Search
Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:1—22:5
In the previous chapters we have seen Christ in God’s plan, in God’s creation, in God’s redemption, in the believers, in the church, in heaven, in God’s administration, and in the kingdom. In this chapter we will consider Christ in eternity. This is the last aspect of the vision concerning Christ.
Eternity is not related to time. To those who live in time, there is a difference between the past, the present, and the future. But to God, there is no difference because He is outside of time and transcends time. In our view, however, there is eternity past, which was before the creation of all things. From our vantage point the Bible even refers to a time “before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20), that is, before the existence of the heavens and the earth. In our view eternity future will begin after the millennial kingdom, which is when the old heaven and old earth pass away and the new heaven and new earth appear. When we speak of Christ in eternity in this chapter, we are referring to Christ in eternity future. Christ in eternity future is God’s ultimate goal. All of God’s work, including His plan, creation, redemption, administration, and kingdom, is focused on the ultimate goal of expressing Christ in eternity future. In creation Christ is the sphere of God’s plan. In redemption Christ is the accomplishment of God’s plan. In administration Christ brings in the kingdom through the church that is produced by His redemption. And in the kingdom Christ ushers in eternity future. Christ in eternity future is the ultimate consummation of God’s plan.
In eternity past the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — held a council of the Godhead. This truth is implied in the Bible. The Father desired that the Son would be glorified; the Spirit was willing to carry this out, and the Son was willing to express the Father. Hence, among the three of the Godhead a decision, a plan, was made to create all things in order to express the glory of the Son so that the Father would be expressed in the Son and through the Spirit. If, instead of reading only the letters of the Bible, we would study it thoroughly to comprehend its meaning, we would see that this truth is implied in the Bible.
In eternity past, before the heavens, the earth, and all things, including man, were created, only the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — existed. Nevertheless, there was a desire within the Triune God for the Father to be expressed in the Son and through the Spirit so that the Son might be glorified. In order for this desire to be fulfilled, God entrusted it to mankind within the sphere of the created universe. The Triune God created the universe and mankind so that He might entrust His desire to mankind within the sphere of creation. Hence, in eternity the Triune God also desired to enter into man in order for man to have His life and bear His image and enter into His glory so that God’s glory would be expressed in all things in the universe through man (Gen. 1:26; Eph. 1:4-14).
God’s eternal desire will be fully accomplished in eternity future. Creation was necessary for the fulfillment of God’s eternal desire, but it did not accomplish God’s eternal desire, because God had not entered into man, and man had not received God’s life or entered into His glory. It was not until incarnation (John 1:14) that God’s eternal desire began to be fulfilled directly among all things in the universe. Through incarnation God entered into humanity and was mingled with man. As a result, man in the person of Jesus Christ received God’s life and nature and became one with Him. God is now working to repeat the story of His incarnation by entering into many people and being joined with them. This is based on His redemptive work. This work produces the new creation, which comes out of God and is in God. The new creation is the issue of God’s redemptive work. Through redemption He works Himself into redeemed humanity and thus transforms redeemed humanity into the new creation.
God’s redemptive work will continue until the end of this age. It will be completed when the old heaven and old earth pass away and the new heaven and new earth are brought in. The old creation does not have God’s life or element. But through God’s redemptive work the new creation is filled with His life and element. Our old man in the old creation does not have Christ’s life and element, but by passing through Christ’s redemptive work, we become a new creation, possessing Christ’s life and nature (Eph. 2:11-15; Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17). God’s desire will be fully accomplished in eternity because all things will be made new.
In eternity future the old creation will pass away, and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:5). There will be no shadow of the old creation; everything will become new — a new universe with a new heaven and a new earth. On the new earth there will be nations, and the New Jerusalem will be in their midst (v. 24). The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the New Jerusalem (22:1). God in Christ will rule in eternity with the New Jerusalem as the center.
Orthodox expositors of the Bible acknowledge that the New Jerusalem is a city with symbolic significance. The New Jerusalem is “the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God” (Heb. 11:10), a city that has been prepared for His redeemed as their eternal dwelling place and His habitation (v. 16; 12:22; Gal. 4:26). The city lies square and is pure gold, like clear glass, and the building work of its wall is jasper (Rev. 21:16, 18). The foundations of its wall are adorned with twelve precious stones, and on the foundations are the names of the twelve apostles (vv. 19-20, 14). The city has twelve gates: three on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (vv. 12-13). Each gate is of one pearl (v. 21). In the city there is only one street of pure gold, like transparent glass (v. 21). This street is a spiral and leads from the twelve gates to the throne of God and of the Lamb at the center of the city. In the middle of the street the river of water of life proceeds out from the throne of God and flows spirally with the street. On either side of the river there is the tree of life that grows and yields fruit each month (22:1-2). God and Christ are the temple. This means that our place of worship is in the presence of God and Christ. The city does not need the shining of the sun or of the moon, and there is no night there, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the Lamb (21:22-23, 25). Only those whose names are written in the book of life may enter into the city to enjoy the fruit of the tree of life and the water of the river of life (v. 27). These are those who have been redeemed throughout the generations. On the one hand, they are priests serving God, and on the other hand, they are kings ruling the surrounding nations (20:6; 22:3, 5). How blessed is such a glorious city!
