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The stones on the foundations of the wall of New Jerusalem.

New Jerusalem in God’s New Testament Economy

New Jerusalem

The introduction to this series

This is the conclusion of a series of posts which began over a year ago. These have excerpts about New Jerusalem from the latter part of the book God’s New Testament Economy*. These posts present spiritual significances of the characteristics of New Jerusalem and their application in our current Christian life. Each line below has the name of a chapter in God’s New Testament Economy with a link to the first post from that chapter.

26. The New Jerusalem—The Ultimate Consummation

27. The New Jerusalem—Its Designations (1)
28. The New Jerusalem—Its Designations (2)

29. The New Jerusalem—The Basic Elements of its Structure (1)
33. The New Jerusalem—The Basic Elements of its Structure (5)
34. The New Jerusalem—The Basic Elements of its Structure (6)

35. The New Jerusalem—Its Triune Entrance
36. The New Jerusalem—Its Wall, Its Foundation, and Its Street
37. The New Jerusalem—Its Dimensions, Its Temple, and Its Light
38. The New Jerusalem—Its Throne

39. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Entry
40. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Constitution
41. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Existence
42. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Living
43. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Enjoyment
44. The New Jerusalem’s Application to the Believers—the Triune Expression

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

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by Don on December 8, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 8, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/12/08/gods-new-testament-economy-summary/

New Jerusalem Expresses the Triune God

Revelation 21:18 says of New Jerusalem “the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” Verses 12 and 21 tell us that New Jerusalem “had a great and high wall and had twelve gates” and “the twelve gates were twelve pearls.” Verse 19’s description is “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone” and then twelve stones are named.

The city is a mountain of gold with pearl gates and with a jasper wall built upon twelve layers of precious stones. Gold expresses God in His divine nature, pearls express Christ in His death and resurrection, and precious stones express the Spirit in His transforming work with all the unsearchable riches of Christ. In the New Jerusalem we see the triune expression of the Father as the source of all the divine riches, of the Son as the embodiment of all the divine riches, and of the Spirit as the realization of all the divine riches.*

New JerusalemGod’s eternal purpose is to express Himself in a corporate humanity. The gold, pearls, and stones are outward symbols; the reality of New Jerusalem is that it expresses the Triune God. God is preparing this expression now by working in all the people who have received Christ Jesus as their Redeemer and their Life.

God’s preparation work is described in multiple verses. Romans 8:29 says that we were “predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Now we, beholding “the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

And 1 Corinthians 15:49 promises, “as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” New Jerusalem will be our corporate bearing of the heavenly image.

* From chapter 44, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

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by Don on November 17, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 17, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/11/17/new-jerusalem-expresses-the-triune-god-44-1-1/

Beholding the Glory, Transformed into the Image

New Jerusalem is the mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed people. To achieve this goal, the Triune God constitutes us with Himself to bring forth His expression through us. The first step is regeneration with the divine life and nature. The second aspect in Christ gradually imparting Himself into us to be formed in us and to conform us to His image.

New JerusalemThe third item of the triune constitution is the precious stones through the transformation of the Spirit (Rev. 21:18a, 19-20), from the time that we began to look to the Lord. In the New Jerusalem we first see the base, the golden mountain, then there are the pearly gates, and finally, there is the building, mainly with jasper and other precious stones. The gold is given, the pearl is produced by Christ’s resurrection life through His death, and the precious stones are produced by the transforming work of the Spirit.*

The transformation proceeds as we turn our hearts to the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16) which removes the inner veils from our being. Then, “we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (3:18).

“We all [plural] with unveiled face [singular]” indicates that we need companions in our beholding and reflecting of the Lord. This is a corporate experience which brings us to New Jerusalem as the corporate manifestation of all God’s riches and glory.

