Prayer: O Lord, we prostrate ourselves to worship You. We worship You for Your grace and even more for Yourself. How glorious it is that You have come into us to be our life and everything. You are one with us, and we are one spirit with You. You have also made us Your glorious Body. Lord, we really worship You. This age is evil and is dark, yet You always shine upon us with Your light. You have separated us and placed us in this glorious position today to be Your golden lampstands shining forth in each locality. You have even made us Your dear bride to satisfy Your desire; we are flesh of Your flesh and bone of Your bones. We have become one Body with You in spirit. This Body is not only local but also universal. O Lord, we are full of praises within to You. We praise You that You are the Triune God and the Lord of all, the Lord of glory. Lord, may You fill us again with Yourself. May heaven and earth be joined, and may earth enter into heaven. We all shout with joy in You, “Jesus is Lord, Amen!”
In this chapter we want to see the last mystery, which is the mystery of the church. This mystery is in the universe and also in the Bible, especially the last book of the Bible-Revelation. This is the ultimate mystery.
Although this book has only five chapters, it encompasses the whole Bible. We are fellowshipping from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22: from God, heaven and earth, and man to Jesus Christ, to the church-the golden lampstand, and finally to the holy city, New Jerusalem-the bride of the Lamb.
If we take a look at the Bible with a bird’s-eye view, we will discover that the Bible opens by saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Genesis 1 begins by speaking of God, of heaven and earth, and then about the creation of man, particularly about the creation of a spirit in man. God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1). The Chinese consider heaven, earth, and man as the three powers; the Bible also ranks man’s spirit with heaven and earth. Hence, the Old Testament begins from God, passes through heaven and earth, and reaches man, even the spirit of man.
The New Testament, as a continuation of the Old Testament, begins with the four Gospels which are concerning the incarnated Jesus the Nazarene, whose human living on earth was a solid expression of God in Christ. After the four Gospels, there are the Acts and the Epistles concerning Christ being enlarged to become the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 tells us that Christ is the Head of the church, and the church is the Body of Christ, the expression of Christ’s fullness. Then we come to Revelation, which opens by telling us that the seven golden lampstands are seven churches. This means that each local church equals one lampstand. Finally, at the end of Revelation, when the city of New Jerusalem appears, it is a huge golden lampstand, which is a great city on a great mountain. This great city is the beloved bride of Christ. How glorious! Revelation 21:2 says, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” When Christ returns, He will marry the church as His bride (Rev. 19:7). The New Jerusalem is the ultimate manifestation of this bride, the final fulfillment of that which is typified by Eve in Genesis 2.
The Bible covers six important items. The first item is God; the second item includes the heavens and the earth; the third item is man; the fourth item is Jesus Christ; the fifth item is the church, the golden lampstand; and the sixth item is the bride-the city, New Jerusalem. God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, created man at the end of the process of His creation. However, what is important to God is neither the heavens nor the earth but man. Yet for man to exist, there surely is the need for the earth; moreover, for the earth to supply life, there surely is the need for the heavens. Hence, the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man is for God as His satisfaction.
The God who created all things came into the midst of men through His incarnation. This One who came was Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ needed to be enlarged, and His enlargement is the church. The church shining brightly on the earth today is the golden lampstand. This golden lampstand has God as its substance, Christ as its form, and the Holy Spirit shining for its expression. In eternity, the ultimate manifestation of this church is the New Jerusalem, the beloved bride of Christ. Revelation 22:17 says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!” The Spirit and the bride, having become one, speak together as one. God and man will become an eternal couple. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate expression of God’s entering into man. This is the story of the universe, the ultimate manifestation of the universe. God obtains an eternal and full expression in the man whom He created. This is the ultimate mystery in the universe-the mystery of the church.
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