Revelation 21:22-27

Chapter 21 has been dedicated to the revelation of the new Jerusalem, the city that comes out of heaven to earth. "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God" (Revelation 21:3). This is why Jesus came to earth — to make a people for God, to be Savior and Redeemer, to bring home to his Father a bride: a family forever, a people of his own possession, priests, saints, sons and daughters. The scale of the city is staggering — over a thousand miles high, its ceiling reaching the very top of the atmosphere, where our world meets outer space. It echoes the Tower of Babel, where the people came together to build a tower to the heavens; men are still trying to do that to this day. And God is going to do it himself.¶

We have seen the city's walls, foundations, and gates, but not yet what is inside. Ironically, the first thing John describes is not what is in the city but what is missing from it.¶

No temple¶

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

Revelation 21:22 (ESV)¶

The first thing John notices is that there is no temple — which makes sense, because the Jews always looked first for the temple. It was their central focus, the direction they faced when praying. Seeing this great city, John must have wondered how magnificent its temple would be — and immediately he notices there is none, "for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." The temple was for man; God gave them a place to come and meet with him, but he never needed one nor asked for one. Just as the people begged for a king — Israel never needed one, and God never asked to give them one, but he did because they asked — so God has always wanted to be their King, and has always been their temple. This city is truly the substance of the shadows of the past. All those things were simply pointing to the reality of who God is. The city needs no temple because God is now personally with them, as he intended from the beginning: in the garden "they heard the sound of the LORD God walking" (Genesis 3:8), yet they hid. In the new Jerusalem, God will live with us, and the old has passed away — all things are made new.¶

No sun, no moon¶

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 21:23 (ESV)¶

This city has its own light source: God himself. The sun he gave the earth has always provided light by day and the moon by night; in his goodness God has always supplied everything needed for life — and made them witnesses about himself. The sun testifies to his power and faithfulness, his warmth and light that shines on all, giving life and healing; God shows his glory and divine nature in creation. But now there is no need for sun or moon. God will no longer need anything to display the truth about him; he will be all these things himself.¶

The glory of the nations¶

By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

Revelation 21:24-26 (ESV)¶

We as his people have this now. "You are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness" (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). We are children of the true sun, the morning star that rises in our hearts, filled with the light of God that shines in this world's darkness. And the people of God are the glory of any nation: "In a multitude of people is the glory of a king" (Proverbs 14:28). The highest glory of a king is a righteous people in his kingdom — those who will enter in, the people of the nations who have believed in the Son.¶

Only those written in the book¶

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 21:27 (ESV)¶

Through John, the Holy Spirit again reminds the reader who will not be allowed in — and this, too, is a grace of God: for some two thousand years this truth has been revealed, and he will say it again in the next chapter, because God wants all to know the full truth, desiring that none would perish but that all would come to the knowledge of it. The warning is here not only for the Jews in the last days but for every person who has ever read this book — for every preacher to share with his congregation, for every father to share with his children. The Lamb's book of life is filled with those who believe in the Lamb. So if you have not believed in him, the warning is for you: believe in the Lamb, and this city, whose King is God, will be your inheritance.¶