Revelation 21:3 tells us that such a New Jerusalem is first the tabernacle of our God, God's dwelling place for eternity. It also tells us that there is no temple in the city, but the Dweller, the Divine Trinity, who dwells in the tabernacle, is Himself the temple to be our dwelling place (v. 22). God dwells in us as the tabernacle, and we dwell in God as the temple. Therefore, we and God have a mutual abode (John 14:23). The New Jerusalem is God's home and also ours. We will be there to be His abode, and He will be there to be our dwelling place. This means that He will dwell in us and we will dwell in Him. He will abide in us and we will abide in Him. This mutual dwelling and abiding was spoken of by the Lord in John 15, where He said, "Abide in Me and I in you" (v. 4a). In theology this is called coinhering. We and God not only coexist but also coinhere. He exists in us and we exist in Him. Even a husband and a wife cannot coinhere. There is no possibility for them to abide in each other. But in the New Jerusalem there is the wonderful fact that God will abide in us and we will abide in Him, that is, that He and we will coinhere. This coinhering of God and us is an organic union. I believe that we will need eternity to show us what the organic union between God and us is. There we will realize and experience this union in full. He will abide in us and we will abide in Him. How marvelous this is!
Within the city there is God's throne, and God's throne refers to God's administration. God is the reigning God. He is the King, He is the Governor, and He is on the throne. However, this One who is on the throne is very peculiar. In Revelation 22:1 and 3 the throne is called "the throne of God and of the Lamb," indicating that there are two sitting on the same throne. These two do not sit side by side, but God the Father is within the Son, the Lamb. As the Lamb, the Son is a Man, the Redeemer, and the God who is within Him is the redeeming God. In Revelation 21:23 the Lamb is the lamp of the holy city, and God is the light within the lamp, shining to illuminate the city with the glory of God.
In this picture we can see three layers: the light, the lamp, and the city. God as the light shines in the Lamb as the lamp, and the lamp is in the city. Since the city is jasper, it is transparent (v. 11). There is no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine in the city, because God as the unique light shines from within Christ throughout the city to make the entire city a great lamp shining over all the nations around the New Jerusalem (vv. 23-24). All the nations will walk in the light of the city.
Again, in this picture we can see the organic union. In the holy city God and Christ are organically united, and They and we are also united as one. Therefore, there is an organic union between us and God and Christ. The entire New Jerusalem will be a great organic union.
The situation in the New Jerusalem is like that in the church today. God is the light within us, and we are the lamp shining out God. This means that we are shining out God through the church. Thus, the church is a big lampstand to shine forth the very Triune God as our testimony organically.
Not only so, out of the throne within the city flows a river of water of life (22:1). This river spirals down from the top of the city until it circles to reach the twelve gates. The water of life in this river quenches organically the thirst of God's redeemed (21:6; 22:17b; cf. John 4:14; 7:37-39). Along the river the tree of life grows as a vine (Rev. 22:2). This one tree growing on the two sides of the river is a spreading vine, bearing a new kind of fruit every month. That is, in twelve months twelve different kinds of fruit are borne.
The fruit borne by the tree of life is good for food (Gen. 2:9), good to nourish us. The water of life quenches our thirst, and the tree of life nourishes us, feeds us, and satisfies us organically (Rev. 22:14; 2:7). For eternity we will be in the New Jerusalem enjoying the Triune God, a God who flows out to reach us. By this we can see the Triune God: God as the light in the lamp is God the Father; the Lamb as the lamp is Christ, the Son; and the flow of the water of life is the Spirit. This is the Triune God flowing out of His throne to reach all His redeemed to maintain the organic union for eternity.
This is the end of the Bible, and this is the conclusion of the Bible. The Bible ends as it begins. It begins with the tree of life as the center, and it ends with the tree of life as the center, to carry out an organic union between God and us by our drinking of God as the water of life and our eating of Him as the tree of life. The water of life quenches our thirst from within, and the tree of life nourishes us also from within, by our drinking and by our eating. In the New Jerusalem this is not to produce the organic union but to maintain it. For eternity we will be organically united with God every day and every minute by our eating and drinking of Him.