In type in Genesis, in the actual building in 1 Corinthians, and in the fulfillment in Revelation there are only three categories of materials for God’s building. Also, their sequences are the same. Gold is first and precious stones are last. In between these two items we see bdellium in Genesis, silver in 1 Corinthians, and pearls in Revelation. Bdellium is not something of the animal life but of the plant life. In the Bible the animal life with the blood is for redemption. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Also, in the Bible the plant life signifies the producing, multiplying, and propagating life. Bdellium is out of the plant life in Genesis 2 and pearl is out of the oyster, the animal life in Revelation 21. The reason for this is because in Genesis 2 sin had not come in yet. The producing of bdellium out of the plant life means that at this time there was no need of redemption. After Genesis 3 when sin came in, God still wanted to produce the pearls but now there is the need of redemption. Therefore, in the process of the actual building in 1 Corinthians 3 the second item is silver which signifies redemption. Then in the conclusion or the fulfillment of the divine revelation, a sign of God’s redemptive work will remain forever as the pearls, signifying the produce of Christ in His redemptive work with His secreting life for the entry into God’s building.
In Genesis 2 there was only the tree of life without the Lamb. But in Revelation 22 is the tree of life with the Lamb. The tree of life grows in the river of water of life, which flows out of the throne, not only of God but also of the Lamb. The Lamb is not implied until Genesis 3 when Jehovah God made coats of skins to clothe Adam and Eve after man’s fall. In eternity the pearl will not be a kind of bdellium produced out of the plant life, the producing life, but a pearl produced out of the animal life, the redeeming and producing life, a pearl produced by and out of the crucified and resurrected Christ.
In all three sections concerning God’s eternal building, the materials are always three in number and are in a unique sequence—gold, pearls, and precious stones. These materials are three in number because the actual material for God’s building is the processed Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. God would never use anything other than Himself in His processed Trinity to build up His dwelling. It would be impossible for a man to build a house for himself with himself. The only way that a contractor could build a house with himself as the material would be to “kill himself.”
Now we must ask the question—who killed Jesus? For Jesus’ martyrdom, the Jews killed Him, but for Jesus’ redemption, God killed Him. Pilate sentenced Jesus to death but this sentence was a persecution for martyrdom. Isaiah 53 tells us that God judged Jesus, that God condemned Him, and that God gave the verdict of death (vv. 4, 6, 10). It was God Himself who killed Jesus. The One who was killed on the cross was the Man Jesus, but He was not merely a man but a Triune God-man. On the cross, the very God killed the Triune God-man for the purpose of redeeming us and secreting Himself as the life-juice around His redeemed ones to make them into pearls for the building up of His dwelling place. Thus, we may say that God killed Himself in man in order to be the building material for His eternal dwelling place.
The Apostle Peter was an uneducated and unlearned person. As a Galilean fisherman he had very little schooling. In spite of this, Peter in his first Epistle told us that Jesus Christ his Lord is the living stone. He also told us that we who come to this Jesus are also living stones. To speak such a word needs much realization which comes from the proper knowledge. In Peter’s second Epistle he furthermore told us that we all are partakers of the divine nature (1:4). We not only inherit the divine nature in the future but we are partakers of the divine nature, partaking of, enjoying the divine nature, today. Although Peter was an uneducated fisherman, he could tell us that the Lord is the living stone, that he also was a living stone, that we all are living stones, and that we partake of, enjoy, the divine nature. This is the pure Biblical teaching, not the ethical or philosophical teachings of Confucius or other philosophers. There is no comparison between the philosophical books and the Bible. The Bible teaches people in a divine way showing us that we believers have God’s divine nature. This is not a doctrine but a reality.