Hell is more popular than heaven. That’s at least what Dante’s readers think. Dante Alighieri’s description of hell, The Inferno, is much more popular than Paradiso, his description of heaven. The Inferno is famous for its imaginative punishments fitting for each sin. For example, those who spent their lives trying to see the future—astrologers, false prophets, fortune tellers—spend eternity in hell with their heads turned around on their necks so they can only see backward. Those who spent their lives consuming everything spend eternity being consumed by a monster. Such fitting punishments make The Inferno the most read section of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Paradiso is the least read. Each of these poems deal with light, light, and more light, and when you think you’ve had enough light, there is even more light, and then you’ve got twenty more poems about light, and it ends with light. There is a lot of light.
Now Paradiso is actually amazing even with all the light; however, it isn’t as interesting as The Inferno. I’m hoping that tonight’s study and our next two studies make clear that heaven is far more interesting than hell. I’m hoping to do so tonight by taking what is familiar and amplifying it. This is exactly what we studied last week when considered Boughton’s vision of heaven, ‘Boughton says he has more ideas about heaven every day. He said, “mainly I just think about the splendors of the world and multiply by two. I’d multiply by ten or twelve if I had the energy…” So he’s just sitting there multiplying the feel of the wind by two, multiplying the smell of the grass by two.’ Boughton got that from the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation shows the us the splendors of this world multiplied by two, by twelve, and beyond, and that is the focus of our study tonight.
We will study this in four points. First: the new creation. Second: the new Eden. Third: the new Jerusalem. Fourth: the new temple.
First: the new creation. This creation will not survive. God will not rehabilitate it. He will destroy it. As Peter put it, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.” After this creation is destroyed, there is a new creation. As Peter continues, “in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
The first thing to point out about this new creation is that it is earthy. The new creation isn’t merely a realm of light. The redeemed live in the new earth. Adam and Eve lived in Eden. We will live in the new Eden. David’s subjects lived in Jerusalem. Jesus’ subjects will live in the new Jerusalem. The Jews faithful worshipped in the temple. The faithful will worship in the new temple. This creation is enhanced in the new creation.
This new creation is introduced with an absence; as John put it, ‘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.’ John isn’t saying that the entire new creation is landlocked. He isn’t saying there are no good fishing holes. He is saying that there is no chaos in the new creation. As with most of the book of Revelation, you need to go back to the Old Testament to see what’s going on. In the beginning, waters were a sign of chaos; creation was a sign of order. You see that in Genesis 1:2, “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In the flood, the world returns to chaos, “the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days… But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”
By saying that there is no sea in the new creation, John is saying that there is no threat of chaos. There is no possibility of chaos. We live this life under the threat of chaos. Each of us is only a few events, decisions, and diagnoses away from pain, crying, mourning, and death. That will not be the case in the new creation. In other words, “There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain.” In other words, “the old order of things has passed away.”
There is no chance of the new creation falling into chaos. The possibility that anything might go wrong will not occur to any of us, and God will not allow anything to run less than perfectly. As Revelation 21:5 puts it, ‘He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
So as we continue our study, remember that everything is new but everything is still creation. It isn’t an eternity of floating around in light. The new creation is, if anything, more earthy this than one. As CS Lewis explained in his book on heaven, it will be more solid, not less. Remember that as we study rivers and trees and cities and jewels.
So that’s just a simple orientation to the new creation. Now let’s move into these three images of the new creation. Let’s study the new Eden. That’s our second point: the new Eden. The second chapter of Scripture describes the first Eden. The last chapter of Scripture describes aspects of the new Eden. Revelation 22:1, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.”
Eden is all over these verses. It starts with the description of that river of life, which takes us back to Genesis 2:10, “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.” In the new creation the river of life flows through the center of the city and, “on each side of the river stood the tree of life.” This takes us back to Genesis 2:9, “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” In the new creation, we see the tree of life but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because henceforth humanity will only know God. We won’t try to judge between good and evil on our own ever again.
In the new creation, “no longer will there be any curse,” as Revelation 22:3 puts it. It was this curse that accompanied man’s expulsion from the garden; Genesis 3:17, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,” cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.’ Because of that curse, man could not return to the tree of life and so live forever in sin. That’s what Genesis 3:24 is about, “After [God] drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Now that curse has been removed and humanity can eat from the tree of life again.
In Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. After they sinned, they hid in shame and we have, to some extent or another, been hiding ever since. In the new creation, we will again walk and talk with God. As Revelation 22:4 puts it, “they will see His face.” Not only will we see God’s face, we will be unable to get away from it. That’s part of what Revelation 22:5 is about, “They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” That’s likely not a statement about astronomy. It’s likely a statement that God’s presence will fill every nook and cranny of the new creation. In the new Eden, you won’t be able to get away from God’s presence and, of course, you won’t want to.
The final aspect of this new Eden which we will focus on is Revelation 22:5, “they will reign for ever and ever.” This is the same as the commission originally given to Adam and Eve, “let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” We are returned to what we should be.
I don’t think any of that sounds boring. That sounds meaningful. It sounds purposeful. It sounds pregnant with possibilities. It sounds like the Garden of Eden but better. That’s the new Eden. Now we see that it is also the new Jerusalem. The garden is also a city. This city is our second point: the new Jerusalem.
