Let us consider the meaning of this. In the New Testament we have a church built with gold, silver, and precious stones. In the Old Testament we have God's people composed with gold and precious stones to become a complete entity. In the eyes of God, the breastplate of the high priest was a part of the miniature of the coming New Jerusalem. Likewise, the church built with gold, silver, and precious stones is also a part of the miniature of the New Jerusalem. In the Old Testament we have Israel with twelve tribes. In the New Testament we have the church with twelve apostles. Hence, Israel plus the church equals the New Jerusalem. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem, and the names of the twelve apostles of the church are on the twelve foundation stones of the city. This building covers the entire Bible from the beginning with a garden in Genesis to the conclusion with a city in Revelation. Between the garden and the city are two peoples, Israel and the church. Both Israel and the church have twelve names. Eventually, all of these have been transformed into gold, silver or pearl, and precious stones. Hence, the garden, the city, and the two peoples are all related to the three categories of precious materials.

In the Bible, between the garden and the city, there are not only the two peoples, Israel and the church, represented by gold and precious stones, built together as God's dwelling place, but there are also the life and the river enjoyed by these two peoples. Psalm 36:8-9 tells us that the children of Israel enjoyed the fountain of life and the river of pleasures in God. John 6 and 7 point out that the people in the church enjoy the bread of life and the rivers of living water. Hence, in the Bible there is the continued mention not only of the precious materials but also of the life and river mentioned at the beginning and at the end.

Why is pearl found in Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 and silver in 1 Corinthians 3? In 1 Corinthians 3 we have silver because in typology silver represents redemption. The meaning of redemption is to deal with sin. If there had been no sin, there would have been no need of redemption. In the garden of Genesis 2 there was no sin, and for eternity in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 sin will be banished. Sin came in from Genesis 3 and will be fully eliminated in Revelation 20. Thus, in neither Genesis 2 nor Revelation 21 do we find sin. Therefore, in these situations there is no need for redemption, for silver. The need there is not silver for redemption, but pearl for regeneration. Redemption is to take away sin; regeneration is to bring in the divine life. Silver stands for redemption between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 because of the great problem of sin that necessitates redemption. In the present age we need silver.

With all of this as a background, we come to the subject of transformation. We have seen that God has a purpose, and for the fulfillment of His purpose He created man as a vessel to contain Him, making him with a human spirit. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit (John 4:24). If we are going to worship God, we must use the proper organ. For example, we cannot drink water with our ears, but with our mouth. God is living water. If we want to drink Him as our living water, we must exercise our spirit to contact Him. When we exercise our spirit to contact God the Spirit, we are actually drinking of God as the living water (John 4:24, 14). Thus, God made man with a spirit to contact and worship Him.

God is life. God Himself is the tree of life. When He came in the flesh, He revealed Himself as life and as the life supply. Christ is the bread of life (John 6:35). Whatever we take into us as food will be assimilated into our being. This is very meaningful and significant. God is life to us in the form of food. We need to receive Him by eating Him. Once God enters into us, He becomes the flow of life within us. For proper eating we need food and drink. John 6 covers the bread of life for our eating, and John 7 covers the living water for our drinking. If we have food without water, it will be difficult for us to eat. How can we digest and assimilate our food without water? We need the flow of life. In Genesis 2 we have the tree of life for our food and the flowing river for our drink. Food comes first and drink follows. When we take in the Lord as our food, we will also have Him as the water flowing within us.