* From chapter 40, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on August 28, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on August 28, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/08/28/beholding-the-glory-transformed-into-the-image/

New Jerusalem is the Triune God in Humanity

New Jerusalem is a city with God as its source, brought forth by God operating in humanity. It is composed of precious materials as shown in these verses in Revelation 21.
18b, “The city was pure gold, like clear glass.”
21a, “The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl.”
19a, “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone.”

New JerusalemThe triune constitution [of New Jerusalem] is with the Triune God wrought into the believers as their intrinsic elements. Intrinsic means something that is inward and hidden.

The allegory of the New Jerusalem is quite marvelous because it shows what we could not see outwardly—the intrinsic elements. The city is not organized but constituted with gold, pearls, and precious stones….The constitution is the building up.*

At the beginning of John 14 the Lord Jesus speaks about the Father’s house and His preparing a place for us. It seems that the place and we are separate. But by verse 20 He told the disciples, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This promise was fulfilled in His resurrection when we were regenerated with Him as our new life. No more separation!

In verses 23 Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him..” In resurrection the Triune God works Himself into us to make a mutual abode which consummates in New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 40, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on August 4, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on August 4, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/08/04/new-jerusalem-is-the-triune-god-in-humanity/

The Foundations of the Wall Express Unsearchable Riches and Eternal Faithfulness

Revelation 21:14 declares about New Jerusalem, “the wall of the city had twelve foundations.” The number twelve in the Bible signifies eternal perfection. Each foundation was adorned with a different precious stone, each having its own color (v. 19-20).

New JerusalemTwelve foundations (Rev. 21:14a) signify the foundation of absolute perfection and eternal completion in God’s administration. The twelve precious stones of the foundation indicate the unsearchable riches of the all-inclusive Christ. Every foundation expresses a certain amount of Christ’s riches….The twelve layers of the foundation…give the appearance of a rainbow, signifying that the city is built upon and secured by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant (Gen. 9:8-17). The entire city is built upon the eternal faithfulness of the faithful God.*

Christ is unsearchably rich (Eph. 3:8). We will never exhaust our appreciation and experience of His riches. These riches are available regardless of our outward circumstances. For example, Paul experienced a bountiful supply to live out and magnify Christ even when he was in prison (Phil 1:19-21).

Second Peter 1:11 says that, in response to our cooperation (v. 5-10) with what we received at the time of our initial salvation “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you.” This eternal kingdom has New Jerusalem as its high point.

* From chapter 36, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on March 29, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 29, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/the-foundations-of-the-wall-express-unsearchable-riches-and-eternal-faithfulness/

New Jerusalem is Gold + Pearls + Precious Stones

New Jerusalem is composed of gold (Rev. 21:18, 21), pearl (v. 21), and precious stones (v. 11, 18-20). These three materials are spiritual signs signifying the Triune God as the reality of the city.

Gold is God Himself as the divine nature given to us as a gift of which we may partake and which we may enjoy. Pearls, however, do not refer to Christ Himself directly but to the produce of His work of redemption through His death and resurrection. The work of the Son is His redemptive work, of which there are mainly two aspects—one aspect is to wash away all our negative things through His death, and the other aspect is to germinate us, to make us alive, with the divine life through His resurrection….The work of Christ produces pearls, and the work of the Spirit of Christ produces precious stones.*

New JerusalemPhysical precious stones are formed under the earth from ordinary materials under heat and pressure. This is a “transformation” from one chemical structure to another. Spiritual precious stones, those seen in New Jerusalem, are formed by the Spirit’s transformation work within natural human beings.

This transformation is a renewing of our inner being, especially of our mind. Titus 3:5 tells us that renewing is accomplished by the Spirit. Both Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23 say that this renewing is in our mind. New Jerusalem is the center of the new creation; to be part of this city we need a thorough renewing. May the Spirit do His work in us daily.

* From chapter 34, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on February 13, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 13, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/02/13/new-jerusalem-is-gold-pearls-precious-stones/

New Jerusalem has three Elements

New Jerusalem is composed with the Triune God and His accomplishments, symbolized by gold, pearls, and precious stone, constituted into all of His people to build them together as His corporate expression.

