I am looking forward to a perfect community 05/09/2023

This final blog on the subject of koinonia (community) looks at the future when Christians will become citizens of a perfect community. Away back on the 27th of July, the blog was entitled, "Is koinonia achievable?" It was conceded that koinonia is an ideal which will only be fully implemented in the New Jerusalem or the Holy City which is described for us in the book of Revelation. At that stage, I did not expand on what this meant but the post went on to explain that we could seek to enjoy this fellowship here and now in every sense of the word. But, because of our sinfulness and our imperfections, this koinonia will inevitably be incomplete and imperfect.

The mention of the New Jerusalem comes from Revelation chapter 21 and we have covered much of this in some detail in previous studies when we were on the subject of Revelation. At the end of the blog, I have links to previous Day Share blogs on this theme.

Today we are going to provide a brief summary of what koinonia or community will look like in God's eternal provision for us.

Picture of Ayrshire miners rows.

This picture shows the typical miners rows which were the homes for many Scottish working people a century ago. There is a nostalgia sometimes for this type of community where people lived simple lives without all the distractions of the modern and the post-modern era. We imagine that there will be a close-knit community who will support each other in times of difficulties. This is the best we can imagine on this earth. My grandfather, William Neilly, a miner in a clay pit in Roughcastle, died from Spanish flu at age 32 when the family were residing in Camelon, Falkirk. My grandfather and grandmother had a home in a tenement building in Dorrator Road. The flu was rampant in the area and my grandfather was concerned because his neighbour had caught this virus. He offered to sit up and look after his friend to allow this ill man's wife to get a good night's sleep. My grandpa caught the flu himself and died soon afterwards. This shows a close-knit community but a sad community. My grandmother was left with five orphaned children and one died months after his father and so the family were left destitute and fatherless. They had to move back to Ayrshire because there was no longer any income from the clay mine and the children were too young to work.

Only surviving photograph of my grandfather, William Neilly who died in Camelon in 1918.

I have discovered another piece of information which shines a light on the nature of the mining communities. I found out why my grandfather had to move with his wife and family a few years earlier from Dregorn in Ayrshire to Falkirk. It turns out that in 1912 my grandfather, along with other Christians, had made a decision that their conscience would not allow them to go on strike. This angered the neighbourhood and there was a noisy protest march through the village led by the wives of the strikers. They attacked the houses of the 'scabs' and smashed their windows. The windows of the small gospel hall in Dreghorn (Ebenezer Hall) were also smashed. Soon after the Neilly family left Dregorn and moved to Camelon. This was a divided community where there was intense hatred. This dispels the myth of a united working class community in the miners rows.

And so we turn to the New Jerusalem or the Holy City. We might have expected this to be called heaven - but this city came down from heaven. This city is not built by humankind. This is God's city prepared for His people. God is going to be dwelling among His people and there will be a perfect community or koinonia. There is no temple in this city because the whole city is a temple and communion with God will be permanent and all pervasive. In the Old Testament, God had taken residence in the tent of meeting which he instructed Moses to build and later he was resident in the temple. But sin prevented the Israelites from enjoying God's presence. But there is no sin now in this eternal city and there is nothing to hinder perfect fellowship with God.

There is no division in this heavenly city on earth. The division that had existed between God's chosen people, the Jews and the rest of the nations, the Gentiles is for ever gone. There is beautiful symbolism to portray this truth. God had never intended that there should be a division like this because the promise that God made to the father of the Jews was that all the nations should be blessed by his descendants. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel were inscribed on the gates of this city and the names of the 12 apostles of the New Testament church are written on the foundations. So in the end times, there is going to be one united family of God comprising of Jew and Gentile.

[12] It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—[13] on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. [14] And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. [Revelation 21:12-14 ESV]

As we have watched the news, we have witnessed the hatred of the Jews which exists in the Middle East. We have been horrified by the atrocities committed by Jews and by the Palestinians. This is only symptomatic of hostility which has existed historically between Jews and Gentiles. The strongest expression of this was the holocaust in Hitler's Germany when over 6 million Jews were exterminated in specially designed concentration camps. The death of Jesus Christ ended this hostility between Jews and Gentiles. As Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility and made both Jew and Gentile one.

[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [Ephesians 2:14 ESV]

So this community will be so much better than the best that we can imagine on earth. In the last book in the Bible, John sums it up in these words, "the former things have passed away." This is the end of sin and rebellion against God. This is the end of the suffering and pain associated with the coming of sin as recorded in the book of Genesis (Genesis 3:16-19).

Here is how this is described in Revelation:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. [Revelation 21: 4 ESV] There will be no need for hospitals or cemeteries or crematoria. Pain killers will not be needed. Psychiatrists and mental health consultants will be redundant. There will be no crime scene investigators nor coroners investigating tragic deaths - there will be no more crying (i.e. the protests over the needless deaths of loved ones).

God's protection is evident in this eternal city, which is built with massive walls which are indestructible. This is a permanent dwelling place unlike cities made by humankind which are subject to decay and destruction.

[17] He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. [18] The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. [Revelation 21:17-18 ESV]

But there is no need to shut the gates of the city at night because there will be no risk of theft or attacks by terrorists.

[25] and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. [Revelation 21:25 ESV]

There is no problem of darkness and no need for sunlight or moonlight or any form of artificial light.

[23] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. [24] By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, [Revelation 21:23-24 ESV]

So my word of encouragement to you today is this. If, and only if, you are a Christian (a person who has trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation) you can look forward to a future where there will be a perfect community. First and foremost, we will enjoy the true bliss of fellowship with God and the Lamb. We will enjoy true fellowship with each other and there will be no divisions. There will be no sin to mar or destroy our fellowship. If you are not excited by this prospect, maybe you are not ready for God's eternal city - the New Jerusalem.

Here are the links

New Jerusalem 05/07/2023

Invitation to a Wedding 07/07/2023

God's Constant Presence 09/07/2023

The End of Death 11/07/2023

God as King 13/07/2023