Commentary - Revelation 21:1-8

Bird's-eye view

In these magnificent opening verses of Revelation 21, the apostle John is shown the grand finale of redemptive history. But we must be careful here. Our hymnody and popular piety have often trained us to read this as a description of a disembodied, ethereal afterlife, a complete annihilation of the old world and the creation of a brand new one out of nothing. But the Bible's storyline is not one of escapism; it is one of renewal and restoration. This vision depicts the consummation of the new covenant order that was inaugurated at the first coming of Christ. The "new heaven and new earth" is the world remade, cleansed, and glorified, where God's dwelling place is finally and fully reunited with man's. The central image is the New Jerusalem, which is not a physical city of gold and jewels in the sky, but is explicitly identified as the Bride, the Lamb's wife, the Church in her glorified state. The passage is a glorious promise of the ultimate triumph of the gospel: God dwelling with His people, the final eradication of all the cursed effects of sin, and the stark, eternal division between those who overcome by faith and those who persist in rebellion.

This is the goal toward which all of history has been moving since Genesis 3. It is the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant promise, "I will be their God, and they will be my people." The voice from the throne announces the end of tears, death, mourning, and pain, the complete reversal of the curse. He who sits on the throne, God Himself, declares that He is making all things new, a process that began at the resurrection and will be consummated at the end of time. The chapter concludes with a free offer of the water of life and a solemn warning, reminding us that this glorious inheritance is for overcomers, while the final destiny for the unrepentant is the second death.

Outline

Context In Revelation

Revelation 21 follows immediately after the final judgment described in chapter 20. The great white throne has been established, the books have been opened, and death and Hades have been cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15). The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are already there (Rev 19:20; 20:10). All of God's enemies, both spiritual and human, have been judged and eternally quarantined. With the old, rebellious order definitively dealt with, John's vision now shifts from judgment to glorification. The preceding chapters, particularly from chapter 4 onward, have detailed the covenantal lawsuit of God against apostate Israel (the Harlot) and pagan Rome (the Beast). Most of those judgments found their historical anchor in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which marked the end of the old covenant world, the "first heaven and first earth." Now, John sees the glorious result of Christ's victory: the full manifestation of the new covenant world that has been growing and advancing throughout the church age. This is not an abrupt break in the narrative, but the logical and glorious culmination of everything that has come before. The Harlot city, Babylon/Jerusalem, has been judged and destroyed, making way for the full reveal of the Bride city, the New Jerusalem.

Key Issues

The World Made New

When the Bible speaks of a "new heaven and a new earth," we should think renovation, not annihilation. The word for "new" here (kainos) does not mean new in time, as though the first one were worn out and had to be replaced. It means new in quality, new in character. It is the same world that God declared "very good" in the beginning, now purged of all sin and rebellion by the blood of Christ and renewed by the power of His Spirit. The scriptural hope is not to be evacuated from a doomed planet. The scriptural hope is the resurrection of the body and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and He has no intention of surrendering His property to the devil. He is taking it all back. The entire cosmos, which has been groaning under the curse of sin, will be liberated into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:21). This passage is the ultimate vision of that final liberation. It is where the prayer "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" finds its final and complete answer.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

John sees the new creation order. The "first heaven and first earth" refers to the old covenant world, the political and religious order centered around temple and sacrifice, which became obsolete with the coming of Christ and was demonstrably judged in the destruction of Jerusalem. That world has "passed away." In its place is a renewed world. And in this renewed world, there is "no longer any sea." The sea in Scripture is often a symbol of chaos, turmoil, the abyss, and the restless gentile nations in their rebellion against God (Isa 57:20). It is the place from which the monstrous beast of chapter 13 arose. Its absence here is a potent symbol. It means that the chaos of sin has been subdued. The nations have been tamed by the gospel. The separation and hostility that characterized the old world are gone. All is at peace under the reign of Christ.

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

This is the centerpiece of the vision. What is this new heaven and new earth? It is the home of the New Jerusalem. And what is the New Jerusalem? The text tells us plainly: it is the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. This is the Church (Eph 5:25-27). The city is not our destination; the city is us. She is seen "coming down out of heaven from God." This does not mean we are Martians. It means the Church's origin, her life, her charter, and her character are all heavenly. She is born from above. And her destiny is not to be raptured up into the sky, but to bring the life and order of heaven down to earth. History is the story of this city descending, of the kingdom of God advancing in the world. She is "adorned for her husband," which speaks of her sanctification and glorification, made beautiful and pure by Christ for Himself.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

A great voice from the throne, the ultimate authority, announces the fulfillment of God's central covenant promise. The word "tabernacle" (or dwelling) hearkens back to the wilderness tabernacle and the temple, where God's presence was localized. But now, the dwelling is not a tent or a building, but God Himself with His people. This began in the incarnation ("the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us," John 1:14), and it continues through the Holy Spirit's indwelling of the Church. Here we see its ultimate state. The language is emphatic: He will dwell with them, they shall be His people, God Himself will be with them. This is the end of all alienation. It is the restoration of the perfect fellowship for which man was created in the Garden.

