New Jerusalem - the Consummation

by Don on May 8, 2024 • Permalink

Tagged 2 Corinthians, Galatians, in Christ, new covenant, new creation

Posted by Don on May 8, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/05/08/a-new-creation-in-christ/

Mutual Abiding Now, Increasing to New Jerusalem

In John 15:4 the Lord Jesus told us, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Our abiding is a condition for His abiding in us.

We need to abide in the Son so that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit may abide in us (John 15:4a; 14:17, 23). Once you get into God, do not get out. You need to abide in Him. To abide implies to enter in further. The depths of God are unfathomable, so we need a further entering into Him. After entering into Him, we have to stay in Him. To stay in Him is actually to enter in further and further.*

From the moment we first repented and believed into the Lord, we have been in Him. This position is permanent. But, do we abide in Him, have our living according to Him? In John 15:7 He speaks of His words abiding in us. If we are living and behaving according to these inwards words, then we have the real abiding.

To abide in Christ is subjective and experiential, a higher relationship than being in Him positionally. As an example, suppose that I, a California person, move to a foreign country. I am in that country positionally but do I behave, think, eat, and speak like the local people? I am in Christ, but is He the content of my living, thinking, and speaking?

Our hindrance in living Christ is our old man, which needs to be put off (by us with the Spirit’s supply). By the time of New Jerusalem there will be no more old man so by then there will be no hindrance nor distraction from this mutual abiding.

* From chapter 39, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

by Don on July 21, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged abide in God, in Christ, John, mutual indwelling, walk in newness of life, word of life

Posted by Don on July 21, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/07/21/mutual-abiding-now-increasing-to-new-jerusalem/

Of God we are in Christ to be in New Jerusalem

The Triune God is our entrance into New Jerusalem because God Himself is enterable. The New Testament clearly affirms this with many verses about us being “in Christ” (Rom. 6:11, 8:2; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; 2 Tim. 3:12).

Noah’s ark is a type of our God being enterable. The ark typifies Christ, the embodiment of God, and that ark was enterable. Noah, his wife, his three sons, and three daughters-in-law all entered into the ark. The ark was not only trustworthy but also enterable. Because the ark was enterable, the eight people who entered into it were saved from the flood.*

Everything Noah did, as recorded in Genesis 6–7, was in response to God’s word. Noah built the ark and went into it with his family. Then the Lord shut them in the ark (7:16). This matches 1 Corinthians 1:30 which declares that of God we are in Christ Jesus. This entrance is not of our own doing; we only respond to God’s invitation.

In the same way, it was not our idea to go to New Jerusalem but we were called by God. He is our entrance and He is the energizing for us to enter. If we are in Christ we are assured of being in the fullness of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 39, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of pexels.com.

by Don on July 10, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged 1 Corinthians, enter New Jerusalem, Genesis, in Christ

Posted by Don on July 10, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/07/10/of-god-we-are-in-christ-to-be-in-new-jerusalem/

New Jerusalem will be an Intensification of our Present Christian Experience

The New Jerusalem will be the consummation of all that we have experienced for so many years. It will be an intensification and a consummation of our present experience. The New Jerusalem will not be something new to us in eternity future if we are now experiencing it.*

New Jerusalem will be new in the sense of fresh, vibrant, energizing, and without any defect. Yet, we are already experiencing something of this wonderful city. In Christ our position is already “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).

We are mingled with Christ. We are in Him and He is in us to be our life for our daily living (Gal. 2:20). Galatians 6:15 tells us that “a new creation is what matters.” What matters is “Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith.” This is to live in the new creation, to take Christ as the reality of the new creation, to experience an energizing foretaste of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 37, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

by Don on May 19, 2023 • Permalink

Tagged 2 Corinthians, Christ in us, Christ our life, Galatians, in Christ, new creation, walk in newness of life

Posted by Don on May 19, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/new-jerusalem-will-be-an-intensification-of-our-present-christian-experience/

To be in the Holy of Holies is to be in God

In Revelation 21:22 John says, “I saw no temple in it [New Jerusalem], for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

The temple is not something physical or material, but the temple is a personal temple, even the Triune God Himself. The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb indicate the redeeming Triune God. The Lamb, who is the second of the Trinity, is also the temple. We have seen thus far that the entire New Jerusalem is a cube just like the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle (Exo. 26:2-8) and in the temple (1 Kings 6:20), but here it says that John saw no temple. The temple is a person, and this person is the Triune God, the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.*

To be in the holy of holies is to be in God. By the time of New Jerusalem this will not be strange to us. From the day we received the Lord Jesus we have been a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Romans 6:3 says we “have been baptized into Christ Jesus.” And 1 Corinthians 1:30, of God we “are in Christ Jesus.”

Those verses speak of our objective position. But Romans 8:1, 2 speak of our being “in Christ Jesus” subjectively where we have the experiences set forth in the following verses. Here we live Christ, grow in Christ, and are built together with other believers. This is our course to being in New Jerusalem, the eternal holy of holies.

