Revelation 22:5 says, “Night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them.” The light of the holy city is the unique, eternal, divine light in which the redeemed elect live and move within the city (21:23, 25). In the whole universe there are only three kinds of light. First, there is the natural light, the sun and the moon, created by God. Then there is the artificial light made by man. Third, there is the real light, the genuine light, which is God Himself. Revelation tells us that in the New Jerusalem we do not need the natural light of the moon and the sun or any artificial light. This is because we have the real light, which is the source of all the light. This light is God who shines within Christ and is diffused over all the nations.
In the ancient times the outer court of the tabernacle was lit by the sun during the day and by the moon at night, and the Holy Place was lit by the lampstand. In the Holy of Holies, however, there was no sun, no moon, and no lampstand. The light in the Holy of Holies was God Himself in His eternal glory. In the same way, the holy city in eternity future will have no need of the sun or of the moon because God Himself will be the light. This indicates that the entire city of the New Jerusalem will be the Holy of Holies. As we have seen, the measurements of the city in three dimensions also prove that the city is the Holy of Holies. Besides the New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies in both the tabernacle and the temple is the only structure in the entire Scriptures that is equal in three dimensions. Similarly, the Holy of Holies is the only other place where there is need of no light other than God. This shows that in eternity the holy city will be the Holy of Holies. In the New Jerusalem God Himself in Christ will be everything to us. The Triune God will also be our light to enlighten us. Here we have the intrinsic essence of the New Jerusalem.
The glory of God as the light and the Lamb as the lamp signify that God in Christ is the light of the New Jerusalem in eternity. In the new city there is no need of the sun, the natural light, or any man-made lamp because God Himself will be the light, and Christ will be the lamp, shining out God to enlighten the entire city. This means that God in Christ is everything in the New Jerusalem. In the presence of the greatest light, all the lesser lights count for nothing. Outside the New Jerusalem there will still be day and night, but inside there will be no night (21:25).
Today we Christians actually have God Himself within Christ as our light. We do not need philosophy, the human-made light, and we do not need ethical teachings, such as those of Confucius. We do not need any kind of religious teaching because we have God Himself within us. We do not need someone to tell us to love our parents, for we have a divine light in us all day long shining within us to let us know that we should honor our parents. We need to realize, however, that Paul tells us to honor our father and mother (Eph. 6:2). If all Christians have God as the light within them, why does the New Testament still teach many things? In Ephesians 5:22 through 6:9 Paul unveils the kind of living needed in ethical relationships. He talks about the relationship between wife and husband, between children and parents, and between slaves and masters. These charges are not given in the first chapter of Ephesians but in the last two chapters. Before giving us this kind of teaching, Paul says in Ephesians 5:14, “Therefore He says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” The New Testament first reveals not the teaching but the divine light. Because we are still in the old creation, we may need this teaching. In the New Jerusalem, however, there will be nothing old and no teaching. If we care for the new creation and the inner anointing all the time, there will be no need of teaching. Because we are in the old creation, we may need teaching to remind us to awaken from our sleep.
According to the principle of the new creation, we have God in us as light. In Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). When we are fellowshipping with God, we do not need any other light. As long as we have Him, He is the light to us, and we do not need any teaching or doctrine. As long as we have the God who is light to us in our fellowship with Him, there is no need of anything else.
Psalm 119:130 says that the opening, or entrance, of God’s Word gives light. Day by day we need to enter into the holy Word. Then we will see and be in the light, which is God Himself through His Word. Therefore, we should not realize or do anything according to our natural ability or according to the education we have received. We have God as our unique light to apply to our life.
Today’s Christians are divided by many kinds of natural and artificial light, but we must be controlled by the unique, genuine, highest light. This light is our redeeming and shining God. We must apply this light to our daily walk. Many of the saints exercise their natural ability too much, even in the church life, and for this reason there are murmurings and reasonings (Phil. 2:14-15). We do not need the natural and the artificial light. For the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to walk and live under the divine, redeeming, and shining light through the word of God.
Just as the temple of the holy city is God Himself, the light is also God Himself. Apart from God and the Lamb, there is nothing in this city. In the New Jerusalem God is everything. The Lamb as the lamp shines with God as the light to illumine the city with the glory of God, the expression of the divine light. Because Christ is the light in the church, it is the same today in the church life.