God's City and Ours

Erik preached on the vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Although the city comes down from heaven fully formed, there is evidence of human fingerprints, such as the names of Israel’s tribes and the twelve apostles. We might say that God made the city out of human history and faithfulness. Here is part of Erik’s conclusion:

There is a passage in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that captures all of this: “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will receive wages according to their own labor. For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.” Look at how Paul moves from garden imagery to building imagery, capturing the whole biblical narrative from Eden to New Jerusalem. Then at its center, this stunning claim: God has created us to be his co-workers. And then surrounding this claim, the reminder that only God can take our work and grow good fruit and build eternal kingdoms. I think when the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, we will recognize our work, our lives, our history in it. And we will be amazed at the new creation that God has made out of them.