According to its symbolic significance, the New Jerusalem is composed of all God’s redeemed people throughout the generations. These redeemed ones include those in the Old Testament, signified by the names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates, and those in the New Testament, signified by the names of the twelve apostles on the foundations of its wall (21:12, 14). The New Jerusalem is a glorious city constituted of glorious people. Hence, she can be the counterpart of Christ and the bride, the wife, of Christ (vv. 2, 9). The New Jerusalem is a building that is the issue of God’s redemptive work throughout the generations. The materials that God uses for this building are Christ’s life, which has passed through death and resurrection, as signified by the pearls; God’s nature, as signified by the gold; and God’s glory, as signified by the precious stones. Pearls are produced from the wounds of an oyster. This signifies that the city is produced by the life of Christ, which passed through death and resurrection. This is our entrance. In the Bible gold signifies God’s nature; this is our content. Everything of this city, including the street, is transparent, pure gold, indicating that everything of the New Jerusalem is related to God’s nature and is transparent. Precious stones signify the appearance of God (cf. 4:3; Dan. 10:6; Exo. 24:10).
The city is of pure gold and the foundations of the wall are precious stones (Rev. 21:18-20). This means that the city is constituted with God’s nature, and it expresses God’s image. God’s appearance is like a jasper stone (4:3), the wall of the city is built with jasper, and the light that shines forth from the city is also like jasper (21:18, 11). This indicates that the city bears the image of God; the light that shines forth from the city is the light of God’s image. The city is the issue of the divine life that has been released and imparted through Christ’s death and resurrection; it is filled with God’s nature, and it bears God’s glorious image to express the effulgence of His glory. The presence of God and Christ, the throne of God and of the Lamb, the worship and service to God and Christ, and the reigning of God and Christ are all related to the city. The city is filled with God, Christ, and light, and life flows forth for supply and enjoyment out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
In eternity God will be with redeemed man, and He will be mingled with redeemed man. The New Jerusalem will be the tabernacle of God with men, that is, the place where God meets with man (v. 3). This is the highest meaning of Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23). It is the complete fulfillment of the type of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. It is the ultimate consummation of the Word becoming flesh and tabernacling among men (John 1:14), and it is the culmination of the expression of God’s presence with His people. In the New Jerusalem we will fully experience the reality of God being with man, and we will enjoy the blessing of God’s presence. Today such experiences are mysterious and hidden, but in eternity future they will be concrete, evident, and visible.
God is with man in the New Jerusalem because it is the crystallization of the mingling of God with man. God’s desire to be with man is not an objective desire; God does not want to be outside of man, merely coexisting with man. His desire is more subjective; He wants to be inside of man and mingled with man as one. This has been God’s desire from the beginning. In eternity future the mingling of God with man will be fully manifested in the New Jerusalem.
The number twelve is frequently found in the description of the New Jerusalem. There are twelve foundations adorned with twelve precious stones and inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles. There are also twelve gates made of twelve pearls and inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (12, Rev. 21:14, 19-21). The height of the wall is a hundred and forty-four cubits (v. 17), which is twelve times twelve cubits. The length, breadth, and height of the city are equal, each being twelve thousand stadia (v. 16), one thousand times twelve stadia. The tree of life in the midst of the city produces twelve fruits in twelve months (22:2). Except for the one throne, one street, one river, and one tree, signifying the unique God, everything else in the New Jerusalem is related to the number twelve. Twelve is three multiplied by four. Three signifies the Triune God, and four denotes the created beings. The four living creatures represent all creatures. Therefore, the number twelve signifies that the New Jerusalem is the crystallized product of God being multiplied, mingled, with man.
In the beginning of the book of Revelation the number seven is associated with the church (1:11, 20). According to the concluding words of the Lord in the seven epistles to the seven churches, seven is composed of three plus four (see footnote on Revelation 2:29, Recovery Version). This means that God plus man equals the church. Seven, however, is three plus four, not three times four. It is God and man being added together, not God and man being mingled together. The mingling of God with man begins when God is added to man, but it will be completed at the coming of the new heaven and new earth. Then the mingling of God and man will be fully expressed through the New Jerusalem. God will be in man, and man will be in God; God will be man’s element, and man will be God’s expression.
In eternity the outermost realm is composed of the new heaven, the new earth, and all things. The next realm is composed of the nations on the earth (21:1, 24). The innermost realm is the New Jerusalem. The throne of God and of the Lamb is the center of the New Jerusalem (22:1), where God and the Lamb rule in eternity. Hence, God and Christ are the center in eternity. According to the literal description of the city, God and the Lamb are the throne that is at the center of the New Jerusalem and rules the new universe. The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple in the city (21:22), indicating that they are the center of worship and service. God is the light, and Christ is the lamp shining forth from the center of the city and penetrating through its wall to illumine the nations on earth (v. 23). The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory to the city (v. 24). In the New Jerusalem God and Christ will be the glorious center of the universe. In eternity God and Christ will be the center of government, worship, illumination, and glory.
