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In this lesson we will consider further aspects of the believers’ future in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, that is, in the New Jerusalem, the believers will enjoy the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, in His Triune dispensing. Revelation 22:1 speaks of “the throne of God and of the Lamb,” showing that there is one throne for God and the Lamb. This indicates that God and the Lamb are one—the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer. In eternity the God who sits on the throne will be our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction. This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit (symbolized by the water of life)—dispenses Himself into His redeemed people under His headship, implied in the authority of the throne, for eternity.
In eternity future the believers will enjoy the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, who is on the throne as the center of the holy city for the administration of the eternal kingdom of God (vv. 3, 1). Every nation has a center. The center of a nation is its capital, the place where the central government is located. The New Jerusalem also has a center—the throne of God and of the Lamb. God is the One who had a purpose, who made a plan in eternity past, and who created all things for the fulfillment of His plan. The Lamb is the One who has accomplished redemption to fulfill God’s plan. Therefore, the throne of God and of the Lamb indicates that this throne is for the carrying out of God’s plan through Christ’s redemption. Both God’s plan and Christ’s redemption are being carried out through this throne.
The throne of God and of the Lamb is the source from which the river of water of life flows. The throne for the accomplishment of God’s purpose flows out the Triune God so that by this flow of life His purpose may be accomplished. Hence, the redeeming God is administrating within the New Jerusalem, and this administrating will be for the carrying out in full of God’s dispensing and for His expression in His eternal manifestation.
The believers will enjoy the redeeming God as the temple of the holy city for their eternal dwelling with God as His serving ones (21:22; 22:3). Actually, the holy city is the tabernacle, and the tabernacle is the temple. Here we have three things: the holy city, the tabernacle, and the temple. The term holy city signifies the believers’ being constituted together as God’s dwelling place. The word tabernacle denotes God’s habitation, and the word temple indicates that the redeeming God will be the place in which the believers dwell and serve Him. Therefore, the holy city denotes the constitution, the tabernacle denotes God’s habitation, and the temple denotes our dwelling place in which we serve God. The holy city is the tabernacle, and in the tabernacle the redeeming God will be the temple. This means that the city is the constitution, the building up of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the tabernacle for God’s dwelling place, and within this tabernacle is God Himself as the temple to be our dwelling place.
Revelation 21:22 says that the apostle John saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, for the temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. Since God and the Lamb are the temple, They are the dwelling place of the believers, who serve the Triune God by dwelling in Him. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem, which is composed of all the redeemed saints as the habitation of God, is the tabernacle; on the other hand, the New Jerusalem, which is constituted of the processed Triune God as the dwelling place of all the redeemed saints, is the temple. Thus, the New Jerusalem is the mutual dwelling of both the redeeming God and His redeemed. The New Jerusalem is both the tabernacle and the temple. The tabernacle is the redeemed, and the temple is the redeeming God. This indicates strongly that the redeeming Triune God is mingled with His redeemed, through the processes that He has gone through and the salvation that His redeemed, regenerated, and transformed tripartite people have experienced, for His expression in His eternal manifestation.
In eternity future the believers will enjoy God who is the light of life in the lamp shining through the holy city. Revelation 21:23 says, “The city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” In the millennium the light of the sun and the moon will be intensified (Isa. 30:26). But in the New Jerusalem, in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God, the divine light, will shine much more brightly there (Rev. 22:5). The Lamb as the lamp will shine with God as the light to illumine the city with the glory of God, the expression of the divine light. Since such a divine light will illumine the holy city, it will have no need of any other light, whether created by God or made by man.
In Revelation 21:23 God is the light and Christ is the lamp. The light is in the lamp, and the Lamb as the lamp shines with God as the light. This indicates that God and the Lamb are actually one, just as the light and the lamp are one. God is the content, and the Lamb, Christ, is the light-bearer, the expression. The glory of God, with God as the substance, essence, and element, will be the light of the New Jerusalem shining in the Lamb as the lamp. This means that God as the light will shine in Christ as the lamp throughout the city. This also indicates that the throne of God and of the Lamb spoken of in 22:1 refers to the fact that God is in the Lamb sitting on the throne. The light of life in the lamp is a matter of the divine dispensing, for shining is a dispensing. The shining of the divine light is actually the dispensing of the processed Triune God into the believers. For eternity we will enjoy the redeeming God—God in the Lamb shining as the light of life—in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In eternity future the believers will enjoy the redeeming God as the spring of the water of life in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity (21:6). In the New Jerusalem we will have both the light of life and the spring of the water of life. The water flows out of this spring to saturate the believers, and this saturation, which involves God’s dispensing, is our eternal portion.
