The Adorned City
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Revelation 21:9-11
· Chapter 21, has been a chapter of New Beginnings, what happen in the past, is now done away with.
· God in this chapter keeps to his promise when he says in the scripture, behold I make all things new. Even humanity has undergone a wonderful change.
· But with all of these magnificent changes, the Lord gave a reminder of those who would not partake in this new paradise.
· This serves a reminder, that unless you know Jesus in your heart, there is no hope of experiencing this great wonder.
· Now at the beginning of the chapter, John wrote in general of what he was seeing, and let me remind you that even the words that John gives to us, can not fully describe the awesomeness of what he sees.
· Beginning in verse 9, John gives us some more detail, particularly of the New City called New Jerusalem.
Verse 9 – The Angelic Companion
· John has seen this marvelous new creation, but only from a distance. He hasn’t been able to seen the details of this wonderful new place. So, a particular angel comes to John to be his guide.
· Now before we get to far from this thought, recognize what John says here. “There came unto him, one of the seven angels”
· I think this is an important thought, because throughout the scripture, it is God coming unto us. God providing us the way. He came to us through the prophets, he came to us through his Son, Jesus Christ, he came to us through the Holy Spirit, he comes to us through his word, and here like before, he comes to John with an angel.
· I am thankful that God comes to us to give us direction.
· Now this angel comes to John, and we are told a little bit about this angel. He was one of the judging angels.
· Now remember, there has been three distinct forms of judgment dealt onto the earth. In the first group, we were told of the seven seals, and with each seal that was opened a form of judgment came.
· With the final seal, it unleashed a new judgment that was called the trumpet judgments. And like the first, it too brought severe judgment onto the earth. And with the final trumpet, there was another even more severe judgment of seven that was poured out on the earth, called the bowl or vial judgments.
· These three groups of seven, was the wrath of God, and when they were all accomplished, the wrath of God was finished.
· Well, this particular angel, was associated with the vial judgment, and notice what the scripture says here, “which had the seven vials”
· He had one of the vials, but he doesn’t anymore, what does this mean, it means no more judgment, no more destruction to be poured out, you know why, because it has been dealt with.
· At this point in the future, we are given this subtle reminder, that what God has done has been completed.
· Well, this angel’s job was to pour out judgment, now he has completed that. What is he to do now? Well, he is reassigned to be a guide for John here in this final section.
· His job is particular, he is to show John the Lamb’s wife, the bride.
· Now we were made aware by John in verse 2 of this chapter that as the city coming down from heaven, that it was as a bride.
· Well, remember who the real bride of Christ is, it is the church. And when I say the church, I am not talking about the building.
· What makes a city a city? Its not by how many structures are built there, it is by the people who dwell there.
· So, when he is told he is going to see the bride, he is going to see the people and where they are dwelling.
Verse 10-11 – The Amazing City
· So, the angel carries John. Now notice how John describes this. And remember. John has not been there physically. His physical body is still there on the isle of Patmos. John has been carried in the spirit.
· John is not dead, but God has taken his soul and spirit and allowed him to enter into heaven to see all of the wonderous things.
· So, we are reminded here of this fact. John then is carried to a great and high mountain. Now, remember the earth has been remade. This is a mountain that doesn’t exist right now. It is not a place we can look on a map and speculate where it is at.
· What we are told though, that it is a great and high mountain. Now the angel has brought him to this mountain for a reason, because what John is about to see, is a large structure come down from heaven.
· Now this is the handiwork of Christ. God, himself is the designer of this magnificent place. And when John sees this city, he doesn’t see cranes or trucks bringing in supplies to build it. He doesn’t see excavators or backhoes preparing the site. He doesn’t see lumber and materials laying there to be put together, what John sees is a completed city coming down from heaven.
· God has built this city, and it is God who is delivering this city. Now, we may things brought down to us from planes, that are delivered to our doorstep, but we have never had a city delivered to us. But that is what God does here.
· So, John sees this city coming out of Heaven, being brought down to the earth.
· Now the first thing John notices about this city is that it has the glory of God. Now this glory is called the Shekinah, and simply this is God’s glory being manifested.
· You know, we get to see the majesty of God’s handiwork in creation, particurly in the sunrise and sunset. Well, every sunrise and sunset will pale in comparison to this event.
· Jesus coming down from heaven with this city he has built, and it is radiating the light from his glory. It reminds me of what we read in Isaiah 60:1
· “Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”
· So, the glory of the Lord is upon this place, and John gives us some detail about the light of this place.
· The structure is translucent, meaning that light is able to pass through the structure. Now we have to jump ahead for just a moment to 22:5
· “And there shall be no night there and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light…”
· This serves as a reminder to us, that the light, the Shekinah glory of God is the light source for this place and God’s glory is shown in the very structure.
· Now John says the city is like a precious stone. Now many of you might be wearing a cut and polished stone, and the clarity of the stone, helps denote the value of it. If you have a precious stone, it is likely translucent, allowing light to pass through it.
· Well, this city is made up of this design. It is a precious stone, not concrete and mortar, it is not something that blocks or restricts light, it allows light to pass through it.
· Now John begins to describe it even more, by saying it is like a jasper stone.
· The word Jasper means spotted or speckled. These types of stones come in a range of color from red, green, and yellow. These stones can have swirling patterns.
· Now in ancient times, the jasper was considered a precious stone. But notice what John says here though, he says it is like a jasper stone. So, lets think about this. This city what John is saying is an array of colors.
· It is swirling and magnificent. But then he goes even further by saying it is clear as crystal. Now a jasper stone is not a clear stone.
· It is a colorful stone, but it is not clear. Well, John is seeing an array of colors coming from this city and it is clear, what stone then can do such a thing? A diamond.
· I believe what John is seeing here, with the glory of the Lord shining through this city that is made of diamond, that the light is separated into the color spectrum, and John sees all of these colors being shown.
· Now this is up for debate, but how we see John describe it, he is using comparative words, indicating that it is like these things but it is something else.