All posts tagged consummation

New Jerusalem is the consummation of everything positive in the Bible.

New Jerusalem is a Spiritual Blessing!

New JerusalemEphesians 1:3 declares, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” The Old Testament had God’s outward blessings to Israel. The New Testament presents God’s spiritual blessings to the believers.

What we have today are spiritual blessings: the redemption Christ accomplished; the eternal life given to us; Christ as our inward peace, joy, and hope of glory; the love of God and the grace of Christ; plus much more. All of these spiritual blessings point toward New Jerusalem, the conclusion and consummation of the New Testament.

These blessings are all spiritual, imparted into us by the Spirit of God. Galatians 3:13-14 tells us that the blessing God promised to Abraham is the Spirit Himself. “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law…in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The nature of all New Testament blessings is spiritual. Therefore, we should not expect New Jerusalem to be physical. Rather, it is the enlargement and enrichment of all the present spiritual blessings and also has none of the negatives in our present environment.

In New Jerusalem we will see the Lord fully, abide in Him without interruption,  and will have the highest experience of all that He is, including His life, love, righteousness, peace, joy, holiness, and glory. New Jerusalem is the eternal outcome of Ephesians 1:3.

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by Don on April 24, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Characteristics of New Jerusalem, New Jerusalem is Spiritual
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Posted by Don on April 24, 2020

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2020/04/24/new-jerusalem-is-a-spiritual-blessing-2/

God’s NT Building is Living and Spiritual (2)

New JerusalemGod’s New Testament building work is spiritual, not physical, and is accomplished by His resurrection life in all His believers. The consummation of this work is New Jerusalem.

The prior post has verses about Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone for God’s building. We also are stones for God’s building. In our natural state we are clay, but Christ as life within us makes us stones. New Jerusalem has stones but no clay.

When Simon first met Jesus (John 1:41-42), Jesus said Simon would be called Peter, which means “stone.” Later Peter presented the Lord as “a living Stone” and all the believers as “living stones” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Peter then repeats the words about the Lord being the Cornerstone, chosen and precious. We who believe on Him are brought into God’s building work and “shall by no means be put to shame” (2:6-7).

We are stones because of the eternal life in us; we are living stones for God’s living building, God’s spiritual house. This life comes into us at our regeneration “through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23) and grows by our taking the nourishing milk of God’s word (2:2).

First Peter 2:2 speaks of our nourishment by God’s word. Verse 3 says we taste that the Lord is good. Lord, give me such a good tasting of Your word daily! Then verse 4 is “coming to Him.” Daily we come to Him through His word, by singing, in prayer, in praising. As a result, in verse 5, we participate in God’s living building work for our priesthood to God now and in New Jerusalem.

 

 

 

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by Don on September 25, 2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 25, 2019

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2019/09/25/gods-nt-building-is-living-and-spiritual-2/

God’s NT Building is Living and Spiritual

New Jerusalem is the consummation of God’s New Testament building work. The Old Testament had physical symbols, the tabernacle and temple, but now we are in the age of the spiritual reality of God’s building.

New JerusalemWe begin a look at many NT verses which show that God’s building work now is not physical but spiritual. This building work is accomplished by the eternal life which dwells in us. New Jerusalem, the consummation, will likewise be spiritual, not physical.

In Matthew 21:33-41 (and Mark 12, Luke 20) the Lord Jesus spoke a parable about a vineyard. Suddenly He changed to speaking about a stone who became the cornerstone for God’s building. This speaking shows us first, that the life of the vineyard brings forth the building material. Second, it shows that the Lord Jesus Himself is the Cornerstone.

In Acts 4:10-11 Peter declared that the crucified and resurrected Jesus is the Stone in these parables and that He has become “the Head of the corner.” In resurrection Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, showing that God’s NT building work is in resurrection, not in the natural realm.

