No Other Rock

He beheld the city, and wept over it. ~ Luke 19:41

His spirit was stirred when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. ~ Acts 17:16

I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. ~ Revelations 21:2

Note: This devotion is from October 9 and 10

Within these three verses are three different cities; Jerusalem, Athens and the “city whose Builder and Maker is God.”

Jesus wept over the first, Jerusalem, because it was a city which knew the truth but did not want it. Paul was stirred over ancient Athens because it was a city which wanted the truth but did not know it [see Acts 17:22-23].

The sad reality is that modern Christendom is full of “cities” that are parallel to these two ancient capitals. And now, think about that third city; the city whose Builder and Maker is God.

The holy city, New Jerusalem, which John saw “coming down from God out of Heaven” is unlike old Jerusalem, which knew the truth but did not want it. And unlike ancient Athens, which wanted the truth but did not know it, that glorious future city is to be one in which all the citizens know the truth and love the truth and are eternally glorified by it.

Every time we go to our cities today, to “rescue the perishing”, we are anticipatively contributing to the holy and blessed society of that rapturous city of the ultimate future, “whose Builder and Maker is god.”

Today, I pray that you and I will seek to live in that third city and invite others to become residents.