In Revelation 21 and 22 we see that we may express Christ as the lamp of the city, the light-bearer, with the glory of God as the light within Him, by which light the nations will walk.
God is the light, and Christ the Son as the Lamb is the lamp. This lamp has God in it as the light. The city as the lampstand shines the light of God in the Lamb. This shining is expressed through the city, that is, through us. We are the expression of Christ, who has God in Him as the light, and this light, which is God Himself shining in Christ throughout the new city, saturates us. We are immersed in God Himself as the light, and we will be the expression of Christ with God as the light.
We need to see the contents of the New Jerusalem. First, the New Jerusalem has God’s glory as the uncreated light and the Lamb as the lamp to shine forth the divine brightness through the entire city (21:23, 11; 22:5b). Here we can see three layers: God is the light, Christ is the lamp, and the church—the New Jerusalem—is the lamp container. God as the light shines in the Lamb as the lamp, and the lamp is in the city. In this picture we can see the organic union. In the holy city God and Christ are organically united, and They and we are also united as one. Therefore, there is an organic union between us and God in Christ. The entire New Jerusalem will be a great organic union. The situation in the New Jerusalem is like that in the church today. The church is a lampstand to shine forth the Triune God as our testimony organically.
Revelation 21 and 22 reveal that God will not be alone for eternity but will be in Christ within the holy city. The New Jerusalem may be compared to a wheel, and God as the light within the Lamb as the lamp is the center and hub of the whole corporate entity. Throughout the ages God has been working in this direction toward this goal. God’s purpose is altogether a matter of our being built together as a corporate entity to become the holy city. God as light shines from within the Lamb as the lamp through the city as the light-bearer to express Himself as the glory.
The glory of God as the light is in the redeeming Lamb as the lamp shining through the New Jerusalem as the light’s diffuser. This indicates that the Triune God is one with His redeemed in His expression shining as light over the nations. In the New Jerusalem there are the light, the lamp, and the diffuser to shine forth the divine light. In John 14:20 the Lord said to His disciples, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This shows that the light is in the lamp, and the lamp is in the diffuser. The light is God the Father, the lamp is God the Son, and the diffuser is the Body of Christ, the New Jerusalem, to shine the divine light over the nations, the peoples who live around the New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:23 tells us that Christ as the Lamb is the lamp of the holy city. In the New Jerusalem gold symbolizes God’s nature, and light refers to His divine shining. This shining is in the redeeming Lamb as the lamp to hold the divine light for our benefit so that we may enjoy God as the shining One in the redeeming Christ. Revelation 21:11 indicates that God as the light shines through the New Jerusalem. This verse tells us that “her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” The Greek word for “light” in this verse can also be translated “luminary” or “light-bearer.” The entire wall of the New Jerusalem is built with jasper (v. 18), and the light of the New Jerusalem is like jasper stone, bearing the appearance of God (4:3) to express Him by her shining. God in the redeeming Lamb is the light, and the city is a luminary, a great light-bearer. This means that God as the divine light shines within and through the redeeming Christ, and this shining enlightens the entire city. Then the entire city becomes a light-bearer. This bearing of God’s light becomes an expression, and this expression is God’s goal. In the New Jerusalem God is light, and His shining is His glory. The shining is the coming out of the light. Hence, when God shines in the city, He is expressed in glory, first in and through Christ, and then in the city and through the saints. God is the light, Christ is the containing lamp, and the city’s wall bears the divine light to express God. Today the believers as children of light (Eph. 5:8) are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14), shining in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation (Phil. 2:15). Eventually, the New Jerusalem as a composition of all the saints will be the light-bearer, shining forth God as light over the nations around her.
The brightness of the glory of the New Jerusalem is like a most precious stone. This precious stone is not the light but the light-bearer. It does not have light in itself, but the light, which is God, has been wrought into it and shines out through it. This indicates that as a part of the coming New Jerusalem, we must be transformed into precious stones with God wrought into our being as the shining light so that we may be the light-bearer to shine as God’s expression.
God shines in Christ through the city, since the whole city will be transparent because everyone in it will have been transformed. There is no more clay, nothing opaque; every bit of clay has been transformed into crystal-clear precious stones. God shines in Christ through the city, and all the nations will walk in this light. Then the whole universe will be headed up in the light shown through this transparent city.
We need to apply this picture to our daily life. Today we have God in the redeeming Christ shining within us, and we are being transformed to be transparent. In our old creation we are opaque, but in our new creation we are transparent. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. Eventually, we will have the appearance of jasper and will fully express the “jasper God” (Rev. 4:3).
A certain saint may be a very good person, but he may still be opaque because he remains very much in the old creation. Because of this, not much transformation has taken place in his being. However, when we are with another saint, we may sense that with him everything is transparent because he has experienced much transformation in life. Many times when we come to a certain brother, we cannot get any light. Our coming to another brother, however, may bring us into the light. Even before he begins to speak to us, we are in the light. When we are at home, we are in darkness, but when we come to this dear saint, our coming brings light to us. When we come to him, everything is clear, darkness is gone, and there is light. Opaqueness is over, and everything is transparent. We all need to be transformed to such an extent that we are full of light and transparent.
The entire city of the New Jerusalem is the diffuser, diffusing the divine light over the nations outside the city (21:24a). We are the diffusers to spread the light. God has spent at least six thousand years to build up a city, and this city needs the light. Without the light the city is in darkness. The illuminating light is God Himself in His glory contained in Christ as the lamp. This lamp is in a diffuser. Today this diffuser that spreads the divine light is the Body of Christ. Eventually, the entire New Jerusalem will be the diffuser of the divine light. All the nations around the city will be under this diffusing with God as the light of glory and Christ as the containing lamp.