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. Today we are sojourners, journeying on a rugged road toward our eternal goal, the New Jerusalem.
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). This means that the entire eternal kingdom of God, including the New Jerusalem, is a matter of righteousness.
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. There will no longer be any unrighteousness in the universe. Righteousness will dwell in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
After all unrighteousness has been cleared away from the universe, then in the new heaven and new earth, that is, in the eternal kingdom of God, righteousness will dwell. Righteousness is one of the attributes of God, is the foundation of the throne of God (Psa. 89:14), and issues in peace (Isa. 32:17). Such a righteousness is suitable for God to express Himself in the New Jerusalem, as His royal household, to the nations as His subjects.
It is according to the five previous items 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.
Revelation 22:21, the last verse of the entire Bible, says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.” Most Christians take this verse for granted and speak in a common way about the grace of the Lord Jesus being with us. But what is the basis for saying that the grace of Christ is with us? The Lord’s grace being with us is based upon all the particular aspects of the New Jerusalem. In other words, the New Jerusalem is the base upon which the grace of the Lord Jesus is with us. With the New Jerusalem as the base, the grace of the Lord Jesus 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. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us for nothing other than the accomplishing of the eternal economy of God.
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