Verses 21:7 & 8 lay it out on who wins and loses:
7 To the
victors will go this inheritance: I will be their God, and they will be My
children. 8 It will not be so for the
cowards, the faithless, the sacrilegious, the murderers, the sexually immoral,
the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all those who deal in deception. They will
inherit an eternity in the lake that burns with fire and
sulfur, which is the second death.
Follow God and spend eternity there or die the second death.
This gets into whole theology of hell and if it is or not. This is very clear
that an “eternity” will be in the lake that burns, yet notice one thing in this
verse, “eternity” is in italics which means these words were added. I go to the
CJB which says “their destiny is the lake” and the ESV which says “their portion
will be in the lake”. Both mention the second death so in a pure interpretation
of the scripture the souls that do not accept Jesus in the end will vanish and
be no more. So hell is only for an instant and then no more, no eternal
torment.
Verses 21:12 & 14 describe the “New Jerusalem”:
12 It was surrounded
with a wall, great and high. There were twelve gates. Assigned to each gate was
a messenger, twelve in all. And on the gates were inscribed the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel’s sons.
14 And the
city wall sat perfectly on twelve foundation stones, and on
them were inscribed the names of the twelve emissaries of
the Lamb.
The number 12 has been key to the Bible since the formation
of the nation of Israel. We see the 12 tribes are the gates into the city while
the foundation stones are the 12 disciples of Jesus. Both are key to the
salvation of man, so both are honored. Now we get into the city and it is 1444
miles square which shows that gravity will not be a huge issue and there will
be space!!
I can’t imagine how boring an eternal choir singing worship
to God shall be like many depict heaven but rather all the good and beauty of
earth without the bad. It will be more of what is great and wonderful so that
we are praising God. That is something I can imagine as wonderful. At the same
time no one really knows and is the thing people hope for.
We have many brought to Jesus on the promise of heaven or
the fear of hell. I tend to say live for the here and now, the joy and excitement
living for Jesus now should be the driving factor and not something we cannot
imagine!!
Verses 22:14 & 15 show entrance into the New Jerusalem
is exclusive:
14 Blessed are those who wash their garments. In
the end, they have rightful access to the tree of life and will enter
the city through its gates. 15 The dogs, the
sorcerers, those who commit immoral acts, the murderers, the idolaters, and all
who love and practice deception must remain outside the gates for all
eternity.
Again we can start
the debate on heaven and hell, is the lake of fire outside the gates? Is there
a second death or is there an existence outside the glory of God? These and
more questions come from these scriptures and I do not have any answers other
that it will be clear when the time comes. So for now, live for the now and
spread the good news of Jesus. Live on the hope that we win in the end, not matter
how bad it appears to get.