Heaven: A Better People (Revelation 21)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 30 April 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

Sometimes it can be hard to express how you feel or what you see. When Sarah and I were in America a few years ago, we had the opportunity to go and visit the Grand Canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. And when we came back from our trip, our friends and family all asked us, “Well, what it was like?” And to be honest, we struggled to know what to say. We showed them our photos, and yet no camera could ever capture the sheer immensity of what we saw. We tried to describe what it was like, but no words could ever convey how we felt as we stood on the edge of a chasm stretching from one horizon to the other, and disappearing into the depths of the earth. Some experiences are just too good for words. Some moments so marvellous, we just can’t do them justice.

And if that is true for earthly experiences, how much more true must it be for heavenly realities? Last Sunday Jamie started a three-part sermon series on Heaven, asking the question, “What will Heaven be like?” It is an important question for us to ask, and yet in many ways it is an impossible question for us to answer. It would be far easier for me to perfectly describe the immensity and wonder of the Grand Canyon, than it is to try and relay even just a fraction of the joy and wonder awaiting us in our Heavenly home. As Christians, our future is so bright, so brilliant, there are no words in English, nor any other language on this earth, that can fully convey it. As Paul explains in 1 Cor 2:9, our eyes cannot see, our ears cannot hear, our minds cannot conceive “the things God has prepared for those who love him.” Describing our future in Heaven is like trying to scoop up the whole sea in your two hands. You just can’t do it. Or at least, you can’t do it, fully. For you can at least get a taste, a glimpse, a handful of Heaven as it were. You’ll never know everything, but you can know something. And that’s what we hope will happen over these three weeks. That you will get a glimpse, grasp onto something of the joy and wonder awaiting you in heaven. And that that taste will be sufficient to sustain you on your journey there. Just like how a trailer for a film gives you a sense of what is coming and makes you want to go and see the full film in the future.

We began last week in Isaiah 65, where we saw that Heaven is a better place. However, as we consider Revelation 21 this morning, we are not going focus on how Heaven is a better place, but on how Heaven has a better people. I imagine if I asked you this morning what you’re most looking forward to in Heaven, many of you would mention the people who will be there. Whether it is a parent or a spouse, a friend or another family member, the prospect of being reunited with loved ones is a precious part of what Heaven will be. And yet, as we look at Revelation 21 this morning, we will see that that is only a small part of the hope that is held out about Heaven. For when the Bible speaks about people in Heaven, it does so in a way that is far greater and broader than merely including our loved ones. You see, Heaven not only means reunion with our loved ones, it also means, indeed it mainly means, the gathering of all of God’s loved ones, all his people from all the ages of the world and the nations of the earth. Christian, the thing about Heaven is that not only will you be there, not only will your loved one in Christ be there, but we will all be there to. Heaven is a destination we Christians are all going to. And so, as we consider Heaven today, we will see we need to think of it less as individuals, and more as church members. We should think less of Heaven being about my future with my loved ones, and more it being our future with all of God’s loved ones.

We see this in how John portrays the people of Heaven in this vision. Given it is impossible to express in words all that the future holds, its unsurprising that John has to resort to symbols and metaphors throughout the book of Revelation. And in Revelation 21, he uses three such symbols to describe what the people of Heaven will be like: (1) A Beautiful Bride (21:1-8); (2) A Completed City (21:9-21); and (3) A True Temple (21:22-22:5).What [...]

