All posts tagged born of the Spirit

A second birth for people, accomplished by the Spirit imparting eternal life into their human spirit (John 3:6).

No Beasts in or near New Jerusalem

Revelation 13 says much about two beasts. Chapter 14 has a heavenly warning about the beasts, 15 shows those who were victorious over the beasts, 16 has judgement on them, 17 introduces another beast and presents much beastly activity, and 19 has their terminations in the lake of fire.

New JerusalemThese beasts are all opposed to New Jerusalem because they oppose the accomplishing of God’s purpose on earth. This purpose is first revealed in Genesis 1:26 where the Triune God created man in His image and let man have dominion over the earth.

God’s purpose is also revealed in Zechariah 12:1 which speaks of God “who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” The heavens contain the earth and earth is a dwelling place for man, who has a human spirit to contact God who is Spirit (John 4:24).

By contacting God, man receives the life of God, portrayed by the tree of life in Genesis 2. As a result of this contact, man’s spirit is born of God’s Spirit. This birth with God’s life enables man to express God and to rule the earth for God.

Genesis 1–2 is the beginning of God’s purpose; Revelation 21–22 is the consummation. In this consummation, man is beholding God constantly (Rev. 22:4). Man is continually supplied with God’s life by the river of life with the tree of life (22:1-2). God in this corporate man is fully expressed through New Jerusalem which radiates the glory of God (21:11). God and the Lamb on the throne (22:1) reign and man reigns with them (22:5).

Praise God that New Jerusalem is the eternal fulfillment of God’s purpose and that the opposing beasts are gone.

This post is in my list of what is NOT in New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

1 Comment
by Don on March 24, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 24, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/03/24/no-beasts-in-or-near-new-jerusalem/

The Spirit and a Serpent for New Jerusalem

It is well-known that John 3 is a chapter on new birth and eternal life. In verse 3 Jesus speaks about being born again (or born anew), in verse 5 about being born of water and the Spirit, and in verse 6 He tells us, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When we are born anew, our deadened human spirit is born of, made alive by, the divine Spirit. Being born again begins our walk on the golden street of New Jerusalem.

New JerusalemWhen we believe into Jesus Christ, not only is our human spirit made alive, but also we receive eternal life. This is John 3:15-16. This is a new beginning with a new life. The consummation, the maturity, of this life is New Jerusalem.

But how can a serpent be related to New Jerusalem? Numbers 21:4-9 has the base for our answer. The people of Israel sinned in complaining against God and serpents bit them. Moses prayed and God told him what to do. “Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the pole; and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

The Lord Jesus applied this to Himself. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). Because of sin, all humans have the evil nature, the poison, of the serpent Satan within. The Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross as the reality of the bronze serpent to free us from this serpentine nature.

We need both of these for our participation in New Jerusalem—the Lord Jesus lifted up to cast out the old serpent (John 12:31) and save us from that nature, plus the Spirit entering into us with eternal life. We receive, rejoice, and go on to New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on June 22, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on June 22, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/the-spirit-and-a-serpent-for-new-jerusalem/

The Nations around New Jerusalem (2)

New JerusalemNew Jerusalem is the mingling of the Triune God and His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and matured people. Around New Jerusalem on the new earth are the peoples (Rev. 21:3), the nations (Rev. 21:24).

* The [nations] will be judged by Christ at the throne of His glory when He comes back to earth….The justified ones, the “sheep,” will be blessed and will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:31-46). Unlike the New Testament believers, the “sheep” will not be saved and regenerated; they will only be restored to the original state of man as he was created by God….After the millennial kingdom, a part of these nations, deceived by the devil, will rebel against the Lord and will be consumed by fire from heaven (20:7-9). The rest will be transferred to the new earth to be the nations, which will live around the New Jerusalem and walk by its light….They, as created but unregenerated men, will be maintained to live forever in their created state through the healing of the leaves of the tree of life (22:2). Even for them there will be no more death (v. 4). Under the shining of the New Jerusalem with the divine glory, neither will they be in darkness.

