Search
In the previous eight lessons we covered the first aspect of the believers’ future in the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of glorification. In this lesson and the lesson following we will consider the second aspect of the believers’ future in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
The entire revelation of the Bible is that God wants to dispense Himself into man and to be mingled with man to produce a marvelous entity with Himself as the content and with man as His expression. This marvelous entity is the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the processed Triune God into His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified people. In eternity the believers will participate in this ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. This consummation is altogether related to the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is not a physical city; rather, it is a divine and spiritual sign, signifying the ultimate consummation of the Divine Trinity dispensing Himself into His chosen people.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the New Jerusalem, the believers are destined to enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent. In the church life we have the enjoyment of the eternal life. In the coming age, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the millennium, the overcoming believers will enjoy the eternal life in a fuller way. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem in eternity we will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest. From this we see that the enjoyment of the eternal life is of three stages: the full enjoyment in the church age, the fuller enjoyment in the kingdom age, and the fullest enjoyment in eternity.
In John 4:14 the Lord Jesus said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.” This indicates that in eternity the believers will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent.
After the millennium the old heaven and the old earth will pass away through fire and will be renewed into the new heaven and new earth (2 Pet. 3:10-13), into which the New Jerusalem will come for God’s eternal expression. The believers’ enjoyment of the eternal life to the fullest extent will be in the new heaven and new earth. The new heaven and new earth (Isa. 65:17; 66:22) with the New Jerusalem as the center will be the new universe, which God will renew out of the old heaven and old earth. Although the heaven and earth created by God have become old because of Satan’s corruption, God’s purpose in creating heaven and earth cannot be stopped. On the one hand, God will exercise His almighty power to judge the Satan-corrupted old heaven and old earth; on the other hand, He will renew the judged old heaven and old earth into the new heaven and new earth.
Eventually, the old creation with the old heaven and the old earth will pass away. Everything of the old creation will be over. This is the issue, the result, of Christ’s death. Christ’s death as the grain of wheat terminated the old creation and released the divine life to germinate the new creation (John 12:24). The new creation is eventually realized in its ultimate consummation in Revelation 21 and 22, where the old heaven and the old earth have passed away and the new heaven and the new earth have come in. This is a new beginning with a new universe, and the New Jerusalem is in the center of this new universe. At that time the old heaven and old earth will be renewed into a new universe suitable for God to manifest the accomplishment of His eternal purpose and in which He can express Himself eternally and fully. In this new and eternal environment the believers will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent.
Revelation 21:27 says that only “those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” will enter into the New Jerusalem. This assures us that all the believers in Christ will be there, for we are those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Those who enter into the New Jerusalem will be given to drink of the spring of the water of life. Verse 6 says, “I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely.” According to 22:1, in the middle of the street of the New Jerusalem is a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The water of life is the life-giving Spirit as our eternal drink. This eternal drink is altogether transparent, bright as crystal. As we drink this eternal Spirit, our entire being becomes crystal clear.
The life-giving Spirit is the Triune God flowing out to be our eternal drink. The river of water of life is a symbol of the processed Triune God in Christ as the life-giving Spirit (John 7:38-39; 1 Cor. 15:45) flowing out Himself into us, the redeemed people, to saturate us and make us the constituents of the New Jerusalem. All those who believe into the processed Triune God are already enjoying this spring of water of life. In eternity all the redeemed people will still need the supply of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. They will still need to drink the water of life as their eternal portion. In the New Jerusalem the Triune God Himself will be flowing out as the water of life for our supply eternally.
After his creation, man was put before the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9), indicating that man was privileged to partake of the tree of life. But due to the fall of man, the tree of life was closed to man by God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness (3:24). Through Christ’s redemption, which has fulfilled all the requirements of God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness, the way to the tree of life has been opened again to the believers (Heb. 10:19-20). Hence, Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” Those who wash their robes in the redeeming blood of Christ, that is, keep their conduct clean through the washing of the blood of the Lamb, have the right to enjoy the tree of life. The tree of life is nothing less than Christ, the Son of God, the redeeming Lamb, as our life supply. This tree is rich, fresh, and refreshing. We have been redeemed so that we may have the right to come to the tree of life, which is Christ with all the riches of the divine life. In the millennial kingdom the overcoming believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their reward (2:7). In the New Jerusalem all the believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their eternal portion.
