The Trinity and God's Glory in Salvation: A Biblical-Theological Examination of Revelation 21:22-24

Term paper for General Epistles and Revelation
Dr. Vern Poythress
Westminster Theological Seminary
Fall 2002
Tim Black

1. Introduction

I have chosen to treat Revelation 21:22-24, which describes the new Jerusalem John saw in the final vision of his Apocalypse. This passage provides us a comprehensive overview of God in Himself, in His revelation, and in His saving work, as they are bound up in the glory of the final eschatological state in glory, where the dwelling of God is with man.

1. Translation and Exegesis

   1. Boundaries

The text has a clear boundary at the beginning of verse 22, which begins with Kai....ouvk ei=don. The phrase "I saw" identifies the beginning of many of the smaller sections in the book. Here the vision remains of the same thing--"the holy city, Jerusalem" (21:10)--and in the same place--"a great and high mountain." (21:10) But while John has just affirmed that the new Jerusalem has all the glory of the old Jerusalem and more--in light, stones, walls, gates, foundations, a street. One might expect then that at the center of the new Jerusalem there will be the same great centerpiece found in the earthly Jerusalem--not the king's palace, but the temple of the Lord. But here John introduces a contrast--Kai....ouvk ei=don. What does John not see? Exactly what he would expect to see--the temple! The temple is not there because a greater temple is in the midst of the heavenly city; a temple not made with hands. The temple is the Lord. This contrast then sets off the beginning of the passage from what has preceded.

My reason for selecting v. 24 as the last verse of the passage I will treat is just as arbitrary as is our instruction to pick a passage of 2-4 verses in length. The content of the first 3 verses of this passage attracted my attention, so I sought to find an appropriate break in the middle of vv. 22-27, and could not find one. V. 27 clearly is the end of the main pericope here, because it is followed by 22:1 which begins with Kai. e;deixe,n moi, which indicates larger divisions of John's visions than does Kai....ei=don. Vv. 22-27 are most obviously divided up by seven successive uses of Kai. to introduce a sentence. The groupings of these 7 sentences are not so easy to discern; perhaps they are all on the same level of organization, but probably the first two sentences hang together, because they talk about God specifically, first in regard to the ontology of the Father and the Son, and second in regard to the revelation of the Father by the Son. But what of vv. 24ff? Perhaps the shift to speaking about ta. e;qnh, whether people in general or Gentiles in particular, justifies making a break at the beginning of v. 24. Likewise, v. 24 introduces the first main verb which is not in the present tense--a future--and is followed by verbs which could be construed with a future reference. 24a and 24b are similar to one another; perhaps they are grouped together. Does the ga.r in 25b give the reason for 24a-25a, or only for 25a? Does 25 as a whole give the reason for 24aff? Does the repetition of fe,rw in 26 set off 26-27 as a separate unit? The ouv mh. in 27 certainly sets up a boundary of some scope with what precedes. It appears to me that the pattern of A B A' BB does not work well with this set of seven, because there is no inserted promise after the first set of six entities. The seven entities could, however, be considered judgments of a sort, because each one is stating that something which was not completely true of the original Jerusalem will be true of the new Jerusalem, and the seventh judgment does seems similar to the separation of the elect and non-elect which will occur at the final judgment.

I think it is best provisionally to consider vv. 22-24 to set up the general pattern of the trinity which then in vv. 24-27 is extended along the lines introduced by v. 24. This will be explained below. As such, it is justifiable to consider it sufficient to treat v. 24 apart from vv. 25-27, taking 24 as a summary introduction of what follows in 25-27.

1. Textual Variants

There are no significant textual variants for this passage. UBS 4 doesn't even mention any; the NKJ lists 4, the only one of much interest is in v. 24, reading "nations of those who are saved" where the Majority text and UBS omit the italicized words. The italicized words can be fairly easily explained as an interpolation.

1. Translation

²² But a temple I did not see in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.

²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴ And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth are bringing their glory into it.

I chose to render the verbal tenses more woodenly here, in order to consider the possibility that John is speaking both from the time-context internal to the vision and from the time-context of his life outside of the vision. Internal to the vision, the heavenly city already exists; external to it, God and the Lamb exist as its core, but the sun and moon still exist in the present creation. In both temporal contexts, but primarily that of the present creation, the kings of the earth are leading their followers by bringing the wealth of the nations (cf. 26) into the presence of God, though, because this is not yet complete, we must recognize that the nations do not yet completely walk by the light of the Holy city. This accords with the temporal rendering (in the Greek) of the rest of vv. 25-27. As such, a temporal ordering is in view in this set of 7 "judgments," in that God is at the center of the place Jesus is preparing for us, the nations are streaming into that place even today, but the full number of the elect will not be brought in until the final judgment.

