New Jerusalem - the Consummation

by Don on September 8, 2017 • Permalink

Posted in Old Testament pictures

Tagged Christ the reality, holy of holies, incarnation, John 1, living city, pure gold, redemption for life, Rev. 21:12-21, shadow, temple, transformation

Posted by Don on September 8, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/the-shadow-of-the-living-temple-2/

New Jerusalem is Heavenly on Earth (2)

Hebrews 11:16 tells us that the Old Testament people of faith, living on the physical earth, “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.” We likewise live in an earthly environment but should have the same longing for a heavenly one.

God’s response to our longing is that He has prepared a heavenly city. This is “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22). Although it is a heavenly city, John saw it “coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2, 10). New Jerusalem is a heavenly city on earth.

The first half of Hebrews 8 tells us that the Old Testament tabernacle was a shadow of the heavenly things (v. 5). Both this chapter and the following one speak of the Holy of Holies. Verse 9:8 says that “the way of the Holy of Holies has not yet been manifested while the first tabernacle still has its standing.”

That “first tabernacle” stood during the first, the old, covenant. Now that Jesus Christ has come, died, and risen, the new covenant has been established and the way to the holy of holies is open. This New Testament holy of holies is the heavenly one, the New Jerusalem.

New Jerusalem is the heavenly holy of holies because it is a cube, like the smaller holy of holies in the tabernacle and the temple. Revelation 21:16 declares that New Jerusalem is a cube, saying, “the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.”

The way to this heavenly holy of holies is open! Jesus Christ has opened the way for us! We cannot see the way physically but we can come forward in faith. Hebrews 10:22: “Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of faith;” our foretaste of New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

by Don on June 21, 2017 • Permalink

Tagged access by faith, come forward, coming down out of heaven, heavenly Jerusalem, Heb. 11, holy city, holy of holies, new covenant, Rev. 21:12-21

Posted by Don on June 21, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/new-jerusalem-is-heavenly-on-earth-2/

Not Outside of New Jerusalem

Revelation 22:15 says, “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and makes a lie.” Outside means outside the city, New Jerusalem, in verse 14.

Where is this outside location? Revelation 21:8 tells us, “The cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all the false, their part will be in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

All of these negatives are outside because New Jerusalem is holy (Rev. 21:2), pure (21:18, 21), bright and clean (19:8). We might think that we are clean, but we are not clean up to the standard of New Jerusalem.

Only God is holy, pure, bright, and clean. Thank Him that He has come to us in Christ Jesus. Now we can repent and receive Christ. Furthermore, every day we can confess our sins and He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We are also clean by letting the Lord’s word come to us (John 15:3), pure by His working within us (Phil. 1:6, 10) and by obedience to the truth and brotherly love (1 Peter 1:22), and bright by taking our Lord Jesus as the bright One (Rev. 22:16).

God in Christ becomes our holiness to constitute us part of the holy city, New Jerusalem. Our Lord Jesus establishes our hearts “blameless in holiness” (1 Thes. 3:13) and our Father disciplines us “that we might partake of His holiness” (Heb. 12;10). And Christ is sanctifying the church, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word so that the church will be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:26-27).

We praise and thank our Lord Jesus Christ that He is the One who qualifies us to be in New Jerusalem, the holy, pure, bright, and clean city.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

by Don on January 13, 2017 • Permalink

Tagged Christ our sanctification, cleansing by faith, holy city, partake of His holiness, pure gold, Rev. 21:1-2, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 21:3-8, Rev. 22:6-21, washing of the water in the word

Posted by Don on January 13, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/not-outside-of-new-jerusalem/

No Money in New Jerusalem & New Creation

In considering what will not be in New Jerusalem I was attracted to Luke 16:9 where the Lord Jesus tells us that money, the mammon* of unrighteousness, will fail. There will be no money in New Jerusalem.