In 4:12 he says further that salvation is in this One. Every Christian knows that Jesus Christ is the Savior, but do we recognize further that His salvation brings us to Himself as the cornerstone for God’s building work? We receive God’s salvation because God desires to have us as material for His building, consummating in New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on September 23, 2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 23, 2019

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2019/09/23/gods-nt-building-is-living-and-spiritual/

New Jerusalem, not in the Natural Realm (2)

New Jerusalem is the consummation of the Lord’s redeeming work on the cross, the Lord’s sanctifying/purifying work now, and His glorifying work at His return.  We see New Jerusalem by being carried away in spirit (out of the natural realm) onto a great and high mountain (above the level of our ordinary living).

To consider Revelation 21–22 as something natural is to miss the reality presented here. This is to repeat the error common in John’s gospel—interpreting or trying to grasp the Lord’s spiritual presentation by natural understanding. Here are more examples of this.

New Jerusalem• In 6:51-55 no one understood how the Lord could give us His flesh to eat for eternal life. But He spoke of the Spirit who gives life (v. 63).
• In 8:32-34 He spoke about being free from the slavery of sin but the hearers thought only about human slavery.
• In 8:51-53 the Lord spoke about keeping His word to overcome eternal death but the hearers could only think of physical death.
• In 11:11-14 the Lord used sleep as a picture of death; the disciples thought of physical sleep and could not comprehend His word.
• In 14:7-11 the Lord told the disciples that they had seen the Father manifested in His living and doing, but they only thought of physical seeing.

New Jerusalem is the consummation of the church as the Body of Christ, His fullness (Eph. 1:22-23). New Jerusalem is also the consummation of the new man created by Christ in Himself (Eph 2:15), the holy temple growing in Him (2:21), and the dwelling place of God in spirit (2:22). Surely this is not in the natural realm. Lord, carry me away in spirit to see New Jerusalem!

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on November 10, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 10, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/new-jerusalem-not-in-the-natural-realm-2/

A Christian Life of Maturing and Perfecting

Christ in us is the essence, the center, the focus of our Christian life. Yet, although He is mature and perfect in Himself, He needs to grow to maturity and be perfected in us, otherwise we remain “infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). Here are a few verses about our Christian growth and perfection, plus links to posts about this subject and its relation to New Jerusalem.

Matthew 5:48: You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Colossians 1:27b-28: Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we announce…that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.
Colossians 2:19: holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.
Hebrews 6:1: …let us be brought on to maturity…

#NewJerusalemNew Jerusalem is Eternal Perfection
New Jerusalem is the Eternal Perfection
New Jerusalem is the Eternal Perfection (2)

We Can Be Perfect in our Father’s Life
Perfected into One unto New Jerusalem
Full Grown in Christ our Life
Let’s Go On to Maturity for God’s Building

We Mature in Christian Life to Match
New Jerusalem
We Mature in Christian Life to Match
New Jerusalem (2)
We Mature in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (3)
We Mature in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (4)
We Mature in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (5)

Growing with the Growth of God
New Jerusalem is the Consummation of the Spiritual Growth of God’s People

Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem
Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (2)
Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (3)
Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (4)
Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (5)
Being Perfected in Christian Life to Match New Jerusalem (6)

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on August 4, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Life and New Jerusalem, Preparation of New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on August 4, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/a-christian-life-of-maturing-and-perfecting/

New Jerusalem is the Universal Golden Lampstand, the Ultimate Consummation of the Lampstands

Here is a third post about New Jerusalem from Stefan’s blog, agodman.com. It begins, The New Jerusalem, the holy city, is the universal golden lampstand, the ultimate consummation of the lampstands in the Scriptures.

rev-1-20-the-mystery-of-the-seven-stars-which-you-saw-upon-my-right-hand-and-the-seven-golden-lampstands1

Excerpts from Stefan’s post: Throughout the Bible there’s the mentioning of the lampstand. First, in the tabernacle in the wilderness with Moses, there was a golden lampstand in the Holy Place; this lampstand signifies Christ Himself as the embodiment and shining out of God (Exo. 25:31-37).

When Christ came in incarnation, He was a lampstand: He embodied God, expressed God, made God visible, did everything by the Spirit of God, and shined out God. In His resurrection, Christ has been enlarged to become the church as the Body of Christ; now all the genuine local churches are the many golden lampstands as the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit. [See Rev. 1:20 in the graphic above.]