1. Context

The body of the book of Revelation is divided into 4 main visions, the two central visions containing the 7 cycles of 7's. Each of those cycles ends with the final judgment and the ensuing final eschatological state, with the later cycles focusing more closely on the end of history. Following the final description of the final judgment is the "8^th and culminating act"¹ of the book, God's unveiling of the New Jerusalem, the everlasting abode where He will dwell with His people. This final act has 2 main sections: 21:9-27, which focuses on "the architecture of the New Jerusalem," and 22:1-5, which focuses on "the New Jerusalem as the new garden of Eden."² The first section first describes the glorious identity and structure of the new Jerusalem in vv. 9-21, then the central feature of the city in vv. 22-27. The central feature is God Himself, in all His glory, working salvation for His people. And this is where our passage is found.

Following 22:5, what remains of the book are John's conclusions and exhortations, and then his closing benediction.

1. Exposition

We have, then, already embarked upon explaining the text. This exposition must remain brief, because we have been assigned to focus on the biblical-theological connections between this passage and the rest of scripture. In order to that goal, I only want to set out what I perceive to be the central organizing motif of vv. 22-27, then allow the discussion that follows to elaborate the other themes of the passage.

1. Trinity and Glory in Salvation³

The central organization of this passage is twofold. First, the passage emphasizes that God is the center of the new Jerusalem, and specifically, God in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Second, this passage focuses on the progressive outworking of God's glory in salvation, beginning with a focus on the ontological glory of God as it is bound up with the transcendent, originating economic role of God the Father, moving to the revelational glory of God as it is bound up with the incarnational, producing economic role of God the Son, and ending with the ethically-implemented glory of God as it is bound up with the immanent, implementing economic role of God the Spirit. Here God the Father is associated with the metaphysical glory of God, the Son with the epistemological glory of God, and the Spirit with the ethical glory of God. To demonstrate.

1. Father

The Father is the special focus of v. 22, though the Son is mentioned at the end of the verse, probably to affirm that the Son is equally God in regard to the ontological trinity. This focus is apparent in the use of the title o`...ku,rioj o` qeo.j o` pantokra,twr. While the term ku,rioj, "Lord," is used of Christ throughout the NT, it is used on the basis of the LXX's using to translate hw"hy>, which is the special name of God in the OT, referring both generally to God as one person, and to the Father specially among the three. In the NT it is applied to Christ, to indicate that He is truly the ontological equal of God the Father; Jesus Christ is the God of the OT. This understanding of the title in v. 22 is confirmed by the LXX's usage of pantokra,twr, commonly used to translate tAab'c. and yd;v;, and thereby commonly also associated in the OT with the one true God of the OT, who is preeminently God the Father in the NT. The translations go slightly wrong then which place this title as equally prominent, and grouped together, with the kai. to. avrni,on which follows the main verb evstin, because here the word order highlights that the focus is on the former person, God the Father.

This focus is made specifically ontological by the use of the simple verb of being, evstin. God the Father is the temple. What used to be a shadow and a copy--the earthly temple--is now the reality: God Himself. The general emphasis on God's glory being the glory of the new Jerusalem brings into view that v. 22 is teaching that the transcendent, independently-existing God, represented most prominently in the person of the Father, is glorious in Himself, and that it is this glory internal to Himself which then becomes the center and source of all glory in the new Jerusalem. Further, His glory is brought near creation; He is the temple, the meeting-place between God and man; the place in which two entities are present to each other, as He had promised: You will be my people, and I will be your God. So in what may come, God's ontological glory cannot but be exalted in all the earth.

1. Son

The Son is the special focus of v. 23, though the Father is mentioned at the beginning of the verse. The glory of the transcendent God--God the Father--has illumined the city, but what is that glory? It is the Son, the Lamb. The Lamb is the glory of the Father, insofar as that glory is displayed. Or better, the Lamb is God's glory, as that glory is itself an epistemological, revelational display. God's glory is not merely an un-revealed ontological reality, but further is epistemological in nature; it is that reality's revelation, it is light. The Lamb was God, and His light has shined in this dark world. The ontological God became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only one become from the Father, full of grace and truth. But has this world received God's glory? Does this world return it to Him?

