In Genesis 2 the material was just lying there, but at the end of the Bible the gold, pearls, and precious stones are built into a city. In the beginning there was a garden created by God, but at the end the garden becomes a city. The city is something created by God which has been transformed and built up. The New Jerusalem is a building with gold, pearls, and precious stones. The beginning and end of the Bible reflect each other. The New Jerusalem as a city has twelve gates, and at the end of the book of Ezekiel, there is also a city by the name of Jerusalem with twelve gates (48:31-35). This shows us that on the one hand, the New Jerusalem is new; on the other hand, it is ancient.

The entire Bible is a revelation and a record of God’s economy, and God’s economy is consummated in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem was something in God’s heart in eternity past. This city is God’s desire, God’s good pleasure. I believe that God saw the New Jerusalem in eternity past. When He looked at that, He was happy.

When I was in Chefoo over fifty years ago, I had a dream of building a large meeting hall for the ministry of the word. This dream could be considered as my economy, my heart’s desire, my good pleasure. But eventually China was taken over by the communists, and I did not see the completion of my dream to have such a hall. Then I was sent from mainland China to Taiwan. In Taiwan we were not able to have a big meeting hall according to the one I envisioned. I began to minister in the United States in 1962, and we eventually moved to Anaheim in 1974. In Anaheim we were able to acquire two and a half acres of land to build a meeting hall according to my dream in Chefoo many years earlier. Today’s hall in Anaheim had been in my thoughts many years before it was built.

God also had a dream, and that dream was to have the New Jerusalem, a built up city, as the consummation of His economy. At the beginning of the Bible, we see the tree of life, a flowing river, and precious materials. At the end of the Bible, we also see the tree of life, a flowing river, and precious materials built into a city according to God’s economy. By this we can see how consistent the Bible is. It was written by more than forty writers within a period of about fifteen hundred years. Apparently Genesis is much different from Matthew, and Matthew is much different from Revelation. It may seem that the sixty-six books of the Bible are independently different. Actually, the very intrinsic essence of the Bible is consistent. It is consistent in one thing-the New Jerusalem.

The New Jerusalem comprises the Triune God and His chosen and redeemed people. The Triune God has gone through a wonderful process. In eternity past He was God, having only divinity, but one day according to His economy, He became a man. This is because His economy, His blueprint, shows that He wants to be one with man.

He took the step to be incarnated four thousand years after Adam was created. From Adam to Abraham was two thousand years, and from Abraham to Christ was two thousand years. The very Triune God became a man. He did not become a man magically. His incarnation was altogether according to the principle He had ordained in His creation. For a man to be brought into existence, he must be conceived and remain in the womb for nine months. Then he is born and grows into manhood. This is the way Jesus came. He was conceived in the womb of a virgin, and He was born out of her womb. Then He passed through boyhood and entered into manhood. He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years.

What a wonder that the almighty, infinite, eternal Triune God would enter into the womb of the virgin Mary to be born of her and to be a typical man to live, walk, and work on earth for thirty-three and a half years! The very almighty God who created the heavens and the earth with millions of items became a man and lived on this earth as a little man for thirty-three and a half years to be persecuted, to be despised, to be rejected, to be hated, and to be abhorred by His creatures. This means that He has gone through a process, and through His process He has been consummated to be the processed and consummated Triune God. Such a God is included in the New Jerusalem, and we are there mingled with Him as one entity.

The New Jerusalem is a great sign because the book of Revelation is a book of signs. Revelation 1:1 says that the revelation of this book is made known by signs, symbols with spiritual significance. The seven lampstands are signs, signifying the seven churches (1:20). The Lamb signifies Christ as the redeeming God (5:6). The Lord Jesus is not a literal lamb with a tail and four legs. The Lamb is a sign. In the same way, the entire New Jerusalem is a sign, signifying the ultimate consummation of God’s economy. We need signs because a picture is better than a thousand words. It is very difficult to describe what a person looks like, so the best way is to have a photo of that person. The New Jerusalem in the Bible is a “photo” of all the secrets, all the mysteries, of God’s economy.
Home | First | Prev | Next