THE NEW JERUSALEM BEING THE CONSUMMATION
OF ALL THE WORKS OF GOD’S NEW CREATION
OUT OF HIS OLD CREATION
The New Jerusalem is the consummation of all the works of God’s new creation out of His old creation in all the dispensations through the ages, including the ages in the Old Testament and the ages in the New Testament.
In this universe God has two creations, the old creation and the new creation. The new creation is produced by God out of the old creation. First, we were born into the old creation, but one day we were regenerated to be made a part of the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The new creation is produced out of the old creation in four different ages.
The Ages in the Old Testament
The Age before the Law,
from Adam to Moses
The first age was the age before the law, from Adam to Moses (Rom. 5:14a). In that age God remade many people out of the old creation into the new creation, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Eventually, they all became parts of the new creation.
The Age of the Law,
from Moses to Christ’s First Coming
The second age is the age of the law, from Moses to Christ’s first coming (John 1:17). In this period God made many people of the old creation new. Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the prophets were made new by God. They were made a part of the new creation out of the old creation.
The Ages in the New Testament
The Age of Grace,
from Christ’s First Coming
to His Second Coming
The third age is the age of grace, from Christ’s first coming to His second coming. This is the present age, the age in which we are today. In this age millions of people of the old creation have been made new. All the believers in Christ have become a new creation. We all are part of the new creation.
Actually, today we are both the old creation and the new creation. Whenever we lose our temper, we are surely the old creation. Whenever we walk according to the Spirit, we are the new creation. This can be illustrated by a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. While it is on the way out, it is part cocoon and part butterfly. In the church meetings we are all "butterflies," but after going back home, we may all go back to our "cocoon." Some saints may be ninety percent out of the cocoon and ten percent in the cocoon. Others may be vice versa. We are all in the process day by day. We are passing through a tunnel, a process in which we are being transformed out of the old and into the new. We are in transit from the old creation to the new creation.
(The Organic Union in God's Relationship with Man, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
