The Hope of True Beauty
“Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Revelation 21:9-14
So what does the beloved “wife of the Lamb” look like? She is stunningly beautiful-beautiful with the aesthetic and values of heaven. Ours is a culture that defines beauty so artificially, but today let’s consider a few of the things in this text Jesus greatly celebrates about his City-Bride.
As I mentioned two days ago, the mixing of bride and city metaphors is not a garish thing, but a grace thing. The most striking thing about the New Jerusalem is the population of the City-the redeemed and reconciled people, the gospel-driven community, the relational wonder of this new society, NOT the buildings, etc. This is why Jesus calls each local church to be “a city set on a hill”-a gathering of Christians offering a little glimpse of the redeemed life of heaven to our broken cities on earth.
Onto her beauty: She “comes down out of heaven”-this speaks of the origin of the Bride’s beauty, not her spacial location! For on the great Day of the second coming of Jesus, the Bride in heaven and on earth will be reunited as God the Father gives this Bride to his Son to cherish forever. Anything and everything that entitles us to be a part of the “wife of the Lamb” can only be attributed to God’s mercy and grace!
Next, the essence of the Bride’s beauty is described as the very glory of God-she shines with God’s brilliance and magnificence. There is no beauty like that which is found in God himself. Only the gospel can free us to see and celebrate God’s beauty as our primary aesthetic, as quintessential beauty. Beauty can only ultimately be defined in terms of God himself, and it is in Jesus where we see God’s beauty most clearly revealed. When our salvation is completed we will be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus-indeed, we are destined to be as lovely as and as loving as Jesus.
Lastly, for today, note the identity of this beautiful Bride: Through the imagery of the great temple in the “Old Jerusalem”, we see the “New Jerusalem-Bride” comprised of redeemed persons who came from the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Is has always been God’s glorious plan to give his Son a single Bride taken from every race, tribe, tongue and people group. There was never meant to be a Jewish bride and a separate Gentile bride. God is not into polygamy! Jesus has destroyed the hostility and enmity that existed between Jews and Gentiles and is making of us one Bride, one church! In Christ, we are one! We must be diligent to safeguard and celebrate our unity in Jesus. Division is ugly. Unity is beauty!