In the New Testament we also see the lampstands – the Son of Man is walking among the seven golden lampstands in Rev. 1:12-20; these lampstands signify the churches, the local churches.

Read all of New Jerusalem is the Universal Golden Lampstand, the Ultimate Consummation of the Lampstands  with graphics, references, and hymns.

Stefan’s other two posts in this cluster are New Jerusalem is a Corporate God-man, the Consummation of the High Peak of Revelation and The New Jerusalem is the Real and Consummate Shulammite, a Corporate Shulammite.

ps: A God-man is a man in whom God in Christ dwells. In John 14:20 the Lord Jesus told us that after His resurrection we “will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Our being in Christ and Christ being in us is the reality of a God-man, but we are NOT part of the Godhead.

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by Don on March 20, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 20, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/new-jerusalem-is-the-universal-golden-lampstand/

New Jerusalem is a Corporate God-man,   the Consummation of the High Peak of Revelation

Thanks to Stefan at www.agodman.com/blog for this solid post on New Jerusalem.

New Jerusalem

The consummation of the central vision of God’s economy and of the high peak of the divine revelation is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 9-11); the New Jerusalem is a corporate God-man and the consummation of the high peak of the divine revelation.

The central vision of God’s economy is the experience of Christ as life for the producing and building up of the church as the Body of Christ. God has an economy, and in His economy He intends to dispense Himself into us to regenerate us, transform us, build us up, and glorify us, so that He may gain the church as the Body of Christ, His corporate expression in the universe.

This is what Paul was writing about in his 14 epistles; the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry is God in us as our contents, Christ as the mystery of God, and the church as the mystery of Christ.

Read the entire post which includes additional verses, more spiritual riches, plus links to references and hymns about New Jerusalem.

ps: Stefan is a God-man because, like all believers in Jesus Christ, he is a man and God in Christ is in Him. In John 14:20 the Lord Jesus told us that after His resurrection we “will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Our being in Christ and Christ being in us is the reality of a God-man, but we are NOT part of the Godhead.

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by Don on January 20, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Characteristics of New Jerusalem, God's New Testament Building, New Jerusalem is Spiritual
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Posted by Don on January 20, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/new-jerusalem-is-a-corporate-god-man-the-consummation-of-the-high-peak-of-revelation/

New Jerusalem is Spiritual, not Physical

New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem is the consummation of God’s New Testament building. Unlike the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, God’s people today are
• • • growing in the divine life
• • • being built together in Christ Jesus
• • • becoming a dwelling place of God in spirit
This building is growing unto New Jerusalem.

Ephesians 2:19-22, “You are…being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone; in whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.”

1 Peter 2:5, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.”

Photo courtesy of U.S. National Park Service.

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by Don on December 30, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 30, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/12/30/new-jerusalem-is-spiritual-not-physical/

The Bible: a Journey from Garden of Eden to New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem

The whole Bible is a journey from God’s creation and the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1–2) to God’s consumma-tion centered on New Jerusalem (Revelation 21–22).

The Garden of Eden and New Jerusalem

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by Don on December 26, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 26, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/the-bible-a-journey-from-garden-of-eden-to-new-jerusalem/

New Jerusalem: God’s Eternal Glory

New Jerusalem is a city “having the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11). Romans 16:27 says, “To the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever.” Because the glory here is forever it points to New Jerusalem. Because this glory is the conclusion of Romans, it shows that the whole of Romans looks to New Jerusalem.

New JerusalemAfter writing the prior post, I began to wonder how often “glory forever and ever” is in the New Testament. Here are those written by Paul (Peter and John in later posts).
Galatians 1:5, “To whom be the glory forever and ever.”
Ephesians 3:21, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever.”
Philippians 4:20, “Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever.
2 Timothy 4:18b, “to whom be the glory forever and ever.”
Hebrews 13:21b, “to Him be the glory forever and ever.”

