The New Jerusalem

Revelation 21

Then I saw a New Heaven and a new earth,

For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,

And there was no longer any sea.

I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, 

Coming down out of Heaven from God,

Prepared as a Bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.

They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,

For the old order of things has passed away.'

He who was seated on the throne said,

'I am making everything new!'

Then He said,

'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'

He said to me:

'It is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost

From the spring of the water of life.

He who overcomes will inherit all this,

And I will be his God and he will be My son.'

'But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers,

The sexually immoral,

Those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—

Their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

This is the second death.'

One of the seven angels

Who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues

Came and said to me,

'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high,

And showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem,

Coming down out of Heaven from God.

It shone with the glory of God,

And its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like jasper, 

Clear as crystal.

It had a great high wall with twelve gates, 

And with twelve angels at the gates.

On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south

And three on the west.

The wall of the city had twelve foundations,

And on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold 

To measure the city, Its gates and its wall.

The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide.

He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length

(about 1,400 miles),

And as wide and high as it is long.

He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick (about 200 feet),

By man's measurement, which the angel was using.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

The foundations of the city walls 

Were decorated with every kind of precious stone.

The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony,

The fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, 

The seventh crysolite,

The eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth,

And the twelfth amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each made of a single pearl.

The street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty

And the Lamb are its temple.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,

For the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

The nations will walk by its light,

And the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

Nothing impure will ever enter it,

Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,

But only those whose names are written in the lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21 NIV)

John sees a New Heaven and a new earth 

Because the first earth has passed away.

The new earth has no sea.

Then the Holy City, the New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven from God,

Like a Bride dressed beautifully for her Husband.

A loud voice declares that,

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live in them.”

God who is a Spirit will live in His people,

Just as He lives in those who receive Him today.

He will remove from them all sorrow

So that there are no more tears, crying, pain, mourning or death.

The former reality will be replaced with a new and glorious reality.

God Himself declares: “I am making everything new!”

The Lord says to John:

“It is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost

From the Spring of the Water of LIFE.

He who overcomes will inherit all this,

And I will be his God and he will be my son.”

“It is done.” The history of mankind is over, its purpose completed.

The Holy Spirit has obtained a Bride for Christ Jesus,

And He is making everything new for their new state of being.

Those who were thirsty, drank, from the Spring of the Water of LIFE

And received and inherited all this, a new state of being in the Spirit of God.

They overcame the world by the blood of the Lamb

And the word of their testimony of Christ Jesus;

By Christ in them, who became the reality of their new state of glory.

Christ Jesus is their God and they are His sons and daughters.

Everyone else is destined for the Lake of Fire, the place of eternal torment.

One of the seven angels shows John the Bride the wife of the Lamb.

He is carried away in the Spirit and shown the Holy City, Jerusalem.

It is glorious beyond measure.

The City does not have a temple

Because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, who are ONE, are its temple.

The City does not need the sun or the moon for light

Because the glory of God gives off its supernatural light.

The nations now walk by the light of the City of God

And the kings of the earth bring their splendor to it.

The City's gates are never shut, because there is no night there.

The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

“Nothing impure will ever enter it,

Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,

Only those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of LIFE.”