Download Message 5 The Bride of the Lamb

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Message 5
The Bride of the Lamb
Rev. Joseph Keller
Rev. 21:9-22:5
It is no coincidence that the Bible begins by telling us that God created the heavens and earth as the home
of the godly, and the Bible ends by telling us that God will create a new heavens and earth as a new home
for the godly.
It is no coincidence that the Bible begins by telling us about a Garden that God created to be the home of
mankind, which included a Tree of Life and a River flowing with water, and the Bible ends by telling us
that in the new, eternal home for the godly, mankind will have access to the Tree of Life and the River of
the water of life.
It is no coincidence that the Bible begins by telling us that man lived in face to face communion with God
in the home he made for them, and that the Bible ends by telling us that God will dwell face to face with
his people in the new home he made for them.
But who will live in the renewed heavens and earth? Who can dwell with God, with a God who is so holy
and perfect that whenever sin is present he is referred to as a consuming fire? His perfect holiness
demands judgment on all who have any evil or sin within them.
Rev. 21 answers this question of who will dwell with God, and the question of how anyone can ever
hope to dwell with a perfectly holy God, but it does so in a vision, in a picture.
God shows John a vision of a huge city, descending out of heaven to the new earth. Verses 2 and 10 tell us
that this city is "the Holy City, new Jerusalem." (HCSB throughout) In the Old Testament, Jerusalem was
the capital of the nation of God's people. Ps. 48 said that it was called "the city of our God" (verse 1). It
became the symbol of all of God's people.
In the New Testament, in Gal. 4:25 God tells us that "the present Jerusalem," referring to the Jewish
people, had fallen into a foolish attempt to earn God's favor by their own attempted works of
righteousness. But Gal. 4:26 tells us of another Jerusalem. It says: "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she
is our mother." This second or new Jerusalem stands for all who have rightly despaired of ever earning
acceptance with God through their own attempts at righteousness, and have rightly thrown themselves at
the feet of Jesus Christ for salvation.
Through faith in Christ we trust in Christ's perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God to save us--his death in
our place to bear the judgment that we deserved for our sins. And through faith in Christ we trust in
Christ's perfect righteousness to save us--his perfect keeping of God's law on our behalf, that we may be
clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ, so that God may look upon us and see only the perfect,
sinless, complete righteousness of Christ our Savior.
Now when we come to Rev. 21:9-10, this picture makes sense to us. John writes: ""Come, I will show you
the bride, the wife of the Lamb." He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and
showed me the holy city, Jerusalem."
We are not being given a vision of a future city that people will live in. We are being given a vision of a
future people. This New Jerusalem, this Holy City, is a picture of the bride of the Lamb, the wife of Jesus
Christ. It is a symbolic picture of the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ, who will dwell with God
forever, as the dearly loved and cherished bride of Christ.
Notice that verses 12 and 13 tell us that the city has a great and high wall, 144 cubits, or 216 feet high. No
one can scale this wall and get in by his own efforts. And there are 12 angels at the gates, 1 for each gate.
This should remind us of the angels with flaming swords that God placed outside of the Garden of Eden to
prevent entry after Adam and Eve had rebelled against God.
So we read in Rev. 21:27 that "Nothing profane will ever enter it: no one who does what is vile or false. . . ."
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But that is me, and that is you, and that is every mere human being who has ever lived. We are all full of
sin. There is no hope for any of us to be the bride of Christ by our own attempts at righteousness.
But each of the 12 gates to the city are made of one pearl, the pearl of great price, a picture of Jesus Christ,
who said: "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in. . . ." (Jo. 10:9) and who
said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jo. 14:6)
And Rev. 22:1 tells us that the river of the water of life flows "from the throne of God and of the Lamb."
Here is how we are able to enter the church of Jesus Christ, by receiving the eternal life that comes
through Jesus Christ alone. It is through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ that we are declared
righteous before God, and will be made perfectly holy before God at our deaths.