1. Spirit

The Spirit is the special focus of v. 24. The Spirit is not mentioned. But just as you can hear the wind's sound, but cannot perceive from where it comes or to where it is going, so here also you see the Spirit's effect, but do not see Him. His effect is to make men holy, to implement God's glory in their lives, by bringing them to receive, know, and exalt the glory of God the Father as it is revealed in the glory of God the Son, and in His saving work. Indeed, the nations--not just Israel but the whole creation led by the renewed humanity--will walk by the light of the Lamb. Note that "by" here translates dia., which carries the sense of "by means of." Not only will Christ's glory in producing salvation give epistemological guidance, but further, His glory will provide the very means by which men actively live holy lives. His active obedience becomes implemented in our active obedience; we work out our salvations with fear and trembling because it is God who is at work in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13) He prepared good works beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Eph. 2:10) The language hearkens back to God's promise of the new Covenant in Ezekiel 36:27, where God says "I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." So then as part of their active obedience, men also then bring the glory which has been implemented in their lives, and throughout creation, back to God, to present an acceptable offering to Him, to honor Him, to exalt His glory. The kings of the earth lead the way in this procession of all creation into the presence of God. God's holy actions are becoming, and will have become, manifest in man's holy actions, and in the end will be fully returned to Himself. His Word and Spirit have not returned without accomplishing everything He sent them to do.

The Spirit's ethical transformation of God's people at the center of creation then is the guide to understanding vv. 25-27. No enemy can assail this city, for the glory of God dispels the ethical darkness of sin and evil. (25) Rather, the glory and honor of all creation, carried by the kings of the earth and manifested throughout all nations of people, having been implemented by the working of the Spirit, will then be brought back by the working of the Spirit to the praise of God's glory from which it came. (26) Thus the new Jerusalem will be utterly perfect--no evil will be found within it--but only those whose persons are bound up savingly by the Spirit within the gospel-revelation of the glory of Christ, who thereby have His holiness, and His life, will live there. (27) God will be all in all, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. (21:6)

1. Biblical-Theological Connections

I suppose the biblical-theological connections above could have been treated more systematically and analytically, but it seemed best to leave them implicit in order to bring to expression what I am considering the central structure of the text: the Trinity and God's glory in salvation. Let's deal with some of these themes, and others, more carefully. Generally, I will seek to trace the development of a theme from the beginning of redemptive history to the end. Due to the limitations of time and space, this section will of course not be as long or comprehensive as it could be.

1. New Creation

It seems best to open by discussing the theme of the new creation first. Beyond this passage's focus on God as the center of the new Jerusalem, perhaps the next most prominent theme is that with God more specially and directly at the center of the new Jerusalem than He was in the old Jerusalem, creation itself is transformed. The most marked difference between the center of the old Jerusalem (along with the old creation), and the new Jerusalem, according to John, is that it has no temple. From the beginning God had created this creation as a context in which to enjoy communion with His most special creation, man. God walked and talked with Adam in the garden. The original creation was full of God's presence, and His abundant blessings. It was the meeting-place of God with man. The Garden of Eden stood at the center, on a mountain,⁴ as does this new Jerusalem (21:10). Yet while God was present in the Garden, He was still more transcendent in the Garden than He is in this new Jerusalem. Certainly, sin has separated us from God. But even before the Fall, there remained still ulterior vistas of realization of the presence and communion of God with man to be had in the ensuing life to come.⁵ The raqiah, the firmament, still divided the waters above from the waters below; we read in Ezekiel 1 and 10 that there is a firmament under God's throne, dividing the upper realm from the lower. But in this new creation of the new Jerusalem, the divisions of the original creation--between light and darkness, the expanse between the waters above and below, the separation of land and sea--these divisions are removed. There will be no night there (25). There is no sea (21:1). The great wall of separation between God and man has been broken down, not only for the restoration of communion between God and man, but beyond that for the further revelation and implementation of God's glory throughout creation. Further, the luminaries which God created originally are at least rendered no longer necessary; whether the light of the first day of creation was the divine light in heaven, or merely a manifestation and reflection of it in this-worldly light, regardless, the light of this new Jerusalem is not produced mediately by the sun and the moon, but more directly by God Himself. Out of the original Garden now God has built for Himself a city with man, and "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." (21:2-3) This city, however, is not in complete discontinuity with the original Garden; 22:1-5 makes this clear; it is a city that is a glorified Garden. It still has light, the tree of Life, fruit, water, productive ("healing") and reigning human activity (Gen. 1:28). But it is transformed. The central difference is that some of the original transcendence of God has been replaced by His immanence. The direct presence of God makes the temple obsolete. Next to the greater display of the glory of God, the light of the sun pales to insignificance. Awash in the Water of Life, flowing from God's throne, there need be no more sea, nor any division between the place of God's throne and the place of man's worship, nor any protection of the dry land from the perils of the abyss.

