The precious stones are not only produced by the transforming work of the Lord the Spirit but also constituted with the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). We have seen that grace is just Christ, the embodiment of Christ. Hence, to be constituted with grace is to be constituted with Christ as the constituent of the New Jerusalem. The more we experience Christ and gain Christ, the more we participate in the divine element of Christ, and the more we become constituents of the New Jerusalem to be built up together with all the God-chosen and transformed people, that we could be the holy city, God’s eternal dwelling.
Revelation 21:11b says that the light of the New Jerusalem is like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone, clear as crystal. This indicates that the holy city as the embodiment of and the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with the regenerated and transformed tripartite men shines with the preciousness and the beauty of Christ’s divine attributes in the human virtues in various aspects. Since Christ’s element has made His believers the constituents, the components, of the building up of the holy city, its shining should be the expression of Christ’s divine attributes in our human virtues in many different aspects. Thus, whatever the holy city expresses is the shining of Christ’s divine attributes expressed in our human virtues for the glory of the Triune God.
The twelve precious stones are for the completion of God’s eternal administration signified by the number twelve. Twelve is the number of absolute perfection and eternal completion in God’s eternal administration. Hence, the twelve precious stones of the foundation of the New Jerusalem indicate that the foundation is absolutely perfect and eternally complete for God’s administration.
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