“Then
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself
will be with them and be their God. “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, for the former things have
passed away.” Then He who sat on
the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write,
for these words are true and faithful.”
Revelation 21:2-5 NKJV
Years
ago we made the decision to uproot from the western part of the state and move
to the eastern side where life seemed to offer a more relaxing and conservative
atmosphere to raise a family. Selling
the home in which we had lived for so long presented us with emotions that
seemed at the time to be more intense than we had imagined they would be. Although tempered with the enthusiasm and
anticipation of our new home, leaving the old and all of the memories that
accompanied it was difficult to say the least.
Over the years, as I have talked and taught on the subject of heaven, it
has surprised me to find that many people would appear to have similar feelings
when it comes to contemplating leaving our earthly home to take up residence in
our heavenly home.
Trying
to explain to three little girls why we were making the move and talking about
concerns we had as parents for our children’s well being truthfully didn’t get
us very far. We were then reduced to
discussing how much fun we were going to have in our new home much as we would
explain a trip to Disneyland. That
approach seemed to work much better, and created a sense of anticipation in the
minds of our children as to what they would find in our new surroundings. To be truthful, it has often appeared to me
that this same circumstance has affected the way that God has chosen to
approach His revealing of our future home to us, and especially the way He has
chosen to describe it to us.
The
first thing we find about our new home is that it is described as being as
beautiful as a bride on her wedding day.
I have mentioned before that thanks to my daughters I am quite familiar
with the time and effort, and expense, which a bride goes through to achieve
the perfect look on her wedding day. I
am sure most of us can understand that line of thought as well and it comes as
no surprise to me that Jesus uses that same picture to describe the time and
effort He put into creating our new heavenly home. Best of all we are told that
not only is it physically beautiful, it is at this time that the old passes
away and all things become new, including the memories of an old life with all
of its painful memories and sorrows.
“And He
said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who
thirsts. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and
he shall be My son. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in
the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:6-8 NKJV
How
many of us have imagined at some point in time just what it would be like to
live someplace where everyone had the same beliefs and convictions as we
do? Just as the move we chose to make as
a family was in part motivated by a desire to live in an area where society
seemed to reflect the morals and standards we believed in, we are told that the
inhabitants of our new home will all have made the same decision to accept the
grace freely offered by our Lord and have received the “water of life” and
become overcomers. Those who chose to
reject that same grace will instead be sent to an entirely different place, “the
lake which burns with fire and brimstone”.
“Then
one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last
plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high
mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most
precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great
and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names
written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of
Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three
gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the
city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles
of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the
city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length
is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve
thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its
wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man,
that is, of an angel.” Revelation
21:9-17 NKJV
Again
I would like to share some words from Jack Kelley as he talks about our new
home.
“I’ve written about
the New Jerusalem several times, how it will be the exclusive home of the
redeemed Church. At about 1400 miles tall, wide, and deep it will be much too
big to fit on Earth. In fact, it will be almost 2/3rds the size of the moon.
Put in a different perspective, if the entire world population, currently about
7,000,000,000 people, lived in one geographic location with the population
density of New York City, it would be a city the size of the state of Texas.
The way it’s described in Rev. 21:16 leads many people to believe the New
Jerusalem is either a cube or pyramid shaped. But if it was a sphere, like the
moon, the New Jerusalem could easily accommodate 22 cities this size on its
surface area. That’s 22 times the total current population of Earth. Don’t let
anyone tell you it’s not big enough for the Church.”
How
would I describe our new home?
Truthfully, I don’t think I can. All I know is that it will be a place of unimaginable joy where we will live for eternity with our loving Father in a place of incredible beauty.
I fall back on what the apostle Paul said in his first letter to the
church at Corinth.
“But as
it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart
of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV
I
don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to move to my new home.
Keep
watching.
If
you have not had the opportunity to visit Jack Kelley’s website I encourage you
to do so. It is by far one of the most
helpful and educational sites available and the source of a wealth of
knowledge.
