Astonishment

 "And the city had no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God was its radiance, and its true light was the Lamb. By that single illumination, the nations will be, and their kings will bring their worth into the heart of the great city through gates that will never close" Revelation 21:22-26.

In a field outside the Cornish town of Truro is a blood-red clay region where, on an Autumn evening back in 2001, my beloved late wife Kay taught me so much about the magnificence of light.

As a photographer, watching the radiance of that evening meant so much to her, and as I looked and listened, I began to understand why her passion was so important - light truly transformed what it touched by bringing a radiance that raised the subject to a new level of beauty and splendour.

That was a seminal moment for me in my now twenty year journey filling the shoes of my late wife's great passion, and it's lesson is vital to this amazing discovery I'm going to share here.

The passage above refers to the coming new city at the very centre of the redeemed creation. We all know the promise this holds, but what if I were to tell you that an absolutely amazing discovery of our times has shown us something about this city that we never expected?

In the verses prior to those just quoted (19-20), we're told that there are twelve foundation levels to the city itself, each one made of different layer of precious stones - jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, camelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst.

Have you ever wondered why these particular jewels are listed and some that we would probably have included, like diamonds or rubies, are not there?

We now have the answer... and it's something wonderful, to do with the radiance of pure light.

We have now discovered that when you pass such light through anisotropic gems (those listed as the foundations of the city), they radiate a full spectrum of rainbow colours, also emanating the most spectacular patterns.

When you pass that same light through Isotropic jewels - like diamonds - they become entirely colourless - the light turns entirely black.

All the stones used in the foundation of the golden city are anisotropic - they are going to display the most breathtaking colour and pattern displays you can imagine.

This glorious truth helps to exegete the verses I've placed above. This eternal city will indeed be a crown upon the good earth, where God's saving Lamb - Jesus our beloved - is delighted to share life with us forever.

What a wonder!

The very physical nature of the architecture is going to reflect and express the majesty of what is occurring between the people and their King.

It says so much about the good purposes of Him who loves us, and is bringing about the very best in respect to the nature of goodness and beauty into an eternal habitation of Himself and us.