

This is the place where every human heart longs to be, but it will only be the place where God’s people, those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, will dwell.

“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27 NKJV)

The reason it is the place where we as believers in Jesus Christ long to be is because it is the place where the Lord Himself will dwell among us.

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3 NKJV)

It will therefore be a place of light, because Jesus, the light of the world, will be in the midst.

The New Jerusalem

Besides the new heaven and earth, the New Jerusalem will be located here.

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2 NKJV)

I love how the New Jerusalem is described. Now the city isn’t the bride of Christ, only the church and living beings can be the bride, but it says that it is prepared “as” a bride. It’s decked out as a bride would be decked out at her wedding. And boy is New Jerusalem decked out.

She’s shining brighter than everything else around it, and the reason is because the Lord Jesus is the light within her midst.

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:23 NKJV)

Each of its 12 gates were one big pearl, and when you consider the size of New Jerusalem, and the size of the walls being around 216 feet in height. The city was of gold, but not just gold, pure gold as clear as glass, including the streets, and the walls surrounding the city were made out of every precious stone known to man.

That’s one bridal dress.

But what should be understood is that the city is adorned as a bride because its occupants are Jesus’ bride, which is you and me, all those who believe in Him. This is that place Jesus went back to prepare for us.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2 NKJV)

The city, however, is more than building and streets, no matter how glorious they may be, rather it’s adorned to be the place where we will live and operate out of for the rest of eternity.

Now the dimensions given have some people shaking their heads in amazement if not disbelief. It is a foursquare city.

The size mentioned by the angel is approximately 1,400 miles square, that is from East to West, from North to South, and from top to bottom. That’s one big city. That’s around the size of the Eastern seaboard of the United States to the Mississippi river, and from the border of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, a lot of people get hung up on the height, because in our present earth and atmosphere it puts the city’s top well into what we call “outer space.” They talk about how it will throw off the earth’s rotation and the wobble it will create.

But who ever said that God would create the world and universe the same way He did the first time? The earth would have no need to rotate, and that’s because there’s no more Sun to rotate around and no need for the Sun to light the day, and the moon to light the night.

Earth will be completely different, maybe even bigger, and its source of light is the Lord, not the Sun or moon.

This was how it was in the beginning before anything was ever created.

Look at this with me.

What was the light that God said, “Let there be,” on the first day? And while He divided the light from the darkness calling it day and night, the sun and the moon wasn’t created until the fourth day of creation.

This light had all the properties of sunlight because it brought life and sustained life in that God created the all plant life on the third day. So what, or better yet, Who, was that light?

It was none other than Jesus. God called for Jesus to shine forth. Didn’t Jesus say, “I am the light of the world?” (John 9:5 NKJV)

And so the light that lit the entire world, if not universe, was none other than Jesus Christ, and it’s Jesus Christ who is going to be the light of the new heaven and new earth, and he’ll be shining forth from New Jerusalem.

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:23 NKJV)

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the light of the world will light the new heaven and the new earth. And He is going to shine out in all His glory bringing both life and light to God’s new creation.

New Things

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” (Revelation 21:5a NKJV)

The Lord is making everything new, creating an entirely new dimension that we cannot fully understand. It is going to be an entirely new way of life.

Probably the greatest promise given by God is that all of this is beyond even our wildest imagination. I think the Apostle Paul hit it on the head saying God has prepared for us something so great, so spectacular that we can in no way comprehend it with our present capacities.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV)

There is so much that we don’t know about heaven and what it will be like, and even more when it comes to the new heaven and new earth. So what can we be assured about?

That this place will fulfill our greatest longings, it will dazzle us with its incomprehensible beauty, it will completely obliterate our greatest problems, and it will be greater than whatever we could dream about. It will be a place of unimaginable love and joy.

Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord said,

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17 NKJV)

The Lord then goes on to say that we will not toil in vain or bear children doomed because of the sin nature. Instead we’ll be blessed, Isaiah 65:24-25.

This leads me back to my initial proposition, and that is, this new heaven and earth, and our dwelling in the New Jerusalem, is God’s original design or ultimate purpose of why He created the earth and gave all those who are saved new glorified bodies?

Think about it. Why would God take the time and trouble to even created a new earth and give us new bodies if we’re not to have a purpose? God placed humanity over the earth originally to be it’s caretaker, and God would seem to be doing something similar with those who have been redeemed and living in God’s new creation.

Further, God won’t just come for a visit in the evenings as He did with Adam and Eve when He walked with them in the cool of the evenings in the Garden, but He will be living with us, we’ll see and talk with Him every day as we complete His purposes here upon His new earth.

But the greatest of all new things is that we’ll drink our full of God’s living water.

“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.” (Revelation 21:6 NKJV)

But we don’t have to wait until the then to partake of God’s living water; it’s available to us today. Jesus said,

“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.” (John 4:14 NKJV)

And to the woman at the well Jesus said,

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38 NKJV)

And what the Apostle John goes on to say is that Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit whom all those who believe will receive.

And so today you can experience this living water, and have a taste of heaven itself when you accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to empower you as it did the disciples in the beginning of the church.

Going back to what Paul said how eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Paul goes on to say,

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:10a NKJV)

Therefore it’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can now get a glimpse of all that God has in store for us. It’s through the Holy Spirit that our eyes are opened, our ears unstopped, and that we can begin to understand what God has prepared for us.

If you haven’t asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, then today is the day of Salvation for you. And if you haven’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, what Jesus promised to everyone who would ask, then today ask.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” (Luke 11:13 NKJV)