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A characteristic of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:11, 18, 21; 22:1).

Light Constitutes Us into New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:11 tells us that New Jerusalem has the glory of God, and “Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” New Jerusalem is the eternal lampstand shining to the whole universe.

God is the unique eternal light. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5). God in Christ is the light among men. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4). When we believe into Christ we have Him as our light of life and we become sons of light (John 12:36).

New JerusalemWe become light, as in Philippians 2:15, because we have The Light in us to shine through us. To have this shining we need to forsake all activities in darkness, to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12), and “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

By walking as children of light who have the light inwardly, we are further constituted with light. In God “is no darkness at all”. The more we let Him shine in us, the more the dark parts of our being will be enlightened and the darkness eliminated.

Eventually we will be full of God as light and have no dark parts. We will be “clear” and “transparent” to match the nature of New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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by Don on February 12, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 12, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/12/light-constitutes-us-into-new-jerusalem/

Being Transformed to Express the Jasper God

New Jerusalem is “clear as crystal” (Rev. 21:11), “like clear glass” (v. 18), and “like transparent glass” (v. 21). Fallen man is the opposite – darkened and hardened (Eph. 4:18). But Christ has redeemed us from our fallen state and has become our life and our light!

New JerusalemWe need to apply this picture to our daily life. Today we have God in the redeeming Christ shining within us, and we are being transformed to be transparent. In our old creation we are opaque, but in our new creation we are transparent. Second Corinthians 3:18 says we are being transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. Eventually, we will have the appearance of jasper and will fully express the “jasper God” (Rev. 4:3).*

Jesus Christ is the light and we are “now light in the Lord” and should “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). But there is still much darkness in us after our regeneration so we need the Spirit to transform us, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18—we turn our hearts to the Lord, veils are taken away, we behold and reflect Him, and we are gradually transformed into His image to express Him in glory.

* From chapter 43, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

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by Don on October 30, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on October 30, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/10/30/being-transformed-to-express-the-jasper-god-43-1-5/

Transformation into the Glory of the Lord

“He who was sitting [upon the throne in heaven] was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance” (Rev. 4:3). “Her [New Jerusalem’s] light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” (Rev. 21:11)

The Spirit’s transforming work is with His bountiful supply of the divine element (Phil. 1:19) for the building up of God’s building (Gen. 2:12b; 1 Cor. 3:12a; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). Consummately, the transforming work of the Spirit issues in the New Jerusalem, which bears the image of God for His expression. God appears like a jasper stone in Revelation 4:3, and the New Jerusalem, having the glory of God, shines like a jasper stone (21:11)….Since jasper signifies God expressed in His communicable glory (4:3), the main function of the holy city is to express God in bearing His glory.*

New JerusalemTo express God we must be transformed into His image and radiate His glory. This is a gradual process, “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). The glory of the Lord is the glory of New Jerusalem which shines out from the city. The Lord shines through because the city is “pure gold, like clear glass” (Rev. 21:18).

In ourselves we are dark, opaque because of sin and death (Rom. 5:12). But transformation by the Spirit changes our nature so it also changes our appearance. The apostle John assures us, “We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2). We will be like Him and corporately as New Jerusalem we will express Him.

* 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 20, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 20, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/02/20/transformation-into-the-glory-of-the-lord/

The Transparency of New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:12-21 is a portion describing New Jerusalem, including the wall, the foundations of the wall, the gates, the street, and the city as a whole. This portion ends, “the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

New JerusalemHow much of our situation today is not transparent! But in the future, in God’s presence, we will all be transparent. Even so, today we should not have many hiding places and many veils. We should not pretend to be godly before men in order to win their praise…. When our actual condition is not so good and we pretend to be good, we are not transparent. Many times our words and our actions are quite unnatural….This is not being transparent. All artificiality and imitation are not transparent.

