What will Heaven be like? (Revelation 21-22)
This sermon was preached to Magherafelt Baptist Church on 15 September 2024.
What will Heaven be like? I imagine that many of the answers you might give to that question will come out of our passage. Maybe you think of those precious truths in 21:4, there will be no more tears, or pain, or sorrow, for the former things will pass away. What a wonderful hope that is for all who face sorrows and suffering in this life? Or perhaps you think of that city with a street of gold in 21:21, which will surely be such a glorious sight, that it will make the Grand Canyon seem little more than a big hole in the ground! Considering those kinds of truths, thinking about how heaven will be a far better and more glorious place than earth, would be a worthy way to spend our sermon tonight.
However, I’m willing to hazard a guess, that the thing that most often comes into your mind when you think of heaven, is not necessarily the place, but the people. If I were to ask you this evening what you are most looking forward to in heaven, it is less likely to be the street of gold, and more likely to be those loved ones who have died in Christ and gone there before you. Whether it is a parent or a spouse, a friend or another family member, this prospect of being reunited with loved ones is a truly precious part of what Heaven will be.
And you know, as we look at Revelation 21 tonight, we are going to see that when it speaks about heaven, it too focuses on the people of heaven. And yet, it does so in a way that is far broader than we often do. For we shall see that Heaven not only means reunion with our loved ones, but it also means, indeed it mainly means, the reunion 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 that we christians are all going to together. And so, as we consider it tonight, we are going to be thinking of it less as individuals, and more as church members. Less as my future with my loved ones, and more as our future with all of God’s loved ones.
We are going to be thinking less about the place of heaven, and more about the people of heaven. And we shall see that John portrays the people of Heaven in three different ways during this vision. He uses three different images, to tell us what we, 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). [...]
1. A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE (21:1-8)
Our chapter begins by telling us that heaven will be a better place than earth. In 21:1, John tells us he saw, “a new heaven and a new earth”. And in the first few verses, he explains why this new creation will be better than the old one. He explains that there is no sickness or suffering, no death or pain, no tears in this new creation, for in 21:4 we read God will wipe every tear from our eyes. However, John quickly goes on to explain 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, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
If you remember back to last Sunday morning, we finished our service with some words from Revelation 19, where that parable of the bridegroom from Matthew 25 is told from a different angle, as we read in 19:7-8 that: [READ]. And here we see the bride again, God’s people about to be united to God’s Son, coming to dwell with him forever and ever. After this bride arrives in 21:2, a loud voice says in 21:3: [READ]. The bridegroom has come, the wedding has taken place, and now the new couple will live together, dwell with one another. God and his people. Christ and his new bride. However, we are not just described as a bride, but more than that, we are described as a beautiful bride. 21:2 calls us “a bride adorned [other translations beautifully dressed] for her husband.”
If you have planned a wedding recently, or have perhaps just started the process of planning one, you will quickly realise that they don’t come cheap. Last year, the average cost for a wedding in the UK was £18,400. Of course, that money is spent all sorts of things: the venue, the food, invitations. However, much of it is spent on the bride herself: hair, makeup, and of course the most important and prominent thing, the wedding dress itself. People spend a lot of money to make sure that 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, get in shape for the occasion. There is something natural about wanting to look your best on your wedding day, for a bride 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 adorned, beautifully dressed. We will have the most amazing, jaw dropping, wedding dress there has ever been. For back in 19:8, we were told that 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. Filled with the fruit of love […].
If you are a Christian here tonight, someone who is following Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I wonder are you getting ready for your wedding day? Now that you are engaged, are you preparing for the big day? Are you trying to lose some spiritual weight? Remove sins from your life like pride and greed, laziness and lust? Are you trying to live a life of beauty? Grow in godliness? Christian, are you getting yourself ready for your wedding day? Making yourself beautiful for your bridegroom?
However, more than that, are you getting others ready for their wedding day too? You see, unlike on an earthly wedding day, on this heavenly wedding day, you will not be the only bride! This wedding is actually closer to some of those mass wedding you see in TV, where there are 100s of couples at once, than it is a normal 2 person wedding. For when the music starts, and the time comes, all of us as the universal church, will be walking down that aisle together. We will all be one bride. 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. We can do this when we draw alongside one another to give some encouragement. Or meet up to pray or study the Bible with each other. When we warn one another about sins we see in each other’s lives. Brothers and sisters, do you love your future husband enough to not only to get yourself ready, but to help get others ready for that wedding day 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 be beautiful for him. John calls the people of Heaven a beautiful bride.
