God’s Blessing to the Church
In the “new heaven” and “new earth,” God will give the blessing of his presence to all those who have faithfully followed the Lamb despite the hardship this has entailed (Rev. 21:1–8; cf. Isa. 65:17; 66:22).
John’s description of this new universe recalls the accounts of creation and of life in the garden in Genesis 1–3, where God spoke directly with the first man and woman (Gen. 2:16–17; Gen. 3:9–19), walked among them (Gen. 3:8), and provided for their every need (Gen. 2:9, 16, 18–25; Gen. 3:21).
1 The most important blessing of the church’s new existence will be its similar experience of the immediate, palpable presence of God. John communicates this reality by describing the new creation in a kaleidoscope of three images: a city, a bride, and God’s “dwelling,” the temple:
Jerusalem
Israel-general
Israel
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
United-kingdom
Rome
Lazio
Italy
Roma
Greece
London