Sermon notes from May 9, 2010
Text: Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5
A heavenly vision: the New Jerusalem is God’s dwelling [tabernacle]  (v  2-3).   It is the church of God, descending from heaven to earth.
Evidence that this is the church: Â it is the Bride: 21:9-10 (see Ephesians 5:25-33). It is the city with foundations, which is to come. Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:22-23; 13:14.
The description of this heavenly Jerusalem, which is the bride, the church, draws heavily from the description of a restored Jerusalem given in Ezekiel chapters 40-48. One clue that this vision of John is a re-presentation of Ezekiel’s vision is the guiding angel who carries a measuring rod (Revelation 21:15; Ezekiel 40:2-5).
It is also Ezekiel who gives us the original vision of the “river of the water of life.” John can use this shorthand because his scripture-savvy readers will understand that he is talking about the same vision which we find extensively described in Ezekiel 47:1-12.
The vision of life-giving water flowing from the place of God’s dwelling is much older, however; you see it in Genesis 2:10-14, where all the great rivers known to the ancient world are said to have first flowed from Paradise: so we have in this vision a sense of the restoration, at long last, of God’s original plan (although we should note that the benefits of Paradise 2.0, given here, include many enhancements over the original version: most especially the prominent place now given to the Tree of Life [22:2], which is no longer off limits).
This vision of the church is comprehensive and inclusive; the gates are the twelve patriarchs, representing the Old Covenant and God’s working in the physical, historical realm. Â This indicates that all of us enter the City by means of s particular history, on this planet that boing fist of all a Jewish history, for as Jesus once said, “Salvation is of the Jews,” and as Paul liked to point out, the gospel is “for the Jew first.” Â But the foundations are the twelve apostles, showing that there is no separation of the Old Covenant from the New, but in fact that the former is founded on the latter and could not stand without it. And this foundation, while also historical, is spiritual and represents the message that the apostles were commissioned to take with them to all the nations.
By the nature of this city, this river, and this Tree of Life, we also see what is to be the nature and destiny of the Bride, the church: it is a life-giving and a healing presence in the world. It comes to the world from God, and the kings of the earth bring their wealth into it; even though its own wealth already surpasses everything that they could bring.