1.     A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE (21:1-8)

Our chapter begins the same way Isaiah 65 started last week. In 21:1, John tells us he saw what Isaiah spoke of, “a new heaven and a new earth”. And in the first few verses, he repeats many of the truths we thought about last week. He tells us Heaven is a better place, where there is no sickness or suffering, no death or pain, no tears, for in 21:4 we read God will wipe every tear from our eyes. And these are the kind of amazing truths that make this chapter, Revelation 21, so famous and precious to Christians. And yet, in 21:2 we see that into this better place, will come a better people. Just as God first created the heavens and earth in Genesis, and then put people (Adam and Eve) into that place. Here too we see after creating a new heaven and a new earth, God puts a new people into them. In 21:2 John says: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Given we’ve just jumped into the middle of Revelation, it perhaps isn’t immediately obvious to you that this bride refers to us, to the church. However, if you turn back with me to Revelation 19, you will see this is what John means. [TURN] At this point in the vision, Jesus is just about to return to earth, and in 19:6 John declares, [READ]. From this it is clear the bride a little later in Revelation 21 also refers to God’s people, and their arrival in the new heaven and new earth in 21:2 is like their wedding day, that day when they are finally joined to their husband, to God himself. And that is actually what we see happen next in chapter 21, for after the bride arrives in 21:2, a loud voice says in 21:3: [READ]. Immediately after the wedding, we see this new couple come to live together, dwell with one another. God and his people. Jesus and his bride. And this is exactly what Isaiah predicted. In 62:4 he told God’s people, “As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” We saw the same in Ephesians 5 last year, where we were told marriage is a picture of the relationship between Jesus and the church. The church is Christ’s bride. And in Heaven we will be joined to Jesus, we will live with him for ever and ever in happiness and harmony. We are a bride, but more than that, we are a beautiful bride. 21:2 calls us “a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

If you have recently planned, or far worse, if you have paid for a wedding, you will know they aren’t cheap affairs. Last year, it is estimated we spent around £14.7 billion in the UK on weddings, as the average budget for a single wedding was £18,400. Of course, that money is spent all sorts of things: the venue, food, invitations. However, much of it is spent on the bride, whether on hair, makeup, or of course, the most important and prominent thing, the wedding dress itself. People spend a lot of money to make sure they are beautiful on their wedding day. And it’s not just the financial cost. There is also the effort and energy many put in to lose weight and get in shape for the occasion. There is something natural about wanting to look your best on your wedding day, for a bride to want to be beautiful for her husband. Here in Revelation 21, we see that the church will be beautiful on its wedding day. That we will be one of those brides that when they appear at the top of the aisle, everyone goes, [...]. And the reason for this is that we will be beautifully dressed. We will have the most amazing, jaw dropping, wedding dress there has ever been. For back in 19:8, we were told we will wear, “Fine linen, bright and clean [which represents] the righteous acts of God’s holy people.” On that day, the church will approach Christ like a bride walks down an aisle to her husband, dressed not in literal linen, but in lives that are holy and pure, are beautiful and blameless.

If you are a Christian here this morning, someone who is following Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, are you getting ready for your wedding day? In 19:7 we read “the bride has made herself ready.” Is that what you are doing? Are you trying to lose spiritual weight as it were? Remove sins from your life like pride and greed, laziness and lust? Are you trying to live a life of beauty? To grow in godliness? [PAUSE]Christian, are you getting yourself ready for your wedding day? More than that, are you helping to get others ready for their wedding day? You see, unlike on your own wedding day, if you are already married, on that final wedding day, you will not be the only bride! Or rather, you will only be part of the one bride, of the church, all of God’s people united together to his Son. We will all be one bride together. And so, you not only have a responsibility to get yourself ready, but to get others ready for that day as well. To work for the spiritual good of your brothers and sisters, to help them overcome sin and grow in grace as well. We do this when we join a church and throw ourselves into its gatherings and life. When we draw alongside a sister needing encouragement. When we meet up to pray or study the Bible with each other. When we warn a brother about sins we see in his life. And even when, in sorrow, if necessary, we remove members through church discipline, for refusing to love Jesus, unrepentantly refusing to get ready for this wedding day. Brothers and sisters, do you love Jesus enough to not only to get yourself ready, but to get involved in getting others ready for Heaven as well? To so live that when we are all presented to Jesus, when the whole church stands at the top of that aisle, we will all be beautiful together for him. John describes the people of Heaven as a beautiful bride. When the church is joined to Jesus, we will be pure and spotless, dressed in lives that are pleasing to him.  

