New Eden

Revelation 22:1-5

Immanuel – 8/28/22

Today we come, at last, to the final chapter of Revelation. And though we do, the passage we consider today should probably have been included in chapter 21. That’s because Revelation 22:1-5 is a further description of the New Jerusalem.

And because we continue to behold the New Jerusalem, let us take a moment to review some of the wonders we saw last week.

First, we saw that, just like so much of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is not meant to be understood literally. It is not a future and physical city. If it were, the enormous mass of the New Jerusalem would set in motion a chain of events that would destroy the planet. That is, unless God forever alters the laws of physics.

Rather, John is seeing a symbolic vision of the church. Everything he sees is true of the church today. Today, we have been given the glory of Christ. Today, Christ has purified us from all unrighteousness. Today, do the nations stream into the church. Today, is Christ the light of our world. Today, are we the temple of the living God.

All this is true today, and all this will be fully realized upon the consummation. When Christ returns, all these glories will be completed.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. -2 Corinthians 3:18

I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6

God’s work has already begun. Already, these glories are given to the church. God the Spirit, dwelling within you, is further transforming you into the image of Jesus. And when Jesus returns, that work will be completed. He will do it. His promises are sure!

The New Jerusalem is a symbolic picture of the life, glory, and perfection that the elect have through our union to Christ. It is a picture of our joy today. It is a picture of our hope tomorrow.

Today, we will see something quite similar. For withing this symbolic city is found what was lost so long ago. Christ restores paradise to the Church. Christ restores paradise through the Church.

Purpose

Open the symbols of the New Eden.

We are participants with God because of the identity we have in Christ.

Read Revelation 22:1-5

So often, time works differently in Revelation. This whole picture of the New Jerusalem is a compression of time, from the cross and on into eternity. It is a picture of life with Christ. It is a picture of the new covenant Church.

The Throne Descending

At the very heart of the New Jerusalem is the throne of God. Consider the over-arching progression of Revelation. Immediately after Christ delivers His messages to the seven churches, and part 2 of the book begins, John sees the throne of God in heaven. It is surrounded in majesty and worship. But all that glory was in heaven, far from humanity.

Then, John sees, held in the hand of God, the scroll of the new covenant. For a moment John despairs, for no one is found worthy to break its seals and release its contents upon the earth. Then comes Jesus, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain. Only He could open the new covenant.

With the opening of the new covenant come judgements upon the old covenant systems and those who cling to them. Simultaneously come graces and joys and salvation for all those who cling to Christ.

And when the scroll is entirely opened, part 2 of Revelation ends with these words:

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever…Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen within the temple. -Revelation 11:15,19

Part 2 ends with a uniting of heaven and earth. The kingdom of God has come to earth. The inaccessible temple, and the long-hidden covenant, are finally opened for all to enter. We have seen, time and again, Jesus is Himself the fulfillment of all these symbols.

Just as Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” -Mark 1:15

He reigns as King of kings today, for He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). He is the chief cornerstone, and He is building us all into the living temple of God (1 Peter 2:4-5). And for our sake, Jesus spilled His own blood – the blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28).

Now, at the end of part 3, Revelation is concluding with God’s throne no longer in distant heaven, but at the heart of the New Jerusalem, as it descends from heaven to be established upon the earth. Again, we are shown symbols that, in Christ, heaven and earth are uniting.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. -Colossians 1:19-20

The cross of Christ was the most powerful event in the history of the cosmos. When God sacrificed His one and only Son for His enemies, it forever changed heaven and earth. They began moving towards one another. It has already begun because the cross has already been bloodied.

As the church advances, the kingdom of God advances, and the New Jerusalem descends, and heaven and earth are further united. It is increasing, advancing, filling.

It is important for us to flesh this out a bit further. After Christ’s death and resurrection, He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

[Christ] has gone in heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him. -1 Peter 3:22

Christ presently reigns in heaven; as Jesus said upon His ascension, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. So how does Christ’s reign come to earth? How is heaven and earth being united? Through the work of the church.

This is the purpose behind the Great Commission.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

As we proclaim the gospel and make disciples, as more and more people bend their knee to this glorious King, as the positive effect of a Christ-following church blesses communities and nations, Christ’s reign is being extended/ heaven and earth are uniting/the New Jerusalem is descending.

