Citizens Of The Holy City

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Revelation 21:22

For some, city life evokes the excitement and challenge of being in a fast-paced beehive of business and opportunity. For others, it represents crime, squalor, poverty, unfulfilled dreams, dashed hopes, terrible loneliness. But one city will change all that—the Holy City, the new Jerusalem—the great city of God described in Revelation 21.

To understand the uniqueness of this city, says Alexander Maclaren, you must reverse the miseries of earth.

WALK WITH ALEXANDER MACLAREN
“All turns on two great thoughts—the blessed closeness of perfect and eternal union between God and men, and the consequent dawning of a new day in which all human ills shall be swept away.

“When the church was on the old earth, God dwelt with his people in reality, but, alas, with many breaks in their relationship caused by his people defiling the temple. But in the future everything that was symbolic shall be spiritual reality, and there will be no separation between the God who tabernacles among his people and the people in whom he dwells.

“His presence drives away all evils, as the risen moon clears the sky of clouds. How can sorrow, or crying, or pain, or death live where he is?

“Reverse the miseries of earth, and you know something of the joys of heaven. But begin with God’s presence, or you will know nothing of its most joyful joy.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Think of John’s description as a travelogue of the heavenly Jerusalem:

A city in which there is no temple, for the Lamb is personally present.
No sun or moon, for the Lamb is its light.
No night, for the Son always shines there.
No defilement, for holiness is its hallmark.

Best of all, there is no waiting list to become one of its citizens. Now, wouldn’t you agree that’s a city you’ll enjoy living in—forever?