New Jerusalem’s street is “pure gold, like transparent glass.” The pure gold symbolizes the divine nature. Only this nature is transparent. In our natural being we are cloudy, vague, obscure. We should take two actions. First:

We need to confess many things. Among the brothers and sisters we need to learn to confess to each other and not to cover our sin. Whenever we have sinned against others, we should not try to rationalize it away, but confess it.*

To confess our sins is to “walk in the light.” In God’s light (not our own “light”) the blood of Jesus cleanses us and we have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7). Second, we need the divine life supply to transform us, to renew us from our old cloudy nature to God’s transparent nature. We need the renewing of the Spirit to transform us with the nature of New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on July 27, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on July 27, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/07/27/the-transparency-of-new-jerusalem/

New Jerusalem’s Golden Measurement

New JerusalemRevelation 21:16 presents the measurements of New Jerusalem. “The city lies square, and its length is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed to a length of twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.”

New Jerusalem is “pure gold, like clear glass.” Hence it can be measured with the golden reed (v. 15) because it corresponds with God’s standard. (Today gold is not like clear glass but New Jerusalem’s gold is a spiritual symbol of God’s nature, not a physical material.) The clarity shows there is nothing opaque, noting hidden in this wonderful city.

In the new heaven and new earth, the New Jerusalem becomes the Holy of Holies to God. When David gave Solomon the pattern for the temple, he said, “All this…the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern” (1 Chron. 28:19). Everything in the temple was built according to divine revelation.*

New Jerusalem is a cube; “the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” This shape matches the Old Testament holy of holies in the tabernacle and in the temple (1 Kings 6:20) but the size is greatly! enlarged.

New Jerusalem is twelve thousand stadia in each dimension. Twelve in the Bible signifies eternal perfection and one thousand proclaims abundance, suggesting unlimitedness, corresponding with “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8).

Six posts on New Jerusalem: Eternal Holy of Holies begin here.
And one more: New Jerusalem is the Eternal Holy of Holies.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on June 8, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on June 8, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/06/08/new-jerusalems-golden-measurement/

Babylon and New Jerusalem—A Huge Contrast

Babylon is in Revelation 17–18 and New Jerusalem in 21–22. There is a great contrast between New Jerusalemthese two. Here are some specifics.

Babylon is a great harlot who commits many fornications (17:1-3) but New Jerusalem is a holy and pure bride (21:9-10, 18).

Babylon is gilded with precious materials (17:4) but New Jerusalem is fully composed of precious materials (21:11, 18, 21). Babylon has a golden cup but it is full of abominations and unclean things, whereas New Jerusalem is pure, clear, and transparent (21:11, 18, 21).

Babylon sits on a beast “full of names of blasphemy” (17:3) in contrast to New Jerusalem with the throne of God and the redeeming Lamb as its center (22:1, 3). Babylon “has glorified herself” (18:7) but New Jerusalem shines with “the glory of God” (21:11). Watchman Nee says about Babylon:

It is pretending that something of man is something of God. It is receiving man’s glory to satisfy man’s lust….What should our attitude be toward Babylon? Revelation 18:4 says, “And I heard another voice out of heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that you do not participate in her sins and that you do not receive her plagues.”…According to God’s Word, His children cannot be involved in any matter containing the character of Babylon. God said that we must come out from every situation where man’s power is mixed with God’s power, where man’s ability is mixed with God’s work, and where man’s opinion is mixed with God’s Word.*

To “come out” is to purify ourselves. We need to pray, Lord purify me and shine on anything with me that is related to Babylon. Second Timothy 2:22 shows us that it is also good to have companions with whom we strive for the purity of New Jerusalem; “flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

Photo courtesy of US Bureau of Land Management.

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by Don on April 20, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 20, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/babylon-and-new-jerusalem-a-huge-contrast/

The Bible: A Pleasant Garden to a Precious City (2)

The Bible presents God working with and in man to fulfill His eternal purpose in moving from a New Jerusalempleasant garden to a precious city.

Based on the current human culture we might prefer the garden. Cities today are filled with traffic, contamination, and other problems. But these cities are in the old creation. God’s city, New Jerusalem, is in the new creation where everything is pure, transparent, and bright.

Here are two verses which foretell the beauty of New Jerusalem and the joy of being in it:
Psalm 48:2 “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.”
Psalm 50:2, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”
God shines forth from New Jerusalem, a city “having the glory of God.”

God works in this age to attract men to believe in Jesus Christ, receive Him, and be regenerated. Then He works in man to transform and renew man so that we can be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), shedding everything of the image of fallen man. Finally He saturates our mortal body with His life to glorify us.

