In this message we will consider some further matters regarding the Jerusalem above being the mother of the believers.
Galatians 4:26-28 and 31 reveal that the New Jerusalem is the mother of the believers. This mother is the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem. In Galatians 4 Hagar symbolizes the old covenant of the law that condemns and brings in death, producing children unto slavery (vv. 24-25), whereas Sarah symbolizes the new covenant of grace that justifies and brings in life, producing children unto freedom (vv. 26-28, 31). The New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above, is our mother, and this mother is the new covenant of grace. The new covenant is our mother because it brought us forth as children of freedom.
The children brought forth by the old covenant of the law are the children of Hagar. The new covenant of grace brings forth children of freedom by God as grace to enjoy the Triune God, not by human effort to keep the law. Furthermore, the children of the Jerusalem above, that is, the children produced by the new covenant, become the components of their mother. It surely is a mystery that the children of this mother become the components of the mother.
The center of the New Jerusalem, which is the mother of the believers, is God and the Lamb on the throne (Rev. 22:1). This is the Triune God as the center and element of the mother of the believers. The Triune God is also the element of the new covenant of grace. Grace is the processed Triune God for our enjoyment. Because the new covenant brings us God Himself for our enjoyment, it is called the new covenant of grace. Furthermore, the Triune God is the element, essence, and nature of the children of freedom. The Triune God is thus the element and substance of the components of the mother. Finally, the Triune God is the center, substance, element, and essence of the ultimate consummation of the Scriptures-the New Jerusalem.
From the foregoing we see that the mother of the believers, the new covenant of grace, the components of the mother, and the New Jerusalem are all one. The ultimate consummation of the divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures and of everything the Triune God has done and achieved is the New Jerusalem, which is the composition of the Triune God mingling Himself with the redeemed, regenerated, and transformed tripartite man.
To receive the new covenant and to keep it is to come to the heavenly Jerusalem and to the church (Heb. 8:7-13; 12:22-23). The new covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the church are one. In order to understand this we need to see the link between Galatians and Hebrews. Galatians deals with Judaism, warning the believers not to backslide into Judaism but to stay in grace. Hebrews charges us not to drift into the old covenant but to remain in the new covenant. Chapters seven through ten of Hebrews are on the better covenant, the new covenant. Hebrews 8 indicates that the old covenant is over and that the new covenant has come in to replace it. Then in Hebrews 12 Paul tells us that we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, and to the church (vv. 22-23).
To come to the new covenant is to come to the New Jerusalem. Without Galatians 4 as a background, it would be very difficult to understand this. Galatians 4 reveals that the mother of the believers, who is the Jerusalem above, the New Jerusalem, is the new covenant of grace symbolized by Sarah. To come to the new covenant is to come not only to the New Jerusalem but also to the church (Heb. 12:23). To keep the new covenant is to remain in the New Jerusalem. This indicates that we are not going to the New Jerusalem but that we are in the New Jerusalem already. The tense of the verb in Hebrews 12:22 is the perfect tense, “have come,” not the future tense. We know that we have come to the New Jerusalem because the New Jerusalem is the new covenant. Because we have received the new covenant, we have entered into the New Jerusalem. The receiving of the new covenant is the entering into the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God passing through the long process of His new covenant. Without the Triune God, the new covenant would be an empty shell. The Triune God in His new covenant is dispensing Himself into us, making us the components of His ultimate consummation. Hence, the ultimate consummation will not be the Triune God alone; it will be the mingling of the processed Triune God with His redeemed, regenerated, and transformed tripartite people. This will be the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.
In Galatians 4 Paul tells us that the two women-the maidservant Hagar and the free woman Sarah-are two covenants, the covenant of law and the covenant of promise. Each of these women brought forth a son. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, and Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Ishmael signifies the produce of the covenant of the law, and Isaac signifies the produce of the covenant of grace.
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