The consummation of God’s salvation in life is the believers’ absolute resemblance to God in His righteousness and holiness in the consummation of their maturity in life (1 John 3:2; Eph. 4:24). Ephesians 4:24 says, “And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” Our putting on the new man is not instantaneous; it is a gradual putting on. We must put off the old man and put on the new man. Our putting off the old man is also gradual. Do not think that our old temper and old habits can be completely put off at once. The Holy Spirit in us is very patient. We put on the new man in the renewed and transformed spirit of our mind. This new man is created according to the image of God, and the image of God denotes God’s righteousness and God’s holiness. The more we put off the old man and put on the new man, the more we will be like God in His righteousness and holiness. Previously we could buy certain things, but now we cannot. We can no longer go to the places we went to before. We find that some styles of clothing we wore before are not suitable for us to wear now. Some of the paintings and decorations which we used to have at home, we can no longer hang up or display. This is to express God’s righteousness and holiness in the reality of our living. The more we put on the new man, the more we will manifest the image of God’s righteousness and holiness in our living.
The ultimate consummation of God’s salvation in life is that the New Jerusalem, in which the believers consummate, and God, who sits on the throne in eternity, will appear in the divine glory in full resemblance to one another, both being like jasper (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18a, 19b).
The New Jerusalem is the consummation of us, the redeemed believers. The entire wall of the New Jerusalem is jasper. This is the image of the wall. Revelation 4:3 shows us that the God who sits on the throne is like a jasper stone in appearance. Therefore, both the New Jerusalem and the God who sits on the throne are the same in appearance. This is our consummate conformation as the corporate New Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem is exactly the same as the God who sits on the throne. God, who sits on the throne, is jasper, and we also are jasper. The color of jasper is green, and it is bright. This symbolizes that we are bright in life just like God. In our actions and in our living we are righteous and holy like God. In essence we are jasper, which is full of the life that is so bright, just like God. This is the consummate conformation.
(God's Salvation in Life, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)