These verses speak of glory to God, to our God and Father, and to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one glory because, as the Lord said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

This eternal glory dwells in and is expressed by New Jerusalem, because New Jerusalem, as the conclusion of the Bible, is the consummation of all positive things in the Bible.

Additionally, Hebrews 1:8 says “But of the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever…” This eternal throne is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” in New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1, 3). One throne for both God and the Lamb also bespeaks their oneness.

To paraphrase the verses above, Glory be to our God and Father both now in the church and eternally in New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of US National Park Service.

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by Don on November 14, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 14, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/new-jerusalem-gods-eternal-glory/

New Jerusalem, the Consummate Oneness

During His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus spoke about one flock with one Shepherd (John 17). Before His death He prayed for our being perfected into one (John 17). On the cross He created one new man (Eph. 2:12-15). Verses from Romans 12 to Colossians 3 also speak of our being one Body in Christ. All of this culminates in the one city, New Jerusalem, as the center of the new creation to express the one God.

New Jerusalem

This post has a highlight and verse from this series of posts on New Jerusalem as the consummation of the New Testament oneness in Christ. The first two words of each highlight is a link to the post.

❖ The first definite word in the New Testament about our spiritual oneness is “there shall be one flock, one Shepherd” (John 10:16).

❖ In His death on the cross, Christ created one new man in Himself (Eph. 2:14-15).

❖ Our oneness is at the level of the Triune God’s oneness; Jesus asked the Father, to keep us, His disciples, “that they may be one even as We are” (John 17:11).

❖ Jesus prayed again for us to have the divine oneness; “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us” (John 17:17, 21).

❖ Thirdly, Jesus prayed “that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one” (John 17:23).

❖ Jesus prayed that our oneness would be perfected so that we can be a testimony that “the Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:29).

❖ Because of what the Lord has accomplished, Romans 12:5 proclaims, “we who are many are one Body in Christ.”

❖ The Spirit is our entrance into and our participation in the One Body. “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body…and were all given to drink one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).

❖ Our participation is also by partaking of Christ in His death and resurrection. “We who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).

❖ In Christ Jesus, both now and in New Jerusalem, all the natural distinctions which divide fallen man are annulled. We “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

The oneness in the Triune God (John 17) has, through death and resurrection, become oneness in Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). Today we are experiencing what is in these verses. When New Jerusalem appears His prayer in John 17 will be fully answered and we will arrive at the peak of oneness.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on May 9, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on May 9, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/new-jerusalem-the-consummate-oneness/

One Flock, One Shepherd, One City

New JerusalemNew Jerusalem is the consummation of every positive quality in the Bible. Jesus told us, “there shall be one flock, one Shepherd” (John 10:16). This is the first definite word in the New Testament about our spiritual oneness. This oneness develops through the one Body, the one new man (upcoming posts), to the one New Jerusalem.

In John 9 the Lord gave sight to a man blind from birth. This man, viewed as a disciple of Jesus (John 9:28), was cast out of the Jewish fellowship in the synagogue (John 9:22, 34, 35). From the religious Jews’ viewpoint, he was cast out. However, from Jesus’ viewpoint, he was a sheep and Jesus led him out of the sheepfold to find pasture that he might have eternal life (John 10:9-10).

The sheepfold represents the law which guarded the Jewish people until Christ came. Galatians 3:23-24 speaks of this guarding— “But before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was to be revealed. So then the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ that we might be justified out of faith.”

In John 10:16 the Lord says, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must lead them also.” These sheep are from the nations. Then He said that from these sheep and from those of the sheepfold, “there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.”

The Lord also says He laid down His soul life, His human life, to accomplish redemption for His sheep (vv. 15, 17-18) that they may share His zoe life, His divine life (v. 10b), the eternal life (v. 28), by which they can be formed into one flock under Himself as the one Shepherd.* This eternal life makes us one and brings us all the way to New Jerusalem.

* An extract from the note on John 10:11 in The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, www.recoveryversion.org, published and © 2003 by Living Stream Ministry.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on April 15, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 15, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/one-flock-one-shepherd-one-city/

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