Because God has saturated all the believers who constitute New Jerusalem, the city is pure, transparent, peaceful, joyful, and full of light.

 

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

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/01/28/the-bible-a-pleasant-garden-to-a-precious-city-2/

The Testimony of Jesus

In Revelation 19:10 an angel said to John, “I am your fellow slave and a fellow slave of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy.” The last part of this indicates that the testimony of Jesus is the substance, the focus, of the prophecy contained in Revelation.

New JerusalemRevelation is about the testimony of Jesus. Apparently unrelated things are included, such as beasts and judgments. However, the other things are merely the conclusion and clearing away of the old creation to allow the new creation to come forth.

Revelation begins with Jesus Christ Himself in chapter 1 and the seven churches as His testimony in chapters 2 and 3. The great multitude in the second half of chapter 7 is also the testimony of Jesus. These are not merely testimonies about Jesus but are people builded into a corporate expression of Jesus. Their living displays Him.

Revelation concludes with the new creation. The center of the new creation is New Jerusalem. And the center of New Jerusalem is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1, 3). This too is the testimony of Jesus. God in Christ is the light of the city (Rev. 21:23). This light of glory radiates through the city to the whole universe because the pure, clear, transparent New Jerusalem “has the glory of God.”

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by Don on February 10, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 10, 2021

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2021/02/10/the-testimony-of-jesus/

Characteristics of New Jerusalem

With Application to our Present Christian Life

The following posts describe the characteristics of New Jerusalem, usually relating them to our current Christian life. The quoted extracts in these posts are from chapters 17-19 of the book The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California. The chapter titles are “Aspects of the Church Life as Seen in the New Jerusalem” (1), (2), (3).

Our life with the Lord now and our life with Him in New Jerusalem are not two different matters. Rather, the latter is a richer, fuller, and absolute conclusion of the former. These posts each point to a few verses about our current Christian life to show the relationship to the characteristic of New Jerusalem presented in the post.

These posts do not get into detail of how to experience these matters in our Christian life today. For this I recommend the blogs by Bibles for America, blog.biblesforamerica.org and Tom Smith, holdingtotruth.com.

New Jerusalem

Characteristics of New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem: the Tabernacle of God
New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ

The Throne, the Center of New Jerusalem
The Headship, the Light of New Jerusalem
The River of Water of Life in New Jerusalem
The Tree of Life in New Jerusalem

The One Street of New Jerusalem
The Golden Street of New Jerusalem

The Twelve Gates of New Jerusalem
The Gates of New Jerusalem in Luke 15
Pearl Gates Signify Regeneration for New Jerusalem
Pearl Gates: Our Beginning for New Jerusalem

The Experience of Death and Resurrection
One Street, One Flow in New Jerusalem
The Fellowship of New Jerusalem

The Appearance of New Jerusalem’s Wall
The Life Flow for New Jerusalem’s Wall
The Building of New Jerusalem’s Wall
The Measurement of New Jerusalem’s Wall

The Throne, the River, the Street, the Tree
The Throne, the River, the Street, the Tree (2)

New Jerusalem: Eternal Holy of Holies
Filled with God’s Holiness for the Holy City
The City is New with God’s Newness

No Natural Light and No Man-made Light, God is the Light of New Jerusalem
No Night in the New Jerusalem

Two Currents, Each with a City
Love God, Abide Forever in New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem: Pure, Clear, Transparent
New Jerusalem is Full of the Glory of God

The Twelves of New Jerusalem
The Foundations of New Jerusalem

Everything about New Jerusalem is of God
We are in New Jerusalem by God’s Mercy
God’s Mercy Brings His Grace to Us
The Foundations Declare God’s Faithfulness
Transformation to Precious Stones for New Jerusalem
We Are Members of the Body of Christ

The Lord Jesus Portrayed in New Jerusalem
The Lord God and the Lamb are the Temple
New Jerusalem, a Mutual Dwelling Place
New Jerusalem, a Mutual Dwelling Place (2)

New Jerusalem, the Eternal Holy of Holies
In New Jerusalem We See God’s Face and Have His Name
Serve God as Priests and Reign with Him
New Jerusalem is Light to the Nations

Photo by William Dunmire, courtesy of US National Park Service.

