THE NEW JERUSALEM
Now we come to the consummation of the entire Bible, the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the totality of all the past centuries, including all the positive things that were a part of God’s expression. This is why there are the names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates to let people in. Then there are the twelve apostles’ names on the twelve foundation stones. The New Jerusalem is a total composition of God’s redeemed people, both of the Old Testament and of the New, including both the Jews and the Gentiles.
According to the record of the Bible the New Jerusalem is like a mountain (Rev. 21:16). At the top of the mountain is the throne of the Lamb-God. This is the redeeming God. How can God and the Lamb fit upon one throne? We can understand this by realizing that the same section of the Word tells us that the Lamb is the lamp (21:23). The Lamb, the Second of the Trinity, is the lamp, and God the Father, the First of the Trinity, is the light. The Spirit, the Third of the Trinity, is the oil. This means that the three-one, the one-three, is upon the throne. Then some might point out that the Bible says Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. You have to realize that every truth in the Bible has two aspects. Without two sides nothing can exist. Even a piece of paper has two sides. One side of the truth is that the Lord Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. The other side of the truth is that the Lamb-God is sitting upon the throne. Both are right. Don’t try to reconcile it. You simply have to take what the Bible says. In the Epistles it does say that Christ today is at the right hand of God (Rom 8:34), but the book of Revelation, according to the picture, shows us that God is in Christ. God as the light is in Christ as the lamp. The Triune God is on the throne, and out of the throne, which means out of Him, a river flows down the mountain in a spiral and eventually reaches all twelve of the gates. This means the new city, Jerusalem, has only one street. No one can get lost. The New Jerusalem is the consummation, the total expression of God in full for eternity. In the past chapters we have covered the entire Bible and seen how man was created in God’s image and how eventually man will be the total expression of God to express God thoroughly, fully, and eternally. In that day we shall be there, and today we are in the local churches. Today we express the Triune God, and we are His embodiment in the way of practicality. We have the Father’s divine substance, we have the Son’s image and form, and we have the Spirit’s shining so that we may express the very God in whom we believe, whom we serve, and whom we worship. This is the expression of God. Today we are in its practicality, and in the future we will be in its consummation.
(Concerning the Lord's Recovery, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