Eden was where God dwelt with His people in the beginning. That presence was later signified by Jerusalem. The importance of Jerusalem lays not in its topography or climate or anything special about its latitude or longitude. There was nothing inherently sacred or special about that place. It was originally just a stronghold that David captured and turned into his capitol. It’s importance lay in God’s choice to make His presence known in that place. God’s name dwelt there by virtue of the temple. God’s reign was made clear there by virtue of the Davidic king. Those are the tokens of God’s love. As Psalm 87 puts it, God, “has founded His city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God.”
Jerusalem wasn’t and isn’t so much of a city as it is an ideal of life under God’s rule. That’s Revelation 21:3-4, ‘I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”’
We see this pictured as a city, as the new Jerusalem; Revelation 21:2, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” The people of God are the bride of God. As Isaiah told Israel, “your Maker is your husband the Lord Almighty is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.” In many ways that is the whole message of the book of Hosea. The various Ancient Near East gods had their divine consorts and lovers, but not the God of Israel. He was married to His people. You see the same with Christ and the church. This is why Paul could give detailed instructions to husbands and wives and then say, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” This is one reason that sexuality is so important. This is one reason why marriage is so important.
Jerusalem, the city of God, the people of God, are the bride of God, and we as the new Jerusalem will be a fitting bride; as John describes us, “a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Probably my favorite moment of the entire premarital and wedding process is standing up front with the groom waiting for the bride. That groom can hardly wait for her to get to the front. Now, believe it or not, and I say that because some of you will find that hard to believe, this is how God looks forward to being with His people. He can hardly wait to be with us. If you think for a second that you will have any reason for shame when you look into the eyes of Christ in the new creation, you aren’t thinking biblically. The hymn thinks biblically, “the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her lord. She is his new creation by water and the word. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride, with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.”
If you want to see a bit of the beauty of the bride, look at the foundations of the city walls. Revelation 21:19, “the foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.”
If you take these as purely literal references to construction materials, you will miss the point. Remember this is apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature works through images informed by previous Scriptures. In this case the image comes from the high priest’s breastplate. The high priest’s breastplate displayed twelve jewels in a three by four grid. Exodus 28 lists the twelve and says, “There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.” The tribes, as precious as jewels, were to be upon the high priest’s heart because they were upon God’s heart. In the new creation, the city, or us, who are as precious as jewels, are on God’s heart constantly. That’s you. That’s the bride of Christ.
Let’s close by thinking about the new temple. That’s our final point. The phrase “new temple” might ring hollow considering Revelation 21:22 says, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
What John is saying is that the entire new creation is a temple because we are always in the unveiled presence of God. You can see this by the measurements of the city. Revelation 21:15, “The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 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, and as wide and high as it is long.” That’s a cube. That’s the shape of the Holy of Holies in the temple. It was a long as it was wide as it was high. The whole city is the Holy of Holies in the new creation. We won’t need a physical temple because we will always be in the temple. We will always live unveiled before God’s face.
We can do so because we are changed. We see a sign of this change in Revelation 22:4, “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” To say that we will have God’s name on our foreheads is to say that Deuteronomy 6:4 and 8 are finally a reality, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts… Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” Jews literally wore and wear the commands on their hands and foreheads by way of phylacteries, but in the new creation God’s commands will literally be in our heads and worked out through our hands. We will be holy to God, meaning set apart in everything for God, or as Jesus put it earlier in Revelation we will be pillars in His temple.
Now all of that is earthy, right? All of that is understandable because of what we know today but it is augmented. That isn’t merely light, light, and more light, which again is a disservice to Dante’s poem but a fair description of popular views of heaven. This is earthy. This is the new creation. This is the new Eden. This is the new Jerusalem. This is the new temple. This is eternity for everyone who belongs to body and soul in life and in death to Jesus Christ. As Revelation 21 ends, “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.”
The question you need to consider is, is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? Are you one of the sinners for whom the Lamb of God was slain? If not, why not? If so, now you know what eternity looks like for you. I would dare say that it looks pretty interesting, much more interesting than the most skilled poet could ever describe. Amen.
“2 Peter 3:10 and 13, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare… in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Revelation 21:1, ‘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.’
Genesis 1:2, “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Genesis 7:24-8:1, “the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days… But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”
Revelation 21:4, “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.”
Revelation 21:5, ‘He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”’
Revelation 22:1-5, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.’
Genesis 2:10, “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.”
Genesis 2:9, “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Genesis 3:17, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,” cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.’
Genesis 3:24, “After [God] drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Genesis 1:26, “let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Psalm 87:1-3, “He has founded His city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God.”
Revelation 21:2-3, ‘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, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”’
Isaiah 54:5, “your Maker is your husband the Lord Almighty is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.”
Ephesians 5:32, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
Revelation 21:19-20, “the foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.”
Exodus 28:21, “There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.”
Revelation 21:22, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
Revelation 21:15-16, “The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 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, and as wide and high as it is long.”
Revelation 22:4, “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”
Deuteronomy 6:4 and 8, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts… Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”
Revelation 21:27, “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.”
”