NEW JERUSALEM

Wednesday 4 June

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2 (NKJV)

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Revelation 21:10 (NIV)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, Hebrews 12:22 (NKJV)

Have you ever wondered why a city that had supposedly not come down yet from out of the heavens, could be found being spoken about in the book of Hebrews before it even arrived? Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd or am I the only one?

I thought that the grand unveiling of this city would be left wholly and solely to the book of Revelation; so why isn’t it? Before we come to that we should start with the person who first looked for it. You may have heard of him. His name was Abraham.

Hebrews 10:11 says, ‘For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.’

This city was not the promised land. How do we know this? It says in the previous verse that he camped in Canaan in tents with, Isaac and Jacob. If the promised land was Canaan then Abraham would have been satisfied but he looked for something else.

Later on in the chapter regarding the Old Testament saints, it says that ‘these all died in faith not having received the promise’ including the father of faith Abraham.

So what was this promise? It obviously wasn’t a physical city according to Abraham. The promise was Christ. Stay with me.

Hebrews 12:22 says of believers ‘But YOU HAVE COME to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… Now catch this. The city Abraham was looking for you is where YOU live in Christ. Mount Zion here is spiritual symbolism for Christ. The heavenly Jerusalem or New Jerusalem is a depiction of those in Christ. Look what it describes next.

‘To an innumerable company of angels’. The following proves it beyond any shadow of doubt. ‘To the general assembly and church of the first born who are registered in heaven’. That’s all the saints from Old and New Testaments together as citizens of Christ into which they were born.

Furthermore, what makes a city? Is it the cars, the trains, the buildings, the shopping centres? Is that the lifeblood of a city? No;?it’s the PEOPLE. Without people they’re just things. ‘Polis’ in the Greek, one of its meanings is ‘the inhabitants of a city’. This is used in direct reference to the New Jerusalem.

So where is the location of New Jerusalem? Scripture shows it’s in Christ. What is city of New Jerusalem? The people of God. Those in Christ who are one with Him. The bride of Christ.

With all this in mind, let’s go back to Revelation 21:2 and interpret this verse in the light of Christ. What do you think John the Revelator was actually seeing?

Before we answer that, remember John’s visions contained heavy metaphors and imagery that were about one thing; ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’ and His finished work. John was ‘carried away in the Spirit’ so it was not literal what he was seeing.

I put to you that what John saw, was the fulfilment of all those who would be in Christ after the dead in Christ rose first and those who were alive and remained were also caught up in the Spirit. (2 Thessalonians 4:17)

Again, The book of Revelation is the least doctrinal book in the New Testament because it is based on visions given by angels. We’ll cover this in more detail at another time.

If you are in Christ you have already come to the Holy City, angels, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant…

That’s why we are called citizens of heaven because we can function with our heavenly citizenship now as ambassadors for Christ. Don’t forget heaven is not a place but a state of being. Wherever Jesus is, heaven is.

New Jerusalem. You’re not on your way there. You have arrived in Christ.

You’re not looking for it, you’re living in it! One day when we leave behind our mortal body we will fully understand this truth. Until then we take God at His word.

APPLICATION

Have a daily consciousness that as a believer you are a part of God’s family, living in the place called Christ and function from there.