New JerusalemThe basic elements of the structure of the New Jerusalem are the gold as the base of God’s building (Rev. 21:18b, 21b), the pearls, which signify the produce of Christ in His redemptive work with His secreting life for the entry (v. 21a) into God’s building (1 Cor. 3:12a; John 3:5), and the precious stones (Rev. 21:11, 18a, 19-20), signifying the produce of the Spirit in His transforming work (2 Cor. 3:18) with His divine element for the building up of God’s building. All these three precious materials are built together and built up to be a universal wife, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:2, 9), the redeeming God, which corresponds with and reflects the wife in Genesis 2, who is a type of this universal wife of the redeeming God.*

The constitution of New Jerusalem with the Triune God is portrayed by Eve, the wife of Adam, a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14). Eve was built with a rib taken out of Adam. In this age the church, the wife of Christ (Eph. 5:25-32) is built with the rich supply from the Head, Christ (Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 2:19).

Like the pattern in Genesis 2 and the reality in Ephesians, New Jerusalem is built with what flows from the Triune God into all His people. Furthermore, New Jerusalem is supplied eternally with the abundant life flowing out of the throne of God and the Lamb.

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on January 13, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on January 13, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/01/13/new-jerusalem-has-three-elements/

The Church is Built on Jesus Christ

John 1:42: “Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).” The name Peter is from a Greek word petros which means stone¹.

New JerusalemThe Lord Jesus told Peter that he was a stone (John 1:42) and reminded him in Matthew 16 that he was a stone (v. 18). He also said that He would build His church. Today the Lord is doing a building work. From the day of Pentecost the Lord began to build the church with you and me as stones based upon God’s divine nature. The stones are built upon the golden base, which is the site. All the materials are built upon this site, and the site is the base. The base for the Lord’s building today is God’s divine nature. It is not your knowledge, your education, your good character, your kindness, your humility, or even your love. The base is the nature of God.*

We easily understand that our bad characteristics will not be part of New Jerusalem. And neither will our good characteristics, because they are of the old creation. We have been regenerated and transferred into Christ. In Him we are a new creation.

We have been put into the new creation but we still need to deny ourselves and lose our soul-life to have and live the reality of the new creation. Then we are suitable for God’s building work.

In Matthew 16 the Lord declared He will build His church and that He would go through death and into resurrection. Then He applied this to us in telling us to deny ourselves. We do this by letting the Spirit apply His death in us so that we can be brought into resurrection where the building work takes place.

¹ In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” Here in Greek is the name petros and also the different word petra. Petra refers to Christ Himself and the heavenly revelation concerning Him; the church is built on this rock, not on Peter.

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Graphic courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on January 9, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on January 9, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/01/09/the-church-is-built-on-jesus-christ/

We Become Precious Stones for New Jerusalem

New JerusalemNew Jerusalem is built with gold, pearls, and precious stones. These are spiritual signs which represent the Father’s divine nature, Christ’s death and resurrection, and the Spirit’s transformation. The first two are for us to receive; transformation is carried out by the Spirit within us throughout our Christian life based on our cooperation (2 Cor. 3:16-18; Rom. 12:1-2).

The name Peter means stone (the name has the same root as the English word petrify). John 1:42 records that Jesus said to him, “you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).”

“In his first Epistle Peter tells us that the Lord is the living stone and that we all need to come to Him as living stones for God’s building of His habitation (2:4-5; Eph. 2:22). All of us believers, including Peter, are the living stones for God’s building. After he experienced Christ in His resurrection and ascension, Peter declared that he was one of the precious stones for the building up of a spiritual house. John 1, 1 Peter 2, and Revelation 21 all refer to Peter. He was predicted to be a stone in John 1, he became a stone in 1 Peter 2, and he is a foundation stone in the New Jerusalem.*

Like Peter, all who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior have been regenerated and are being transformed. This transformation is part of the preparation of New Jerusalem. The whole city has the appearance of a precious stone, as declared in Revelation 21:11, “Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.”