2. A COMPLETED CITY (21:9-21)
Back in 1883, the Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, was asked to design a new cathedral for Barcelona. As an architectural genius, the plans he proposed were spectacular. It would be the tallest cathedral in the world. Work began straight away, 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 his 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. The Sagrada Familia is the most famous unfinished building project in the world. It is magnificent on paper, and yet for 140 years, it has been little more than a building site. And many think it will never be finished.
From 21:9, John introduces a structure to us 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. 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.
Again and again, whether by men, measurements or materials, we see that this magnificent city is complete, finished. And is that not what Jesus promised? In Matthew 16:18, “I will build by church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” And 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 he will have built a complete city. All God’s plans for his people will be fully and finally fulfilled.
Christian, I hope you see what an encouragement this is for us this side of Heaven. How that knowledge of the future impacts to our life in the present. Even if the church seems a bit like a building site today, suffers set backs, 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. Not one word of God’s good promises will fall to the ground. 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 be completed 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 of the church finished in our lifetime, we know that one day we will see this city completed. For in heaven, John says that the church will be a completed city.
3. A TRUE TEMPLE (21:22-22:5)
Barcelona has now become famous for the Sagrada Familia. However, many other cities are also instantly recognisable from their famous landmarks. 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 as well. 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, it is the first thing they would have seen 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. In 21:22 we read: [READ].
If one of these three images of God’s people is more important, I think it is this one. The most important thing we can know about the church in Heaven, is that we will be a temple. So many of the details so far in the chapter have pointed to this final picture. For example, think back to how the city in 21:9-21 alludesto the Jewish temple. The same stones in the foundations of these city walls were also placed in the foundations of the temple. Like the Holy of Holies in the temple, this city is constructed as a perfect cube, as wide as it is deep as it is high. This 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.
And it is here, that we find an answer to that 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 in Revelation 21 we read about how 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 of the glory and honour of the nations. The best parts of this current creation will be in the new creation, but in a pure perfect form, for we read in 21:27 that nothing unclean will enter this temple. However, if you had to sum up what we will do is one word, it would be worship. After all is that not what you do in a temple? Is that not what Jesus told us that God ultimately 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. And that is what John says in 22:3, where we read: [READ].
Sometimes people misunderstand this, see it as a bit of an anti-climax, think of Heaven as a never-ending church service. And yet we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss this idea, to regard it as dull or silly. For 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 in something a bit like a church service, 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 will enjoy gathering with his people forever in eternity. Our appetite for church now is a pretty good indicator of whether you will part of his church, part of this people in Heaven.
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, going 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 have found ourselves in that place where everything is turned into prayer and praise! Where congregations ne’er break up and Sabbaths have no end. Where we get to spend eternity face to face with God, in the presence of God, as part of the people of God. This beautiful bride, this completed city and true temple forever and ever.
CONCLUSION
Here in Revelation 21, we see that that is what heaven will be like. Or rather, that it what we will be like in heaven. However, as we close, we must also see that while Revelation 21 speaks of the people of God in these three different ways, it also speaks of another group of people.
This morning we saw that there are always two groups. Sheep and the goats. The same is true for our passage tonight. There are those who will be in heaven and there are those who will not be there. Perhaps that sometimes comes into your mind when you think of heaven. Yes, you are looking forward to seeing your loved ones who have died in Christ, but your heart is also heavy as you think about your loved ones who are outside of Christ. And we see Revelation speaks of this group as well. Yes, we have heard that the people of heaven will be as a beautiful bride, a completed city, a true temple. But John also tells us about Hell, which is as terrible as Heaven is wonderful. Hell too will have a people, there in 21:8, John explains: [READ].
That’s a list that, if we are honest, includes everyone of us here this evening. Even if we have not practised scorery, we have all lied. Even if we have not committed murder, we have all been faithless. 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 come and claim the church as his bride. As I’m sure you sometimes sing, ‘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.
We’ve thought about the joys of heaven together this evening. Friend, they can be yours, if only you would become part of Christ’s bride. Heaven is for any who will take hold of it, who will accept Christ’s marriage proposal. But 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 evening and are not yet part of this people of Heaven, 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 [...]
