39: The Promises to Israel - The Promised Rest (Part 2 of 2) - Page 5

When the Lord comes for His people to take them to Himself, to the place which He has prepared for them (see John 14.3), the righteous dead will be raised incorruptible, and the righteous living ones will likewise be changed to immortality, and both together will be caught up “in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4.16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15.51-54. The place to which they will be taken is the free Jerusalem above, “which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4.26); for that is where Christ now is, and where He is preparing a place for us. A few texts may be quoted to show this fact more clearly. That the heavenly Jerusalem is the place where Christ is now “in the presence of God for us,” is evident from Hebrews 12.22-24, where we are told that those who believe are now come to Mount Zion, unto “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” “to God the Judge of all,” and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” Christ “is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” (Hebrews 8.1), and from this throne, it will be well to remember, proceeds “the river of water of life.” Revelation 22.1

The City for Which Abraham Looked

This city, the New Jerusalem, the city that God has prepared for those of whom He is not ashamed, because they seek an heavenly country (Hebrews 11.16), is the capital of His dominions. It is the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (verse 10), for which Abraham looked. In the twenty-first first chapter of Revelation we find a description of those foundations, where we also find that the city will not always remain in heaven, but will descend to this earth with the saints who have reigned in it with Christ for a thousand years after the resurrection. Revelation 20. Of the descent of the city we read: —

“And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write; for these things are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”