In the Christian life the best is left to the last. Abraham looked forward to a home. See Hebrews 11:10. We should be looking, longing and living for that city. It is an indescribable place called Heaven. It is used throughout the Bible. There are three heavens mentioned. One is the atmospheric heaven in which we live and breathe. There is the celestial heaven in which the planets exist. The third heaven is the place where angels and God can be found. We see the first heaven by day; we see the second heaven by night and the third heaven by faith. John is trying to describe in words what he sees. He is only describing the capital city of Heaven in these verses.

1 – The location of this city (vs. 1)

Notice two things:-

• It is a real place. It is not just a state of mind. See John 14:2. We get the materials and dimensions later in these verses.
• It is a renewed place (vs. 2 & 21). Heaven is a new place. It is a different kind of place. It is different from this Earth. This old Earth is going up in smoke. See 2 Peter 3:10. This Earth shall get a new suit of clothing. See Psalm 102:25-27. Heaven will be so wonderful that we won’t even think about this old Earth. Heaven is not a boring place! Those who are in Heaven now are not thinking about you! There is something better in Heaven! When you get there you will do the same! See Isaiah 65:17

2 – The loveliness of this city (vs. 2-4)

It is compared to a bride coming out to meet her husband. She is beautiful. Heaven will be a lovely place. Some things will make it even lovelier. There will a couple of things that will make Heaven even more wonderful.

• The presence of God (vs. 3) – Heaven is where God is. It is like the Garden of Eden when God fellowshipped with man. This time it will in Heaven rather than a garden. God will walk and talk with us. We won’t need to pray “Our Father in Heaven” as we will already be there!
• The absence of grief (vs. 4) – This verse means a lot to us if we have ever experienced death, pain and ill health. There will no diseases or need for doctors. There will be no need for aspirins in Heaven. There won’t be any funerals in Heaven. There won’t be any obituary columns.

3 – The law of this city (vs. 5-8)

There are three laws that will govern this city:-

• The law of satisfaction (vs. 5-6) – God will take care of every desire that you have. If you have a need God will take care of it. All needs are met in Heaven.
• The law of service (vs. 7) – Will be the administrators of Heaven. It will just like Adam in the Garden of Eden. We will inherit all things. We will serve the Lord in Heaven. See Revelation 22:3. Heaven is not just a place of rest and satisfaction. How will we serve God? We don’t know.
• The law of security (vs. 8) – Heaven is going to be safe and secure. There won’t be any murders and outlaws there. There won’t be any need for guns or police. You won’t need insurance or burglar alarms!

4. The lustre of this city (vs. 9-21)

There are three things to notice:-

• It is a mysterious city. This city is coming down out of Heaven and filled with the glory of God. It is like a sparkling diamond coming out of Heaven. John finds it magnificent and uses all the words he can to describe it.
• It is a majestic city (vs. 18). The street of the city is pure gold with all kind of stones used to construct the city. Even the gate of this city is one solid pearl. Where did the oyster come from! This is no cheap city! The gold is not nine carat that lasts a few weeks. It is not twenty-four carat. This is 100% pure gold. It is so pure it is transparent. When you get to Heaven you don’t stroll about on asphalt! Can you imagine walking on pure gold! How can you understand a place like that? This is God’s city, not man’s city! There are some lovely cities like Vancouver and Sydney. They pale into nothing compared to God’s city. The light of the Lord shines on all of this as there is no Sun or moon. We won’t even remember what the old Earth was like! This is what you can look forward to in Heaven.
• It is a massive city (vs. 15). This city is a perfect cube. The capital city will be 1500 miles in every direction. What a city? It would stretch from Canada to Mexico! Imagine all the other cities in Heaven. We will be able to move horizontally and vertically in our glorified bodies. The city stretches 1500 miles high as well. There is room for you in Heaven if you trust in Jesus Christ! There was no room for Jesus on Earth. What a city!

5 – The Lord of this city (21:22-27 & 22:1-5)

Notice two things:-

• The Lord is the light of this city. (vs. 23). See Revelation 22:5. There is no need for the Sun, moon and stars. There will be no need for electricity. The Lord is all the light we need.
• The Lord is the life of this city. See Revelation 22:1-5. There is the Tree of Life and the Water of Life.

Don’t miss Heaven. The unrighteous will not be there. We need the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God. Heaven is too good to miss. Heaven is so beautiful that you need to see it for yourself to appreciate it fully. You can go to Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked in the past but if you want to walk with Jesus in the future then you need to get to Heaven.

Categories: Revelation