ABOUT THIS EPISODE
REVELATION EPISODE 17 New Jerusalem pearly gates and lake of fire
The New Creation: God Dwelling with Humanity
We have reached one of the most extraordinary moments in the Book of Revelation: chapters 21 and 22. Revelation 19 describes Christ’s victorious appearing and the defeat of the beast and the false prophet. Revelation 20 has taken us through the Millennium, Satan’s final rebellion, and the Great White Throne judgment and we see that death and hades are thrown into the lake of fire – the place of destruction of what is evil – death will be no more and the grave will be no more, Hallelujah!. John then sees a new heaven and a new earth.
Revelation 21:1–4 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
He gives the water of life freely to the thirsty, and the overcomer inherits all things. The passage also speaks solemnly of the second death and of those whose lives remain marked by evil - and resistant to the Holy Spirit’s work of the refining fire of the trials of our faith. That fire is working upon on us now, every moment of our lives. The more you live in it the more you live – in it. Don’t say in and hour I’ll have more time – now is always the time – 10 seconds… we’re going to consciously do that now for 10 seconds and connect to the presence of God. And all you need to think is -Thank you Jesus for working now to bring the perfect will of God into my life…I’ll say that again then I’ll say connect…connect…then let that prayer stay lingering in your soul as I resume sharing in the word….
We will be talking about the lake of fire later, but let me tell you how fire purifies and heals the soul.
1Corinthian 3:10 I laid a foundation, and others build upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
I’ve come to know what that fire feels like and I know what it’s doing and I know now what being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire means. It’s the fire burning off the wood hay and straw of my resistance to God, insofar as me doing things my way and not his. And I know the peace that comes when I cease to resist his love and truth. I know that everyone in the world is experiencing that fire but I don’t see fire everywhere, just the pain and suffering – everywhere! So I know that the lake of fire in Revelation necessarily has to exist but it is difficult for us to try to even imagine what it looks like. I’ve stopped trying… Let it start now…
1Timothy 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going on before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
So I know John is posing lots of final questions to us in his prophecy of Revelation today, but he knew the Holy Spirit would have lots of answers.
Is There One Bride or Two?
The description of New Jerusalem as a bride descending raises a question. Many people think Revelation 19 and Revelation 21 are describing two different brides: Revelation ch 19 talks about the bride being made ready for Christ’s appearing before the Millennium, and Revelation ch 21 talks about a bride descending from heaven after the Millennium as the New Jerusalem – but as we examine theses verses we see that there is only one bride
Revelation 19:7–9 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” mb.
Revelation 21:1–2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
These passages are presenting one Bride whose formation extends throughout history and reaches its end-time fulfilment. The bride is not a single exceptionally spiritual denomination or institution or organization. She is found in churches across the world among people whose hearts desire an intimate relationship with the Lord. Christ has been forming His people through the ages but there is a generation that brings that historical formation to a fulfillment in the end times. So Revelation 19 it does not introduce a new Bride. It announces that the end time bride has made herself ready. The historical saints and the final-generation saints can therefore be understood as one gathered and glorified people of God.
John is then shown the New Jerusalem in greater detail. John shows us the new creation as a dynamic reality in which renewal proceeds from stage to stage and age to age, rather than as a static destination where all spiritual growth has ceased – like a spiritual dead end for perfected believers of Christ. Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified hagiaz?? - purified. The spirit is perfected in Christ and the soul is perfected (completed) through the refining of the Holy Spirit over time. How much time?
The city has the glory of God, twelve gates bearing the names of Israel’s tribes, and twelve foundations bearing the names of the apostles. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. It is adorned with precious stones, its gates are pearls, and its street is pure gold, like transparent glass.
The city itself is shaped like a perfect cube, just as the Holy of Holies in Israel’s temple. In the ancient temple, the innermost space meant God’s concentrated presence and was restricted to the High Priest. In New Jerusalem, the whole city has the dimensions of a cube – the dimensions are fascinating – 12000 furlongs in height and depth and breadth.