If you are here this morning and you are not a Christian, then it’s really important for you to understand this too. For see here the people of Heaven are a pure people, those living lives of beauty, who please God. And those who fail to do this, show they do not belong in the better place of Heaven, but in the worse place of Hell. John makes this clear in 21:8, where we read of a “fiery lake of burning sulphur”. We’ve already thought about how it is impossible to describe the wonder of Heaven, and here we see it is just as impossible to put in the words the terror of Hell. John likens it to a lake, not a lake of water, but a lake of fire, fire produced by burning sulphur, which would make it unimaginably hot. Now whether this fire is literal, or it is simply a figurative way to describe what Hell is like, the point is the same. Hell is real place, and it seems to be as terrible as Heaven is wonderful. The only thing we can compare to the heights of Heaven are the horrors of Hell. And John tells us that just as Heaven will have a people, those who will be the bride, Hell too will have a people, those he describes in 21:8 as [READ].

That’s a list that, if we are honest, should include everyone of us here this morning. Even if we have not practised magic arts, we have all lied. Even if we have not committed murder, we have all been unbelieving. The Bible is clear that all of us have sinned, rebelled against God, and deserve this eternal punishment as a result. And if that was all the Bible had to say, then it is clear Heaven would be empty and Hell would be full. And yet the wonderful good news of Christianity is that in his love and mercy, God sent his Son to purchase for himself a people for his own possession. To come and claim the church for his bride. As we have already sung this morning, ‘From Heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride, and with his blood he bought her and for her life he died.’ On the cross Jesus took the punishment for his people, suffered Hell so all who turn from sin and trust in him can go to Heaven. So that everyone who accepts his marriage proposal, will by Jesus be made ready for that wedding day, when with the rest of God’s people, they will be his bride. If you are here this morning and are not a Christian, then you need to realise the people of Heaven are the bride of Christ. If you refuse to be joined to him in faith, if you reject his advances for marriage now, if you choose your sin over Jesus as your Saviour, then you will not be part of his people in Heaven, but belong to the people of Hell. If you are here this morning, Jesus invites you to come to this wedding celebration on the last day, proposes to you and asks you to be his bride. He will wash [...]

2.     A COMPLETED CITY (21:9-21)

Back in 1883, the Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, was asked to design a new cathedral for the city of Barcelona. As an architectural genius, the plans he proposed were spectacular. It was to be the tallest cathedral in the world. Work began immediately, supervised by Gaudi himself. And yet, he never saw his masterpiece finished, for after setback after setback, the cathedral only had a single tower constructed by the time of Gaudi’s death, 40 years later. The next architect who took on the project didn’t fare any better, for he too died without seeing it completed. And so did the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Indeed, over 140 years later, the cathedral, known as the Sagrada Familia, still isn’t complete today. Earlier this year, those managing the project claimed that it would be completed by 2026, in time for the centenary of Gaudi’s death. That is, until you read the small print, when you realise there are various aspects of the building that won’t be complete until at least 2040, or by some estimates 2060. The Sagrada Familiais the most famous unfinished building project in the world. It may be magnificent on paper, and yet for 140 years, it has been little more than a building site. And many suspect it may never be finished.

From 21:9, John introduces a structure that is far more impressive than even the Sagrada Familia. The angel says he will show John this bride in 2:9, but when John looks in 21:10, he sees something else. He sees the same people of God, but now not as a bride, but as a city. And John goes on to describe many different aspects of this city. He speaks about the materials it is made from: precious stones, gold and glass. He speaks of the measurements of the city, which are vast, bigger than any city the world has ever seen. And there is much we could delve into in all these details. However, the one thing that John consistently shows us, whether in the materials or measurements, is that this city is a completed city, it is a city that is finished. Unlike the Sagrada Familia, this is no work in progress. The architect of this city has not only planned it, but he has built it, he has brought it to completion.

