CHAPTER SIX

THE GOD-MEN AND THE NEW JERUSALEM

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Scripture Reading: Rev. 21-22

OUTLINE

2. The New Jerusalem:
   9. The unique, divine, and organic building in the entire universe:
      7. Its reign with its subjects-21:24, 26, 3-4; 22:2b:
         1. The divine royal household, as kings under the Father as the King of kings, reign within this organic building (22:3b-5) over the nations around it as its subjects (21:24, 26; cf. II. I. 5. d.). This forms the eternal kingdom of the Lord God and of His Christ (11:15; Eph. 5:5; Gal. 5:21; 2 Pet. 1:11; John 3:3, 5). Their kind of reign began with the God-men as the overcomers in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:26-27).
         2. The subjects are the people who were created by God but fell.
         3. They were recovered back to their original condition according to God’s creation, that is, redeemed by God with the death of Christ (Heb. 2:9; Col. 1:20) but not regenerated by God with the life of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3; John 3:3, 5, 15).
         4. They are the sheep, the righteous of the nations, justified by Christ at His throne of glory in His coming back (according to the eternal gospel, not the gospel of grace, preached by an angel during the great tribulation-Rev. 14:6-7) that they may inherit the kingdom (prepared by God for them from the foundation of the world), that is, enter into eternal life-to participate in (the eternal blessing of) the eternal life-Matt. 25:31-40, 46.
         5. They will be God’s peoples, among whom is the tabernacle of God-Rev. 21:3.
         6. They will be sustained to live the human life for eternity by the leaves of the tree of life (22:2b), signifying the deeds of Christ, but they will not eat of the fruit of the tree of life, which is for God’s redeemed as His sons (21:7).
         7. They will walk in the light of this organic building (21:24a), which is the glory of God shining in the Lamb through His redeemed, in their relationship with God, and they will also live under the light of the sun created by God and the lamp made by man in their human affairs.
         8. The earthly kings of the subjects will bring their splendor to God (21:24b), as the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the throne of God (4:10), and the nations will bring their splendor and their honor, that is, their preciousness in status and dignity in position, to God (21:26), as the four living creatures do to God, who sits upon the throne (4:9).
         9. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away-21:4.
   10. The New Jerusalem as such a marvelous, wonderful, and amazing entity is:
       1. The aggregate of all the visions and revelations in the Holy Scripture.
       2. The total accomplishment of the types, figures, and shadows, and the total fulfillment of the prophecies of the Holy Scripture.
       3. The final conclusion of the sixty-six books of the Holy Scripture.
   11. This New Jerusalem as the organism of God is:
       1. His good pleasure of His heart’s desire-Eph. 1:5, 9.
       2. God’s ultimate goal.
       3. The complete fulfillment of the eternal economy of God-Eph. 1:10; 3:9.
   12. Such a New Jerusalem is the total blessing of the eternal life (Matt. 19:29; Rom. 5:21) that all the redeemed people of God will enjoy in Christ as the unsearchable blessing of God’s dynamic and complete salvation for their eternal inheritance.
   13. This excellent and lovely New Jerusalem, not the “heavenly mansion” as the superstition of millions of Christians, is the dear expectation of God’s elect (Heb. 11:10) and the destination, the goal, of the heavenly pilgrims.
   14. In the new heaven and new earth (the eternal kingdom of God), in which is the New Jerusalem, righteousness will dwell for eternity-2 Pet. 3:13:
       1. God’s divine work throughout the four ages of man, the age of the forefathers, the age of law, the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom, on the one hand, consummates His new creation, and on the other hand, does away with Satan, sin, the old creation, and the old man to clear up all the unrighteousness from the universe.
       2. Then, in the new heaven and new earth, that is, in the eternal kingdom of God, righteousness will dwell, which is one of the attributes of God and the foundation of God (Psa. 89:14) and issues in peace. Such a righteousness is suitable for God to express Himself in the New Jerusalem, as His royal household, to the nations as His subjects.
   15. It is according to these five items J to N that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is always with all the saints from the age of grace through the age of the kingdom to eternity for the accomplishment of the eternal economy of God-Rev. 22:21.