For centuries, God’s children have pondered where history was headed and how it would all end. What will their eternal home be like? Isaiah caught a glimpse of the end-time glories of a redeemed creation and wrote, Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind [Isa 65:17].
The hope of an existence free of war and death has been cherished throughout history. Christ spoke of an era of regeneration:
Matt 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Apostles saw the essence of God’s glory in the life of their Master. The Lord told them, blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear It [Mat 13:16-17].
The word that characterizes Chapter 21 is “new.” All things are to be made new, both the heavens and the earth. What John sees is the certainty of God’s ultimate victory, and it resounds with the promise of redemption, restoration, and new life!
(*All Bible verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)
Chapter 21
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Rev 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away:
The Greek word for “new” used here is kainos (kai-nos’), meaning brand-new and unused1, as opposed to restored or refurbished.
Eph 4:24 …and to put on the new (kainos) self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
The Greek word for “heaven” in verse 1 is ouranos, which refers to the heavens and the sky, not just God’s dwelling place2. If taken literally, it could be assumed that John is seeing the creation of a new planet and cosmos.
Looking ahead to verse 3, we see that God will be “among the people.” Rather than in some faraway place, God will now dwell with His children! Figuratively speaking, the old heaven, God’s dwelling, is replaced with His new abode – His people! In the same way, because of Jesus, the old order of earth – death and decay – will be swept away!
Here is an eternal principle. There may come a time when the literal cosmos will be melted away and a new planet come into being. But such a possibility can only be known by God. What all Christians can agree on – what can be known for sure – is that because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, the old order of things where darkness, violence, and death left no hope, has passed away. Now John sees a new order of things – a new earth – where sin and death no longer hold humanity captive.
Rev 21:1
There was no longer any sea:
John is aware that the sea is gone rather than being made new. We have seen that the image of the sea often represents the ebb and flow of humanity – peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages (Rev 17:15). Isaiah proclaimed:
Isa 17:12 Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters!
Isa 23:11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble…
Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.
The beast of Chapter 13 rose from the sea, flooding the earth with evil and casting up the mire and mud of deception and destruction! Now, John sees that all things are made new – the seas of wickedness are no more!
Rev 21:2
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride:
The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, is identified as the “bride” prepared for her bridegroom. The bride of God and His Christ are his faithful people – those who have been sealed with His name:
Rev 3:12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect…
“Mount Zion,” “the city of the living God”, “the heavenly Jerusalem,” and, “the New Jerusalem” all represent those who bow before their Creator and Savior. Christians hope for the time that all evil and death will be swept from the earth. But as an eternal principle, the “coming-downness” of the Holy City, the redeemed of God, remains the same in every age of the Church – it’s true every time an overcomer is enveloped in God’s holiness.
Rev 21:3
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people:
Ancient Israel believed that God lived in the Jerusalem Temple. They went there to sacrifice and worship. But the prophets foretold the day that God’s people wouldn’t go to a building to find Him, because He would live in among them:
Lev 26:12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
Jer 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Jesus taught that God’s Presence was not contained in a place, but dwelt in any who opened their hearts to His Spirit of holiness:
Matt 1:23 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
2Tim 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Ephesians 2:22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
1 Cor 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
In this sense, God dwelling with his people is not just an end-time occurrence. It’s an eternal principle, a present-day reality! We don’t have to go somewhere special to find God. We no longer have to go to a High Priest or minister to seek the Father’s Presence!
Rev 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain:
The prophets have described what life would be like on the earth if her peoples would embrace the righteousness of God:
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Isa 11:5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 25:8 …he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
Isa 65:17 “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Micah 4:3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Deut 28:1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
These prophecies not only promise future peace but can be fulfilled in the present if people choose to walk in fellowship with each other and with Christ. The promise of this reality motivates Christians to proclaim Christ’s Good News of redemption and love—the reality of communities devoid of murder and theft—neighborhoods where children play safely, where the young and old walk the streets unmolested and without fear! Believers long for the day when God will cleanse the earth of evil and death. But humanity need not wait for the future Divine intervention. It can be a present reality in communities where the saints stand courageously for His truth and righteousness!
Rev 21:5
I am making everything new… these words are trustworthy and true:
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Rom 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Paul is speaking of the redeemed individual, and John is seeing the ultimate redemption of the entire Christian community through the ages. Consider life through the eyes of an atheist or agnostic. Life is filled with injustice and death – that’s just the way it is! The pain of loss is inconsolable; the finality of death is dark and hopeless.
