“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Revelation 21:23)
That city is the New Jerusalem, which will come from heaven to earth. In the chronological order of events, it seems to happen after the old earth is destroyed and after the new heaven and the new earth appear. “I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them, and He will be their God.” (Revelation 21:3) There is no sorrow there. “He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared." (Revelation 21:4)
Jesus will be the light in that city. It won’t have need for the sun or the moon. The glory of God is what lights up the city. “The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from God and shining with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” (Revelation 21:10-11) It’s hard to imagine all these things happening because of our limitations of God’s knowledge and power. We have to accept by faith that God will accomplish all the things that were revealed to John and that he wrote in Revelation.
We get a glimpse of the city. It has twelve gates, made from a single pearl and each with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The gates are three on each side of it, north, south, east and west. And each is guarded by an angel. (Revelation 21:12,13, 21) It has twelve foundation stones, each a precious stone, and each has the name of one of the tribes of Israel. (Revelation 21:19, 20)
It’s square, 1,500 square miles. 1,500 miles is like from Phoenix to Richmond, Virginia. That’s not a small city. It has a high wall, 216 feet high. It’s truly a city that never sleeps because the light of the Lord shines in it. There is no night, and the gates are never closed. (Revelation 21:25)
And besides being wealthy with the Presence of the Lord, it will have the wealth and greatness of the nations which will be brought in. But nothing and no one who is impure will be able to come into that city. (Revelation 21: 26,27) Only those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life can enter.
We think that those days will be glorious for us. And they will be. But we can realize a part of that glory here on earth. Yes, we are troubled each day by the world’s difficulties, the battles within ourselves because of the flesh and dealing with the darts of the devil, all of which will not be present in the New Jerusalem. Yet we can live in the supernatural, in the continual joy and light of our Lord Jesus, in the spirit here on earth. It takes spiritual eyes and faith. We can see the spiritual by the Holy Spirit. He will reveal God’s Will, even the impossible. If we could only really “die” to our self which keeps resurrecting and planting itself where God belongs. “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
When we are obedient to the Spirit, we see spurts of that glory as we are being transformed each time into His image. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Corinthians 3:18) It’s through the Holy Spirit that we can live this supernatural life here on earth. “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11) The Holy Spirit is indeed the greatest gift the Lord could have given us. It is by Him that we are able to live in the light and joy of the Lord in this dying world.
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