21 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 any more, 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 sulphur, which is the second death.”
The last two chapters of Revelation bring us to the final consummation, in a vision that is breathtaking and glorious in its conception. By way of introduction we should notice first of all the close connection the vision has with the first coming of Christ. In its fullness it is, of course, related to the Second Coming, which in fact ushers it in, but it is nevertheless the fulfilment of the meaning of the Incarnation. This can be seen in 3, although the full force is obscured in the AV translation. The words should read,'…. they shall be His people, and He shall be God with them, their God' (so the Greek). This is precisely what the word 'Emmanuel' means (Matthew 1:23). The reference to the Tabernacle of God being with men is likewise an echo of John 1:14 - 'The Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us'. The significance of this is that the new heavens and new earth are a blessed reality here and now. John saw them when he was on lonely Patmos. Faith can pierce the barriers of the seen and temporal and see the unseen and eternal through all the travail and turmoil of the old world. It is there now, that new order, and we can by faith taste the fruits and powers of the world to come. Since the Incarnation and Atonement, the kingdom of God is there, it is a present, unseen reality to the eye of faith. It is established now, and it will be unveiled in glory when Jesus comes to reign. A new day really did dawn, and a new order was ushered in, when Jesus rose from the dead. It is its hiddenness, though a present reality, that the New Testament proclaims, and it is its unveiling, not its establishment, that will take place at the end.