12,000 furlongs converts to 2,200 kilometres – the distance from Sydney northwards to Cairns on the east coast of Australia, or from San Diego northwards to the middle of Alberta Canada on the west coast of the USA, and there is no separate temple because its all temple. The image says that the presence once associated with a restricted inner sanctuary now fills the whole city. And all are welcome – the veil is torn
Revelation 21:22-27 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (ESV).
The nations are described as walking in the city’s light, bringing their glory into it, and receiving healing through the leaves of the tree of life. John’s imagery portrays not only the city’s holiness, but also the continuing flow of life that reaches out to the beautiful world beyond it.
The gates are never shut by day. An open gate means access and invitation, but this does not mean that entry is without conditions. Revelation is equally clear that nothing defiled may enter. Entrance requires the removal of corruption and a transformation of character. The open gates and the requirement for holiness are not be treated as opposing images: one emphasizes the invitation, while the other emphasizes the transformation necessary for entry.
I Make All Things New”
When we enter Revelation 21–22, John’s language becomes decisive. Death is overcome, God dwells with humanity, and the overcomers inherit what has been promised. The nations and their kings bring their glory into the city; the river of life flows; the tree of life bears fruit; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations (why do they still need healing? (the ongoing work upon the soul – no dead end) Yet the text also says that nothing defiled may enter the city.
This leads to two questions: Who enters the city, and what is God ultimately doing with humanity and creation from age to age? Revelation 21:5 declares, “Behold, I make all things new.” There is a significant difference between making all things new and making entirely new things. The words are saying renewal, transformation, fulfilment, and completion rather tha discarding an old creation and beginning a new unconnected one.
The new creation brings forth a deeper and fuller life beyond the limits and corruption that have marked human existence in the old creation. From the serpent’s words in Genesis “You shall not surely die human history became entangled in destructive distortions regarding life, desire, and authority. Believing the lie, human beings began operating under the tragic assumption that God was absent. Driven by the fear of death, humanity resisted God’s firm but loving work of healing their souls. Humanity sought self-preservation by attempting to possess their soul’s desires at any cost through self-reliance and idolatry and violence, The New Creation systematically undoes this ancient Genesis distortion with the same fiery purifying work of the Holy Spirit, restoring access to God's presence, proving that true life is found not in a self-conscious shadow life of darkness, but in a God conscious direct communion with the living God.
Justice, Judgment, and the room of Revelation
Revelation reveals God’s character through justice, holiness, wrath against sin, wisdom, mercy, patience, truth, and victory. The beast and false prophet are defeated; Satan’s final rebellion is overcome; the dead are judged; and the old order passes away before New Jerusalem descends. The judicial imagery presents accountability and the execution of Godly justice, while also raising the question of how that belongs together with God’s justice, mercy, and restoration. John speaks on behalf of God both for the prosecution and the defense.
Scripture says that the saints will judge the world and even judge angels, and the precise timing and manner of this role remains to be fully revealed. Revelation repeatedly uses the number seven, while the New Jerusalem imagery is marked by twelve: 12,000 furlongs cube dimensions, twelve gates, twelve tribes, and twelve apostolic foundations (the same number of people on a jury). These images invite us to consider God’s people as God’s heavenly jury, not merely as spectators, but as participants. God’s people wrestling with testimony, justice and injustice, mercy, judgment, accountability, restoration, and redemption.
And several statements in the final chapters seem to stand in tension and deserve to be weighed up and considered together:
Revelation 21:4: there will be no more death; yet Revelation 21:8 speaks of the lake of fire, called the second death.
Revelation 21:24: the nations of those being saved walk in the city’s light; yet Revelation 21:27 says that nothing defiled may enter.
Revelation 22:2: the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations; yet Revelation 22:15 describes people outside the city.
Revelation 22:11 speaks of the unjust remaining unjust, while Revelation 22:14 pronounces a blessing on those who do His commandments and have the right to the tree of life.
These statements demand a discerning conversation about judgment, death, exclusion, transformation, healing, access, reconciliation, and the ultimate purpose of God. If death has been abolished, what does the second death mean? If the nations require healing, who are the nations being healed? If the gates remain open, what significance does that have when nothing defiled I allowed to enter?
