In previous messages we have fellowshipped concerning the rapture of the saints; the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls in relation to the rapture of the saints and the second coming of Christ; the second coming of Christ; and the kingdom of a thousand years. In this message, we want to see the New Jerusalem as the consummation of God’s New Testament economy. The hardest part of the holy Word to understand is the part concerning the New Jerusalem. We need to remember, however, that it is the conclusion of the apostles’ teaching and also the conclusion of the entire Bible.
This message will be a short summary of the truth concerning the New Jerusalem. If we want to know more of the crucial details concerning the New Jerusalem, I would suggest reading chapters twenty-six through forty-four in the book entitled God’s New Testament Economy published by Living Stream Ministry.
The New Jerusalem is the finalization of the completed divine revelation of the entire Scripture—the aggregate of the fulfillment of all the prophecies, types, figures, and foreshadows. It is the conclusion of the entire apostles’ teaching, beginning from the incarnation of God. The purpose of God’s incarnation was to produce the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the enlargement, the expansion, of God. Before creation God merely possessed divinity. But the New Testament reveals that God has been processed and consummated. The New Jerusalem is the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God. Such a New Jerusalem is the enlargement of God with the divine element, the human element, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the ascension of Christ compounded and mingled together with His chosen, redeemed, transformed, and glorified people.
In eternity past, God was single. But at the end of Revelation, He has a bride. Revelation 19 shows us the Lamb’s marriage and His marriage dinner (vv. 7-9). God has a corporate wife, and this corporate wife includes men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (5:9). The aspect of the church as the wife of Christ is ultimately consummated in the New Jerusalem. In her, God will have the fullest satisfaction in love and the utmost rest in expression for eternity.
The New Jerusalem will also be the consummation of God’s new creation work throughout the ages of the old creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10). In the universe God has had two kinds of works: the work of the old creation and the work of the new creation. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that God has finished His old creation work. Then from Genesis 2 onward to the end of the Bible, there is a new creation to be produced out of the old creation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we are told that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. This new creation work goes on through the four ages of the old creation.
The first age of the old creation was the age before the law from Adam until Moses. That age was to produce the forefathers (of the Old Testament saints) as a part of God’s new creation, signified by the stars on the head of the universal woman (the aggregate of God’s chosen people) in Revelation 12:1. They were a part of the old creation, but they were redeemed and transformed to become a part of God’s new creation. The second age of the old creation is the age of the law, from the giving of the law to the coming of Christ as grace. The age of the law was to produce the Old Testament saints as a great part of God’s new creation, signified by the moon under the feet of the universal woman in Revelation 12:1. The moon is under the feet of the woman, for the age of the moon was the age of the law, which should not be exalted as the stars. But through that law, the Old Testament saints were produced to become the new creation as a part of God’s chosen people. The third age is the age of grace, from the first coming of Christ to His second coming, to produce the New Testament saints as the biggest and the consummating part of God’s new creation, signified by the sun around the body of the universal woman in Revelation 12:1.
The woman in Revelation 12 is a universal woman because with her are the stars, the moon, and the sun. All these are heavenly. That woman is the aggregate of God’s chosen people, signifying the entire body of God’s chosen people in three parts: the forefathers, the Old Testament saints under the law, and the New Testament saints under grace. The forefathers are signified by the stars, the Old Testament saints under the law are signified by the moon, and the New Testament saints are signified by the sun. This picture shows that the Old Testament saints, as the stars and the moon, were in the night, but we New Testament saints, as the sun, are in the day.
The last age of the old creation is the age of the kingdom, from the second coming of Christ to the end of the millennium, to mature the immature saints. We should believe that at least some among us are mature, but the majority of us are not mature. If the Lord Jesus came today, the mature ones would be ready, but what would the immature ones do? These ones are like unripened wheat yet to be harvested. They need to be under the scorching sun to be ripened. The scorching sun matures the wheat. But the scorching is suffering. This scorching will take place during the great tribulation. The common teaching in Christianity says that when the Lord Jesus comes back, all the believers will be happy. Surely the mature ones will be happy. The good students who prepared their lessons adequately will be happy on the day of graduation because they will graduate. But those who do not graduate will have to make up their lessons.
God has prepared four ages in the old creation to produce the forefathers, the Old Testament saints under the law, and the New Testament saints under grace. But many of these saints will not have grown adequately. Without adequate growth, they are not mature. One day either we will die or the Lord will come back. If we are not mature, God has a way to deal with us, to help us to mature. This is logical. To become mature in this age requires us to pay the price. But the price that we pay today compared with the price which we will have to pay in the coming age is much less. We should choose to mature in this age. If we do not mature in this age, we will eventually mature. But we will have to mature at the price of passing through some dealing, some punishment.
The Lord Jesus will rapture the ones who mature first before the three and a half years of the tribulation. They will not have to pass through the tribulation. But according to 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, and Revelation 14:14-16, the majority of the saints will be raptured at the last trumpet. The last trumpet will be at the end of the great tribulation. This is a strong proof that the majority of the living believers will pass through the time of trial of the three and a half years of the great tribulation. The age of the kingdom will also be used by the Lord to mature the immature saints. This age will still be a part of the old creation, but it will be restored (Acts 3:21; Matt. 19:28).