The peoples are restored but not regenerated. They belong to God but they are not His sons born of His life. Hence they cannot participate in the oneness of New Jerusalem.

First Corinthians 2:6-13 speaks of the things which God prepared “before the ages” for those who love Him, those who are born of the Spirit. The timing of this preparation is different from the blessing “prepared for you [the sheep] from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). This shows another distinction between those who are constituents of New Jerusalem and those who are around New Jerusalem.

Thank the Lord that the door is open today to receive Him as life to become part of New Jerusalem!

* Note 1 on Rev. 21:24 in The Holy Bible, Rec. Version published and © by Living Stream Ministry.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

1 Comment
by Don on March 7, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in New Heaven and New Earth
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Posted by Don on March 7, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/the-nations-around-new-jerusalem-2/

More Seeing and Entering New Jerusalem

We should all desire to be “carried away in spirit onto a great and high mountain” to see New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-10). The seeing requires us to be “in spirit” and to have completed a spiritual journey (described in prior posts) to a high mountain.

According to John 3:3 and 3:5, when we see, we enter. Both depend on our new birth. The extent of our seeing and entering New Jerusalem matches the extent to which we let the new birth operate in us. This is like a human—birth brings the baby into humanity but the baby requires many years of development to fully see and enter into human life.

John 3:5: Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

New JerusalemIn John 3:5 being born anew has two aspects: water and Spirit. Being born of water is the termination of our old life. How much will we cooperate with the Spirit to apply this termination to our old habits, our old amusements, our old attitudes, and our old goals? This is the denial of our self spoken by the Lord in the gospels (e.g. Matt. 16:24) by cooperating with the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8:13).

Being born of the Spirit is the enlivening of our human spirit and the joining of the Spirit with our spirit. How much will we live and walk according to this spirit? This is not separate from the first aspect of being born anew. In Galatians 2:20 “it is no longer I who live”—the first aspect, “but it is Christ who lives in me”—the second aspect. The more Christ lives in us the more we see and enter New Jerusalem.

Christ living in us is a matter of faith. Galatians 2:20 continues to say “I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God.” Lord, fill me with Yourself as my faith so that You may live through me. Lord, bring me more into New Jerusalem.

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by Don on September 11, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 11, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/more-seeing-and-entering-new-jerusalem/

Born Anew to See and Enter New Jerusalem

New JerusalemIsrael journeyed to Mt. Sinai where Moses saw and presented to them the heavenly pattern of the tabernacle. We are on a Christian journey to see New Jerusalem.

After the vision of the tabernacle, Israel offered themselves for it, built it, and journeyed with it. Likewise, we see New Jerusalem, we offer ourselves to the Lord for New Jerusalem, we participate in building the Body of Christ as the forerunner of New Jerusalem, and we continue our Christian life in God’s New Testament building.

The past dozen or so posts have been about seeing New Jerusalem. After we see, how do we enter into the present reality of New Jerusalem? The Lord Jesus gave us the answer in John 3:3, 5. “Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you,

Unless one is born anew,
__he cannot see the kingdom of God. (v. 3)
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
__he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (v. 5)

To be born again, or born anew, is to be born of water and of the Spirit in our human spirit (v. 6). The result of this spiritual birth is both the seeing and the entering into the kingdom of God. To the extent that we see, we enter.

Our seeing of spiritual things is not once for all. Rather, our seeing gradually increases with our loving the Lord and giving ourselves to Him. It increases as we seek and pursue the Lord and respond to Him. It increases through our contact with the Lord in the Bible, through time with other Christians, through prayer, and through gospel preaching.

