Revelation 21:9-27 provides more details for us regarding Jesus’ rescue plan, and His glorious future that plan has for all who are His committed followers:
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” [Jesus’ followers are His bride, His wife.] and he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. [It is hard to image the beauty that God’s promised future dwelling for His followers will have, but these verses, and those that follow, give us a glimpse into that reality.]
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp [No more thoughts about global warming!]. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Please spend time considering the truth of what the future holds for those who love Jesus.
God’s plan deals with evil.
God’s future plans for Jesus’ followers are more magnificent and splendid than anything we can conceive.
We are called to believe God’s future plans.
We are called to share these future plans with others.
We are called to live with hope because of these future plans.
It is because of God’s perfect promised rescue plan that we live with hope instead of fear. God’s people have no need to despair when it appears evil is prevailing, because we know the rest of God’s plans for His people.
If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you should despair. But God wants to change your despair to hope. Will you seek Him for that? If not, what is stopping you?
I would like to talk with you if you do not have assurance of your eternal well-being. Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com if you are uncertain that you will be living in the New Heaven and New Earth. You can know. You don’t want to be on the wrong side when your life ends.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!
Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.
Copyright 2024 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.