In the two foregoing messages we saw that the New Jerusalem is the Jerusalem above, which represents the new covenant and which is the mother of the believers. In this message we will go on to see that the New Jerusalem is the city of the living God.
Hebrews 12:22 speaks of “the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” This is “the Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26), “the holy city, New Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2; 3:12) which God has prepared for His people (Heb. 11:16). It is also “the tabernacle of God” in which God will dwell with men for eternity (Rev. 21:3). The patriarchs waited for this city, and we also should seek it.
According to Hebrews 12:22, the city of the living God is the heavenly Jerusalem. This verse does not say that Jerusalem is in the heavens but that it is the heavenly Jerusalem. This city is heavenly in nature.
The New Jerusalem as the city of the living God is the city having the foundations (Heb. 11:10). These foundations, which are solid and unshakable, are composed of twelve kinds of precious stones represented by the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:19-20). As men created by God, the apostles originally were clay, but they were regenerated and then transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. In Hebrews 11:10 we see that the city has the foundations, and in Revelation 21:19 and 20 we see the twelve foundations of the city.
The city of the living God, the city having the foundations, has been prepared by God. Hebrews 11:16b says, “He has prepared for them a city.” This preparation is the process which the processed Triune God has gone through, including incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This preparation is also to bring forth the New Testament believers as the sons of God to be the components of the mother, who is the city, and to build them together with the divine element of the Triune God and the spiritual work of the Spirit of the Triune God. This preparation is just the eternal redemption accomplished by our very God in His divine trinity through the process He has gone through and the work consummated by Him according to His eternal economy.
This city was designed and built by God. Hebrews 11:10 tells us that the Architect and Maker of this city is God. The Greek word translated “architect” in this verse can also be translated as either “builder” or “artificer.” This indicates that God is a skillful designer and a top craftsman.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us that the church is God’s masterpiece. The Greek word for masterpiece is poiema which means something written or composed as a poem. The church is a poem written by God. Since poetry expresses the writer’s wisdom and since the church is God’s poem, God’s multifarious wisdom is made known through the church (Eph. 3:10). The New Jerusalem, the city of the living God, as the ultimate consummation of the church, is full of wisdom. God designed the New Jerusalem with His wisdom, and this city displays His wisdom. To say that the New Jerusalem is a material city is to depreciate God’s wisdom and to belittle Him as the eternal, wise Architect. God is a wise designer and artificer who has designed the New Jerusalem to be the full manifestation of His multifarious wisdom.
God’s design is revealed in the book of Ephesians. In this Epistle Paul tells us of God’s design of His city. In chapters one and three Paul speaks of God’s economy, which is God’s plan with a design. Surely, God has not designed a material city, and He has no intention of building a material city. God has designed and built a spiritual entity for His corporate expression.
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