THE NEW JERUSALEM BEING
THE CONCLUSION OF THE BIBLE
This long storybook, the Bible, does have a conclusion. This conclusion is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9—22:3). If we were to ask some careful pastors, "What is the New Jerusalem?" they might advise us not to touch this matter. They might also advise us not to touch the entire book of Revelation, in which the New Jerusalem is mentioned, because Revelation is a mystery. On the other hand, some careless pastors might say that the New Jerusalem is a heavenly mansion that Christ is building for us in heaven. They would say that the Lord Jesus told us in John 14 that He would build such a mansion for us, in which there is a room for every believer in Christ. If we do believe in Christ, when we die, we will go there to enjoy the eternal life, which equals the eternal blessings. When I was a young Christian I believed such teaching, but later I discarded it.
Its Construction
The New Jerusalem has three sections. The city proper, or the city itself, is pure gold (21:18b). This means that the base of the city is gold. The second part of the city is its twelve gates, each of which is a pearl (vv. 12-13, 21). The third part of the city is the wall with its foundations, all of which are precious stones (vv. 14, 18a, 19-20). The entire wall is jasper, and the foundation of the wall has twelve layers. The first layer of the foundation also is jasper. Revelation 4:2-3a tells us that God’s appearance is like jasper. Thus, in appearance the city is exactly the same as God. God appears like jasper, and the city also appears like jasper.
The three sections of the New Jerusalem are constructed with three kinds of materials, or three kinds of elements. The number three is a particular number in the universe, signifying the Triune God. The Triune God is the number three. Every number in the Bible has its meaning, and three signifies the Triune God. Therefore, the three kinds of materials in the New Jerusalem no doubt signify the Triune God.
The first material is gold, which constitutes the city proper and forms the base of the city. In the Bible gold refers to God the Father as the base, the fountain, the source. The second material is pearl. Pearls are produced by oysters, and oysters live in the sea, signifying the death water. One day a small rock enters into an oyster and wounds it. This rock then remains in the wound, and the oyster secretes its life juice from the wound around the rock, layer after layer. Eventually, a pearl is produced. This indicates that Christ is the living "oyster." He lived in the death water, the world. One day we sinners as small "rocks" wounded Him. He was wounded by us and for us, and He retained us in His wound. Through His death we were redeemed, and His death also released His divine life (John 12:24), the life juice of the "oyster." His resurrection secretes the divine life around the redeemed sinners to make them all pearls. These pearls become the entrance to the holy city.
Christ’s redemption with His secretion in the resurrection life first redeemed us and then secreted the divine life around us, making us pearls. Through Christ’s resurrection we were regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3), and regeneration is the very entrance into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). In the New Jerusalem God the Father is signified by the gold, and God the Son, by the pearls. By making us pearls, God the Son has now become us. Both Christ and we are pearls. Here we can see the organic union. The organic union indicates that Christ is united with us organically through His death and resurrection. His death becomes the redeeming death, and His resurrection becomes the secreting resurrection. He redeemed us, and He secretes His life juice over us to make us pearls, which are both He and we. In this way the second person of the Trinity became us. This is the organic union.
(The Organic Union in God's Relationship with Man, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