Yes, all these powerful truths orbit around the awesome reality that God has set His throne within the New Jerusalem! What wonder! What glory!

And when God’s throne returns to earth, with it comes an ancient paradise that was lost. Look again at verses 1 and 2 again. Trees that bear life-giving fruit, a life-giving river, the presence of God: these are descriptions of the Garden of Eden, humanity’s first home.

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. -Genesis 2:8-10

Humanity’s first home was just a foreshadowing. It pointed to something bigger, something far greater. It pointed to humanity’s eternal home. But let me emphasize again, this home is not something we enter when we die. The moment you come to Christ you enter Eden.

Let me show you what I mean.

Eden’s Water

The river flowing in this New Eden has a name: the River of the Water of Life. The man writing Revelation elsewhere wrote about this water.

Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” -John 4:13-14

“Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” -John 6:35

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. -John 7:37-39

The living water that Jesus gives is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit sets up His eternal throne in our hearts. The very presence of God dwelling in the hearts of sinners, the Holy of Holies in flesh and bone. Now, out of these hearts flow rivers of living waters. We are new creations, and from these transformative rivers, flowing now from our hearts, God is making all things new.

As I mentioned last week, the book of Ezekiel ends with a powerful vision of the New Jerusalem – the New Jerusalem which is the temple of God. In this vision, found in Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel sees water issuing forth from the temple.

It begins like a babbling spring and flows out of the city. But, unlike any natural waters of earth, the farther this water flows the deeper it gets. The spring becomes a stream becomes a river becomes oceans. Everything this river touches springs to life. The desert turns into paradise. The undrinkable salty seas turn into life-giving fresh water.

You see, the river, in Ezekiel and John and Revelation, is a symbol for the Holy Spirit who transforms and gives life. When God says, in Revelation 21:5, that He is making all things new, He is doing it through this river. He sends the Holy Spirit to sanctify, purify, transform, recreate.

God the Father willed it. God the Son defeated death and sin in order to unite heaven and earth. God the Spirit is now doing the transforming work that brings together what was separated – from one degree of glory to another.

In verse 1 we are given a descriptor of this river flowing from the New Jerusalem. It is bright as crystal. By now, we should be very familiar with the symbolic meaning of crystal clarity in Revelation.

Back in chapter 4:6 we saw a crystal sea surrounding the throne of God. It was a symbol for His absolute purity, righteousness, and holiness. He is entirely set apart. Anyone who would approach God must tread upon the crystal sea; a symbol that only those who gain access to God are holy as He is holy.

Then, in 21:11, we saw that the entire New Jerusalem appeared clear as crystal. This is a symbol that we, church, have been purified, have been made righteous, and are now holy as God is holy. And all this because the Father has given us His Son and His Spirit!

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. -1 Corinthians 6:11

The indwelling Holy Spirit, and the faith that follows, purifies the sinner. We who were sinful abominations become new creations: holy and glorious and righteous. Once sinners were destroyed by a flood of judgment. But we have been saved by a mighty flood of the Spirit of Grace.

Now, rivers of living water, bright as crystal, flow from these hearts.

Eden’s Trees

Another symbol: the Tree of Life. Once it towered in Eden; now it is found within the New Jerusalem. From the namesake of the tree, we know that it gives life. And as verse 2 implies its life comes through healing. Remember that: this is a tree that brings life through healing.

The Greek word for “tree” is “xylon.” Five other times in the New Testament, this same word used as a substitute for the cross. Here’s one:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. -1 Peter 2:24

The cross is the tree that gives life through healing, for by His wounds we are healed! From a place of death, Jesus creates life! He is the tree that brings healing. He is the tree that gives life, eternally.

From the earliest days of the Church’s artistic expressions, the cross and the Tree of Life were united into a single symbolic image. The meaning is clear, our life comes through Jesus’ death.

This is now the second symbol for Jesus in these first two verses. First was the Lamb, the second is the Tree of Life. The Lamb who was slain, offering His life in place of our own, has become our Tree of Life.

But not only is Jesus our Tree of Life, God recreates us into the image of Jesus Christ. We, brothers and sisters, become trees of life. In verse 2 we read that on either side of the River of the Water of Life grows the tree of life. Do not imagine one enormous tree that spans the river. Imagine a forest of trees that line the river, running its length; not a single tree, but a new species of tree.

