Revelation 21:27 says that only “those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” will enter into the New Jerusalem. This assures us that all the believers in Christ will be there, for we are those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Those who enter into the New Jerusalem will be given to drink of the spring of the water of life. Verse 6 says, “I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely.” According to 22:1, in the middle of the street of the New Jerusalem is a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The water of life is the life-giving Spirit as our eternal drink. This eternal drink is altogether transparent, bright as crystal. As we drink this eternal Spirit, our entire being becomes crystal clear.
The life-giving Spirit is the Triune God flowing out to be our eternal drink. The river of water of life is a symbol of the processed Triune God in Christ as the life-giving Spirit (John 7:38-39; 1 Cor. 15:45) flowing out Himself into us, the redeemed people, to saturate us and make us the constituents of the New Jerusalem. All those who believe into the processed Triune God are already enjoying this spring of water of life. In eternity all the redeemed people will still need the supply of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. They will still need to drink the water of life as their eternal portion. In the New Jerusalem the Triune God Himself will be flowing out as the water of life for our supply eternally.
After his creation, man was put before the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9), indicating that man was privileged to partake of the tree of life. But due to the fall of man, the tree of life was closed to man by God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness (3:24). Through Christ’s redemption, which has fulfilled all the requirements of God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness, the way to the tree of life has been opened again to the believers (Heb. 10:19-20). Hence, Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” Those who wash their robes in the redeeming blood of Christ, that is, keep their conduct clean through the washing of the blood of the Lamb, have the right to enjoy the tree of life. The tree of life is nothing less than Christ, the Son of God, the redeeming Lamb, as our life supply. This tree is rich, fresh, and refreshing. We have been redeemed so that we may have the right to come to the tree of life, which is Christ with all the riches of the divine life. In the millennial kingdom the overcoming believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their reward (2:7). In the New Jerusalem all the believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their eternal portion.
The water of life and the tree of life both signify that the Triune God will be dispensed into us continuously as our life supply for eternity. The water of life signifies the Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, and the tree of life signifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The fact that the tree of life grows on the two sides of the river of the water of life indicates that the embodiment of the Triune God, who is Christ, is always with the all-inclusive Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God, to be our life supply dispensed into us. In this way the believers will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent. The flowing of the water of life with the tree of life is the dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen people as their life and life supply in fullness for eternity.
The New Jerusalem is a living composition of all the redeemed and perfected saints in both the Old Testament and the New Testament throughout the generations. Revelation 21:12 says that the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel are inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem. This indicates that the Old Testament saints are components of the New Jerusalem. Verse 14 says that the names of the twelve apostles are on the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem. This indicates that the New Testament believers also are components of the New Jerusalem. Therefore, in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the New Testament believers together with the Old Testament saints will be the components of the holy city, New Jerusalem (v. 2).
The fact that the New Jerusalem is a living composition of the New Testament believers and the Old Testament saints proves that the holy city is not a physical entity. On the contrary, the New Jerusalem is a corporate person; it is the aggregate and totality of all God’s redeemed people. This corporate person, this aggregate of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers, is the ultimate enlargement and consummation of the Father’s house in John 14.