All forms of human wealth are corruptible and unrighteousness and generate greed, as in the following verses. Hence no money, no human wealth, will be in New Jerusalem.
❖ “Corruptible things…silver or gold…” (1 Peter 1:18)
❖ “The mammon of unrighteousness” (Luke 16:9)
❖ “The deceitfulness of riches” (Matt 13:22)
❖ “The love of money is a root of all evils” (1 Tim. 6:10)
❖ “Put to death…greediness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5)

Do not imagine that the gold, pearls, and precious stones in the description of New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 are corruptible physical riches. No. These represent precious, divine materials: God’s nature, Christ’s redemption, and the Spirit’s work in us.

The wealth of New Jerusalem is the “surpassing riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 2:7) and the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). These riches are not only in New Jerusalem but also for us today. For example, in Ephesians 3:16 Paul prayed that God would strengthen us into our inner man “according to the riches of His glory.”

The Lord concludes His speaking in Luke 16 about unrighteous mammon saying, “No household servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Let us declare, Lord Jesus, I love You; I give myself to serve You. Lord, save me from mammon.

Here are my other “NO” posts, showing what is NOT in New Jerusalem.
New Jerusalem: No Darkness, No Death
Neither Sin nor Death in New Jerusalem
No Tree of Knowledge in New Jerusalem
No Unrighteousness in New Jerusalem
Neither Sin nor Satan in New Jerusalem
No Curse in New Jerusalem
Neither Tears nor Sorrow nor Crying nor Pain in New Jerusalem
NO Physical Gold in New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem: No Night There
No Night in New Jerusalem
No Beasts in or near New Jerusalem
In the Garden of Eden but not in New Jerusalem

* Mammon is an Aramaic word meaning money. At biblehub.com some versions have mammon of unrighteousness, others worldly wealth or unrighteous wealth or unrighteous money. (Aramaic was the common language in Judea in the first century.)

7 Comments

by Don on December 12, 2016 • Permalink

Tagged divine nature, new creation, pure gold, redemption for life, Rev. 21:12-21, transformation, Triune God, unsearchable riches

Posted by Don on December 12, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/no-money-in-new-jerusalem-new-creation/

Living, Precious Stones for New Jerusalem

Here is a summary of recent posts on Christ as the chosen, living, and precious Stone and His believers as living, precious stones. These stones are for God’s building today and for New Jerusalem.

Christ is the Chosen, Precious, Living Stone – In 1 Peter 2:4-8 Christ is a chosen, precious, living Stone. In Acts 4 and Eph. 2 He is the Cornerstone in whom we are built together.

We All are Living Stones for New Jerusalem – The Lord is the living Stone. By coming to Him, we become living stones for the building of God’s house today (1 Peter 2:4-5) which will grow into New Jerusalem.

New Jerusalem Like a Precious Jasper Stone – God on the throne in Revelation 4 has the appearance of a jasper stone, and the whole city has the same appearance. New Jerusalem is the corporate expression of God on the throne.

Precious Faith Brings Forth Precious Stones for New Jerusalem – The precious faith we have received enables us to lay hold of the precious promises given to us by God (2 Peter 1:1, 4). By these we are constituted precious stones.

New Jerusalem Displays the Beauty of Christ – The twelve precious stones on the foundations of New Jerusalem, and the appearance of the whole city as a most precious jasper stone, display the beauty of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Here are links to some older posts about the precious stones of New Jerusalem:

Precious Stones Adorn New Jerusalem – The preciousness is not external but is by the Spirit’s working within us.

Transformation Produces Precious Stones – The Spirit’s working within us transforms us so that the preciousness of Christ may be expressed through us.

Precious Stones on the Foundations – The twelve foundations each correspond to one precious stone; these declare the eternal perfection and fullness of the wall.

The Stones Express God – The whole of New Jerusalem, its wall, and its first foundation are all jasper, expressing the God who sits on the throne.

