Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to the Corona Chronicles. We're in chapter 21 of Revelation. Yesterday, we were looking at the city which is the bride of Christ and we were looking at how the the walls are high, so she's protected. She's shining. With the glory of God, she's in his presence and now we're gonna carry on from verse 15.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square as long as it is wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12000 stadia in length and as wide and high as it is long. You measured its wall and it was a hundred and 44 cubits thick by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jaster, and the city of pure gold as pure as glass.

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire. The third, Chalkedinee, the fourth Emerald, the fifth Sardonyx. The sixth carnelian, the seventh Chryslerite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth, Chrysopraz and the eleventh Jassynth and the twelfth amethyst. The 12 gates were were 12 pearls.

Each gate made of a single pearl The great street of the city was of pure gold like transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city because the lord God almighty and the lamb are its temple. Yeah. Well, you know, we're still in in in this imagery. And John has loved to to pick up bible the bible really, you know, old testament pictures and -- Yeah.

-- there's tons and tons of stuff here from all kinds of different places. But what we've got to remember is that the the bride of the lamb is the city. Mhmm. Yeah. And then the city is described here in its measurement like a temple.

Yeah. But there is no temple, that's verse 22 says. Because the city is the temple. Yep. And the bride is the temple, and yet God is in the temple.

In the temple. Yep. And so there's there's this Well, it it actually says God and the lamb on the temple. So there's this unity, isn't there? Yeah.

Between the bride, of the lamb and the lamb and God that they're they're they're they're in harmony. Yeah. So you've got this picture language. Yeah. But but this measurement thing, is very similar, isn't it, to the temple measurements -- Yes.

-- the holy of holy -- Yep. -- and all of that sort of thing. Yeah. Definitely. And the holy of holies was a sort of a perfect cube.

So it was as long as it was high as it was deep. And here, the city itself is as long as it is wide as it is high. Mhmm. Which is sort of saying, instead of the holy of holies being this small little contained area within a temple, the whole city itself -- Yeah. -- is the holy of holies.

Yes. And that was the that was you know, the temple was had all these layers, didn't it? And the closer you got that, you know, you got closer to the glory of the presence of the lord. And here the whole, all of God's people are sort of in and with -- Yeah. -- with God.

And only 1 man once a year could go in into into that. Place. Yes. So now you've we are that place. Yes.

Which is just mind blowing -- Yeah. -- to think that we are a holy people that God dwells amongst -- Yeah. -- and we dwell with him. Yeah. Is it extraordinary?

But that's all because of the great power of the blood of the lad, isn't it? Exactly what I'm thinking. Pricing power of the blood of the lamb -- Yeah. -- has turned sinful people into, you know, Jasper and beauty and the glory of God. It it it sounds blasphemous -- Yeah.

-- that you and I are gonna be part of the glory of God, but that's what it is. Yeah. Yeah. It was in order to go into the holy of holies, that priest once a year to perform a lot of sort of rituals and sacrifices. And even then, he was sort of made a sort of okay enough that he wasn't this glorious sort of jewel then was he?

Mhmm. But that's the that's the work of Christ on the cross that not only does he sort of separate us from our sins, so we're pure to enter. But then he also addresses us in his righteousness. So we do reflect his glory like a jewel. And then all these sort of precious stones that that that are mentioned, 12 of that again takes you back to the priests, sort of what it was called an efot.

A sort of breastplate thing that he wore. And they stood for the sort of tribes of Israel. Mhmm. There were these beautiful, you know, precious jewels on his breast. Yep.

So where his heart is, and that that may that may go into into the presence of God. So you've got that imagery there. And I I just, you know, this the thing is that God isn't some dull, boring monochrome sort of got. And and God's people aren't dull, boring, monochrome people. There's every type of tool here -- Yeah.

-- shining away and All of that is representing us -- Yes. -- and God's creative glory -- Yeah. -- in in in bringing people to himself and this is this is good news. Not not dull old bad news, is it? And this is the it's the breastplate of righteousness, isn't it?

Yeah. As well. But it's that he clothes us in himself. Yes. And then you've got the the streets of the city are are pure gold like, you know, transparent glass.

So there's this sort of you know, gorgeous, clean, just dazzling, you know, dazzling place. Yep. So this is editing. And and and this is imagery. Obviously, this is imagery.

Yep. And you take if you take this literally, it's quite ugly. Well, it was a bit like the the buzzes in it or something like that. Wasn't that the emerald city? Right.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's what I was thinking of. Yeah. Brilliant.

Yeah. But it isn't that, thankfully. No. This is God's place. Yep.

And and it's God's Temple and and and we are his temple. Okay. Well, fantastic things. Oh, 0, deal. It's just 1 other thought I had that that the foundations, that we learned last last section are the apostles, and then these foundations are the people of God on the breastplate.

Mhmm. But another thing I was just thinking of that you've got these 12 apostles. And and the scriptures are written all about Christ, and they often come with, you know, different angles and different sort of aspects of the beauty of Christ. And again, it just reflects that the scriptures isn't. I don't you know, It's amazing how people try to make the the bible as a dull old book, but it isn't.

It's -- Yeah. -- it's radium and it's -- Yeah. -- this jewel and this jewel and this apostle takes this line and this apostle takes this line and our foundation that we learn about Christon is just full of sparkle, really, isn't it? And I think the corona chronicle series has sort of been a demonstration of that, hasn't it? Because often we've taken just a few verses and spent 10 minutes just sort of raveling in them and -- Yeah.

-- and picking them and so, yeah, there's there's great depth and sort of sparkle to all of it, really. Great moment. We'll come back tomorrow.