For God’s children, death has no sting, only promise! Through surrender to Christ, chaos dissolves; peace and beauty are possible now!
Rev 21:6
It is done!
This is an echo of the angel’s declaration in Rev 16:17, both of which reverberate Jesus’ cry from the cross:
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
What is done? What has been finished?
The artist lays down down her brush, steps back from the canvas, and whispers, “It’s finished.” Her work will be admired for years to come.
The architect looks skyward at his completed building and sighs, “It’s finished.” The structure that rose from his blueprints will benefit thousands.
The chef smells the aroma of his fresh creation and exclaims, “It’s done!” and a restaurant full of hungry patrons will delight in the savory creation.
But there’s been only one person from the beginning of time who has uttered those words for the sake of all humankind – “It is done!”
Jesus was executed because he dared to speak the truth in the face of lies, ignorance, and deception. He knew what had to be done. Humankind needed to see God for who He is – A loving Father, fiercely protective of the weak, the fatherless, the widow, the unjustly accused, and the brokenhearted.
The world needed a Savior. People were hopelessly lost and separated from their True Father because of their frailty and proclivity to commit evil acts! They were doomed to suffer the consequences of those acts in this life and the in the life to come.
Jesus chose to suffer the penalty for our rebellion and paid the price demanded by justice so that God could be both just and merciful. Without Jesus’ crucifixion, we could not be reconciled to God. Jesus cloaked himself in our misdeeds and went to the cross so that we might be redeemed from our sins. The consequences of sin always lead to death, both physically and spiritually. But Jesus suffered the death we deserved and granted us eternal life instead.:
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1Pet 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rev 21:6
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End:
John hears this phrase three times – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet as descriptors of God’s nature (Rev 1:18, 21:6, and 22:13). The prophets declared the same truth:
Isa 44:6 “This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
Isa 48:12 “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.
From the beginning of John’s experience, there has been this repeated theme of an end-time, or last, event – eschatos, the extreme end of all things3. But the “end” has turned out to be a person in history as much as a point in history.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
1 Pet 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
God is a living Creator, and whenever and wherever believers turn their eyes to Jesus, they find the beginning and the end of all they are and can be.
Rev 21:6
To the thirsty, I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life:
Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive…
John 4:14 …but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
A cold glass of water on a hot day refreshes and invigorates. But that thirst will return over and over again as we labor in the hot sun.
The refreshment that comes from living the Christ-life never leaves us spiritually thirsty. It becomes a source of living water bubbling up into eternal life – a well that never runs dry!
This means that when we become discouraged, we can trust in God’s love for us:
Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
When we suffer loss, our Loving Father will make things right:
Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When we’re in need, God will provide for us:
2Cor 9:8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Matt 6:31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
These statements seem foolish to non-believers. They argue that “People get what they deserve!” and “Things work out because you make them work out!” But believers testify endlessly of the relief and love God extends to those who in faith, look to Him for His help!
Phil 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Rev 21:7
Those who are victorious will inherit all this:
This is not simply a bold prophecy of a distant future. This is the same eternal principle that has been repeated through the ages and resonates again here. It’s the theme of the seven letters addressed to the churches of Asia Minor and stands as the earnest promise to every believer who embraces Christ in this life and endures into the life to come4.
Rev 21:7
I will be their God, and they will be my children:
This promise was extended to the Jews, and through the New Covenant in Christ, to all who turn to God:
Gen 17:7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Jer 24:7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Ezek 11:20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Zech 8:8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
This complete oneness with the Father is positively true right now and is ultimately true for eternity. Compare these translations of Luke 17:21 (emphasis added):
NIV: …nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.
NLT: You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.
KJV: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
In this respect, heaven is far more than a place the saints are eventually going. It’s a state of being – The koinonia (community, fellowship5) that believers can realize in this life. We are the family of God, in every way His sons and daughters.
Rev 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death:
The meaning of the “second death” was explored in Rev 2:11 and 20:14-14, and refers to those who, knowing full well the reality of God, turn against Him to satisfy their own carnal desires. Many faithful Christians have, at one time or another, lied, been sexually immoral, or acted in a cowardly way. Christ’s atonement washes clean those who turn to God with the broken heart and contrite spirit of repentance:
Ps 51:17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Rom 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…
Col 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Footnotes
- Strong’s G2537. ↩︎
- Strong’s G3772. ↩︎
- Strong’s G2078. ↩︎
- See Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12; and 15:2. ↩︎
- Verses such as Acts 2:42, 1 Cor 1:9, and Gal 2:9. ↩︎
*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