Since our seeing of New Jerusalem is not once for all, our entering into it is not once for all but gradually. Lord, I am willing and available to You; bring me more into the vision of New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

4 Comments
by Don on September 9, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Life and New Jerusalem, Old Testament pictures
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Posted by Don on September 9, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/born-anew-to-see-and-enter-new-jerusalem/

Created and Saturated for New Jerusalem

God’s eternal purpose was hidden in Him before time. It expresses His desire and points to New Jerusalem in eternity future. As presented in the first half of the song we are reviewing, God wants to dispense Himself into people to build them together in Himself for His glory and praise.

God created all the plants, fish, birds, and animals according to their own kind (Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24, 25). In contrast, God did not create man according to man’s kind; rather, God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26) because God created man especially for fulfilling His purpose, .

The man created for God’s purpose has a human spirit as the center of His being. Zechariah 12:1 says, “Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” Here the spirit of man is ranked with the heavens and the earth.

New Jerusalem4_As the center, as the kernel,
____Of God’s plan our spirit is;
__Calling on the name of Jesus
____Makes our spirit one with His.
__From the center to circumference
____God would saturate each part;
__Feeling, mind, and will renewing,
____Making home in all our heart.

The first action God takes in us to fulfill His plan is to enliven our human spirit. This is to be born again, to be regenerated. John 3:6b says, “that which is born of the [divine] Spirit is [our human] spirit.” This regeneration is our first experiential step towards New Jerusalem.

The result of being born again is 1 Corinthians 6:17, “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” From our spirit, God desires to spread to our mind, emotion, and will; for example, Ephesians 4:23 speaks of “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”

This renewing by the Spirit (Titus 3:5) in our spirit makes us divinely new to match New Jerusalem, the consummation of all the newness in the Bible.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

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by Don on June 26, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on June 26, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/created-and-saturated-for-new-jerusalem/

We Are Built up into a Holy Priesthood

Revelation 1:5-6 and 5:9-10 tell us that the redemption of Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom of priests, a kingdom which will consummate in New Jerusalem. This is our position, our status. First Peter 2:4-5 speaks of our reality, our experience:

Coming to Him…you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

New JerusalemBy redemption we have the position of the priesthood but we still need to come to the Lord regularly for the process of “being built up into a holy priesthood.” By this building process we grow into the reality of functioning as the priesthood.

An illustration of these two steps is a young man who joins the army. When he takes an oath he gains a position in the army. Yet he still needs much training to become a member of the army in reality and to learn how to participate in the life of the army.

Some steps in 1 Peter which precede or support our “being built up into a holy priesthood.”
• We received the Lord’s redemption (1:18-19);
• We were regenerated by the living and abiding word of God (1:23);
• As newborn babes we drink the milk of the word that we may grow (2:2);
• We obey the Lord so that He may fill us with brotherly love (1:22);
• We put away negative things of the old creation (2:1);
• We come to the Lord together with others (2:4-5).

Lord, grant us more experiences of these steps so that we can be built together into Your priesthood. Lord, build us toward New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The New Testament of this Bible, with its outlines, footnotes, and cross-references, may be viewed at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by Living Stream Ministry.

1 Comment
by Don on May 1, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on May 1, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/we-are-built-up-into-a-holy-priesthood/

God Has Prepared the City, But …

We are in a series on the preparation of New Jerusalem. Hebrews 11 speaks about people of faith. Regarding Abraham and his descendants it says, “they long after a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (v. 16).

New JerusalemThis verse says that God has already prepared the city of New Jerusalem. This is the city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God (v. 10).

But … why don’t we see the city? It is because we are stuck in time. God (and what God does) is eternal, outside the limitations and sequential order of time.

But … why don’t we see the city? It is also because we are partially stuck in the old creation. One part of our being—our human spirit—has been born of the Spirit (John 3:6). This is wonderful. Thank the Lord for this!

Another part—our mind—is being transformed by renewing (Romans 12:2) indicating that our mind is old, separated from the newness of God. And Philippians 3:21 speaks of a third part of our being as “the body of our humiliation” because sin dwells in it (Romans 7:14-18).

