The Eternal Kingdom

Revelation, if we be honest, is full of bad news – judgment, beasts, the dragon, Armageddon, turmoil, death, and destruction. But it ends with really good news – a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21). But wait, let’s be clear. That good news is the blessed hope of the redeemed, those who have trusted in God’s grace, and been made righteous by the blood of Christ. The “good news” chapter makes it very clear that many people will not spend their eternity in the realm of God’s glory, under the reign of King Jesus. They will spend their eternity in the lake of fire (Rev 21:8).

The eternal kingdom finds its fullest description in Revelation 21. The description is quite symbolic, but we can get a real good idea of what our “forever” reality will be like. Most of us have become accustomed to calling the eternal kingdom by the name, heaven. But that is not technically correct, although there is no reason to argue the point. The only problem is that we think of heaven being up there somewhere, rather than here on earth.

You see, God’s redemptive plan is essentially a journey to the original condition (cf Rev 21:6, “I am the beginning and the end”). After the fall of mankind into the control and punishment of sin, pioneered by Adam and Eve, we have spent thousands of years dealing with the consequences. Things changed when God slammed the gates closed on Eden. I have to deal with weeds on my tree farm, constantly. Drought and insects seem to wipe out my crop every few years. And I deal with temptation and failure, guilt and shame. If it weren’t for forgiveness – both from God and from one another – this world would be a hopeless existence. But God’s intention from the beginning was to rescue and redeem mankind from this fallen state, and provide an Eden-like earth once again for those who choose to believe in Jesus, the central figure of His redemptive plan.

In the vision recorded in Revelation 21, John sees the Holy City, a new Jerusalem, coming down to earth form God’s Heaven. This city symbolically represents the bride of Christ, all the redeemed of the ages. The description of the city, while symbolic, is quite extensive. It is 1400 miles wide, long, and high. The footprint of the city is 1.9 million square miles, over 200 times the size of modern-day Israel. It is cubic, similar to the Most Holy place in the temple and the tabernacle. Main Street is paved with gold. The city will have 12 gates in the wall. Why it needs a wall, I do not know, since there will be no enemies. The description includes so many symbolic elements, all alluding to aspects of God’s long term redemptive plan of the ages – the gemstones from Eden, the twelves tribes of Israel, and the twelve apostles.

Some of the important points to glean from this chapter are these. God said, “I am making all things new”. The old earth will be burned up (2 Pet 3:7) and a new earth formed. There will be no more tears, death, or pain, since the old is gone. Not only the earth will be new, but we will have resurrection bodies (I Cor 15:35-54). There will be no temple in the New City (which distinguishes the eternal kingdom from the Millennial Kingdom; cf. Ezek 40-44). And there will be no need for the light from the sun or moon, since the glory of God and of Jesus will be the light and the lamp of the eternal kingdom. And it seems there will be nations and kings from around the world that will visit the Holy City (Rev 21:24-27), probably the inhabitants of New Jerusalem disbursed around the globe --holy people and nations, governed by holy kings.

Glory, Hallelujah! God is so good to those who love Him. Jesus said, ^“My Father’s house has many rooms…. I am going there to prepare a place for you…. I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn 14:2-4). What we can look forward to, eternally, is security, peace, happiness, living water, and the glory of the God we have come to know in this life.