1. Temple

Having begun then with the discussion of God, in three persons, and of His glory as those persons progressively work it out in God's interaction with creation, we then moved to a discussion of creation. We have, then, traced the basic framework within which all of the ensuing discussion fits. Here in Revelation 21 John gives us the final conclusion to the whole story of creation and redemption. What began at the origins of creation has been developed by God through the course of history into what God finally makes of creation in the end: especially, the dwelling place of God with man. Let's then consider God's progress toward His final dwelling with man, and man's final communion in glory with Him.

When Adam and Eve sinned against God, He brought upon them the curse of broken fellowship with Him, further sin and misery in this life, leading ultimately to death and eternal, conscious torment in hell. But He did not desire the death of the wicked, but even desires that all men should be saved. So He promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, resisting him as Adam should have done, and so restoring all the righteous descendants of Eve bound up in Him to the abundant, increasing blessings of the communion Adam had originally with God. God had cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden, placing cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way back in at its entrance, but through the Seed who was to come this banishment would not be permanent.

God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations, of a special people holy to the Lord, and leaving his father's country, Abram departed for Canaan, and there he pitched his tent at Bethel, the house of God. (Gen. 12:8) The covenant of circumcision was to be extended to every member of Abraham's household, for God was placing His mark on Abraham's household. (Gen. 17:9-14, 23-27)

In the desert, God dwelt with His people in a tent, the tabernacle. At the center of the tabernacle was the ark, containing the covenant documents, the two tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments, which defined the core of God's restored relationship with His people. Cherubim were on top of the ark, and God met with His people there, by meeting Moses there. (Ex. 25:22) God was coming closer to His people. Yet, a dividing wall still remained. The cherubim threatened death if Moses were to try to enter into paradise as the sinner he was. The living, Spiritual presence of God in creation, in the original paradise, was symbolized by the golden lampstand and the almond blossoms. Again, cherubim were embossed in the curtains of the walls of the tabernacle. The ephod and the breastplate had precious stones, just as the fruitful lands of the original creation had. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

God did not want to remain in a tent. He wanted to live in a temple, a permanent dwelling with His people. So he gave to David the plans, and Solomon the task, of building him a temple. It was greater than the tabernacle; larger, more grand, more permanent. Its walls were carved with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. It was filled with gold. It was to be an earthly manifestation of the original, glorious, paradisiacal dwelling place of God with man, a copy of God's heavenly dwelling-place. (Ex. 25:40) It's blueprints were from God Himself. Solomon made a Sea to stand before the temple, like the Sea of crystal below God's throne, for cleansing (2 Chr. 4:6), but also it seems to me to symbolize God's dominion over all creation, including the threat of the sea, and His remaining transcendence above the firmament. But in the new temple, there is no sea; God dwells in the midst of His people even more than before.

The temple became the center of Israel's worship, and a great assurance of God's presence with His people. As such it also became the center of Israel's unfaithfulness, and the center of their unholy pride. They profaned His temple with self-willed worship, worshiping Baal and Asherah in God's temple. (2 Kings 23:4) They claimed that God could not and would not punish them for their sins, for "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these"--God would never destroy His temple in order to bring justice upon His people, would He? (Jer. 7:4) But He would. He sent His people to captivity, and destroyed His temple.

Yet God's final purposes of salvation would not be thwarted. He would rebuild His temple, and His people. This began to a small and insufficient extent in the Restoration. But "The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former" (Hag. 2:9), He said. While the glory had departed from the temple in Ezekiel's visions, nevertheless it would return. In a vision on a high mountain, Ezekiel was shown the new temple to come. In the vision, the glory of the Lord filled the temple again (43:4-5) This new temple would be at the center of the land. (45:1-5) From the temple flowed living water, giving life to the land, to the Great Sea, and to the tree whose leaves are for healing. (47:1-12)

When Christ came, He was the new dwelling place of God with man. He became flesh, and by means of that, he "tabernacled" amongst us. (John 1:14) Referring to the way His bodily presence was the greater dwelling of God with man than was the temple made with human hands, he declared in the temple, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." God would rebuild His temple. (John 4:19-22) 1 Cor. 3:16 tells us that now we who are in Christ are the temple of God, even our very bodies (6:19), but also the church corporately (2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21).