In eternity future in the New Jerusalem the believers will enjoy not only the spring of the water of life but also the river of water of life, a river bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1). The spring is the source, and the river is the flow; both the source and the flow are of the water of life. Here we see the flowing Triune God—the Father as the source, the Son as the course, and the Spirit as the flow. This is a picture of the Triune God dispensing Himself into His believers. He is flowing Himself out of Himself into His redeemed ones to be their life and life supply. The flowing of the Triune God is typified by the water that came out of the smitten rock in Exodus 17:6 (see also Num. 20:11) and is symbolized by the water that flowed out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus (John 19:34). In the New Jerusalem this water of life becomes a river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. Thus, the New Jerusalem is filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life. This dispensing comes out of God’s administrating throne.
The river of water of life flows in the middle of the street of pure gold (Rev. 21:21; 22:1) in the New Jerusalem, signifying that the divine life flows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God’s redeemed people. This is the holy way by which God’s redeemed people walk. The divine life and the divine nature as the holy way always go together. Where the divine life flows, there is the divine nature as the holy way; and where the holy way of the divine nature is, there the divine life is flowing. Thus, the river of water of life is available along this divine way, and we enjoy it by walking in the divine way.
In eternity future the believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life for their life supply in the New Jerusalem. Verse 2 says, “On this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month.” The tree of life grows on the two sides of the river of water of life and produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month. Hence, the tree of life is a vine that grows in the river of water of life and spreads and proceeds along the flow of the water of life to every part of the holy city for God’s redeemed people to receive and enjoy. In this way every part of the holy city receives the life supply. Since the tree of life grows in the river of water of life, the supply of life is in the flow of life. This is a picture of God’s dispensing. Christ as the tree of life is the life supply available in the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. The entire city of the New Jerusalem, which will be constituted of all the redeemed people of God, will be watered by the river of water of life and nourished by the tree of life. This is the dispensing of the Triune God in full for eternity.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, we will enjoy the light of life, the spring of the water of life, the river of water of life, and the tree of life. These four things are for the divine dispensing. The light of life shines. The spring of the water of life and the river of water of life are for the flow of the divine life. The tree of life is for nourishing God’s redeemed. The shining, the flowing, and the nourishing are three aspects of the divine dispensing. This is the triune dispensing of the Divine Trinity to be our supply. In eternity we will enjoy this supply and thereby have the fullest enjoyment of the divine life.
For eternity in the New Jerusalem the believers will reign as kings over the nations, the people around the New Jerusalem, forever and ever (v. 5). In the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the believers will be members of God’s royal family, reigning as kings over the nations.
In eternity future there will be people who are not regenerated believers. These people, the nations, will simply be the natural man created by God and restored to the natural condition of God’s creation. They are a different category from the believers. The believers are people belonging to God; they are God’s sons born of Him; they are regenerated of God with His life and nature. The nations, however, will simply be a restored people in God’s creation. In eternity the tree of life will have two functions, because there will be both the believers and the nations. The first function is related to the fruit of the tree of life, and the second function is related to its leaves. The fruit of the tree of life will be a supply to the sons of God, but the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the nations (v. 2), keeping them alive for eternity. The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers will eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their inward life and life supply so that they may enjoy the divine life for eternity. The restored nations will be healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their outward guide and regulation so that they may live the human life forever (21:4). When the nations look at the way the Lord Jesus lives and acts, His deeds will become a source of healing to them, and this healing will maintain their human life forever.
Therefore, in the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, the believers will be the royal family, the ruling ones, but the nations will be the common people, the ruled ones. We thank the Lord that in His mercy He first made us vessels of mercy unto honor and then unto glory. In eternity we will be in glory, full of honor, reigning as kings over the nations.
In eternity, in the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, all the believers will express God with His glory. The city of the New Jerusalem has the glory of God. Revelation 21:18 says that the wall of the New Jerusalem will be made of jasper, and verse 11 says that the light of the city will be “like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” The glory of God is the expression of God, God expressed. Jasper is the appearance of God (4:3), and it signifies God’s communicable glory in His rich life (2, John 17:22). The light of the New Jerusalem will be like a jasper stone. The city will bear the appearance of God to express God by her shining. This indicates that the New Jerusalem will be a corporate and eternal expression of God.
In the consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity all believers will express God. We will have the appearance of jasper, the appearance of God, and we will express God in His glory. This expression of the Triune God will be His eternal manifestation according to His eternal economy for the divine dispensing.