2 Comments

by Don on December 2, 2016 • Permalink

Tagged 1 Peter 2, corporate expression of God, jasper stone, living stone, precious promises, precious stones, Rev. 1–4, Rev. 21:12-21, summaries, throne of God and the Lamb, transformation, twelve

Posted by Don on December 2, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/living-precious-stones-for-new-jerusalem/

New Jerusalem Displays the Beauty of Christ

God’s New Testament building is in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20-21) and with all His believers as living stones.

God sitting on His throne has the appearance of a jasper stone (Rev. 4:3). New Jerusalem is glorious and has light like a most precious stone, a jasper stone, and the building of its wall is of jasper (Rev. 21:11, 18).

God, the One sitting on the throne in the center of the New Jerusalem, has the appearance of jasper; the wall, the circumference, of the city is made of jasper; and the light of the city is like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Therefore, the entire city will bear God’s appearance, God’s expression. This corresponds to the word in 1 John 3:2: “We know that if He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him even as He is.” God and the believers will have the same appearance—the appearance of jasper.

In Revelation 21:19 and 20 the believers are symbolized by eleven other precious stones in addition to jasper. The other precious stones signify the riches of the beauty of Christ in different aspects for the foundation of God’s eternal dwelling. Christ is the foundation stone of God’s building in eternity, and all the precious stones are different aspects of the riches of Christ as the foundation.*

Revelation 21 presents twelve precious stones associated with New Jerusalem. Thank the Lord that these are not for a jewelry show but rather “signify the riches of the beauty of Christ in different aspects.” The riches of Christ are unsearchable and immeasurable.

The riches of Christ wrought into us will come forth as a display of His unlimited greatness. This is Romans 9:23, “In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory” and Ephesians 2:7, “That He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

This display of His riches in glory and in the ages to come, corresponds with the precious stones of New Jerusalem.

*An excerpt from Conclusion of the New Testament, The by Witness Lee.

Image courtesy of pixabay.com.

by Don on November 30, 2016 • Permalink

Tagged jasper stone, jasper wall, precious stones, Rev. 1–4, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 21:9-11, the riches of His glory, twelve, unsearchable riches

Posted by Don on November 30, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/new-jerusalem-displays-the-beauty-of-christ/

God in Christ Shines via New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem is pure: “the city was pure gold, like clear glass” (Rev. 21:18); “the street of the city was pure gold” (21:21); “bright and pure” (Rev. 19:8). These are the four occurrences of one Greek word in the description of New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:21 has the unique New Testament occurrence of a Greek word with related meaning. “The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” New Jerusalem is not only pure; the city is transparent.

We can grasp the sense of this transparency by looking at four related Greek words*, each of which occurs only once in the New Testament.
• We give heed to the Lord’s word, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). The sense is light breaking through the darkness.
• Satan has blinded people, “that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). God wants to shine into people to save them from Satanic darkness.
• In Troas, Paul spoke, “until daybreak” (Acts 20:11). Again, light shining to replace darkness.
• The Son of God is “the effulgence of His glory” (Heb. 1:3). The effulgence/radiance/ brightness/brilliance° is not a thing, it is the Person.

My summary: New Jerusalem is pure and transparent so that God’s glory in Christ may brilliantly shine through the city to testify that all darkness has been displaced. Revelation 21:23: “the glory of God illumined New Jerusalem, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

*The main Greek word is διαυγής; others, in order shown, are διαυγάζω, αυγάζω, απαύγασμα, αυγή
°Various translations, thanks to biblehub.com
Image courtesy of pixabay.com .

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, is at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by LSM. Besides this New Testament, many books published by Living Stream may be read online.

by Don on September 2, 2016 • Permalink

Tagged brightness, enlighten all that they may see, glory of God, golden street, Lamb-lamp, pure gold, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 21:22-27, transparent

Posted by Don on September 2, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/god-in-christ-shines-via-new-jerusalem/

Purified for New Jerusalem by Cooperating with the Lord

The Lord Jesus early in the New Testament said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). The New Testament concludes with New Jerusalem, “the city was pure gold” (Rev. 21:18) and in it we “will see His face” (22:4).