We see this in almost every detail John tells us. For example, see the men he mentions in relation to this city. In 21:12, John explains that the gates have the “names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on them”, representing the people of God in the Old Testament. Similarly, in 21:14 we read the names of the twelve apostles are written on the foundations of the walls, representing the people of God in the New Testament. God’s people as a whole, both Old and New Testament, are united together in this city. This city is the completion of all of God’s plans and purposes for his people, in both the Old and New Testament. We see a similar theme in the measurements the angel makes from 21:15 onwards, where again and again, the number 12, which speaks of completion, appears, whether it is 12,000 or 12x12=144. We get the same idea when we turn to the materials used. Once again we have 12 precious stones from 21:19, which match those on the breastplate of the high priest of Israel, which if you remember back to Exodus 28, represented the people of God, the 12 tribes of that time. Again and again, whether by the men, measurements or materials, we see that this magnificent city is complete, finished, the fulfilment of all God’s plans for his people over the years. If Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, “I will build by church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Then here we see that is exactly what he does. For in Heaven, the church will be as a completed city. Jesus Christ will not only have a beautiful bride, but will have built a completed city.

Christian, I hope you see what an encouragement this is for us this side of Heaven. Even if the church seems a bit like a building site today, suffers set back after set back, you can be sure that one day it will be finished. That no part of God’s plan will be left undone. Every single purpose he has for his people will be brought to completion. And so, as we build his kingdom, construct his city in the present, we can do so with complete confidence, for we know that it will come to completion in the future. As Paul puts it in 1 Cor 15:58, we can know our labour in the Lord is not in vain. Every brick we lay in the walls of this city will last. Every opportunity we take to build one another up in love will make a difference. Even if we are like those builders who began the Sagrada Familia 140 years ago, even if we do not see this project finished in our lifetime, we know one day we will see this city completed. It should be a wonderful encouragement for us to see this city. However, it should also be a challenge.

For do you see what’s not written on the gates of this city? Do you know what name you won’t find inscribed anywhere on the foundation of these walls? Well its, ‘Grace Church Guildford’. O yes, God’s church is sure to be completed, continue until that last day. God’s church will never fail, but that same promise is not made about our local church, indeed about any local church. We should never forget God’s work in this world does not depend on us. For his church is bigger than Grace Church, than any individual local church, and no matter what happens to us here, or those who meet as a church over there, there is never any doubt that God’s city will reach its completion in Heaven. This fact that God’s church is bigger than our church should bring a sense of calm and confidence when we face storms or difficulties in our life together as a congregation. For whatever may be at stake, the future of God’s church is not. No, the future of God’s church is secure. For this city will be completed.

It should also cause us to look beyond our boundaries and support the cause of Christ wherever this city is being built. As a congregation, we must have the same attitude as the 18th Century evangelist George Whitefield, who declared: “Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified. Let my name die everywhere, let even my friends forget me, if by that means the cause of the blessed Jesus may be promoted.” And Grace Church, we must say the same: let the name of Grace Church be forgotten, if by that means the name of Christ be made known. That’s why we can do things like train pastors, send members, gift money and give buildings to other churches, for we know that it isn’t about our church. It’s about Christ’s church. And even if our church crumbles [...].

3.     A TRUE TEMPLE (21:22-22:5)

Many cities are instantly recognisable from a famous landmark. When you see Big Ben, you think of London. If you see the Eiffel Tower, you think of Paris. And the same was true in the ancient world. When they saw the Colosseum, they thought of Rome. When they looked at the Parthenon, they knew it was Athens. And when they saw the Jewish Temple, they knew that the city was Jerusalem. The temple stood on the highest peak in Jerusalem. As travellers got near the city, the first thing they would have saw was the tip of the temple shining in the sun. And that’s why, John says what he does in 21:22. He has again and again called this city the New Jerusalem, and yet we see here that it is missing the most famous landmark of the Old Jerusalem. For in 21:22 we read: [READ].

If one of these three images of God’s people in Heaven is most important, it is this one. The most important thing we can understand about the church in Heaven, is that we will be a temple. So many of the details we have in the chapter about Heaven point to this final picture. For example, think about how the city in 21:9-21 alluded to the Jewish temple and tabernacle. The same stones in the foundations of the walls were placed in the foundations of the temple. Like the Holy of Holies in the temple and tabernacle, this city is constructed as a perfect cube, as wide as it is deep as it is high. Like the Old Testament tabernacle at its dedication in Exodus 40, the first thing we are told about this city in 21:11 is that it shines with the glory of God. The New Jerusalem doesn’t just have a temple, the New Jerusalem is a temple. It is the place where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will live forever. And as Paul makes clear in Ephesians 2, and Peter in 1 Peter 2, we are that place, we are that temple. That true temple.