What should we do? One answer is in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18. These verses say that whenever our heart turns to the Lord the veil—anything of time and the old creation which separates us from the Lord—is taken away. Then the Lord, the Spirit transforms us.

This transformation is “from glory to glory” taking us toward the ultimate glory of New Jerusalem.

Read more about the three parts of man, their condition, and God’s salvation or watch a 5 min video.

Earth rise from Apollo 11 in lunar orbit, photo courtesy of NASA.

6 Comments
by Don on March 25, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 25, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/god-has-prepared-the-city-but/

Partake of God’s Holiness for the Holy City

Revelation 21:2, 10 and 22:19 declare that New Jerusalem is the holy city. As the consummation of everything positive in the Bible, New Jerusalem is the ultimate expression of God’s holiness through His people.

Regensdorf-Watt, SchweizA series of posts looked at God’s impartation of His holiness into His chosen people. This series did not touch holy days, holy garments, holy places, etc. and only looked at a minority of the verses about God’s holy people.

Here is a summary and link to each of the posts.
A. God’s basic word is in 1 Peter 1:16, “You shall be holy because I am holy.” Our being holy is a result of the life we received in regeneration (1 Peter 2:9, 1:23).
B. Jesus Christ came to establish the new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31. He was “begotten of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20), is “the Holy One” in His human living (John 6:69), in His death and resurrection (Acts 3:14), and in His ascension (Revelation 3:7).
C. It is of God that we “are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
D. God “saved us and called us with a holy calling…” (2 Timothy 1:9) and we “were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise” (Ephesians 1:13).
E. Hebrews 10:10 says “we have been sanctified…once for all.” This speaks of a fact accomplished by the Lord and applied to us. Hebrews 10:14 says we “are being sanctified.” This speaks of His gradual working of the fact into all our being and all our living.
F. Ephesians 2:21 says that in Christ we are “growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” This is an ongoing experience by the washing of the water in the word (Ephesians 5:26-27).
G. We pursue sanctification (Hebrews 12:14) and exercise to be holy by contacting the One who is holy. Such contact is in spirit by our prayer, singing, praising, reading, or speaking.
H. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says “…God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” He disciplines us “that we might partake of His holiness.” Don’t be discouraged; God’s choosing and discipline will bring forth our sanctification.
I. As we are pursuing a holy manner of life, we are “expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12). Come Lord Jesus!
J. In Hebrews 2:10 God is leading many sons into glory and in verses 11-12 the Lord (“He who sanctifies”) is singing praises to the Father in our (“we who are being sanctified”) singing.

God’s choosing and calling of us, Jesus Christ the Holy One as our sanctification, and the Spirit’s sanctifying work in us bring us onward to “the coming of the day of God” and New Jerusalem.

Reminder: the English words holy/holiness (from an Anglo-Saxon root) and sanctify/sanctification (from a Latin root) seem very different, but they are translations of closely related NT Greek words.

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by Don on November 19, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 19, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/partake-of-gods-holiness-for-the-holy-city/

We Are Receiving the Promise of the Spirit

New JerusalemThe prior post paralleled Galatians 3:13-14, “Christ redeemed us…that we might receive the promise of the Spirit” with the view of New Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

In Galatians 3:2, 14 we receive the Spirit and in 3:5 God is bountifully supplying the Spirit. We receive because He supplies. And His supplying is continuous (clearly indicated by the Greek verb). Therefore our receiving should be continuous, not once-for-all. This parallels New Jerusalem: a river of water of life is proceeding out of the throne. This river is flowing continually for our continual refreshment and supply eternally.

Our receiving is by faith (3:14), specifically the hearing of faith (3:2, 5). Whether we understand or not, we exercise our spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13) to say amen to God’s word. Here is an invigorating song about saying Amen to God’s Word.