We know that Christ has entered the most holy place by His own blood, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-15) Christ has not entered holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. (9:24) He ever lives there to intercede for us (7:25). By one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (10:14) For these reasons, there is no more need for the earthly temple, and its sacrifices. Christ has brought us into the very presence of God, once for all. Our life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, appears, we too will appear with Him in glory. And so we like Abraham look to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (11:10)

Revelation builds on this whole background, speaking of the temple as the place where saints now worship God (7:15), the place from which angels and judgments are sent (14:15), where God's wrath, power and glory rests (15:5-8), but most preeminently, it is the final place where God will dwell with His people (21:22). Through the revelation of God's glory (22) in the salvation produced by Christ (23), and applied to us by His Holy Spirit (24-27), our lives are bound up with God's so closely that it is His ontological glory which is present in an fills us His temple (22), it is His glorious truth revealed in Christ which sets us free from the law of sin and death (23), and it is His holy actions which fill our own as we walk in the light of Christ, and lay the crowns He has given us back at His feet. (24-27) Through and through, it is God who is the temple of the new Jerusalem.

1. The Sun and the Moon

God is the temple in the new Jerusalem, and Christ is its Sun of righteousness. Because He has risen for our justification, we also can arise, and shine, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. We no longer seek to be found with a righteousness of our own, but Christ's perfect, eternal glory covers our sin. This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to all, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Christ is the epistemological revelation of God's glory; as such He is the light of the world, and that light brings righteousness, and this eventuates into an ethically holy life.

John provides us a window into the creation of the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. Christ's own eternal life is what He has manifested to us, in His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The way to receive Him and His revelation, His light, is to believe in His name.

So then we look at Genesis 1 with the eyes of faith. We perceive that God's righteousness, His life, His glory was on display in the light He created. We see His rectitude, His faithfulness in the regularity of the times and seasons marked off by the sun, the moon, and the stars. We see His righteous judgment in the flaming sword, the smoking torch, the flaming furnace, the burning bush, the cloud and fire on mount Sinai, in the pillar of cloud and fire, in the fire of the sacrifices, on display as the heavens declare His glory, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. We see the fire of God's judgment prophesied in the prophets, His unapproachable light on display in the burning cherubim and their burning eyes, the fiery vision of the Ancient of Days, the glory of Christ in His transfiguration, His appearance to John as the revelation of the Ancient of Days. It is this Christ who tells us that even we now are the light of the world, that His church is a city set on a hill, a lamp that should not be held under a bushel. We must let our light so shine before men that they will see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. The lights of creation will falter when Christ, who is the true light, appears. (Matt. 24:29-30) He is the light to the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel. (Luke 2:32) He who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. (John 3:21) The revelation of Christ as our righteousness gives us boldness to live holy lives before the world, and to come boldly to the throne of grace; our works do not stand in our own righteousness, but in Christ's.

And so it is this Christ who stands in the midst of the lampstands, the churches, who holds the stars in His hands, the messengers of the churches. His angels, as His apostles and every member of the church, are ministering spirits, flames or tongues of fire spreading His glory, His revelation, His salvation. (Rev. 1:9-20) It is the light of Christ alone which fills His church, which fills the new Jerusalem, and which fills the new creation. There is no need for the sun. It served its purpose of revealing God's glory, of revealing Christ's righteousness. But now Christ Himself will be the light of the new creation. "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Cor. 4:6) We will not look to our own works to see the glory of God, but to Him and to His glory to know the righteousness of our works done in Him. We will not look to the sun, the moon, or anything in all creation, but rather to God, and God alone. His light is the glory of the New Heavens, and the New Earth.

1. The Nations and Kings, Creation's Glory and Honor

I could just end the paper here, and not admit to having done only a partial job. But I have to be honest. Of course there is far more that could be said. The trick here is to convince the grader that I've done an adequate job for the grade. ; ) If time permitted I would prefer to go on and describe in more detail the unique work of the Spirit, and how that relates to the nations and kings, and the glory and honor of creation. Instead, however, I must simply say that I have sketched the outlines of this topic above, and will only comment briefly here to add a bit more flesh to the bones, and let the reader's imagination breathe more life into them.