I say true temple, for we see here that what the Old Testament pictured come to its true fulfilment in Heaven. If you remember back to our time in Exodus, you will remember many aspects of the tabernacle and temple came from the Garden of Eden, that first temple where mankind walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day. And yet, as Tony drew out so well in his children’s talk, here we see so many of the same realities return in a greater and more glorious way. For example, the tree of life reappears in 22:2, but this time we are allowed to eat of it freely. Similarly, there are angels guarding the way into the city, and yet unlike in Eden or tabernacle, people can go in and out as they please. The Bible both starts and ends with a marriage in a garden. And yet here we see the end is even better than the beginning! One of the clearest ways we see this is the size of this city. For unlike in Eden, this is not just one pocket of perfection in an uncultivated world. Or as in Jerusalem’s temple, on part of God’s presence sitting a single mountain peak. Rather, this garden city, this temple, covers the whole world. That is one of the amazing things about those measurements back in 21:16. For there John describes the city to be the same size as the known world at the time. John sees a city that covers the face of the earth, and so the prophecy in Habakkuk 2:14 fulfilled, for here we see “the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Not only does this true temple cover the whole world, but it includes the whole world. Did you notice that? Unlike the Old Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem will not be limited to one nation, for the gates of this city in 21:13 look out in all four directions: north, south, east and west. And we see in 21:24 the kings of the earth and glory of the nations come into it. We could stop and think about the implications this has for churches today, how we too must seek to have open doors welcoming Christians from all nations into our local church. Or the hope held out here that in Heaven all conflicts on earth will cease, whether in Sudan or Ukraine, for the nations will be united under Christ and we read in 22:2 the leaves of the tree of life will heal every division between them.

However, as we close, we must do so by asking the age-old question, the question I am sure you have all wondered at some point: “What will we do in heaven?” Have you ever asked that? Sometimes we can feel that while we know we are going to Heaven, we aren’t quite sure what we will do when we get there. You know you have signed up for something, but aren’t really sure what you have signed up for! Well, here we see that we will do much of what we do now. We will come and go, eat and drink, work and rest, we will still enjoy the best bits of creation, whether it is art or music or literature, for those things seem to be included there in 21:26 when John speaks about the glory and honour of the nations. The best parts of this current creation will be in the new creation but in a pure and perfect form, for we read in 21:27 that nothing impure will enter into this temple. However, if you had to sum up what we will do in one word, it would be worship. This temple will cover the whole world, and it will be filled with worshippers. Is that not what Jesus told us God seeks? In John 4:23 he said, “the hour is coming...when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” In this true temple, we will be true worshippers. That’s what John says in 22:3, where we read: [READ]. Or as the ESV puts it, “his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

Sometimes people misunderstand this, see it as a bit of an anti-climax, think of Heaven as a never-ending church service. And there is some truth to that idea, isn’t it remarkable every time we get a glimpse into the heart of heaven in the book of Revelation, we find God’s people gathered around his throne praising and singing to him. If you don’t enjoy gathering with God’s people for a few hours on a Sunday, it is unlikely you are going to enjoy gathering with his people forever in eternity. Your appetite for church now is a pretty good indicator of whether you will part of his church on that last day, part of this people in Heaven. We not only get a taste, a glimpse into Heaven when we come to church and there is a sermon series on Heaven, but every Sunday when we gather with God’s people to worship him. And yet we should think of eternity less like an unending concert, standing and singing in a choir for century after century, and more as an unending musical, as we go about the everyday aspects of our lives bursting into song again and again, for no matter what we are doing or where we are going, we will find our hearts inside burning with joy and gladness, wonder and thankfulness that we are there with God, that we get to be with and see God. For as we thought last week, the most amazing thing about Heaven is not that it will be a perfect place, nor even that we will be a perfect people, as wonderful as those two truths are, but that we will get to experience and enjoy the perfect presence of our God. That on that day we will enter into that true temple and we will never leave it.