Leslie M. John
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl:
and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass”.
(Revelation 21:21)
In this secular world we see the importance of gold. What if we who are common
people in this world can tread on a street of gold, and live in a city made of
the most precious metals?
Bible speaks of such precious metals, which even common man tread on, and live
in a city made of most precious metals. Revelation chapter 21 presents the most
beautiful city and the inhabitants there in.
John saw in his vision the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared for a bride, who was adorned for her husband. The description
is great. Who is this bride? Bible speaks of the bride as the Church/Assembly
constituting the believers in Christ, the saved ones. The bride is adorned
waiting for her husband to come and here is the chaste virgin, adorned waiting
for the New Jerusalem. The tabernacle is referred to in the Old Testament, as
the sacred tent in which God came and dwelt. Here in this chapter John saw God
himself coming down and dwelling among his people, who will be his people, and
he will be their God, who will wipe away all their tears, and there will be no
more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, no more pain, because all the old things
have passed away by then.
It is the new heaven where the Assembly/Church, constituting the saved ones,
which is his bride, will dwell.
Isaiah 65:17 presents the prophecy about the new heavens and a new earth that
will be created and about the former earth and heaven which will pass away and
will not be remembered.
In Revelation 21:1 we read that city, which is beautiful and which has no sea,
but only the inhabitants, who are always happy and without any sufferings. . Rev
21: 18 “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure
gold, like unto clear glass”
Our savior Jesus Christ has undergone severe pain when men pierced sword in to
his body and beat him. He was crowned with a crown of thorns and blood and water
gushed forth from the side of his body. It is through that blood of Jesus Christ
that we are saved. He suffered on the cross of Calvary that so that we may have
eternal life. It is through the shedding of his precious blood that our sins are
cleansed and through that blood of Christ that our filth is cleansed and we are
made clear as crystal. That city of precious metals is prepared for us.”
But for those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, there is
another place designated and it is the lake of fire, as we read in Rev. 21: 8.
It is described as the “lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” which is the
second death.
And I saw no temple in it: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:
for the glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Revelation
21:22-23)