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August, 1941
THE K I N G ’ S BU S I N E S S
318
Points and Problems 1. As we read the two final chapters of Revelation, a glorious picture of the eternal state, it is impossible to miss one impression: In the very center of the new and final world is our Lord Jesus Christ. We see a new city inhabited by the redeemed, and these are the bride of Christ (Rev. 21:9). We see twelve foundations beneath the city, on which are written the names of twelve noted men, and these men are the apostles of Christ (21:14). There is a temple in the city, and that temple is none other than our blessed Lord (21:22). Our eyes are blinded by the infinite glory of the city, but that glory shines through Him (21:23). No one is there but those written in the book of life, but we are reminded that this book also belongs to the same Christ (21:27). There is a throne there out of which a pure river flows, and . on the t h r o n e sits our Saviour (22:1). In that city, we shall see the very face of God, but when we see it, we shall see the face of the same blessed Person (22:4). 2. There is another fact which we must not overlook: If our Lord and Saviour is the center and glory of that future world—as He truly will be—let us notice the name by which He is al ways called—“THE LAMB” (v. 22). Of all that glittering array of glorious names which are His by right, this one alone is chosen and used when God brings to our hearts the final revelation of His future world. This choice can mean' nothing else but that God throughout a coming eternity would have us remember that all the glories and joys of the new heaven and earth and city will be ours only because our Lord died at Calvary as God’s “Lamb.” That name will stand forever as the grand memorial of what He did for us at the Place of the Skull. 3. “ God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (v. 4). Sometimes be lievers wonder how they can be happy in heaven if their loved ones are not there. The only answer to this wonder is faith in the miracle-working power of God. He is able to wipe away “all tears,” even those noblest and hottest tears, the tears for the lost. 4. “ The holy Jerusalem, descending out of h e a v e n from God” (v. 10). Whether we believe that this holy city is to be located on the earth, or hung in space near the earth, the statement is a revelation of God’s grace. One' might suppose that, after thR earth had been defiled by sin, its surface literally bathed in the blood of men, God.would abandon this unclean spot and establish His final heaven in some other part of the universe. But no, that is not the way of His 'grace! In the very spot where the awful drama of sin and re bellion was played to its final consum mation in the killing of God’s own Son, there He will come down at last to dwell with men. There, where all the
God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (v. 2). This reference, too, is to the eternal state, wherein “God himself will be with’’ His own “and be their God” (v. 3). All tears, and death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain, will be past, and shall be no more, “for the for mer [first] things are passed away” (v. 4). This is the eternal condition “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13). (During the millennium, righteousness, of course, must necessar ily be reigning, in view of the unright eousness ready to break forth during even that time of blessing.) These “words are true and faithful,” because they come from Him who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (vs. 5, 6). n . T he H oly C ity (10-12) By the law of recurrence, the Holy Spirit here reverts to a subject already mentioned, that of the millennium. This passage is not in historical sequence with the verses in the beginning of this chapter. Here we are told of “that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending” (v. 10) in a glory, to be seen by all peo ples of the earth (cf. Heb. 11:10-16). It is the City for which the patriarchs looked, unlike any city ever built upon this e a r t h , a holy city, founded upon peace (“Jerusalem” means "the foun dation of peace” ). It has the glory of God and its light is as a stone most precious, a stone that reflects a glory not inherent, but shin ing with a light not its own (v. 11). The “city” speaks of association, fel lowship, intercourse. HI. T he G lorious C ity (22-24) There is no temple in the city. “The Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof” (v. 22, R. V.). Here is the “Lord God the Almighty,” of the Old Testament revelation, to gether with the Lamb of the New Tes tament, together forming the very place of worship. The thought is that the whole city is a holy place of worship. The light of that city will be the glory of God and “ the lamp thereof is the Lamb” (v. 23, R. V.). The ineffable God dwells in light unapproachable. He is the eternal One whom no man can see, but He is manifest in the Lamb who is the “lamp” of the city. Then, as now, the unseen and invisible God becomes seen and visible only in the Person of the One in whom He is pleased to reveal Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. “ The nations of them which are saved [referring to millennial times] shall walk in the light of” that city; “and the kings of the earth [again referring to the millennial times] do bring their glory and honor into it” (v. 24). Perhaps the better reading would be that they bring their glory and honor “unto” it, not entering it.
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