Christ clearly tells us that He will set up His Kingdom as God has instructed Him. Revelation tells us the nature of the New Jerusalem—it will descend from heaven (Revelation 21:2).

We regret if anyone got the impression that the New Jerusalem will be set up by man. The New Jerusalem itself is not mentioned in the editorial, which confines itself to conditions today in this current age of man plus those of Christ's 1,000-year reign. The New Jerusalem, however, is described in the same issue at the conclusion of the lead article titled "Jerusalem: Center of Conflict, Center of Peace."

The last major event mentioned in the Bible is the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. But more than a thousand years before this indescribable event, Christ will have returned to earth and begun His majestic, millennial reign in His capital city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-9; Isaiah 2:1-5; Isaiah 11:1-9).

This is not the same as the New Jerusalem, which doesn't descend from heaven until God's plan for physical human beings is complete (see Revelation 21-22).

It might be helpful in understanding the chronology of Jerusalem to consider this city in three distinct stages in time order:

1. The Jerusalem of today during this present age.

2. The world capital Jerusalem during the coming millennial reign of Jesus Christ, following His return to earth.

3. Finally, the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven where the Father and Christ reign with the saints forever.

Here is an excerpt from the article to explain more about the New Jerusalem:

Jerusalem is far more than just a physical city. It is symbolic of an entire nation. Human frontiers and borders tend to blur when they touch the infinite. Jerusalem has a spiritual dimension that extends into eternity.

The New Testament Church is called "Jerusalem above . . . the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:26). The patriarchs, prophets and kings of Hebrews 11 never received God's ultimate promises during their human lifetimes. Neither will true Christians today.

Yet these promises of God are absolutely sure! In faith the patriarch Abraham "waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). The Creator is the divine architect of the New Jerusalem. All men and women of faith have envisioned the fulfillment of God's promises, "having seen them afar off" (Hebrews 11:13). They know that God "has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:16).

In His message to one of the seven churches of Revelation, Jesus Christ referred to "the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven" (Revelation 3:12). Then the dwelling place of God will be with spirit-transformed men and women in a transformed world (Revelation 21:3). Death, sorrow, pain and suffering will have passed into history as the ultimate new world order takes shape on a brand-new earth (Revelation 21:4-5).