In Revelation 21:22 the Apostle John tells us that he saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, for the temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. Since God and the Lamb are the temple, they could not dwell in it, and it is not their dwelling place. It is the dwelling place of all the redeemed saints who serve the Triune God by dwelling in Him. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem, which is composed of all the redeemed saints, as the habitation of God, is the tabernacle; on the other hand, the New Jerusalem, which is constituted of the processed Triune God, as the dwelling place of all the redeemed saints, is the temple. Thus, the New Jerusalem is the mutual dwelling of both the redeeming God and His redeemed. It is both the tabernacle and the temple; the tabernacle is the redeemed and the temple is the redeeming God. This indicates strongly that the redeeming God is mingled with His redeemed, through the processes He has gone through and the procedures they have shared in, for His expression in His eternal manifestation.
Revelation 21:11 and 23 tell us that the New Jerusalem has the glory of God and her light was like a most precious stone, as jasper stone, clear as crystal. It has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The glory of God, which is God expressed, illumines the New Jerusalem. Hence, the glory of God, with God as its substance, essence, and elements, is the light of the New Jerusalem, which shines in the Lamb as its lamp. The expressed glory of God, or the God of glory expressed, is the light shining in Christ as the lamp through the jasper wall of the New Jerusalem like the most precious jasper, which bears God’s appearance rich in life. The appearance of God rich in life goes with the shining for God’s expression in His final and consummated manifestation.
Revelation 22:1 and 3 tell us that the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem and that a river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. According to the context of this portion of the Word, the throne of God and of the Lamb is the center of the New Jerusalem, on which the redeeming God, as indicated by the expression “God and the Lamb”, carries out His administration, based upon His redemption, in His eternal kingdom in the new heaven and new earth, to keep everything in the universe in the order that serves the purpose for His expression in His eternal manifestation. This is the goal of His redemption.
Revelation 21:21 says, “The street of the city was pure gold as transparent glass,” and Revelation 22:1 says that a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of the street of the city. The street signifies the way, and the street being pure gold indicates that the nature of God is the way in the New Jerusalem. Everything in the New Jerusalem which is constituted of God in His nature, is according to the divine nature and corresponds to it. Hence, the river of water of life, which is the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God, proceeds in the middle of this street and is bright as crystal, without any opaqueness and obscureness.
Because it is one street that proceeds out of the throne to reach all the twelve gates of the city, it should be spiral that passes through the entire city. In this way the one street, proceeding out of one throne, is able to reach and serve the twelve gates, indicating that the genuine oneness is kept in the holy city. The redeemed came into the city through twelve gates from four directions, but they all are gathered into one street which is according to the nature of God and corresponds to it.
Revelation 22:1-2 says, “A river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits each month.” The river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, signifies the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God, flowing out of God and the Lamb. In the flow of the river is the water of life with the tree of life as a vine going on the two sides of the river. The water of life signifies the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) as the spiritual drink (Rev. 21:6), and the tree of life signifies Christ as the spiritual food (Rev. 22:14), to supply the entire New Jerusalem, which is composed of all the saints, the sons of God, that they may be nourished and sustained forever. This kind of supply with the Spirit as the spiritual drink and Christ as the spiritual food began in the individual manifestation of God in John 7:33-39 and 6:35, 51. This supply indicates that the processed Triune God is the supply of the New Jerusalem, and that this supply is the dispensing of the redeeming God into His redeemed for His expression in His eternal manifestation.
The river of the water of life with the tree of life growing in it comes out of the throne of God’s administration and flows in the middle of the golden street. This indicates that the divine supply for the New Jerusalem is related to the authority (throne) and nature (gold) of God. Apart from God’s authority and God’s nature there is no possibility for God to have an expression in His manifestation.
According to the intrinsic significance of all the above points, the New Jerusalem is really a marvelous mingling of the processed Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, built and glorified tripartite people for His glorious and utmost expression in His consummated manifestation for eternity, in the new creation of resurrection, no longer in the natural flesh, as His individual manifestation in Christ and His corporate manifestation were in the past.
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