Unto The Ages Of The Ages

by J.L. Ferguson, Barrhead | Category: The Finger Of Prophecy | Jan 1971

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). Thus the visionary of Patmos, peering deep in to the day of eternity, opens his brief unfolding of the final drama in divine revelation. He sees a tiny cross-section of life in the eternal arrangement of things, a worthy climax indeed to God's great recovery plan in redemption.

The whole burden of Scripture has been to advise and to warn the human race as to sin in relation to divine holiness; to record the great prophecies of a Saviour who would come for their help; to present the central theme of the visitation of men by the Son of God, for a few, momentous years "moving in servant form through scenes of time"; then laying down His life on Calvary to provide a basis for the reconciliation of a holy God and an unholy human race; of His subsequent resurrection; the instruction of His apostles as to the present-day service of God; His ascension and, in due course, His return to receive the Kingdom. What then could be more fitting than to conclude divine revelation with a brief reference to the ultimate and eternal?

It would be a pity to complicate so choice a consideration as this with matters of acknowledged controversy. We refer to three in particular. First, are the new heaven and the new earth the present spheres purged by fire or are they absolutely new? Second, in Revelation 21:9 to 22:5 is the city presented in the setting of an eternal scene or a millennial? Third, is the city actually on the earth or in suspension over it? In an appendix to this article when published shortly in booklet form, we hope to present the various views for the reader to judge. For the present we shall accept the former in each case.

Here then, at last, is "the city which hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God". What was visionary to the men and women of faith in their pilgrimage, now becomes their dwelling place in eternity. It is the New Jerusalem. It comes down out of heaven from God. It has the adornment of a bride on her wedding day. The imagery breathes joy and fulfilment of long cherished hopes.

Then as the eternal city takes its place on the new earth, the voice out of the throne proclaims that the tabernacle of God is with men. He had tabernacled before with them in the days of human failure; in the curtains of the wilderness till David's day; in the various temples till the coming of Messiah; in the flesh of Emmanuel; in the spiritual house expressed among the churches of God in the day of grace. But now, in a setting of eternal suitability, God will dwell among the redeemed. They will be His "peoples" (a plurality worthy of note when considering the inhabitants of the new earth). And from every eye the last tear will be wiped away; for death, mourning, crying, pain, the things that made them stream, will be no more. Job wrote, "He bindeth the streams that they trickle not" (28:11). Yes, the hot burning tears of the saints; they trickled in the dark; they will glitter in the light. The first things will have passed away for ever, never again to return. The Throne sitter speaks, "Behold, I make all things new... It is done" (Revelation 21:5,6 A.V.). On the Cross He had said, "It is finished". That day "was the day of the Preparation, and the sabbath drew on". But now the fruits of that great preparatory work are in full view. It is the beginning of the eternal sabbath rest of God, in which all His saints shall share.

It takes a little adjustment for some believers to accept that their eternal place of service will be on the new earth, and not in heaven as they had supposed. It may be they have been influenced in their thinking by such scriptures as 1 Peter 1:4, where their incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance is viewed as reserved in heaven for them. But that inheritance is in a city which will come down to earth when time has run its course. It may well be that it is to that city, presently situated in heaven, that the saints go on death-with Christ-very far better. Some day we shall know.

The city is then described in greater detail in Revelation 21:9 to 22:5. Some view the outline as literal, others as figurative. One thing is certain, the Spirit could not depict to finite minds a comprehensible picture of the infinite. When Moses reproduced on the desert sands the pattern showed him on the mount, and Israel were permitted to look on "the copies of the things in the heavens", what they saw was, as it were, "a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things". The delightful description in these verses may therefore be a presentation in the understandable things of

time, of that which is eternal and thus at present incomprehensible to us. But if that is so, we can be assured that the reality will far exceed in glory the choice imagery.

It is a city of twelves. Twelve gates, angels, tribe names, foundations and apostle names; measuring in the vision twelve thousand furlongs in length and breadth, with a wall height twelve times twelve cubits. Here at last is the city of divine government and thus perfect administration.

The city is named, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb". So the members of the Church which is Christ's Body are evidently dwellers in the eternal city of God. In association with them is seen the names of the apostles of the Lamb on the twelve foundations of the city's wall.

It is evident also that the redeemed of Old Testament Israel enjoy relationship to the city; were it otherwise the appearance of the names of the tribes on the twelve gates of the wall would lose all relevance. Indeed, an eternal significance will attach to the names on the gates, for from great Israel "is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever" (Romans 9:5). And the saints' everlasting felicity was secured by Him, whose searching and whose sorrow will be touchingly kept in remembrances, in the message of the pearl from which each gate is made.

Round about the city are the nations with their kings; those redeemed multitudes who were never identified with either Israel or the Church the Body, who will come from the darkness of centuries in the far-off lands to the brightness of the glory of the Great White Throne, there to receive eternal justification and life at the hands of the Judge. And among them will be those who shine with the distinctive rewards peculiar to the overcomers - crowned ones in their midst.

Thus the redeemed of all lands and ages will find their place in relation to the eternal city. It is the New Jerusalem; the holy city, Jerusalem. In it, says the Spirit of God, shall be, first negatively:

No temple-for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are personally there.

No need of sun or moon-for its light is the glory of God, and its lamp, the Lamb.

No sin or curse-for by divine decree these will never be allowed to arise again.

But positively:

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there-eternally undisputed authority.

From this throne will flow the river of the water of life down the middle of the golden street, flanked on either side by the tree of life, with its fruit and healing leaves - eternal communion and refreshment.

The servants of God will see His face, have His name on their foreheads and do Him service - eternal identification with the priestly service of love in all its manifold forms.

And they shall reign for ever and ever-eternal union with the Throned-One of eternity.

Thus, in the presence of the Eternal, we take leave of our consideration of the Finger of Prophecy. We have reached the point where God will "be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28), and He will reign for ever and ever, enjoying the undisturbed "dominion unto the ages of the ages" (1 Peter 5:11 R.V. margin). For which cause we exclaim, "Unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations of the age of the ages" (Eph. 3:21 R.V. margin).

Oh the blessed joy of meeting,

All the desert past!

Oh the wondrous words of greeting

He shall speak at last

He and I together entering

Those bright courts above;

He and I together sharing

All the Father's love!

Where no shade nor stain can enter,

Nor the gold be dim;

In that holiness unsullied,

I shall walk with Him;