* From chapter 37, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

by Don on April 21, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Characteristics of New Jerusalem, New Jerusalem is Spiritual

Tagged enter New Jerusalem, enter the veil, holy of holies, in Christ, Revelation 21:22-27, Romans, temple, Triune God

Posted by Don on April 21, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/04/21/to-be-in-the-holy-of-holies-is-to-be-in-god/

The Law Brings us to Christ for Our Entrance into New Jerusalem

Galatians 3:23-24 says, “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.”

We must realize that the law is not only a watcher at the gate but also the child-conductor of the entry (Gal. 3:24). The law is not only at the gate, but the law also brings all God’s chosen people to the gate. If the law could speak to a chosen one, it would say, “I will bring you to the gate, and I will meet you there.” The law was not given for us to keep, but the law was given to conduct us to Christ. The law is the conductor to bring you to the gate; the law is also the guard to “okay” your entry.*

The law brings us to Christ and by Him we are justified by faith. Thank Him for this! Now we are no longer under the law but we “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 25-26). And we have put on Christ (v. 27). Finally, in verse 29, we are “heirs according to promise.”

This speaks of God’s promises to Abraham, mentioned earlier in Galatians 3. The ultimate promise we inherit is participation in New Jerusalem, the city for which he eagerly waited (Heb. 11:10).

* From chapter 35, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

by Don on March 15, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Preparation of New Jerusalem

Tagged enter New Jerusalem, eternal inheritance, Galatians, in Christ, pearl gates, sons of God through faith

Posted by Don on March 15, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/03/15/the-law-brings-us-to-christ-for-our-entrance-into-new-jerusalem/

Three Parables Portray the Three Gates on Each Side of New Jerusalem

Luke 15 is composed with three parables which correspond with the three gates on each of the four sides of New Jerusalem.

In the New Testament the Triune God is our entrance into Himself. Luke 15 unveils the love of the Triune God toward sinners by the parable of a good shepherd (vv. 1-7), by the parable of a seeking woman (vv. 8-10), and by the parable of a loving father (vv. 11-32). The shepherd refers to the Son who came to seek the fallen sinners, the woman refers to the Holy Spirit who is searching the sinners within themselves, and the Father receives the repenting and returned sinner as a certain man receives his prodigal son. In these three parables we see the Trinity—the Son as the seeking shepherd, the Spirit as the searching woman, and the Father as the loving and receiving father.*

The Triune God brings us into Himself. Many verses speak of our being “in Christ.” For example, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says “of Him [God] you are in Christ Jesus” and in Romans 6:11 we are “living to God in Christ Jesus.” These verses are the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in John 14:20, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

That day is the day of the Lord’s resurrection. We are now in Him and, since He and the Father are one, we are also in the Father. To be in the Triune God is our way to be in New Jerusalem because the Triune God is the essence of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 35, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Stay in the Death of Christ, Walk in Newness of Life
In the Likeness of His Death to be in the Likeness of His Resurrection
Enjoy the Life-Secreting Resurrection of Christ
Remain in the Death of Christ to Receive More of His Life for a Fuller Entrance into New Jerusalem

by Don on February 24, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged enter New Jerusalem, in Christ, John, Luke, of God we are in Christ Jesus, pearl gates, spiritual signs

Posted by Don on February 24, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/three-parables-portray-the-three-gates-on-each-side-of-new-jerusalem/

The Gradual Secretion of Resurrection Life

Recent posts (list below) touched our entering as a grain of sand into Christ as the oyster with the outcome being a pearl. This is our entrance into New Jerusalem.

Christ was wounded for us in order to have us imprisoned in His wound so that He might carry out His secretion over us again and again throughout our entire life to make us pearls for the building of God’s eternal habitation. This is for the entry (Matt. 13:45-46; John 3:5). The more we are made pearls, the more we are in the New Jerusalem, and the more we are in the kingdom. We were regenerated to enter into the kingdom of God. To use the allegory of a pearl, however, to illustrate the entering into the kingdom of God by regeneration is much more significant.*

The gradual secretion of Christ’s resurrection life is our slow, progressive growth into Him. Our spiritual growth is like the growth of a human being. In the first year growth is easy to see but the development slows as the person approaches twenty years old.

However, our spiritual growth does not stop if we seek the Lord in prayer, in calling on His name (Rom. 10:12-13), in praising Him, in reading His word, in singing, and more. Second Corinthians 4:16, follows words about experience of the death of Christ (v. 8-12) and promises, “our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Resurrection life is a renewing life in us.

Thus we “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) and this renewing constitutes us with the newness of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 33, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

by Don on February 10, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged Christ our life, growth, in Christ, newness of God, pearl gates, regeneration, resurrection, walk in newness of life

Posted by Don on February 10, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/02/10/the-gradual-secretion-of-resurrection-life/

Victory in the Death of Christ

In New Jerusalem the twelve gates are twelve pearls (Rev. 21:21). These pearls are a spiritual sign portraying the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the real “oyster” who produced these pearls.