You see, the River of the Water of Life – the Holy Spirit – flows with such life-giving power that He causes a most unique tree to grow along His banks. Once more, John is echoing Ezekiel.

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. -Ezekiel 47:12

Ezekiel and Revelation are seeing the same species of tree: new creations in the New Eden. By our union to Christ, we have become trees of life.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. -John 15:5,7-9

Both John and Ezekiel note that the trees constantly bear fruit. Summer and winter, we trees of life bear the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. -Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit we bear is the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is for food, not to sate the cravings of the stomach, but to satisfy the desires of the soul. For this fruit is only found through communion with God.

Both John and Ezekiel note that the fruit of the trees is for healing. John says it is the healing of the nations.

Again we see, John’s vision of the New Eden is not only about our eternal state. Certainly, once the goodness of this fruit is enjoyed, the healing leaves are applied, the effects will last forever. But the people – even nations – that need healing surround us today, not in eternity.

The leaves of healing are offered through gospel proclamation. Yes, there are many good things we can do to alleviate pain and suffering. But no one finds ultimate healing without the gospel of Jesus Christ. The living water does not enter human hearts without first hearing the gospel.

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

-Romans 10:17

It is by Jesus’ wounds that we are healed. People need to hear about the wounds of Christ. They need to understand why He received them. They need the gospel!

Like Adam and Eve, we are sinners banished from paradise, destined to die. And not just the death of our bodies, but an eternal death without end: and endless empty void of separation from God and everything good that He created.

Because if we want to be gods, if we will not submit to Him who is the true and living God, He gives us our formless void. He was able to create paradise out of it. But we are not gods, and it is terror to consider such an eternity. It is endless death. It is the wrath of God expressed through separation.

But how good and merciful is God! For He so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son. God the Son took on human form and entered into our wilderness of weakness.

There our lives are cursed by painful thorns. So Jesus took our thorns and placed them upon His brow. Sin exposes our naked shame. So Jesus took our nakedness, condemned to die in the most shameful way imagined by antiquity. The sin that separates us from the Father is our doom. So Jesus took our sins upon Himself, was forsaken by the Father, and died the death we deserved.

But then He rose, He ascended to the Father, and He sent the Holy Spirit to draw us to Himself. Now, if you trust that Jesus died in your place, rose from the grave, and reigns on high; you will have life eternally, you will taste the Tree of Life, you will get swept away in the River of the Water of Life.

The gospel of Jesus Christ brings healing and life! If you are Christ’s then you know how satisfying is this fruit. If you are Christ, then you have this fruit to give. The nations need healing!

The implication of John’s vision is clear. The wounds of Christ bring healing. The Spirit flows into the world and brings transformation. Everywhere, God is the one who creates life. But we, church, carry these treasures to the nations: for we know where healing is found, out of our hearts flow life, the throne of God rests within this living temple.

Jesus has commissioned us to carry this message to the nations! For all who receive the invitation to come, and the enter this New Jerusalem, this New Eden, for them the curse is removed.

Read vs 3

The Curse Removed

That first phrase could correctly be translated, “No longer will anything be cursed.” The wounds of Christ have removed the curse. The most devastating element of the curse was the separation from God. Again John tells us that the throne of God is at the heart of the New Jerusalem, within this Eden.

There will the servants of God worship Him. Once more, is this not true of the Church? When we gather, we worship. Indeed, for each one of us, our whole lives are meant to be living in worship of God.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

-Romans 12:1-2

With all of our lives we worship God! If our hearts are filled with gratitude while we work with our hands, then we are worshipping God. When we teach our children to follow Jesus, we worship God. When we love our neighbor, we worship God. When we wisely steward our resources, we worship God. When we are reviled for Jesus’ sake, we worship God.

In the New Jerusalem, whether we eat or drink, we do all for the glory of God! He is on the throne, and we are not! This is paradise restored. This is humanity as it was meant to be, satisfied in all that we do because all that we do is pleasing to the Lord!

Read vs 4

Ever since the curse, no one could see the face of God and live, because no one is holy as He is holy. God was merciful to hide Himself from us, lest we see Him and immediately die.

But God gave us another way to behold Him. Now we can look upon Him and not die, but live.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. -2 Corinthians 4:6

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. -Hebrews 1:3

Now, through the eyes of faith, we see the face of Jesus and live. This Eden is a picture of today. In eternity, our faith will become our sight, and we will behold the face of Jesus! This Eden is a picture of our future.

