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The ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy, His eternal plan, is the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people. God is in this mingling, and His chosen people also are in this mingling. This mingling is God’s dwelling place; it is also the dwelling place of His chosen people. Hence, this mingling is a mutual dwelling place. Furthermore, this mingling is the counterpart of Christ, our eternal destiny, and the ultimate manifestation of the processed Triune God for His expression. This mingling will also be the kingship and the priesthood over the nations on the new earth for eternity to express God and to glorify Him to the uttermost. This mingling, therefore, is the ultimate consummation of God’s work in the universe, including His work both of the old creation and of the new creation.
The last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, present the ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy. These chapters are all-inclusive and cover nearly the entire Bible. For example, in the Old Testament we see the tabernacle, the temple, and the city. These three things are found also in the last two chapters of the Bible. Redemption, regeneration, transformation, glorification, conformation, and many other matters are symbolized in these chapters.
Concerning the New Jerusalem as the holy city revealed in Revelation 21 and 22, we have seen that this city is built with all the redeemed and perfected saints, that the twelve gates on four sides signify the mingling of man with the Triune God, and that the city proper is a mountain of gold. In this message we will consider the foundation of the holy city.
Revelation 21:14 says, “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” These foundations are not “the foundation,” which is Christ, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11. Rather, the twelve foundations here are “the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Today the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). Since in eternity there will be no more need of the prophets, the foundations of the holy city will consist only of the apostles.
The foundation of the New Jerusalem is the twelve apostles representing the grace of the New Testament, indicating that grace is the foundation of the holy city. This is the grace for which God made a covenant with Abraham. Grace is actually God Himself covenanted to His chosen people. When God is given to us, that is grace, and when grace is covenanted, it becomes a covenant. We can see this in Galatians 4, where the covenant of grace refers to the Jerusalem above (v. 26). The Jerusalem above is a producing mother who produces the sons of God. These sons are actually the components of the producing mother. In the New Jerusalem, the holy city, as the ultimate consummation, the foundation is the grace God covenanted to Abraham. This indicates, therefore, that grace is the foundation of the holy city.
As the foundation of the holy city, grace is the producing factor. Grace is the source, the means, and the element for the producing of the city. The entire city is produced out of grace, with grace, in grace, and through grace.
John 1:1 and 14 reveal that the Word, which is God, became flesh, full of grace. “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ” (v. 17). Why did grace come through Jesus Christ? Grace came through Christ because He is the embodiment of God who is grace. Galatians 4 speaks of this grace and shows us that this grace has become a covenant. This covenant is the city, the city is the mother, and the mother is not only the producer of the sons but is also the composition of all the sons.
The book of Galatians concludes with a word concerning grace. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers” (6:18). In Greek an expression such as “the grace of Christ” is an expression of apposition, with “Christ” in apposition to “grace.” This indicates that grace is Christ. The same is true of the expressions “the love of God” and “the life of God.” In the former “love” and “God” are in apposition, indicating that love is God; in the latter, “life” and “God” are in apposition, indicating that life is God. The same is true of the expression “the Spirit of God.”
We see three such appositions in 2 Corinthians 13:14, a wonderful verse concerning the Trinity. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” “The grace of Christ” means that Christ is grace and that grace is Christ. Likewise, “the love of God” means that God is love and that love is God, and “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” means that the Holy Spirit is the fellowship and that the fellowship is the Holy Spirit. Hence, grace is Christ, love is God, and fellowship is the Holy Spirit. Love as God is the source; grace as Christ, the embodiment of God, is the course; and fellowship as the Spirit is the flow in the course to reach us for application.
When Paul in Galatians 6:18 speaks of the grace of Christ, he is speaking of Christ as grace. To say “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” actually means “Christ as grace be with your spirit.” This is not a doctrine — it is a realization of what Christ is.
The Word that became flesh and tabernacled among us is a person, and this person is Christ as the embodiment of grace. Because He is the embodiment of grace, when He became flesh, grace became embodied in the flesh. The law was given through Moses, but grace came, and it came through and with the person of Jesus Christ. Now where Christ is, there grace is also.