Our spirit of faith matches, in essence, the Spirit whom we are receiving. Three verses closely couple our human spirit with the divine Spirit:
• “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6b)
• “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit” (John 4:24)
• “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16)
We need to exercise our human spirit to contact and receive the divine Spirit.

This Spirit is flowing, and being received by us, as pictured by the river of water of life in New Jerusalem. Lord, keep me receiving the Spirit by the hearing of faith every day as a foretaste of the river New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Government.

 

1 Comment
by Don on September 22, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in River of Life and Tree of Life
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Posted by Don on September 22, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/we-are-receiving-the-promise-of-the-spirit/

See New Jerusalem with a Spirit of Faith

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” New Jerusalem surely fits the category of things not seen, so we need to lay hold of it by faith.

You might counter my “not seen” statement because John told us that he saw New Jerusalem. This is Revelation 21:9-11a:

New JerusalemOne of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

Yes, John saw the bride, the wife of the Lamb, when he was “in spirit.” And he was on “a great and high mountain” above the worldly cares and outside the physical distress of his exile on the island of Patmos. This was a spiritual seeing from a high spiritual position; this was not a physical seeing.

Our situation is the same. We cannot yet see New Jerusalem with our physical sight but we can see it in spirit. We cannot see New Jerusalem when we are buried in our worldly cares and complaints but we can see it when we allow the Lord to carry us above everything of the material world.

The key to this seeing is our “spirit of faith” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Our human spirit, regenerated by and one with the Spirit, contains the faith we need to substantiate the physically unseen New Jerusalem.

May we be people who are filled with the Spirit in our spirit by the word of God, speaking, singing, giving thanks, and praising (Ephesians 5:18-21, Colossians 3:16). May we be carried away in spirit to see New Jerusalem!

Photo courtesy of U.S. National Park Service.

ps: The seven last plagues in Revelation 21:9 are part of God’s judgements to clean up the universe for New Jerusalem.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The New Testament of this Bible, with its outlines, footnotes, and cross-references, may be viewed at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by Living Stream Ministry.

4 Comments
by Don on September 8, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 8, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/see-new-jerusalem-with-a-spirit-of-faith/

A Parable with a Warning

New JerusalemRevelation 21:2 and 21:9 show us New Jerusalem as the eternal marriage. In the gospels the Lord Jesus spoke about Himself as the Bridegroom for this marriage.

In Matthew 25:1-13 the Lord spoke a parable about Himself (the Bridegroom), ten virgins, and the wedding feast. He tells us that when He comes, the virgins who are ready for Him with their lamps brightly burning will go with Him into the wedding feast.

Some people hold the interpretation that the five wise/prudent virgins are believers and the five foolish virgins are unbelievers. But this strong separation pushes aside the common characteristics of these ten virgins:
• all ten are virgins, signifying our purity by believing into Jesus Christ (v. 1)
• all ten took their lamps and all ten went forth to meet the Bridegroom (v. 1)
• while the Bridegroom delayed they all slept (v. 5)
• in response to the midnight cry, all ten arose and all ten trimmed their lamps (v. 6-7)

In verse 8, the lamps of the foolish virgins were “going out,” which indicates that they were lit but short of oil. “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah” (Proverbs 20:27). The spirits/the lamps of the foolish virgins being lit indicates that they were born again of the Spirit in their spirit.

The foolish virgins were shut out of the wedding feast. What then? They need to take the admonishing from the prudent virgins, “go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves” (v. 9). Eventually, although they will miss the wedding feast, they will be in New Jerusalem.

The characteristics of New Jerusalem include life, light, holiness, newness, and glory. We need more oil, more of the Spirit saturating our being so that we match the city. Let us open to the Lord and pray, Lord, fill me, touching the desire expressed in the song which begins, We have oil in our lamps—we are burning!

For more about this parable, look at the footnotes in the online Recovery Version.

2 Comments
by Don on July 28, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in New Jerusalem is a Marriage
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Posted by Don on July 28, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/a-parable-with-a-warning/

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