There are few things more crushing to the human spirit than hopelessness. When you're in a hopeless situation you need the Lord to reassure you that he is in control. You need him to give you hope. That's what the original readers of Revelation needed. And that's what we're going to see in Revelation 21 this morning. Things may be bad. But for the people of God, there is always hope. We're going to be looking at the church triumphant, the church: perfect at last, the church after the end of the world!

i God's activity

v1 starts with total cosmic upheaval. God recreates the entire universe. There are new heavens and a new earth, fulfilling verses such as 2 Peter 3:12–13. But then John sees something else in v2. He sees a city. It's "the Holy City", which means that it's set apart for God. It's "the new Jerusalem", which means that it's the city of God. And it comes from God, "out of heaven from God". Whose activity are we seeing here? It's God's activity.

v9–10 explain the significance of the city. (Note that v10 neatly parallels v2.) The city is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. The Lamb stands for Jesus. The bride stands for the church. Here in Revelation 21, the bride of the Lamb, the bride of Christ, is the church triumphant. What John sees, then, is the church, the entire number of God's people, after the end of the world. He sees that we are all set apart for God. We all belong to God. We all come from God in that he has made us who we are. Whose activity is this? It's God's activity.

And look what he's done to the church! v2 describes the church as like a bride beautifully dressed for her wedding day. The church is now perfect, beautiful, with no moral blemish, no flaws, no imperfections, nothing to displease at all. It's perfect. Christian, you're part of this! Doesn't your heart palpitate a bit at the thought of it?

There's more in v4. God will wipe every tear from our eyes. He'll wipe away everything which might cause sadness to his people. How wonderful that will be!

ii God's beauty

In v11, John says that the city "shone with the glory of God". v23 adds that God blazes with glory so much that the universe is filled with light! The church is lit up by the glory of God! What John is saying is that God imparts something of his glory to the church. God's perfection, God's glory, will be brilliantly reflected in the church. And so the church will have a beauty like that of God himself! There are shades of that glory in the church now. But in God's recreated universe, that glory will be complete. We will reflect God. We will reflect his beauty. We will reflect his love and faithfulness and purity and goodness and righteousness and joy and wisdom.

John says more about this in v12–14. He describes the walls of the city. Cities in ancient times loved to have walls. They were partly for defence. But they also gave a sense of prestige to the city. And here's the holy city, the church. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels standing at the gates and twelve foundations. In other words, it's a safe city. And it's a prestigious city. It's glorious. It's worthy. It's magnificent. It's beautiful.

And there’s more in v18–21. John sees that the foundations of the walls are studded with every kind of precious stone. It's a blaze of colour, a blaze of beauty. There are blues, greens, reds, yellows, purples. And you can't even start to imagine how valuable it all is, can you? How glorious the church will be! How valuable it will be! How beautiful it will be! But whose beauty is it really? It's God's beauty.

Christian, look forward to the reality behind the symbols which John is using here. Look forward to the day when you are part of the church triumphant, the church: perfect at last!

iii God's closeness

This is the real hub of the chapter. In v3, God speaks. And he says the same thing three times. Three times he says that he will be with his people. When something is repeated as often as that it marks it out as important. In fact, this is the most important thing about the church triumphant, the church: perfect at last. The church dwells in the immediate presence of God. We're seeing God's closeness.

v22 makes the same point. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple in God's recreated universe. In other words, the church triumphant doesn't have to "go to temple". We'll be right there with God all the time. It's to our shame that sometimes we don't see this as the best thing about the age to come.

John gives one more little detail to bring this to life in v7. God says of those who persevere to the end in their Christian lives, "I will be his God and he will be my son. I will be her God and she will be my daughter." On that day, for the very first time, the whole family of the church will be together. All of God's people from all of time will be there. But best of all, our Father will be there. We'll enjoy the presence, the company, the closeness, of God Himself, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He will gather the whole family together. And nothing will ever separate us. Nothing will ever disturb us. Nothing will ever disrupt our perfect harmony.

That will be the best thing about being part of the church triumphant. That will be the best thing about being a part of the church: perfect at last. We will all be with God for ever! We'll enjoy God's closeness.

There's one last verse we need to look at. v27 brings a very solemn note into an otherwise joyful chapter. It says that not everyone will be there in the perfected church after the end of time. Some will never enter it. They will be shut out for ever. And that's a dreadful fate. People will be kept out by their impurity. And disastrously, we're all impure.

That impurity would condemn us all for ever if it were not for the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. He died on the cross to take our impurity, to take its guilt, to take its punishment. He rose again to show it. And because of Him, there is hope. There is hope for those who confess their sin to God, who trust in Christ, and who follow Him. If you never have, come to Jesus and be saved.