He took our curse upon His brow, and we take His name upon ours. This is not a literal mark, but a symbol of something much greater.

Israel’s high priest was to wear a golden headpiece with the name of the Lord upon it. It was a visible symbol of a spiritual reality: holy devotion and undivided love for God. So it is with the mark given by Jesus.

It symbolizes that we belong to Jesus, and He to us. It is a symbol that we belong to the priesthood of God. It is a symbol that we are the living temple of God. And these have been a powerful theme throughout Revelation.

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. -Revelation 1:6-7

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. -Revelation 3:12

With unveiled faces, looking through the eyes of faith, we see the face of Jesus and we are transformed, for when we see Him we become like Him. Now, the work of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the image of Jesus, from one degree of glory to another. To see Him is to bear His image, is to be forever marked by Him.

Read vs 5

Eden’s Light

Could you imagine a new heaven and new earth where you could never see the stars again; a world without nocturnal animals, no lightning bugs and spring peepers, no more black clouds turned silver as they hide the full moon, no more night mist lifting from a lake? I think such a world would be lesser, not greater. For do not the stars proclaim the glories of God!?

No, this light within the New Jerusalem is not about photons and wavelengths, just as the New Jerusalem is not about buildings and walls. Light, all over Scripture, is a symbol for spiritual truth and goodness and life. And Jesus is the source of such light. Light, used in such a way, was a favorite symbol of John.

Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12

This is the message we have heard from [Christ] and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. -1 John 1:5-7

This is not about light that goes through the eye. This is light that illumines the heart.

There is no darkness in the New Jerusalem because Jesus cast it out. And we know that He has done this for us, His Bride and His Church.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. -John 1:4-5

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

-Colossians 1:13-14

Christ has entered our darkness and there He defeated that darkness. We have been rescued, taken from the domain of darkness and transferred into His marvelous light. We are part of His kingdom now. Or, as the symbolism of Revelation goes, we now dwell in the New Jerusalem, where there will never again be spiritual darkness.

The Church is the New Jerusalem. Back in 21:11 the New Jerusalem was brilliant with the glory of God. Not only is God the light of this city, but His light has been infused into the city itself. His light is our light.

Does this not also accord to what Jesus has said?

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

-Matthew 5:14

Because of Jesus, we are the light and we are the city. And even more, though it is the Father and Son who have established their throne, we reign also. So it says at the end of verse 5. We reign with Christ.

You must wonder, in what way do we reign with Christ? Think about every image we have seen in today’s passage.

The River of the Water of Life, the flow of the Holy Spirit, gushes from these hearts. The righteousness of God is the spiritual fruit that hangs from these branches. The leaves that bring healing to the nations are freely offered here. He is our light of life, and He illuminates us to shine in the darkness. And the very throne of God is within flesh and bone, for we are His spiritual house.

The mighty grace of God brings us into participation with Him. Every description of the New Jerusalem and the New Eden shouts it! We participate with God! We rule with God by advancing His gospel and His kingdom. We bring the world into subjection to Christ by our union with Christ.

Listen to Eden’s commission:

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over [it].” -Genesis 1:28

See how Eden’s commission is fulfilled through the Great Commission.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

We rule with Christ, not because of our own authority, but because of His. It is not an authority for us to lord over people, it is an authority to give our lives away for others, just as Christ gave His life for us. And we know, that no matter how desperate things may look today, Christ reigns, we belong to Him, and our lives have been forever secured in Him! With such an authority, what can man do to us?

This authority, that looks so different from the world’s, will conquer the world. The victory has already been declared!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, God is recreating the heaven and the earth, making all things new, and He is doing it through us, His Church!

Today we walk in the Eden of Revelation 22, but the garden is still growing, and we are called to tend to it. One day this New Eden will be complete, and we will rest in the presence of God forever, in paradise completed.

Notice, there is not one hint of death in this whole picture of the New Eden. We work now and we rest later, and there is no interruption. These bodies will one day fail, but we will never taste death. Eden is yours now. It is yours forever!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

-John 8:51

The Bible begins with paradise, but the sin of man destroyed it. The Bible ends with paradise, and the righteousness of Jesus restored it, but to even greater glory than before.

Therefore, let us go out and rule the earth and subdue by making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are the lights of the world. You are the many trees of life. There is a flood of salvation flowing from your hearts. Go!