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God's Emerging City
The Lord identifies His bride as the city of God (Revelation 21:9 - 10). Outside its walls are those who do not know Him; the only light available to them is sourced from the glory of the One reigning within it. In coming years, the Lord will intensify that light. The Kingdom of God is going to come into ever increasing clarity before the eyes of the world. As God’s Spirit succeeds in bringing the Church into a more accurate corporate expression of Christ, the impact on the world will be startling. Multitudes will flow in and be saved.
Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles (Hebrew, GOY – the nations), and their kings in procession.
The reason that the kings are last in line is because it is often difficult for rich men to enter God’s kingdom.
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
(Matthew 19:24 ESV)
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.
Even though God has chosen to accomplish His purpose through the weak and the foolish, yet He has also promised that many who come to Him will have their kings (political leaders and great men) bringing up the back of the line. To be clear, the poor generally understand eternal issues sooner than the wealthy. Those who see their great need tend to respond quicker to the message of the kingdom. What they lack is both obvious to them and ongoing. On the other hand, because of an abundance of material wealth, as well as political, economic, or military influence, the mighty are often slow to recognize their spiritual deficiency.
However, God has promised that even many of these people will get the point. We will see wealthy and powerful political leaders in America, Europe, Africa, and Asia turn to God.
Key to His strategy, the Lord has commanded continually open city gates. Since we are His city, and since those outside our walls are lost in spiritual darkness, our openness beckons them. During the whole Church age our hearts are to be open to the lost. God loves the whole world, and He is inviting those in darkness into the light.
The apostle John described God’s city in the Book of Revelation.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Pearls are precious and yet formed through suffering. Each of us has costly truth to reveal concerning the painful routes we took finding our way into God’s city. Once inside, we discovered there is no temple, for the Lord himself is the holy sanctuary. And because we have been immersed into Him, He has now become our dwelling place; we now abide in Him.
On the other hand, He abides in us; we are the temple of God. Christ in us is our hope of glory. And at the same time, having been baptized into Him, we live and abide in Him. Simultaneously, He pours Himself into us and reveals Himself through us.
… as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us,…I in them, and You in Me;…
(John 17:21, 23)
The union of the Lord with His Church is an unfathomable mystery. Yet we can celebrate our oneness with Him every morning when we arise to face the day. No longer do we have to go searching as if He were far away. He has not only placed us into himself; He has come to dwell in our hearts. We have to simply receive His love and commitment to us and rejoice in His gracious gift of eternal life.
The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
No longer are we to rely on the sun (i.e., natural light referring to human wisdom) for guidance; illumination in the city comes from the glory of God. Our paths are lit as we behold God’s sacrificial Lamb.
By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
(Revelation 21:24 ESV)
Some see this scene as a description of eternity. To them the city with pearly gates is Heaven. However, nations will not be walking in the light of the city in eternity. At that point, everyone will either be in the New Jerusalem or in Hell. There are only two destinies for mankind – the city of God or the lake of fire. So, when do we enter the city of God? And when are the nations to be affected by its light?
But you have come to…the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…
We have already encountered and entered the city. Today we are the light of the world. God’s illumination will not help the nations when they are beyond salvation’s reach; they need it today. The only light available to them is that which comes through the Church.
One primary reason why many see Revelation Chapters 21 and 22 as a picture of eternity is because this passage is preceded by John’s statement about seeing a new Heaven and a new Earth. However, it is sometimes unfortunate that Bible chapters start and end where they do. Many times the breaks in the narrative are helpful; sometimes they are not. But consider this. What if the last verse of Revelation Chapter 20 is not the concluding thought of that particular vision? What if Revelation Chapter 21 verse 1 is seen as the concluding thought of the vision and then Revelation Chapter 21 verse 2 starts the next vision? Then our perspective of the city of God changes drastically.
Eternity is revealed in the statement about a new Heaven and Earth as a consequence of the wicked being cast into the lake of fire. Remember, Heaven and Earth fled away and no place was found for them when God sat for judgment on His great white throne (Revelation 20:11). Then the dead were judged. Thus the vision concludes with the following statements.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
When did the first Heaven and Earth pass away? No place was found for them any longer when God sat for final judgment on His great white throne (Revelation 20:11). As a result, Revelation Chapter 21 verse 1 is to be seen as the concluding thought of the same vision because it refers back to that very event.
If Revelation Chapter 21 verse 1 concludes the previous vision, then Revelation Chapter 21 starting at verse 2 introduces a new thought. John opens for us God’s present apostolic strategy to rescue humanity from the damnation revealed in the previous vision.
The city authored by God from heaven is in fact what Abraham looked for and what we now participate in because we have access by the blood of Christ. God sees the city in both her final mature state (made ready as a bride) and in her progressive growth state (coming down from heaven).
Revelation pictures two cities – Babylon (the product of man’s strength) and the New Jerusalem (the product of God’s grace). One is from the Earth; the other emerges from Heaven. God speaks to John of both present reality and of future hope for those in His city. For example:
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men (presently), and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God (our present and future hope). And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain (future), for the former things have passed away (presently).”
The Lord and His people are the only hope that America has. Today there is a measure of illumination in our nation. We recognize a certain degree of economic and political wisdom – certainly a little more than was found in Communist ideology. But what is the source of that illumination? There can only be one answer. God affected the course of this nation when He brought believers to her shores and poured out His Spirit upon them in various revivals such as the Great Awakenings.
When the glory of God fell, the light emanating from the city of God affected this country. Illumination and blessing came to America and she became one of the most prosperous nations in all of history. This was a direct result of God’s light upon His city.
Today, our nation does not recognize her source of greatness. Many in society would like to shut the Church down. They want to live according to their own fleshly desires and not be restrained by what they consider outmoded religious ideas. But they simply fail to understand that the foundation of our national greatness was the presence of God with His people.
Today, my prayer is that God’s light will not diminish in our land any further, but that it would again increase and intensify. Even though we as a nation deserve His judgment, our cry must be that He would have mercy, manifest His glory upon His people, and cause America to again shift in her direction. Here is her hope.
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