A New City More Unique than Kate Middleton’s Wedding Dress
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:1–8 ESV
Someday the entire world will be made new. This new world will be free from mourning, crying, pain, or any of the things that caused such things. The longing for acceptance and affirmation that drives almost all commerce, communication, and life will be fully fulfilled to the fullest. Our satisfaction level will be so utterly maxed out that we won’t know what it is to want something.
The new city of Jerusalem looked so beautiful to John that it was like a bride fully decorated, walking down the aisle. Remember the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton?
This was a once-in-a-generation event and money was no object. Her wedding dress cost over $300,000! The wedding and prom dress industry sells hundreds of unique dresses to brides every weekend and most will never match that. The point here isn’t how beautiful the new city is, the point is the precious rarity of it. If you could buy Kate Middleton’s dress at Wal-Mart, it wouldn’t cost $300,000. If the new Jerusalem looked like any other city, it wouldn’t look as beautiful as it did.
The unique rarity of this city is that God will dwell with mankind here. Everyone will know Him and He will be fully present in and among us. We will pay no rent or bills, and we’ll be there forever, freely living at peace and in communion with God and one another.
Former things, like pain and suffering, won’t be completely forgotten. Jesus said that the former world will be like a vague memory or a dream. The difference is that we’ll only remember things as far as they served to show the glory of God. Every memory will have a silver lining or a recognizably good outcome. All memories with regret, bitterness, shame, and hurt will never be remembered again.
It will be a city like no other, for a people like no other, with a God like no other.
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