This entire city is made out of stones that are precious gems. These precious gems stand for the people of
God, and the preciousness of these stones symbolizes the great preciousness of believers to God. But
notice that the gemstones of this city are said in verse 11 to be: "arrayed with God's glory." This
symbolizes the source of our righteousness. Our righteousness comes from God, through Jesus Christ.
This is what makes the bride of Christ beautiful to all who look at her, namely, her reflection of the
holiness of God. If we as the bride of Christ do not presently appear beautiful to people, it is because we
are still marred by ungodliness, it is because we fail to pursue the holiness of Christ as we ought to in our
lives. We must realize that all our beauty and glory are to be found in becoming like Christ. This ought to
be our present desire, to be a clear gem that reflects the holiness of God to the world.
We have seen the beauty of the bride, now let us examine the wonderful presence of the groom. Rev.
22:3 says: "The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city. . . ." Also notice that Rev. 21:16 tells us
that the city has the dimensions of a cube. We should note that the Most Holy Place in the Old Testament
temple was also in the shape of a cube. This cube symbolized God's presence with his people. And we are
now being told that the people of God are the eternal sanctuary, where God eternally dwells in glory.
The intimate, face to face presence of God with his people, which existed in the Garden of Eden, will be
restored in the new heavens and earth.
1 Cor. 6:19-20 says: "Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom
you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body." Even now the people of God are the true sanctuary of God. God's people no longer need an earthly
temple made of out of earthly stones, because God is already building a more glorious temple in this
world. It is made out of human stones. In 1 Pet 2:5 God says to believers: "you yourselves, as living stones,
are being built into a spiritual house." That is to say, the church of Jesus Christ is the temple of God, and
God is making it larger and grander as he continues to rescue people from Satan's control and add them
to God's spiritual temple. God delights to dwell in his people even now by his Holy Spirit. But a far fuller
and even more wonderful dwelling of God with his people is yet ahead.
This is the greatest glory of heaven--that we will dwell in the presence of our glorious God, face to face
with him, able to see our Savior Jesus Christ, and touch his wounds that were received to accomplish our
salvation, and speak face to face with him. Rev. 22:4 says: "They will see his face."
There are 3 themes that John the Apostle mentions repeatedly in his Gospel and in his 3 Epistles. They are
light, and life, and love. And now we see them again at the end of Revelation. The end of Revelation
reflects the blessings that the saints of God will experience from living with God for all eternity. We shall
live in perfect light, and perfect life, and perfect love.
Firstly, Rev. 21:23 tells us: "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God's glory
illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb." John the Apostle used darkness as a picture of spiritual blindness
and sin, and he used light as a picture of spiritual understanding and righteousness. In John 9:5 Jesus
said: "I am the light of the world." Spiritual understanding and righteousness have come to us through
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Jesus Christ, and in the new creation we will walk in perfect light, that is, in truth and sinlessness before
God.
Secondly, Rev. 22:2 tells us that the "tree of life," which had been in the Garden of Eden, is in the New
Jerusalem, a symbol of eternal life. Jesus Christ is the tree of life. John 14:6 tells us that Jesus said: "I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Christ gives us eternal
life.
Even now we are invited to find fullness of life in joyful communion with God and in rewarding service
for him. The pleasures of this world can never fill our soul with a joy that does not fade. More are always
needed, and less is always gotten from them each time. But Ps. 16:11 reminds us: "You [God] reveal the
path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures."
Thirdly, and finally, in eternity God's people will live in the fullest expression of God's love, and will
reflect the love of God to one another. Rev. 22 speaks of God's love for his people, not directly, but more
subtly, in symbol, when it says in verse 4 that "His [God's] name will be on their foreheads." God claims
them as his people. He stamps them with a seal, the Holy Spirit of God, who dwells in them even now, to
mark them as his for all eternity.
So then, in light of all God's eternal blessings, how should we live now? 1 John 4:7 tells us: "Dear
friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves. . ." God has given spiritual
birth to him, and he knows God.
Benediction: "He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen." (Rev. 22:20-21)
Copyright © 2016, Joseph A. Keller