New Jerusalem

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by Don on February 3, 2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 3, 2021

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2021/02/03/characteristics-of-new-jerusalem-10/

New Jerusalem is Full of the Glory of God

New Jerusalem is a city “having the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11); “the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (21:23).

New JerusalemThe city is full of the glory of God because it is so straight and transparent (vv. 11, 23). Strictly speaking, the glory of God is the very content of the city, for the city is completely filled with His glory. This means that the city is a vessel to contain and express God. To illustrate this point, let us consider a common table lamp:…the light is the very content of the lamp and the shade. The glory of God is simply God Himself being manifested. The New Jerusalem is full of God’s glory; therefore, God is manifested in this city. The normal church life today is the same: it is full of God’s glory, manifesting and expressing God.

In the end of the quote, normal does not mean typical or average. Normal refers to what God desires and expects to seen in the church today. Christ is our life and should be our living. Paul said “to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). His “earnest expectation and hope” was “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death” (1:20).

If we all have such an expectation, and if to us to live is Christ, then the church will surely manifest and express God in Christ as a miniature of New Jerusalem.

* Excerpt from The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, chapter 19, © LSM

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on December 18, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 18, 2020

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2020/12/18/new-jerusalem-is-full-of-the-glory-of-god/

New Jerusalem: Pure, Clear, Transparent

New Jerusalem’s “light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal” (Rev. 21:11). “The city was pure gold, like clear glass” (21:18). “And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (21:21).

New JerusalemNew Jerusalem is completely transparent (Rev. 21:18, 21). This means that there is nothing opaque or hidden there. In the church life today everything must not only be pure and clean but also transparent as crystal. There must be nothing covered or hidden….We must be checked and straightened, purified and made transparent, by the work of the cross. Anything in us that is cunning or hidden is of the enemy, of the serpent, of darkness. We may hide some “small” matter for days; we may even conceal something for months or possibly years….We can never hide anything for eternity. In the church everything must be clear and transparent.*

None of us can declare that we are pure, clear, and transparent. According to our natural man, from our birth, we people of sin and death (Rom. 5:12). On the cross Christ terminated sin, death, the devil, the world, and all other negatives. Now, in resurrection, we need the Spirit to apply this termination in our being.

When we turn our heart to the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16) and look away to Jesus (Heb. 12:2) we are freed from the impurity and unclearness in us. This is our cooperation with the Spirit’s operation in us. When we see the Lord’s glorious image, we are transformed to manifest Him in glory, a preparation for the full, pure glory of New Jerusalem.

* Excerpt from The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, chapter 19, © LSM

Graphic courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on December 16, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 16, 2020

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/new-jerusalem-pure-clear-transparent/

The Throne, the Center of New Jerusalem

Revelation 22:3 says, “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it [New Jerusalem]” and 21:23 tells us, “the glory of God illumined it [the city], and its lamp is the Lamb.”

New JerusalemIn this city there is a center, the throne of God. It is the throne of God in Christ (Rev. 22:3). God is in Christ, for Christ is portrayed as the lamp containing God as the light (21:23). The city of the New Jerusalem is like a lampstand, holding Christ as the lamp with God as the light. Thus, since God is in Christ on the throne, there is only one throne.*

The seven churches in seven cities in Revelation 1–3 are seen as seven golden lampstands (Rev. 1:11-12). Their ultimate development, both in the golden nature and in their function as lampstands, is New Jerusalem.

In the church life today there must also be a center. That center is the throne of God, from which God in Christ exercises His authority in the church. The entire church must be under the authority of God in Christ. Here we see the matter of headship. Christ with God is the Head.*

First Peter 4:17 declares, “it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God.” We need to live under the headship of Christ to daily be saved from all natural and negative elements. In this way we are purified to satisfy God’s judging. This makes us match New Jerusalem which is pure, clear, and transparent (Rev. 21:11-21).

* Excerpt from The Vision of God’s Building by Witness Lee, chapter 17, © LSM

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by Don on October 16, 2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on October 16, 2020

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2020/10/16/characteristics-of-new-jerusalem-4/

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