The oyster’s wound is an inward wound caused by a little rock. This rock can remain in this wound or, we may say, in this death. In like manner, we can remain in Christ’s death. Where are you staying today?…Every moment we need to stay in the all-inclusive death of Christ. The reason we lose our temper is because we move out of the death of Christ….As long as you remain and stay in the death of Christ, you will never lose your temper. Where can you get the victory over sin, over your temperament, over the world, and over Satan? There is victory only in the death of Christ.*

Romans 6:2-5 is about our being in the death of Christ and partaking of His resurrection. “We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it? Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life. For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

Our victory is not by our effort; victory is only in the Victorious One! We were baptized into His death and our old man, our fallen, natural man, remains there. This brings us in the new creation into “newness of life,” to “be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

“Newness of life” is the newness of New Jerusalem. Let us remain here.

* From chapter 33, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

2 Comments

by Don on January 25, 2023 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged death of Christ, in Christ, resurrection, Romans, spiritual signs, walk in newness of life

Posted by Don on January 25, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/victory-in-the-death-of-christ/

New Jerusalem is New with God’s Newness (2)

New Jerusalem is new because it is of God, in God, and God is wrought into it.

God is newness and newness is God. Oldness is of the old creation, the old I, the old you. When you have God, however, you have the newness. You become new and you become newness. All the new items in the New Testament such as the new heart, the new mind, the new man, and the new creation are new because God has been wrought into these items.*

Ezekiel 36:25 is a prophecy of God’s cleansing His people. This is the base for verses 26-27, “I will also give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you….And I will put My Spirit within you.” We have this new spirit and new heart because God the Spirit has come into us and remains within us.

We are also part of the new man created by Christ on the cross and “in Himself” (Eph. 2:15). In addition 2 Corinthians 5:17 proclaims that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Our newness is not determined by outward actions but “a new creation is what matters” and we should have our walk, our living, in this new creation (Gal. 6:15-16).

In Christ, or not in Christ, is the determining factor. The whole new creation does not appear until Revelation 21:1 but in Christ we are already in the new creation. This is the present foretaste of the newness of New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

by Don on October 28, 2022 • Permalink

Tagged 2 Corinthians, Christ in us, Galatians, in Christ, new creation, newness of God, walk in newness of life

Posted by Don on October 28, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/10/28/new-jerusalem-is-new-with-gods-newness-2/

New Jerusalem is New with God’s Newness (1)

New Jerusalem as the consummation of all the spiritual, divine, and heavenly items in Bible. This includes the mingling of God and man, the spiritual reality of the Old Testament symbols, the consummation of the lampstands, and the completion of God’s building.

Now we look at the designations of New Jerusalem beginning with the name New Jerusalem.

The Bible reveals to us two creations—the old creation and the new creation. There is nothing of God’s nature involved with [constituted into] any item in the old creation….In everything of the new creation, however, God’s divine nature is in it….Everything that is designated new in the New Testament indicates or implies that God has been wrought into these items.*

The new man is a clear example of this divine newness. On the cross Christ not only died for our redemption. He also took away the enmity between Jews and Gentiles and abolished the law of commandments in ordinances. Then positively He created “the two in Himself into one new man” (Eph. 2:14-15).

The new man is new because he is in Christ. Furthermore, in the new man “Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:10-11). The new man is in Christ and Christ is in the new man. This is the essence of new. Anything apart from Christ is old.

New Jerusalem is the expansion of the new man; it is a city in Christ and Christ is all within this city. Therefore it is the NEW Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

3 Comments

by Don on October 26, 2022 • Permalink

Tagged Christ in us, Christ is all, Colossians, Ephesians 2, in Christ, newness of God, one new man

Posted by Don on October 26, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/10/26/new-jerusalem-is-new-with-gods-newness-1/

We Are in Christ unto New Jerusalem

In John 14 the Lord Jesus speaks about our abiding in God. Verses 19 and 20 say, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

The “little while” after which the world no longer beholds Him points to His death and resurrection. In resurrection the disciples beheld Him and they lived because of Him.

A strong example of their living is Peter; before the Lord’s death his speaking was often foolish, but after the Lord became life to him his speaking in Acts 1–4 was very clear and powerful.

Following the Lord’s death and resurrection we are in Him and He is in us. This is a spiritual reality! Do not question it by looking at the physical realm. In the epistles there are almost 90 verses that speak of our being “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus.” Other verses speak of our being in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:21 tells us that in Christ Jesus, “all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” New Jerusalem, as the consummation of this, cannot be any less; the city is a living building in Christ our Lord.

Our being in Christ is eternal. First Peter 2:5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” This building is “in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:20-22). The consummation of this building work is New Jerusalem.