The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the entire divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures. The conclusion of the sixty-six books of the Bible is contained in its last two chapters which are on the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate “coming out” of the sixty-six books. The sixty-six books of the Bible cover many, many things which will consummate in one item—the New Jerusalem. Every positive thing in the Bible will have one outcome—the New Jerusalem. Some of us need to study the New Jerusalem to find out all the items of the divine revelation that can be seen there.
The New Jerusalem is also the ultimate consummation of the eternal purpose of God. The Bible reveals God to us, and this God whom we possess is a God of purpose. He is not meaningless but purposeful, and the consummation of His eternal purpose is in the New Jerusalem. You could only see the result, the coming out, of God’s eternal purpose in the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem we see that the very God who sits on the throne is our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction. This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself to His redeemed under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity.
The New Jerusalem is also the ultimate consummation of God’s purpose in man. God became incarnate to redeem us, and He became a life-giving Spirit to enter into us, to saturate us, to soak us, for His ultimate purpose in man. We must go along with His saturation so that He could fulfill His purpose in the creation of man.
It would be good if we could be transformed forever by one great saturation of the Spirit. However, God does it in the way of life, and He will have it consummated in the New Jerusalem. Our salvation, our spiritual experiences, and our transformation will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
The seven Spirits as the intensification of the Triune God are in the overcoming church. It is hard for us to see the overcoming church today, but for eternity the New Jerusalem will be the overcoming consummation of the church, and all of us, the believers, will be its constituents.
Without the New Jerusalem there is no answer to any question in this universe. Once you see the New Jerusalem, you have the answer to every question. Why did God create man, redeem man, transform man, perfect man, and glorify man? For the New Jerusalem. God wants Himself to consummate in the New Jerusalem and He wants you to be with Him in this consummation. This is the answer. The New Jerusalem is the answer. It is the ultimate consummation of God’s purpose in man.
Furthermore, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the mingling of the Triune God with man. If God did not have a purpose, He would be foolish to mingle with us. We think that God bothers us frequently, but consider how much bothering we give Him. For example, certain parents may have three children, and there is no way for them to handle one of them. This one is the naughty one. As our Father, God has billions of children. Among these billions of children many of them are naughty. Is it easy for God to handle you as His child? I must testify that it is not so easy for my God to handle me. We may think that a certain Christian is a very good child of God. Actually, however, we do not know the real situation. There is a proverb which says, “Only the fathers know the children.” Only our God, the Father, knows us. If God did not have a purpose to accomplish, it would be foolish for Him to suffer so much. He went to so much trouble not only to save us, but also to join Himself to us and to mingle with us.
When we all get there in the new heaven and the new earth as the New Jerusalem, we will be in ecstasy. We will be crazy to the uttermost! The New Jerusalem is much better than a physical, heavenly mansion. It is the full mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people. The mingling of God with man can be seen in typology in Leviticus 2:4 with the meal offering, composed of fine flour mingled with oil. The entire New Jerusalem will be the fine flour mingled with the oil. The chorus of Hymns, #976 says that the holy city is God’s complete expression in humanity. Humanity is the fine flour and God is the oil. The coming New Jerusalem will be a great meal offering, a big cake, made of fine flour mingled with oil. The Triune God is being mingled with us today and this mingling will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is also the ultimate consummation of the positive types, figures, and signs of the Scriptures. In Genesis 2 we see the tree of life, a river, gold, bdellium, and onyx stone, and a couple—Adam and Eve. In the New Jerusalem we also see the tree of life, the river of water of life, gold, pearl, and precious stone, and a divine couple with the Lamb as the Husband and His redeemed people as His wife. Also, in the New Testament Jesus performed many signs. His incarnation, death, and resurrection were all signs. The bread of life, the living water, the door for the sheep, and the Shepherd, are all signs. All these signs will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the lampstands in the Scriptures. The lampstand in the tabernacle signifies Christ Himself (Exo. 25:31-37). The lampstand in the temple signifies the enlarged Christ (1 Kings 7:49). The lampstand in Zechariah 4:2 signifies the people of Israel. Finally, the lampstands in Revelation 1 signify the churches (vv. 12-13, 20). Christ in His incarnation was a lampstand, and He was enlarged in His resurrection. The children of Israel as God’s people were also a lampstand, and the churches as God’s chosen people are the lampstands. The one aggregate of all the lampstands will be the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem in figure is a gold mountain (Rev. 21:18) like a stand. Christ is the lamp on the stand (Rev. 21:23) and God is the light within Him (Rev. 22:5). In the first chapter of Revelation are the seven lampstands, the churches, and in the last two chapters is the one unique lampstand—the New Jerusalem, which is the consummation of all the lampstands.
Finally, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of all the buildings of the Scriptures. In the Bible are the building of the tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9), the building of the temple (1 Kings 6:1-2), the building of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:3), the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 3:8-9), the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:17), and in the New Testament the building of the church. The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church upon this rock and Peter indicated to us in his Epistle that we are all living stones for God’s building (1 Pet. 2:5). Paul, furthermore, told us that he was a wise master builder who had laid the foundation of Christ, and all of us need to build on this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stone (1 Cor. 3:9-12). The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of building work throughout the ages.