God's revelation of His glory could not be complete if it did not result both in the implementation of His glory in the sanctification of His people, in the purity and moral rectitude of their actions before Him and in the orientation of those actions as they ought to be a returning of God's glory to himself. God is sanctifying His people, to Himself. Thus the nations must walk in His light, and the kings must bring the glory and honor of all creation into His presence, for all is from Him, through Him, and unto Him, to Him be the glory forever!

Further, it is not enough for God to save only one special family from all the earth, for all families fell in Adam. No, He desired to redeem the whole of humanity by creating a renewed humanity from members of every tribe, nation, race, and language. The whole of fallen humanity is condemned to Hell. The whole of redeemed humanity is brought into the new creation. This is why the kings of the whole earth, and the nations--the Gentiles, must be brought in to the new Jerusalem. God must be glorified in all the earth, in the ethical implementation of His glory in the lives of all redeemed humanity.

The Holy Spirit is certainly taught to be the immediate agent enacting this implementation and return of glory to God, but He by no means takes the limelight! He constantly gives the glory to God the Son, and to God the Father. Yet His role was central, essential, from the beginning to the end. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters. He worked life, beauty, diversity, flesh onto the bones of the lifeless creation. He restores unto David's heart the joy of his salvation. He pours out from the throne of God, and the temple, to give life to the dead sea, and to the dry bones. He regenerates those who are born of God. He works faith and repentance. He enables us to walk in holiness. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead even now gives life to our mortal bodies, and will one day also raise us from the dead, giving us Spiritual bodies, in a Spiritual world, the New Creation. Because of the Holy Spirit, the New Creation throughout will be HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

1. Implications for High Schoolers Caught Up In American Pop Culture

The markedly other-worldly focus of this passage, combined with its tracing of universal human and this-worldly themes into their final fulfillment in the new Jerusalem, can help high schoolers understand more clearly how to deal with their sometimes deep involvement with American pop culture.

On the one hand, it is wholly appropriate to delight in the many blessings of this creation, in our task to be fruitful and multiply, to delight in the sun, the moon, the stars, even the riches which can accrue to us in this life. In the beginning, God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good! Further, it reveals His glory to us; even His righteousness, His faithfulness, His rectitude, His justice. But when we look to creation, what do we see? Do we allow our gaze to remain shortsighted, seeing only the creation before us, or do we allow our minds to turn as they should to the God who made this creation, who reveals His glory to us in it, who uses it for our salvation, who sets it before us as a place in which to serve and worship Him in holiness? Revelation 21:22-24 turns our gaze from an exclusive focus on this creation to things eternal, to things above, where Christ is seated with God. It turns our gaze not to desire to cling to the earthly tabernacle, to the sun, the moon, the stars, but rather to cling to God as our sole treasure, our exceedingly great reward. It is His glory, and His righteousness, and His holiness, which should fill our minds and hearts, not the things of this world.

So when we take, for example, Britney Spears, we can enjoy her melodies, lyrics, thoughts, even success, insofar as we see God's glory, His holiness on display in what she does. However, at the same time, wherever her music seeks to draw us away from God as our first love, we must not follow her plaintive cries to enjoy the secret, seductive unholy pleasures of this world, but flee to God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. All the true glory in this world is God's alone, so let us delight in it! Even in the sinful songs of unbelievers. But let us not delight in the things the world delights in, for they are fading, passing away; the one true, enduring joy in this life is in the glory of God, in the salvation of Christ, as He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit.

1. Conclusion

We have seen, then, that the final life we will have with God in glory, and His final life with us, is inextricably bound up with the revelation of His trinitarian glory, in the special work of each of the persons. Further, it is the perfected goal toward which God had been aiming from the beginning of time. Both restoring from the Fall and improving upon the perfect creation, God has sought His own glory in the renewal of all things, the revelation of His righteousness in salvation through Christ, and in the pervasive weaving of His holiness throughout the fabric of all creation by the working of the Holy Spirit. Let us, together with Him, return all blessing and honor and glory and power, to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Works Cited

Vanhoozer, Kevin J. Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, The Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998).

Poythress, Vern S. The Book of Revelation: A Guide for Understanding. Version 2.0.2. (Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Bookstore, n.d.).

Poythress, Vern S. The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, 2000).

Vos, Geerhardus. The Pauline Eschatology. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961).

Works Consulted

Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation. In The New International Greek Testament Commentary series. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).