Made for the City

Today on my day off I packed my three lovely ladies into the car to visit my Mom-Mom in Wayne. She turns 90 tomorrow. As we passed through Philadelphia on the Schuylkill Expressway I took my customary few seconds to gaze at the skyline.

I thought about how many times I'd driven past the Philly skyline in my lifetime, either as a driver or passenger. It's at least several hundred times, maybe in the thousands. Yet every time I drive past it, I find a bit of awe in me as I look at that skyline. 30+ years of driving through the city has not dulled the excitement of admiring all those massive buildings.

This is true not just of downtown Philly, but any big city I have visited. I lived in Chicago for 9 months and drove through downtown every day to and from work, and the city had the same effect. Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, New York, Toronto, Milan. They all have the same effect on me. But of course Philly is the nearest and dearest to my heart. There's just something about cities that produces a childlike wonder in me.

And just today it hit me what that "something" is: I was created to enjoy a city as my eternal home. The last chapters of the Bible describe the glorious return of Jesus Christ, bringing to consummation God's eternal plan to personally dwell with His people and renew the entire cosmos from the decay and corruption that have marred it since the Fall. At the center of this vision is a city:

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:10-11)

Creation began in a garden, but it will end in a city. A big city. A few verses later, John writes that the city is about 1,400 miles long, wide and high. That's around the length from Tallahassee to Minneapolis, and the width from Philly to Dallas. The glory and honor of the nations will dwell in this city; the possibilities of what it will be like are astounding.

Our final state will not be a disembodied state floating around in clouds. It will be reigning in the city of God with King Jesus, whose glory will so radiate throughout the city that there will be no need for the sun or moon.

After driving through Philadelphia and being impressed by the skyline, I simply can't begin to fathom what it will be like to watch the city of God coming down out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. But I believe Jesus is honored when we try to imagine it. After all, He gave us a lavish description of it at the end of the Bible to whet our appetites for it, don't you think?

So the next time you drive through Philly (or whatever big city you're closest to), let the glory of earthly cities act as a beam pointing you to the majestic reality of the heavenly city that will be our final home.