4 and He will WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away.”

This is the great reversal of the curse. All the tragic consequences of sin are itemized and declared abolished. God Himself performs the intimate, tender act of wiping away every tear. This is not just comfort; it is the removal of every cause of sorrow. Then the great enemies are listed: death, mourning, crying, pain. In the new creation, these things will have no place. They are the "first things," the characteristics of the old, fallen order, and they have "passed away" forever. While we experience the down payment of this now, our sins are forgiven, we have a new standing with God, this verse looks forward to the final consummation after the resurrection, when our bodies will be made incorruptible and all the effects of the fall will be purged from creation.

5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

The one on the throne, God the Father, speaks for Himself now. He does not say, "I will make all things new," as if it were a purely future event. He says, "I am making all things new." It is a present, ongoing reality. The new creation is not something that drops out of the sky at the end of history; it is the project that God has been working on ever since the resurrection of His Son. The gospel is the power of God to make all things new. John is then commanded to write this down, for these are not idle hopes or religious pipe dreams. These words are "faithful and true" because they are spoken by the God who cannot lie and who has the power to bring about everything He promises.

6 Then He said to me, “They are done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

The declaration "They are done" is the language of accomplished certainty. From God's eternal perspective, the victory is already won. He is the Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z. He started history, He is directing it at every point, and He will bring it to His intended conclusion. Nothing can thwart His purpose. Following this declaration of sovereign power, He issues a gospel invitation. To the one who is thirsty, the one who recognizes his spiritual need, He offers the water of life "without cost." This is pure grace. Salvation cannot be earned or purchased; it is a free gift received by faith. This is the same invitation Jesus gave in John 7:37, and it is extended throughout the age of the gospel.

7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I WILL BE HIS GOD AND HE WILL BE MY SON.

The inheritance of this glorious new world is not for everyone. It is for the one who "overcomes." Throughout Revelation, the overcomer is the one who remains faithful to Christ in the face of persecution, temptation, and the allure of the world. It is the one who conquers through the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony (Rev 12:11). The reward is to "inherit these things", all the promises of the new creation. And this inheritance is summed up in the most intimate of covenantal relationships: "I will be his God and he will be my son." This is the language of adoption, of family, of a secure and eternal relationship with the living God.

8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The glorious promise has a dark and necessary counterpart. After the invitation comes the warning. This is the great antithesis. A list of unrepentant sinners is given, beginning with the "cowardly", those who shrink back from confessing Christ for fear of what men might do. Their fate, along with unbelievers, murderers, and the rest, is the "lake that burns with fire and brimstone." This is what the Bible calls the "second death." The first death is the separation of the soul from the body. The second death is the final, eternal separation from the presence of God, the source of all life and goodness. It is the conscious, unending experience of God's righteous wrath against sin. There is no middle ground. One either inherits all things as a son or has his part in the lake of fire.

Application

This passage ought to revolutionize our understanding of the Christian mission. If the New Jerusalem is the Church, and she is coming down out of heaven to earth, then our task is not to find an escape hatch from the world. Our task is to be the agents of its transformation. We are colonists of heaven, tasked with bringing the culture of our home country to this earthly realm. Every time we preach the gospel, disciple a new believer, build a Christian school, establish a just law, or create a beautiful piece of art to the glory of God, we are laying down another paving stone of the New Jerusalem.

Furthermore, this vision gives us an unshakable hope. We live in a world that is still full of tears, death, mourning, and pain. It is easy to become discouraged. But God has declared that He is making all things new, and His words are faithful and true. The outcome of history is not in doubt. Christ will have the victory. This world will be cleansed and renewed. This gives us the courage to be "overcomers." We can face persecution and temptation not in our own strength, but in the strength of the one who is the Alpha and Omega. We can persevere because we know that the inheritance waiting for us is a world remade, and an eternal relationship with our Father as His beloved sons.

Finally, the stark warning in the last verse should fill us with a holy fear and a fervent evangelistic zeal. The offer of the water of life is free, but it is not indefinite. The day of judgment is coming. We must flee from cowardice and unbelief ourselves, and we must urgently plead with our neighbors to do the same, calling them to drink freely from the spring of life before it is too late.