Hymn 978
Scripture Reading:
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
THE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION OF THE ENTIRE DIVINE
REVELATION IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the entire divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures. The conclusion of the sixty-six books of the Bible is contained in its last two chapters which are on the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate “coming out” of the sixty-six books. The sixty-six books of the Bible cover many, many things which will consummate in one item—the New Jerusalem. Every positive thing in the Bible will have one outcome—the New Jerusalem. (God’s New Testament Economy, pp. 284-285)
NOT A PHYSICAL CITY
We have seen that the book of Revelation was written in the way of signs. If you say that the last sign, the New Jerusalem, is a physical, real city, then what about the lampstands as the first sign in this book? Are the seven stars in chapter one real stars? And what about the Lamb? Do you believe Christ as the Lamb of God is an actual lamb with four legs and a little tail? Is the lion of the tribe of Judah a real lion like one at the zoo? It is not logical to interpret these signs in the book of Revelation in this way. The New Jerusalem is a sign. It is not a genuine, real, physical city. The great Babylon is also a sign of the false church. The great Babylon and the New Jerusalem are two signs at the end of the book of Revelation. One city is a sign of the false church and the other city, the holy city, signifies the ultimate consummation of the pure church. The great Babylon is called the great prostitute. The New Jerusalem is called the wife of the Lamb. Since Revelation is a book written with signs, the New Jerusalem could not be an exception; it must be a sign. (Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery, pp. 58-59)
AN ORGANIC CONSTITUTION
The New Jerusalem, as a composition of all the regenerated saints of both the Old Testament and the New Testament dispensations built together with God as God’s eternal building, will also be the mingling of all the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite men with the processed, consummated Triune God. In the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Triune God has been processed and consummated to be one with men, His chosen people. And through the generations in God’s dispensations, the tripartite men have been redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified to be one with the Triune God, who has chosen them in eternity past to be His counterpart, dwelling place, and expression in eternity future.
In addition to all these, the New Jerusalem will be the ultimate manifestation of the processed and consummated Triune God for His expression in the regenerated, transformed, and glorified humanity in eternity. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2694-2695).
References: God’s New Testament Economy, ch. 26; Elders’ Training, Book 2, chs. 5-13; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 257; The Application of the Interpretation of the New Jerusalem to the Seeking Believers, ch. 1.