In ourselves we are not pure* in heart; we need the Lord’s cleansing*! And we can receive His cleansing! He cleansed our hearts in response to our faith and He cleanses us from unrighteousness when we confess our sins. These are two steps toward the purity of New Jerusalem.

We also need an experiential purification of our being. This requires our cooperation with the Lord.

First John 3:3 says, “everyone who has this hope [His second coming, v. 3:2] set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.” Here to purify ourselves is to abide in Christ by the teaching of the anointing (v. 2:27) and to live Him as our righteousness (v. 2:29).

Our cooperation with the Lord in purifying ourselves is also seen in 2 Timothy 2. “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (v. 19b). “If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these [vessels of dishonor, v. 20], he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work” (v. 21). “Flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (v. 22).

We can turn from the unrighteous things, respond to the inner anointing, and pursue Christian virtures by calling on the Lord with companions. Thus the Lord will purify us, gradually making our inward nature and condition match the pure gold of New Jerusalem.

*For the verses cited in this post, clean and pure both come from the same New Testament Greek noun and cleanses and purifies both come from the related Greek verb.

3 Comments

by Don on August 29, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Life and New Jerusalem

Tagged blessed are the pure in heart, call on the name of the Lord, cleansed, cooperate with God, I pursue, Matthew, pure gold, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 22:3-5, vessels of mercy

Posted by Don on August 29, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/purified-for-new-jerusalem-by-cooperating-with-the-lord/

Purified by the Lord for New Jerusalem

In a recent Bible reading I was touched by a parallel between Matthew 5:8 and New Jerusalem. In Matthew the Lord says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Revelation 21:18 says, “the city was pure gold, like clear* glass” and 22:4a says, “they will see His face.”

Matthew has a wonderful promise and New Jerusalem completes the fulfillment. However, in ourselves we are not pure, so what should we do? We let the Lord purify us!

Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son, “having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” By His death He accomplished purification and the success of this purification is testified by His resurrection and ascension.

Acts 15:9 says that the Lord cleanses/ purifies** our hearts by faith. When we believe into the Lord Jesus Christ, we become a new creation; our old things are cleansed away. That is the first step of cleansing; a change in position. This is a first step unto the purity of New Jerusalem.

First John 1:7 says, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin,” and 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The blood He shed in His death has cleansed us from every sin before we believed. As we are enlightened by walking in the light and if we confess, His blood cleanses us from every sin after we believe. This is the second step of cleansing, purifying us from unrighteous acts in our present living.

A third step toward the purity of New Jerusalem is in the next post.

* The same Greek word as for “pure” earlier in this verse.
** The verb form of the same Greek word in Matthew 5 and Revelation 21; here and in 1 John 1.

by Don on August 26, 2016 • Permalink

Tagged blessed are the pure in heart, cleansed, cleansing by faith, forgiveness of sins, Matthew, precious blood, pure gold, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 22:3-5, see His face

Posted by Don on August 26, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/purified-by-the-lord-for-new-jerusalem/

Pictures of New Jerusalem in Exodus (4)

The holy of holies described in Exodus is a portrait of New Jerusalem as the eternal holy of holies. Another picture of New Jerusalem is the breastplate worn by the high priest (Ex. 28:15-21).

The breastplate is “of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet strands, and of fine twined linen” (Ex. 28:15). The gold signifies the divinity of Jesus Christ. The linen signifies His humanity with heavenliness (blue), royalty (purple), and redemption (scarlet, signifying His shed blood). All of these are seen in New Jerusalem.

The breastplate had four rows of precious stones, three in each row (Ex. 28:17-20). Likewise, the foundation of New Jerusalem has twelve precious stones (Rev. 21:19-20). The stones were “set in gold;” similarly, gold is mentioned in the description of New Jerusalem both before and after the precious stones (Rev. 21:18, 21).