The Nations, the Open Gates, and the Healing of Creation
The vision of the tree of life suggests restoration, yet John also speaks of those who remain outside the city. If everyone outside had been permanently destroyed, who remains to be healed, and what is the significance of the nations walking in the light? In the reading developed here, the nations described in Revelation 21–22 belong to the setting of the new creation itself, and their presence calls for us to consider the continuing scope of God’s restorative work.
The city’s twelve pearl gates add another image for reflection. A pearl forms as a living organism, responding to an irritant (usually sand – speaking of earthly influence), that deposits shining layer upon beautiful layer around it. In this sense, the pearl can serve as a picture of suffering transforming our soul into something precious. The image invites us to behold the way into the new reality as involving the healing and transformation of past brokenness, rather than allowing corruption to be carried unchanged into the city.
The Lake of Fire and Restorative Judgment
The most difficult image of John’s prophecy is the lake of fire and the second death. Judgment is real, and the vision does not treat evil as insignificant. John’s picture of purifying fire and restorative faith gives us the understanding of divine judgment not merely as punishment inflicted for its own sake, but as God’s decisive opposition to everything that corrupts and destroys our soul. The fire destroys the old, corrupted identity, making way for what is new.
This view does not mean that reconciliation is automatic or that transformation can be bypassed. Universal reconciliation, as understood here, does not mean universal inclusion without change. It involves exposure, judgment, purification, and transformation. Nothing defiled can enter the city, and the work of healing cannot be separated from the removal of what defiles.
The language of judgment also raises questions about the words commonly translated as “eternal.” The Greek word *ai?nios* speaks of an age or the life of an age, and its meaning in this passage needs to be be considered in that context. John’s ‘all things new’ prophetic voice here is a declaration of age-related judgment with a corrective or restorative purpose. Revelation is saying that the second death is not being dismissed; it is understood as a severe judgment upon all that opposes God and as part of the destruction of the old order to bring forth the new..
Revelation 22:11—“let him be unjust still”—also needs to be seen alongside the open gates and the healing of the nations. The verse presents a person’s moral condition without spelling out every possible implication for what follows. It means here that a later change always remains possible, but such change would always involve the difficult work of transformation.
The sequence can therefore seen as a movement from death through judgment, exposure, and purification towards restored life. This contrasts with an interpretation in which judgment ends in endless conscious punishment and torment without any further restorative purpose. The vision’s continuing images of the river, the tree of life, the nations entering the city and ongoing healing can give us a picture of God’s final victory extending beyond the defeat of evil to the ultimate healing of his creation.
One Vision: Holiness, Mercy, and Life
We must hold the whole vision together. Judgment is real. Evil is not tolerated. Death is defeated, and the old creation passes away. Nothing defiled enters the city. At the same time, the river flows, the tree bears fruit, the nations walk in the light, and its leaves are for their healing. The gates remain open, the servants of God reign with Him, and God dwells with humanity.
Universal reconciliation does not mean that everyone participates in the city without transformation. In this framework, God reconciles by grace what He created, while judgment exposes and removes what is opposed to His life. Humanity’s participation may be understood in the stages of healing and transformation still remaining central to the movement towards the fullness of life.
This vision also invites human participation. Just as Abraham pleaded with God for Sodom, Scripture portrays people engaging with God over justice and mercy. We are not merely spectators reading a detached prophecy; we are invited to bring our praise, our intellect, our faith and discernment to these questions about God’s purpose.
The final chapters of Revelation can therefore be read as a vision of God’s victory over separation: the presence of God fills the city; the Lamb is its light; life flows from the throne; the nations are in view; and healing remains the prominent image. The imagery is of open gates and healing leaves pointing to an ongoing invitation within God’s restorative purpose, even as His holiness remains uncompromised.
The final word of this vision is not simply the destruction of what is old. It is the promise, “Behold, I make all things new.” The movement is from separation to Presence, from corruption to purification, from death to life, and from the brokenness of the old creation towards the fullness of God’s life in the new.
