For eternity in the New Jerusalem the believers will reign as kings over the nations, the people around the New Jerusalem, forever and ever (v. 5). In the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the believers will be members of God’s royal family, reigning as kings over the nations.
In eternity future there will be people who are not regenerated believers. These people, the nations, will simply be the natural man created by God and restored to the natural condition of God’s creation. They are a different category from the believers. The believers are people belonging to God; they are God’s sons born of Him; they are regenerated of God with His life and nature. The nations, however, will simply be a restored people in God’s creation. In eternity the tree of life will have two functions, because there will be both the believers and the nations. The first function is related to the fruit of the tree of life, and the second function is related to its leaves. The fruit of the tree of life will be a supply to the sons of God, but the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the nations (v. 2), keeping them alive for eternity. The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers will eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their inward life and life supply so that they may enjoy the divine life for eternity. The restored nations will be healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their outward guide and regulation so that they may live the human life forever (21:4). When the nations look at the way the Lord Jesus lives and acts, His deeds will become a source of healing to them, and this healing will maintain their human life forever.
Therefore, in the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the believers will be the royal family, the ruling ones, but the nations will be the common people, the ruled ones. We thank the Lord that in His mercy He first made us vessels of mercy unto honor and then unto glory. In eternity we will be in glory, full of honor, reigning as kings over the nations.
In eternity, in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, all the believers will express God with His glory. The city of the New Jerusalem has the glory of God. Revelation 21:18 says that the wall of the New Jerusalem will be made of jasper, and verse 11 says that the light of the city will be “like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” The glory of God is the expression of God, God expressed. Jasper is the appearance of God (4:3), and it signifies God’s communicable glory in His rich life (John 17:22, 2). The light of the New Jerusalem will be like a jasper stone. The city will bear the appearance of God to express God by her shining. This indicates that the New Jerusalem will be a corporate and eternal expression of God.
In the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity all believers will express God. We will have the appearance of jasper, the appearance of God, and we will express God in His glory. This expression of the Triune God will be His eternal manifestation according to His eternal economy for the divine dispensing.
The New Jerusalem will express God as jasper stone with His glory in order to enlighten the nations. In this way the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24). God as the light in the lamp will not shine over the nations directly. The divine light will first shine in the city, and then through the city it will shine over the nations. Hence, the nations will walk in the light of the city; that is, they will walk in the light of the believers’ shining. In the New Testament age we as believers are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14), and the worldly people should walk in our light. In eternity all the redeemed people of God will be a great light shining over the nations, and the nations will walk in this light.
In eternity the believers will be altogether in resurrection. Nothing about them will be natural. The nations outside the city, on the contrary, will still be natural and will remain in the natural life. But the believers, the constituents of the holy city, will be absolutely in resurrection.
Revelation 21:17 indicates that the New Jerusalem will be in resurrection. This verse says, “He measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” It is in resurrection that man will be like the angels (Matt. 22:30). Man’s being like an angel indicates the principle of resurrection. Hence, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel signifies that the city will be not natural but in resurrection. In eternity nothing will be left of our natural life, for we will be fully in resurrection. Therefore, the entire city will be in resurrection. Both Christ the Head and we His members will be in resurrection.
Finally, the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity will be the mingling of divinity with humanity. This mingling is signified by the number twelve (Rev. 21:12-14, 17, 21). Twelve is composed of three multiplied by four. The New Jerusalem is a square with four sides, and on each side there are three gates (v. 13). The number twelve is used fourteen times in relation to the New Jerusalem. The twelve foundations of twelve precious stones bear the names of the twelve apostles (vv. 14, 19-20). The twelve gates of twelve pearls with twelve angels bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 12, 21). The city’s measurement is twelve thousand (twelve multiplied by one thousand) stadia in three dimensions (v. 16). The height of the wall is one hundred forty-four cubits (v. 17), which is twelve cubits multiplied by twelve. The tree of life produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit in each of the twelve months (22:2). The number twelve appears so many times, indicating that the holy city is a mingling of the Triune God in His eternal administration with the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man.
For eternity the New Jerusalem will be an absolute mingling, not simply an addition. It is a multiplication—the Triune God, who is signified by the number three, multiplied by man, who is signified by the number four. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is a marvelous mingling of the processed Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, built-up, and glorified tripartite people for His glorious and utmost expression in His consummated manifestation for eternity in the new creation of resurrection. It is by the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity that the believers can have such a glorious future. We are truly full of praises and thanks for such a divine dispensing.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, that is, in the New Jerusalem, the believers will enjoy the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, in His triune dispensing. The Lamb-God is on the throne as the center of the holy city for the administration of the eternal kingdom of God. The throne of God and of the Lamb indicates that this throne is for the carrying out of God’s plan and Christ’s redemption. This throne is also the source from which the river of water of life flows for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
The redeeming God, whom the believers will enjoy in eternity future, will also be the temple of the holy city for their eternal dwelling with God as His serving ones. The God whom we enjoy in eternity future will also be the light of life in the lamp shining through the holy city. Because such a divine light will illumine the holy city, the city will have no need of any other light, whether created by God or made by man. The shining of the divine light is actually the dispensing of the processed Triune God. For eternity we will enjoy the redeeming God—God in the Lamb shining as the light of life—in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The believers will also enjoy the redeeming God as the spring of the water of life in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The water flows out of the spring to saturate the believers, and this saturation is their eternal portion. They will also enjoy the river of water of life, which is bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. Thus, the New Jerusalem is filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life. The river of water of life that flows in the middle of the street of pure gold in the New Jerusalem signifies that the divine life flows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God’s redeemed people, a way by which God’s redeemed people walk. The tree of life that grows on the two sides of the river produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month to be the life supply to the believers in the New Jerusalem for eternity. The four things we enjoy—the light, the spring of the water of life, the river of water of life, and the tree of life—are all for the divine dispensing.
In the New Jerusalem the believers will be in glory, full of honor, reigning as kings over the nations for eternity. The nations will be the people around the New Jerusalem, taking the deeds of Christ as their outward guide and regulation so that they may live the human life forever. In eternity all the believers will express God with His glory. We will have the appearance of jasper, the appearance of God. The holy city, New Jerusalem, expresses God as the jasper stone with His glory to enlighten the nations. In this way the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem. In eternity the believers will be altogether in resurrection. The nations outside the city, on the contrary, will still be natural and will remain in the natural life. But the believers, the constituents of the holy city, will be absolutely in resurrection. Finally, the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity will be the mingling of divinity with humanity, which is a marvelous mingling of the processed Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, built-up, and glorified tripartite people for His glorious and utmost expression in His consummated manifestation for eternity in the new creation of resurrection. It is by the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity that the believers have such a glorious future. We are truly full of praises and thanks for such a divine dispensing.