The water of life and the tree of life both signify that the Triune God will be dispensed into us continuously as our life supply for eternity. The water of life signifies the Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, and the tree of life signifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The fact that the tree of life grows on the two sides of the river of the water of life indicates that the embodiment of the Triune God, who is Christ, is always with the all-inclusive Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God, to be our life supply dispensed into us. In this way the believers will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent. The flowing of the water of life with the tree of life is the dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen people as their life and life supply in fullness for eternity.
The New Jerusalem is a living composition of all the redeemed and perfected saints in both the Old Testament and the New Testament throughout the generations. Revelation 21:12 says that the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel are inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem. This indicates that the Old Testament saints are components of the New Jerusalem. Verse 14 says that the names of the twelve apostles are on the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem. This indicates that the New Testament believers also are components of the New Jerusalem. Therefore, in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the New Testament believers together with the Old Testament saints will be the components of the holy city, New Jerusalem (v. 2).
The fact that the New Jerusalem is a living composition of the New Testament believers and the Old Testament saints proves that the holy city is not a physical entity. On the contrary, the New Jerusalem is a corporate person; it is the aggregate and totality of all God’s redeemed people. This corporate person, this aggregate of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers, is the ultimate enlargement and consummation of the Father’s house in John 14.
After all God’s redeemed saints have been raptured to the heavens, they will be the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from God. Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” The New Jerusalem will come down to the new earth. This indicates that our dwelling place for eternity will not be heaven; our dwelling place will be the New Jerusalem on the new earth. Many believers want to go to heaven, but God loves to come down from heaven to the earth. Eventually, the New Jerusalem, which is something heavenly, will come down out of heaven from God.
The New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb (vv. 2, 9). According to the entire Bible, there is a divine romance between God the Creator, the Redeemer, who is the male, and His redeemed people, who are the female. For this reason, God repeatedly likens His chosen people to a spouse for His satisfaction in love (Isa. 54:6; Jer. 3:1; Ezek. 16:8; Hosea 2:19; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:31-32). As the wife of Christ, the New Jerusalem comes out of Christ to be His spouse, just as Eve came out of Adam and became his counterpart (Gen. 2:21-24). The New Jerusalem will first be the bride of Christ in the millennium for one thousand years, which is like one day (2 Pet. 3:8), and then will be His wife in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. The bride in the millennium will include only the overcoming saints (Rev. 3:12; 19:7-9), but the wife in the new heaven and new earth will include all the redeemed and regenerated sons of God (21:7).
The fact that the New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb, Christ’s eternal counterpart, indicates that the New Jerusalem is a corporate person, the aggregate of God’s redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people. This also proves that the New Jerusalem is not a physical city.
