All Things New

May 22, 2011

Lesson: Revelation 21:1–8

Key Verse: Revelation 21:5

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Introduction

Paul is persuaded, and so are all of God’s children, “that neither death, nor life, no angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, …shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). However, there is a marked difference between the child of God and the children of darkness. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:5–6).

When the time had come for our Savior to go to the cross of Calvary, He told His disciples about a very special gift. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s (household) are many (dwelling places) …I go and prepare a place for you” (John 14:1–2). He also promised that He would “come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (14:3). Here is the Good News! Christ Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, in order that those for whom He died would have a place in the household of God. We who are His children, having put our faith in Christ as our Savior, have been received into the presence of God. It is also the great desire of the Son that we also may be where He is.

David understood the meaning of repentance and forgiveness. And he knew the promise of God that he would dwell in His presence because of this forgiveness. It is God who would purge away the sins of His people. Then comes the true joy of fellowship: “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psa. 65:4).

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A New City: Revelation 21:1–2

The risen Lord reveals to His beloved apostle, John, “a new heaven and a new earth.” The first heaven and earth are passed away. This new heaven and new earth are not ‘new’ in the sense of brand new, but in the sense of being resurrected: just as we will receive a new resurrected body whereby we will be recognized as Andrew or Marilyn or John or Lois; so the heaven and earth will be recognized, but without sin and the curse. It will be beautiful because God will have restored it to His good pleasure. There will be no sea. This is the sea from which evil ascends: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” (Rev. 13:1). The sea in John’s vision reveals the great divide between man and his Creator. No one can pass over this sea except those who have victory over the beast (15:1–3). This victory is found only in Christ. The new planet will have nothing in it that will separate us from our Father.

What happens next, after the establishment of the new heavens and earth? John saw “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2). The holy city, or new Jerusalem, is the redeemed people of God. Our Savior has achieved what He has promised. He had, by way of His shed blood, prepared a place in the presence of the Holy God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The children of the household of God, wearing the righteous robes of their Savior and King, will descend upon the new earth.

We have a glorious taste of this new resurrected life today. Our hope is in the reality of being part of the new Jerusalem. Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote of his assurance in Christ: “I am a part of him; I have died with him; I have risen with him. He is my life and I am in him. So, being in him, I am as secure as those who are with him in heaven, and it is because he has dealt with every barrier and hindrance and obstacle to our receiving this blessed life” (Saved in Eternity).

There are two characteristics of the holy city. One is that it comes down from God out of heaven. His people are with Him in His heavenly presence until the new earth is resurrected. Then they come, presumably with their new resurrected body to earth. Then there is the beautiful picture of the body of Christ as His bride, whom He redeemed with His own precious blood. We rejoice with one who will be with us in that day: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isa. 61:10).

Discussion: How does his hope of a new city help us in our daily walk with God?

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Tabernacle of God: Revelation 21:3–4

These verses cover us with the comfort of the Holy Spirit; for He reveals to us that the warfare and discomforts of this life are little to bear, compared with what is ahead. God Himself is with us, now and forever. As He shepherds us daily, He will, because He is our God, finally wipe away all our tears, eternally walk with us, for there will be no death (spiritual or physical), and no more pain, misery, or weariness. These things belong to the former things of this world, not of the world to come. The emphasis of our eternal life is in Christ, and in the knowledge that God Himself is with us.

Discussion: In what ways has God in Christ Jesus given you so freely of His comfort?

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Water of Life: Revelation 21:5–8

John now hears the words of the King of kings. The Lord tells us that it is He who makes all things new. There is only one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Again (Rev. 1:2–3, 18–20) the risen Lord tells John to write, “for these words are true and faithful.” All that Christ has revealed to John will be done, for He is the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Therefore, it is Christ alone who gives life, saying, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Do you know the promise of Christ? “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

The comparison between the righteous in Christ and the wicked is again revealed, in order, first, that we may know that it is with much grace and unmerited love that our Lord brings us into His kingdom. We have an inheritance established in heaven (Eph. 1:11–12). We have the promise of being called sons, children of God (1 John 3:1–2). The second death belongs only to the unrepentant transgressors of the moral law of God.

Discussion: What is it that God in Christ Jesus has so freely given to you?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2011 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.