Revelation 21

Revelation 21

Consider all that humanity has lost. Our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, lived in the Garden of Paradise. In that place there was no want, suffering, illness, or death. Contrast that to the slums of the largest, poorest metropolitan areas on Earth today. Sewage in the streets, every ditch and gully filled with garbage and sickness. Diseases passed by insects and vermin. In every city there is a place where death and rot are the order of the day. 

Ancient cities had their points of magnificence, but for oppressed Christians they were far from the glory of these monuments. In this chapter, we see the incredible fusion of Eden's perfection with the glory of a great city. Cities could be, and in some ways still are, wonderful places, except that they always have the repulsive underbelly. A place of filthy garbage, waste, wicked people, and the sorrow and misery you see there. This city, however, has the glory of a great city, glory that surpasses words, but without evil. It has the glory of a city beyond compare, and fused with the clean paradise of Eden. In fact, God responds to the sorrow and evil suffered when He wipes away every tear and vanquishes death, crying, mourning, and pain.

In the ancient world there was great civic pride and loyalty for an individual on behalf of their city. But when Christians rejected the pagan rule of their day, they lost much of their identity as citizens of their city. They didn't belong anymore. They became outsiders to their own community. Here these ostracized believers are reminded that they have a home, a city that is theirs, and it's greater, more magnificent, and more beautiful than any city on Earth. 

Ancient cities based much of their civic pride and measured their greatness on how secure they were. Some of that security came from its walls, water supply, and a temple of the god who would protect them. Cities on Earth had foundations of rock and walls a few feet thick and high and perhaps a well. This city has a foundation of precious stones, walls 216 feet thick and miles high and wide, and a spring of life-giving water. Cities on Earth had temples to their gods. In this city God is personally present, so there's no need for a temple because God is there. This is a city to die for; indeed, Christians would die for it.

But the city is not for everyone. In verses 8 and 27 there's a reminder that not everyone belongs in this city. In fact, there is an alternative place for those who have rejected Christ. It is sort of an anti-city. Christians were tempted by civic pride, peer pressure, patriotism, and the sheer might and glory of the empire, on top of other temptations, to shrink back from Christ as Lord. This picture of the city requires us to ask this question: “Why would anyone choose Rome, or Washington for that matter, over Heaven?”

“Lord, make me homesick for my eternal home town. AMEN”