D. IN ETERNITY FUTURE
1. As the Redeeming God Administrating within the New Jerusalem in the New Heaven and the New Earth
In eternity future, after the millennium, God as the redeeming God will administrate within the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth. Revelation 22:1 speaks of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The one throne for both God and the Lamb signifies that God and the Lamb are one—the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer. In eternity the very 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. Therefore, in Revelation 22:1 is the redeeming God administrating within the New Jerusalem. This administrating will be for the carrying out in full of God’s dispensing.
Both God and the Lamb are sitting on the throne. They are not sitting side by side. Rather, God is in the Lamb. God is the light and the Lamb is the lamp (Rev. 21:23). The glory of the light and the lamp are not side by side. The light is in the lamp. The Lamb as the lamp shines with God as the light. This indicates that God is in the Lamb sitting on the throne. They two are actually one, just as the light and the lamp are one unit, one entity. God in the Lamb is the redeeming God. For eternity in the New Jerusalem we shall see the redeeming God, God in the Lamb.
The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. For the water of life to flow out of the throne means that it flows out of God Himself. In the New Jerusalem, we have God in the Lamb, and out of the redeeming God flows the river of life, the life-giving Spirit. This is the dispensing of the Triune God. Before God could dispense Himself into us, He had to redeem us. Thus, the picture in Revelation 22 reveals that the redeeming God is the life-dispensing God. The Lamb signifies redemption, and the river of life signifies the dispensing of life. For eternity, our God will be the redeeming and life-dispensing God. In the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth, our God will be in the redeeming Lamb, flowing out as the river of life (the life-giving Spirit) to dispense His life into every part of the city.
The tree of life grows in the river of life, and the river of life that flows out of the throne reaches every part of the city. This indicates that the flow of the Triune God waters the whole city. Every part of the city receives the life supply because the tree of life grows in the river and the river reaches every part of the city. The tree of life, as a vine, grows on both sides of the river, following the flow of the river. Wherever the river flows, the tree of life grows. 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 along 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 New Jerusalem, which will be constituted of all the redeemed people of God, will be watered by the river of the water of life and nourished by the tree of life. This is the dispensing of the Triune God in full for eternity.
In these messages we have considered the many aspects of God’s work in eternity past, in the old dispensation, and in the new dispensation. Eventually, God will put all the enemies under the feet of Christ, and He will abolish death, the last enemy. Then everything will be new. There will be the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center. For eternity the redeeming God will sit on the throne in the center of the New Jerusalem, and out of the throne, that is, out of God Himself, will flow the water of life to saturate the city. Furthermore, the tree of life will grow in the water of life to nourish the city. This saturating and nourishing is the divine dispensing in full. We shall be there eating of the tree of life and drinking of the water of life. For eternity, we shall be eating, drinking, and worshipping God. This is the eternal enjoyment of God’s dispensing. While we are enjoying the dispensing of the Triune God by eating and drinking, we shall worship Him.
2. Expressing Himself—the Triune God— through the New Jerusalem in the New Heaven and the New Earth
To express Himself through the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth will also be God’s work in eternity future. Revelation 21:11 says that the New Jerusalem has the glory of God. This indicates that the New Jerusalem bears the expression of God. The Triune God expresses Himself through the New Jerusalem in the triune way: in the tree of life, in the river of life, and in the light of life. This triune expression of the processed God is His full expression in His eternal manifestation according to His eternal economy for His divine dispensing.
(Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 20, by Witness Lee)
