Message Eleven

The New Jerusalem—the Glory of God

Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:10-11, 23; Heb. 2:10;
Col. 1:27; 3:4; Eph. 3:21

1. An outstanding feature of the New Jerusalem is that it has the glory of God, His expression—Rev. 21:11, 23:
   1. The entire city of the New Jerusalem bears the glory of God, which is God Himself shining out through the city—v. 11a:
      1. The glory of God is the content of the New Jerusalem, for the city is completely filled with His glory; this indicates that the New Jerusalem is a vessel to contain God and express Him.
      2. The glory of God is actually God Himself being manifested; thus, for the holy city to be full of God’s glory means that God is manifested in this city.
   2. The glory of God, God expressed, illumines the New Jerusalem, shining through the jasper wall—vv. 23, 18:
      1. The light of the New Jerusalem is like a jasper stone, clear as crystal—v. 11b.
      2. The glory of God shines in Christ the Lamb as the lamp through the wall of the holy city—vv. 23, 18.
   3. The New Jerusalem, as the corporate expression of God in eternity, bears the appearance of God, expressing God’s image in His glory—vv. 10-11; 4:3.
   4. God is the New Jerusalem, and to glorify God is to take Him as the New Jerusalem and give all the glory to Him—21:22; Rom. 15:5-7:
      1. To glorify God is to participate in the New Jerusalem—Rev. 3:12; 21:11.
      2. If we do not participate in the New Jerusalem, whatever we do is not a glorifying of God but of ourselves, an expression of ourselves—John 5:44; 7:18; 12:43.
      3. It is only when we express God in the New Jerusalem that He is truly glorified in the universe— Rom. 16:27; 1 Cor. 10:31.
2. God is bringing many sons into glory, and as the New Jerusalem, these glorified sons will be to the praise of His glory—Heb. 2:10; Rev. 21:7; Eph. 1:12:
   1. God has predestinated us to obtain His glory that we may express Him; thus, the goal of God’s predestination is our glorification—1 Cor. 2:7.
   2. God made us in His image that we may express Him for His glory, creating us as His containers, vessels of honor, to express what He is in glory—Gen. 1:26; Rom. 9:23.
   3. God has called us through the gospel “unto the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”—2 Thes. 2:14.
   4. God’s salvation is with eternal glory; eternal glory is the ultimate goal of God’s salvation—2 Tim. 2:10.
   5. God the Father is moving within us as the God of all grace that we may participate in His eternal glory and even become the glory of God—1 Pet. 5:10:
      1. God is now perfecting, establishing, strengthening, and grounding us to build up this glory within us.
      2. This glory will become a building, the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:10-11.
   6. Glorification is the final step of God’s organic salvation—Rom. 5:10; 8:30:
      1. The believers will be glorified from within through the lifelong saturation with the glory of God and from without through their being brought into God’s glory—Eph. 4:30; Heb. 2:10.
      2. Glorification is the ultimate step of God’s organic salvation, wherein God obtains a full expression, which will be manifested eternally in the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:10-11:
         1. For God to glorify us means that the element of glory permeates and saturates our whole being and is expressed through us.
         2. God’s glory will be expressed from our spirit to our soul and through our body—2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21.
         3. The three parts of our being will be the same as Christ is and will be fully saturated with God’s glory—1 John 3:1-2.
   7. As the New Jerusalem, we will be to the praise of God’s glory—Eph. 1:12:
      1. In eternity all the sons of God will be fully saturated with God and will express God.
      2. God will be expressed through His glorified sons, and this expressed God is glory.
      3. All the angels and positive things in the universe will praise the expressed God; thus, we, the glorified sons of God, will be to the praise of His glory.
3. Christ, the hope of glory, has been sown into us as the seed of glory, and this seed will grow until it reaches the stage of blossoming, at which time the glory will come out—Col. 1:27; 3:4:
   1. The Christ who is the effulgence of God’s glory dwells in us as our hope of glory, and we will be manifested with Him in glory—Heb. 1:3; Col. 3:4.
   2. Through regeneration the life of glory came into us, and now we have a seed of glory within us—John 1:12-13; Col. 1:27; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 3:9:
      1. As this seed grows, it develops gradually until it reaches full growth, the maturity of life, and then there will be a “blossoming”—the glorification—of the divine seed within us—Mark 4:26-29.
      2. The glory into which we will be brought is the glory that is within us now as a seed—Heb. 2:10; Col. 1:27.
   3. Although our glorification may appear to be a sudden occurrence, it will actually be the consummation of a process of gradual growth and development in life unto maturity—Mark 4:26-29; Heb. 6:1a; Eph. 4:13:
      1. Glorification is the issue of transformation, and transformation is accomplished by the gradual and continuous growth in life—2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Cor. 3:6-7.
      2. One day we will reach our maturity, and then we will be glorified, brought into the expression of the processed Triune God—Rom. 8:18; 11:36b; Eph. 3:21; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Pet. 3:18b; Rev. 1:6b; 5:13b.