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on December 30, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 30, 2022

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New Jerusalem is Built through Regeneration and Transformation

Gold, silver, and precious stones portray the proper materials we should employ in this age for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ while we are growing toward New Jerusalem.

Gold, silver, and precious stones signify the various experiences of Christ in the virtues and attributes of the Triune God. It is with these the apostles and all spiritual believers build the church on the unique foundation of Christ. Silver in typology according to Exodus 30 always typifies redemption (vv. 11-16; cf. 38:25-28). The building materials of the church are first the gold, referring to God with His divine nature, and second the silver, referring to the Redeemer with His redemption….All the apostles were created pieces of clay, but they were regenerated and transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building.*

New JerusalemAll New Testament believers have been regenerated and should be in the process of transformation to participate in God’s building work. We build, not with our natural constitution nor with natural effort but with the Christ we experience. In this way the Body being built today will match Christ just as Eve was built with a rib from Adam to match him.

New Jerusalem, as the consummation of the building work, will radiate the glory of God; that is, New Jerusalem will express God. The city will never express anything of the fallen, natural man because all believers will be thoroughly transformed by the Spirit’s work in us.

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team.

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by Don on December 28, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 28, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/12/28/new-jerusalem-is-built-through-regeneration-and-transformation/

New Jerusalem is Built with Three Kinds of Materials

New Jerusalem is a city of resurrection life. It was brought forth by God’s eternal life entering into and growing within all His believers, and it is eternally maintained by the flowing of this life.

New JerusalemIn 1 Corinthians 3 Paul first speaks of nourishing, watering, and growth. Then he continues with laying a foundation and building upon it. Verse 9 is the transition, “we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” The cultivated land is for growing materials for the building of the Body of Christ, the forerunner of New Jerusalem.

For the building, 1 Corinthians 3 has gold, silver, and precious stones. At the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 2 has gold, bdellium, and onyx stone. And at the end of the Bible New Jerusalem is built with gold, pearl, and precious stones.

In the last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, we see a city built with gold, pearls, and precious stone….In 1 Corinthians 3:12 Paul refers to the building up of the church. For the proper building up of the church Paul mentions three kinds of materials—gold, silver, and precious stones. Instead of bdellium or pearl, Paul mentions silver in 1 Corinthians 3. In Genesis 2, in 1 Corinthians 3, and in Revelation 21 we see the materials for God’s building. In these three portions of the Scriptures the first item is gold, and the last item is precious stone. The second items in these three portions are all somewhat different.*

The changes in the second material will be illuminated in following posts. At present we are in the New Testament building process on our way to New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 29, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on December 26, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 26, 2022

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New Jerusalem is Built with the Triune God as its Precious Materials

New JerusalemPaul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 that “According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation…which is Jesus Christ.”

In the next two verses he speaks about our portion in the building work, “If anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest.” The first three materials typify the Triune God; the last three materials typify every human effort apart from God.

This city is built with the divine materials. First Corinthians 3:12 tells us that in this age, the church age, we should build the church with gold, silver, and precious stones. In the coming age, silver becomes pearl, and the materials in the New Jerusalem are gold, pearl, and precious stones. Paul surely does not mean for us to build the church with actual, literal pieces of gold. If this were the case, no one could afford to build the church. Paul laid the unique foundation of Christ, and now we need to build on the foundation.*

Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church and our experiences of the Triune God build upon this foundation. Gold is the Father’s divine nature, silver is the redemption accomplished by Jesus, and precious stones symbolize the transforming work of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).

New Jerusalem is the enriched, expanded, and eternal outcome of the building of the church.

More in:
Three Precious Materials
Three Materials in God’s Eternal Purpose
The Gold, Pearls, and Precious Stones of New Jerusalem Portray God

* From chapter 27, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on November 18, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 18, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/11/18/new-jerusalem-is-built-with-the-triune-god-as-its-precious-materials/

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