The foundation of the New Jerusalem is grace, and this grace is all-inclusive. Such a grace is the processed and consummated Triune God embodied and expressed. The twelve apostles, whose names are on the twelve foundations of the holy city, are figures representing the embodied and expressed grace of God, which is God Himself. In Revelation 21:14 the twelve apostles are the representation of God’s embodied and expressed grace. Therefore, God Himself in the embodiment and expression of grace is actually the foundation of the New Jerusalem.
According to Ephesians 2:20 the apostles, along with the prophets, are the foundation for the building up of the church. This verse says, “Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” The foundation of the church is Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). Since the mystery of Christ has been revealed to the apostles (Eph. 3:5-6), the revelation they received is considered the foundation upon which the church is built. This corresponds to the rock in Matthew 16:18, which is not only Christ but also the revelation concerning Christ, upon which Christ will build His church. Therefore, the foundation of the apostles and prophets is not the apostles and prophets themselves but the revelation they received for the building up of the church. This is in contrast to Revelation 21:14, where the foundations are the very persons of the apostles.
The foundation of the holy city consists of twelve precious stones. “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation, jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst” (Rev. 21:19-20). Precious stones are not created but transformed from things created. All the apostles were created pieces of clay, but they were transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building. This regeneration and transformation is required for every believer who will be a part of the New Jerusalem.
The colors of the twelve precious stones of the foundation, which signify the twelve apostles, are as follows: the first is green, the second and third are blue, the fourth is green, the fifth and sixth are red, the seventh is yellow, the eighth is bluish-green, the ninth is yellow, the tenth is apple-green, the eleventh and twelfth are purple. The twelve layers of the foundation in the above colors 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).
It was through the transforming work of the Lord the Spirit that Peter and then the other apostles were transformed into precious stones. When Peter, the first of the twelve apostles, was brought to the Lord, He changed his name to “a stone” (John 1:42). Later, the Lord called him by this name when He spoke to him concerning the building of His church (Matt. 16:18). Gradually, Peter and the others were transformed by the Lord the Spirit into the embodiment of God’s all-inclusive grace.
Paul speaks of the Lord the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3:18. “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” The Lord the Spirit may be considered a compound title like Jehovah God, Father God, Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ, and Lord Christ. The Lord the Spirit is the One who does the work of transformation. If we have not seen that today the Lord Jesus is the life-giving Spirit as the Lord the Spirit, we will not experience His transforming work. However, if we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the life-giving Spirit and call on Him, saying “O Lord Spirit,” we will enjoy His transforming work.
If we would experience transformation, the Lord must be subjective to us as well as objective. The three matters of enjoying, experiencing, and expressing the processed Triune God are all subjective. Enjoying Christ as the bread of life is also a subjective matter, for this involves eating the Lord, and eating is surely subjective. The enjoyment of Christ as the bread of life is a matter that is altogether subjective.
The Lord the Spirit makes everything of Christ subjective to us. As we contact Him by calling on Him, He transforms us. He transforms us by dispensing His divine element into our being. The result of this dispensing is not an outward, corrective change but an inward, metabolic change. Even though our experience may be limited, we can testify from experience to the reality of the transforming work of the Lord Spirit.
The precious stones are not only produced by the transforming work of the Lord the Spirit but also constituted with the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). We have seen that grace is just Christ, the embodiment of Christ. Hence, to be constituted with grace is to be constituted with Christ as the constituent of the New Jerusalem. The more we experience Christ and gain Christ, the more we participate in the divine element of Christ, and the more we become constituents of the New Jerusalem to be built up together with all the God-chosen and transformed people, that we could be the holy city, God’s eternal dwelling.
Revelation 21:11b says that the light of the New Jerusalem is like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone, clear as crystal. This indicates that the holy city as the embodiment of and the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with the regenerated and transformed tripartite men shines with the preciousness and the beauty of Christ’s divine attributes in the human virtues in various aspects. Since Christ’s element has made His believers the constituents, the components, of the building up of the holy city, its shining should be the expression of Christ’s divine attributes in our human virtues in many different aspects. Thus, whatever the holy city expresses is the shining of Christ’s divine attributes expressed in our human virtues for the glory of the Triune God.
The twelve precious stones are for the completion of God’s eternal administration signified by the number twelve. Twelve is the number of absolute perfection and eternal completion in God’s eternal administration. Hence, the twelve precious stones of the foundation of the New Jerusalem indicate that the foundation is absolutely perfect and eternally complete for God’s administration.