In eternity the New Testament believers, together with the Old Testament saints, will be the tabernacle of God, God’s eternal dwelling place among men. Verse 3 says, “I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.” The tabernacle made by Moses was a type of this tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9; Lev. 26:11). The type was first fulfilled in Christ as God’s tabernacle among men (John 1:14) and will eventually be fulfilled in the fullest way in the New Jerusalem, which will be the enlargement of Christ as God’s dwelling place. This tabernacle will also be the eternal dwelling place of God’s redeemed people. God, as the One who is embodied in Christ, will overshadow us with Himself (Rev. 7:15). Hence, the New Jerusalem will be a mutual habitation for both God and us.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament God likens His chosen people to a dwelling place (Exo. 29:45-46; Num. 5:3; Ezek. 43:7, 9; Psa. 68:18; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15). The New Jerusalem will be God’s dwelling place among men for Him to rest and be expressed. God will live with men. Men in Revelation 21:3 refers not to the believers but to the nations (vv. 24, 26), the people living on the new earth outside the New Jerusalem. Hence, the New Jerusalem is not only the mutual habitation of God and the believers, but also God’s tabernacle among the nations as His expression. God will tabernacle with the nations. They will be God’s peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
The New Jerusalem is designed and built by God. Speaking of Abraham, Hebrews 11:10 says, “He eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.” The word Architect indicates that God is a skillful designer and a top craftsman. To say that the New Jerusalem is a physical city depreciates God’s wisdom and belittles Him as the eternal, wise Architect. If we realize that the New Jerusalem is a sign that signifies spiritual and divine things, we will begin to see the wisdom of God in this city. God is a wise Designer and Artificer who designs such a city to be a full manifestation of His multifarious wisdom (Eph. 3:10). Furthermore, in His wisdom God constructs the New Jerusalem by dispensing Himself as the Architect and Builder into our being.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity the believers will be the sons of God as the overcomers enjoying the divine sonship to the fullest. Revelation 21:7 says, “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me.” In this verse overcomes means to overcome by believing, as in 1 John 5:4-5. This overcoming qualifies all believers to participate in the New Jerusalem with all its enjoyment as the common portion of God’s eternal salvation. As the sons of God in the New Jerusalem, the believers will enjoy the divine sonship to the fullest.
God has predestinated us to receive sonship. When we are born again, we receive the position of sons (John 20:17); that is, our spirit is in the sonship, and we have the spirit of the Son and the life of the Son in us; however, our soul and our body are not in the sonship. At present, we are undergoing the process of sonship. This sonship will continually spread outward from our spirit, sanctifying and transforming us, until it saturates our whole being and conforms us to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). When the Lord Jesus comes back, even our physical body will be saturated with the sonship and be transfigured. At that time we will be brought wholly into sonship. Every part of our being—spirit, soul, and body—will be in the completion of sonship. Eventually, we will inherit all that God the Father is and all that He has for eternity.
In the church life today we are enjoying the divine sonship to some extent. In the coming age the overcoming believers will enjoy the sonship to a fuller extent. Eventually, in eternity all the believers will enjoy the sonship to the fullest extent. In eternity the believers will be the sons of God, not the people of God. The peoples—the nations—will live on the new earth outside the New Jerusalem. However, the believers as sons of God will dwell in the New Jerusalem, participate in all its enjoyment, serve God and the Lamb, and reign for eternity (Rev. 22:3-5).
The entire revelation of the Bible is that God wants to dispense Himself into man and to be mingled with man to produce a marvelous entity with Himself as the content and with man as His expression. This marvelous entity is the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the processed Triune God into His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified people. This consummation is altogether related to the New Jerusalem. After the millennium the old heaven and the old earth will pass away through fire and be renewed into the new heaven and new earth, into which the New Jerusalem will come. In this environment that is new and eternal the believers will enjoy the eternal life to the fullest extent.
Revelation says that only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter into the New Jerusalem. In the middle of the street of the New Jerusalem is a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Those who enter into the New Jerusalem will be given to drink of the spring of the water of life. They will also have the right to eat the tree of life for the life supply. The water of life signifies the Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, and the tree of life signifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The flowing of the water of life with the tree of life is the dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen people as their life and life supply in fullness for eternity.
The New Jerusalem is a living composition of all the redeemed and perfected saints in both the Old Testament and the New Testament throughout the generations. It is also the bride, the wife of the Lamb—Christ’s eternal counterpart. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is not a physical city but a corporate person, the aggregate of God’s redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified people. After all God’s redeemed saints have been raptured to the heavens, they will be the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from God. The holy city, New Jerusalem, will also be God’s tabernacle, God’s eternal dwelling place among men for His rest. The New Jerusalem is designed and built by God to be a full manifestation of His multifarious wisdom.
The believers will be the sons of God in the New Jerusalem enjoying the divine sonship to the fullest. In the church life today we are enjoying the divine sonship to some extent. In the coming age the overcoming believers will enjoy the sonship to a fuller extent. Eventually, in eternity all the believers will enjoy the sonship to the fullest extent. They will dwell in the New Jerusalem, participate in all its enjoyment, serve God and the Lamb, and reign for eternity.