The New Jerusalem will express God as jasper stone with His glory in order to enlighten the nations. In this way the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24). God as the light in the lamp will not shine over the nations directly. The divine light will first shine in the city, and then through the city it will shine over the nations. Hence, the nations will walk in the light of the city; that is, they will walk in the light of the believers’ shining. In the New Testament age we as believers are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14), and the worldly people should walk in our light. In eternity all the redeemed people of God will be a great light shining over the nations, and the nations will walk in this light.
In eternity the believers will be altogether in resurrection. Nothing about them will be natural. The nations outside the city, on the contrary, will still be natural and will remain in the natural life. But the believers, the constituents of the holy city, will be absolutely in resurrection.
Revelation 21:17 indicates that the New Jerusalem will be in resurrection. This verse says, “He measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” It is in resurrection that man will be like the angels (Matt. 22:30). Man’s being like an angel indicates the principle of resurrection. Hence, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel signifies that the city will be not natural but in resurrection. In eternity nothing will be left of our natural life, for we will be fully in resurrection. Therefore, the entire city will be in resurrection. Both Christ the Head and we His members will be in resurrection.
Finally, the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity will be the mingling of divinity with humanity. This mingling is signified by the number twelve (Rev. 21:12-14, 17, 21). Twelve is composed of three multiplied by four. The New Jerusalem is a square with four sides, and on each side there are three gates (v. 13). The number twelve is used fourteen times in relation to the New Jerusalem. The twelve foundations of twelve precious stones bear the names of the twelve apostles (vv. 14, 19-20). The twelve gates of twelve pearls with twelve angels bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 12, 21). The city’s measurement is twelve thousand (twelve multiplied by one thousand) stadia in three dimensions (v. 16). The height of the wall is one hundred forty-four cubits (v. 17), which is twelve cubits multiplied by twelve. The tree of life produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit in each of the twelve months (22:2). The number twelve appears so many times, indicating that the holy city is a mingling of the Triune God in His eternal administration with the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man.
For eternity the New Jerusalem will be an absolute mingling, not simply an addition. It is a multiplication—the Triune God, who is signified by the number three, multiplied by man, who is signified by the number four. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is a marvelous mingling of the processed Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, built-up, and glorified tripartite people for His glorious and utmost expression in His consummated manifestation for eternity in the new creation of resurrection. It is by the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity that the believers can have such a glorious future. We are truly full of praises and thanks for such a divine dispensing.
In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, that is, in the New Jerusalem, the believers will enjoy the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, in His triune dispensing. The Lamb-God is on the throne as the center of the holy city for the administration of the eternal kingdom of God. The throne of God and of the Lamb indicates that this throne is for the carrying out of God’s plan and Christ’s redemption. This throne is also the source from which the river of water of life flows for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
The redeeming God, whom the believers will enjoy in eternity future, will also be the temple of the holy city for their eternal dwelling with God as His serving ones. The God whom we enjoy in eternity future will also be the light of life in the lamp shining through the holy city. Because such a divine light will illumine the holy city, the city will have no need of any other light, whether created by God or made by man. The shining of the divine light is actually the dispensing of the processed Triune God. For eternity we will enjoy the redeeming God—God in the Lamb shining as the light of life—in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The believers will also enjoy the redeeming God as the spring of the water of life in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The water flows out of the spring to saturate the believers, and this saturation is their eternal portion. They will also enjoy the river of water of life, which is bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. Thus, the New Jerusalem is filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life. The river of water of life that flows in the middle of the street of pure gold in the New Jerusalem signifies that the divine life flows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God’s redeemed people, a way by which God’s redeemed people walk. The tree of life that grows on the two sides of the river produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month to be the life supply to the believers in the New Jerusalem for eternity. The four things we enjoy—the light, the spring of the water of life, the river of water of life, and the tree of life—are all for the divine dispensing.
In the New Jerusalem the believers will be in glory, full of honor, reigning as kings over the nations for eternity. The nations will be the people around the New Jerusalem, taking the deeds of Christ as their outward guide and regulation so that they may live the human life forever. In eternity all the believers will express God with His glory. We will have the appearance of jasper, the appearance of God. The holy city, New Jerusalem, expresses God as the jasper stone with His glory to enlighten the nations. In this way the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem. In eternity the believers will be altogether in resurrection. The nations outside the city, on the contrary, will still be natural and will remain in the natural life. But the believers, the constituents of the holy city, will be absolutely in resurrection. Finally, the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity will be the mingling of divinity with humanity, which is a marvelous mingling of the processed Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, built-up, and glorified tripartite people for His glorious and utmost expression in His consummated manifestation for eternity in the new creation of resurrection. It is by the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity that the believers have such a glorious future. We are truly full of praises and thanks for such a divine dispensing.
