The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (Revelation 21:23)

The Glory Of God

The imagery of heaven is hard to imagine. In the Revelation given to the apostle John, the Holy Spirit paints on an eternal canvas images that symbolically describe the immense beauty of eternal life, often in terms difficult to grasp. Taking pictures from the pages of life, the painting of the eternal city becomes an incredible vista of an immense city filled with streets of gold. The gates of the city are made of a single pearl. Jewels garland the city to express its eternal glory in the presence of God. Everything about the imagery is breathless. Helping to complete the picture, the Holy Spirit reveals that the center of the eternal city is the glory of God.

From a human standpoint, the rising of the sun is a normal occurrence that takes place each morning without thought. Every day the sun sets in the west, and the moon reigns over the night. Children are taught that light comes from the sun, hundreds of thousands of miles away. Without the sun, life on Earth would die. The presence of the sun and moon is necessary for life to continue. John’s message in the Revelation is that the eternal city will have neither sun nor moon. When the Lord returns, the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Everything on earth will be destroyed. The heavens that contain the sun, the planets, including the moon, and all the stars will be obliterated into nothing.

In the absence of the heavens and earth, the eternal city will be filled with the glory of God. There will be no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it. The eternal city is not a place of physicality determined by the natural laws, but a place where the glory of God will shine brighter than the sun, and the Lamb will be its light. Illumination will come from the glory of the Father. The visible splendor of His glory will fill the eternal city for the children of light to bask in and walk in. God’s glory fills the eternal places. There will be no night in the city of God. The glory of God will be the only light. Everything will glorify the image of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

Eternal life is yet to come, and the fulfillment of what John wrote is still to be fulfilled. Until the day of the Lord, the sun, moon, and stars remain. Each day, the sun rises to bathe the earth in its warm glow and sets in the evening. While the eternal city has yet to be realized, the imagery of God’s glory filling the city remains the true hope that man has for eternal life. Children of light have filled their lives with the glory of God. Jesus taught that the lives of the faithful are like lights shining in a dark world. The more the Christian fills himself with the glory of God, the brighter he shines in the world.

God will fill the eternal city one day, but God needs to fill the tent of flesh as the people of God walk among men. Everything about the life of the Christian must be the glow of God’s glory. The speech of the Christian is light to the world. Attitudes expressed by children of God are the radiant beams of God’s word. The example of the Christian reflects the glory of God. When the world sees the life of the child of God, what they are to see is the glory of God filling every part of their lives so that all the world sees is the Lamb of God. Filling the heart with the brilliance of the glory of God will help those in darkness find the way, the truth, and the light. Heaven will be filled with the glory of God. Until that time is realized, fill your life with the glory of God.