According to the city’s symbolic significance, in eternity God and Christ will be in the redeemed ones as the center of everything. In the redeemed ones the throne of God and Christ will serve as the center of administration. God and Christ will dwell in the redeemed to be the center of their worship. God will be the light in His people, and Christ will be the lamp that diffuses this light. Thus, God in Christ will be the center of the believers’ illumination. God will be the light in His people, and Christ will be the lamp. God in Christ will shine in the redeemed and shine forth from them to illumine the nations so that the nations may walk in the light, the shining forth of God in Christ through His people. Hence, in eternity the new heaven and new earth will be the sphere in which Christ is embodied in a group of redeemed people. God will be expressed through Christ. Christ will shine forth through His redeemed to the nations, and the nations will live in the light of this glory.
In eternity future God is the light, Christ is the lamp, and the New Jerusalem shines forth the light in the lamp so that the nations may walk in its light. God is in Christ to be expressed through Christ so that Christ may be glorified, just as electricity in an electric lamp is expressed through the lamp. In the New Jerusalem God is the light, but its lamp is Christ. God is in Christ in order to be expressed through Christ. The light in the New Jerusalem is God as light shining through Christ. The New Jerusalem shines forth the light that is in Christ. Hence, Christ is the content and expression of the New Jerusalem.
Although God is the center of the New Jerusalem, He is in Christ. Christ is the expression of God. Christ is the content of the New Jerusalem at its center and the expression of the New Jerusalem in its circumference. God is in Christ, and Christ is the content and expression of the New Jerusalem. Therefore, in the New Jerusalem Christ is God as well as the city. Christ contains God as the content and expression of the city to be manifested in the universe. Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11).
God is in Christ, Christ is in His redeemed people, and the redeemed people shine forth Christ to the nations and express the glory of Christ to creation. This is the condition and scene in eternity. Today we are the firstfruits of such a condition (James 1:18). God is in Christ, Christ is in us, and we live out Christ for His expression and glorification. This is God’s eternal purpose, and this should be our living today.
In these chapters we have seen that Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all in God’s plan, in creation, in redemption, in the believers, in the church, in God’s administration, in the kingdom, in heaven, and in eternity. Christ is all. He is God who planned all things, and He is God’s plan. He is the Creator, and He is a creature. He is the Redeemer, and He is redemption to the believers. He accomplishes redemption, and He enters into the believers as redemption. He is our redemption. As the Head, He is life to His people, and He is life to the church as the Body (Col. 1:18; 3:4), the believers who are His members (1 Cor. 6:15; Eph. 1:23). Hence, the believers are Christ, and the church is also Christ. He is the Administrator in God’s universe and the King in God’s kingdom (Rev. 11:15). He is both the dominion and the glory of the heavens. He is the center and the expression of eternity. He is all! He is the way, the reality, and the life (John 14:6). He is the truth (8:32, 36). He is the light and the power (1:4; 1 Cor. 1:24). He is the bread of life and the eternal, living water (John 6:35; 7:38). He is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). He is our consolation and our rest (Luke 2:25; Phil. 2:1; Matt. 11:28). He is our trust and our hope (Col. 1:27). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 21:6). He is everything in the universe. There is life in the universe because He is the life. There is light in the universe because He is the light. There are meekness and humility in the universe because He is meekness and humility. There are love and patience in the universe because He is love and patience. He is the reality of everything in the universe. Everything in the universe is false and vain without Him, but with Him everything is true and real (Col. 2:17).
Christ is everything; everything is in Him and with Him. God is in Christ. God’s plan and work are in Him. God’s creation and redemption depend on Him. The believers and the church are begotten in Him, and He upholds all things. We cannot know God or His plan apart from Christ. Apart from Christ there is no creation or redemption. Apart from Christ there are no Christians and no church. Apart from Christ there is no administration or kingdom. All these matters are focused on Christ and take Him as their center and goal. Christ is their source and consummation. All these matters are in Christ and are headed up in Him. God is in Christ, and man is also in Him. The Creator is in Christ, and the creatures are also in Him. The Redeemer is in Christ, and the redeemed people are also in Him. Everything is in Christ, and He bears everything. He comprises all and upholds all. The whole universe, all creation, man, and God are focused on Christ.
Christ is outside of time, yet He also lived in time. He transcends space, but He was also limited by space. He exists in eternity as well as in the present. He is in heaven as well as on earth. In the past He was in Peter and Paul, yet He is also in us. We worship Him as the One in heaven, and we also sense that He is in us. We praise Him for His living in the land of Judea long ago, but we also sense that He is with us. He fills time, space, and matter. This is the Christ of God, our glorious Lord. One day all things will be filled with Him and will express Him. He will be magnified in all things and will occupy the first place in all things (1:18).
Christ has entered into us to make us the firstfruits of His expression to bring in this glorious day. If we see this, our Christian life will be changed. We will focus on Christ as our center and goal and live in Him so that He would be all and in all. This is the goal that God wants to attain, and this should be our pursuit.