Exodus 28:21 says, “the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each according to its name, for the twelve tribes.” In parallel, Revelation 21:12b tells us that New Jerusalem has “names inscribed [at the gates], which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.”

Furthermore, the gates of the city, with the inscribed names, are three each on four sides of the city, matching the breastplate with three inscribed stones in each of four rows.

The picture of the breastplate and the reality of New Jerusalem are all God’s people built together in the divine nature. The twelve names, plus the twelve names of the apostles on the foundations of the city, indicate that New Jerusalem includes all God’s people, and is eternal.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

by Don on August 5, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Old Testament pictures

Tagged Bible numbers, breastplate, building up is spiritual, Exodus, precious stones, pure gold, redemption for life, Rev. 21:12-21, twelve tribes

Posted by Don on August 5, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/pictures-of-new-jerusalem-in-exodus-4/

Pictures of New Jerusalem in Exodus

Revelation 21:16 says, “he [an angel] measured the city [New Jerusalem] with the reed to a length of twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” The equal dimensions declare that New Jerusalem is a cube, and in the Bible a cube is the holy of holies (or holiest of all or most holy place).

The holy of holies in the tabernacle is first mentioned in Exodus 26:31-34; it was separated from the holy place by the veil. It contained the ark of the testimony with its expiation cover and two cherubim.

The ark was “the ark of the testimony” because the testimony was put into it (Ex. 25:16). Jesus Christ is the reality of the testimony; He is the one who testifies and displays all that God is. In the Old Testament picture the testimony was in the ark in the holy of holies; in the New Testament the testimony is in Jesus Christ who is the center of New Jerusalem, the eternal holy of holies.

The expiation cover of the ark was sprinkled with blood of offerings (Lev. 16:14-15). The Lord Jesus is the reality of these offerings (Heb. 10:5-10) for us now. He is also the Lamb on the throne in New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1), our eternal Redeemer and Redemption.

Above the expiation cover were “the cherubim of glory” (Ex. 25:18-20, Heb. 9:5). This is another part of the holy of holies as a picture of New Jerusalem, the city of glory. Also, the gold of the ark, the expiation cover, and the cherubim all portray the gold of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:18, 21).

The Lord said to Moses, “I will meet with you and I will speak with you” there—above the expiation cover and between the cherubim. This is a picture of God’s eternal meeting and speaking with His people in New Jerusalem.

Image courtesy of pixabay.com.

Three Precious Materials
Gold, Pearls, and Precious Stones
New Jerusalem is Built with the Triune God

by Don on July 29, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Old Testament pictures

Tagged cherubim of glory, Exodus, glory of God, golden street, holy of holies, pure gold, redeeming & enthroned Lamb, Rev. 21:12-21, Rev. 22:1-2

Posted by Don on July 29, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/pictures-of-new-jerusalem-in-exodus/

New Jerusalem Prepared, Adorned (2)

In Revelation 21:2 John tells us, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem…prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Verses in the prior post clearly show that this adorning is not outward.

“Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife [New Jerusalem, Rev. 21:2] has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” (Rev. 19:7-8)

Here the fine linen is not fancy physical clothing; it is “righteousnesses.” The plural word indicates that it is not Christ as our righteousness (singular) as part of our initial salvation, but Christ lived out of us in many righteous acts (more). By living Christ we are making ourselves ready for the wedding, we are adorning ourselves.

“The foundations of the wall of the city [New Jerusalem] were adorned with every precious stone” (Rev. 21:19). Gold and diamonds are precious to humans, but not to God. In His eyes all these things are corruptible.

The stones on the foundations of New Jerusalem are not natural but represent the Spirit’s transforming work in us to make us living stones for God’s building (1 Peter 2:5); see posts below. Like the fine linen, these stones illustrate God’s work in us, our cooperation with His work, and our living according to God’s operation within. This is the adorning of New Jerusalem.

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