The Ministry of Life for the Body, Message 7

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body, Message 7

Growing unto Maturity to Become the New Jerusalem as the Ultimate Consummation of the Church

What would you say the Holy Bible is all about in a few words or a sentence? If you ask other believers this question, you will get a vast variety of different ideas. Some may conclude it with one verse in the bible. John 3:16, Ephesians 1:10 and Genesis 2:18 possibly are among the most commonly suggested verses. Alternatively, some others may give you a concept instead, such as the bible is about God's plan of redeeming man.
One of the concepts that I really admire is that the bible basically is God's big building project. This big project simply aims to create a corporate man to express Him in His image and to represent Him with His authority. What He is creating is not a physical thing. That must be too easy for Him, as He can create it within less than a millisecond only by saying a word of authority. But He is building up something that costs Him a lot. During the process, He had to send His only begotten Son to become a Man, die for us as our Substitute, resurrect from the dead, and become the life-giving Spirit who gives us life. Yes, the bible is all about God's building up of the Church, the ultimate consummation of which is the New Jerusalem.
If we have a look at the whole bible, we will see that the first 2 chapters (Genesis 1-2; the Garden of Eden) and the last 2 chapters (Revelation 21-22; the New Jerusalem) mirror each other. There are crucial organic items in common, including the tree of life, river (s), precious materials and man as God's counterpart or complement. Therefore, according to this concept, the holy bible may be broadly divided into 3 main parts: Genesis 1-2 as the blueprint of His architectural plan, Genesis 3 to Revelation 20 as the building process, and Revelation 21-22 as the photograph of the finished building.
Therefore the Church, the Body of Christ, now is under construction. And if we would like to see the direction to which the Church is heading, we need to see the New Jerusalem as her archetype.
Firstly, I'm going to talk about what the New Jerusalem is. Then, I will explain some characteristics of His completely built Church with some implications.

The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the Church.

To my knowledge, the New Jerusalem is not frequently taught in the churches nowadays. It is also mentioned only a few times in the bible, thereby being easily overlooked. However, it is by no means a small thing. So may I mention a little as to what the New Jerusalem is.

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. (Revelation 3:12 NKJV)
¹ Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
² Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:1-3 NKJV)

1. The New Jerusalem is a holy city. (Revelations 21:2)

The word "holy" means to be set apart, separated, or sanctified. Therefore this city will by used only for fulfilling God's purpose. Brother Witness Lee further explains that, "(The New Jerusalem) is both sanctified and separated unto God positionally and sanctified and saturated with God dispositionally. It is holy both extrinsically and intrinsically. It is an entity, entirely and thoroughly holy, that fits in with God’s holy nature for God’s expression to fulfill His heart’s desire." (Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 13)
According to Revelation 21:1-2, the old earth and heaven will pass away. God will create new ones. And as the old Jerusalem was selected as the centre and capital of His kingdom in Israel, the New Jerusalem, the holy city, will come down from heaven and will be the administrative centre of His eternal kingdom for His manifestation forever.

2. The New Jerusalem is the Bride of the Lamb and the Tabernacle of God (Revelations 2-3)

The same as the Church, the holy city is called "a bride adorned for her husband." Even though it is a city, it is not a physical thing. It obviously is an organic body, the Bride of Christ. As Eve came out of Adam and became his counterpart, the New Jerusalem comes out of his husband, Christ, and becomes His counterpart.
Moreover, it is also called the "tabernacle of God." The New Jerusalem is going to be a mutual habitation for both God and us for eternity.
Brother Witness Lee summarises this part like this: "The spouse is for His satisfaction in love, and the dwelling place is for His rest in expression. Both aspects will be ultimately consummated in the New Jerusalem. In her, God will have the fullest satisfaction in love and the uttermost rest in expression for eternity." (Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 13)

Characteristics of the built-up Church, the New Jerusalem.

As the New Jerusalem is the photograph of God's finished work of His building project, we can consider it as the prototype of the Church today. It is a perfect version of the Church, and we need God to gradually transform the Church to be more like the New Jerusalem. We are still in the building-up process, but we will surely be there.  I'm going to select some of her characteristics to discuss about.

1. The built-up Church has God's presence.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3 NKJV)

The New Jerusalem is the place where God and His redeemed people dwell together forever. Likewise, the Church today must be the place where God and His redeemed people dwell together. A true church must always have God's presence. This is a crucial factor indicating that a church is a portion of His Church or His Body. Therefore God's presence can be regarded as the principle that we must always hold on and the criterion for every matter.
Everything we do as a service for our Lord, we must do it in the light of God's presence. So we need to examine ourselves regularly if we have God's presence when we are serving Him. The truth is that God is always with us, as He is in us. But the problem is whether we pay attention to His presence among us or not.
There are a few implications from this.
Firstly, when it comes to making a decision in the local church, we must realise that God is with us all the time and pay full attention to His presence. Of course, it is difficult, if possible, for all of us to agree with each other in all the issues in a particular church. We may have many different opinions about an issue. But the question we must always ask is whether there is God's presence in that decision or not. Moreover, when one stands up to express his opinion, that one must examine himself whether he is expressing his opinion in God's presence or not. God cares more about his heart and his motive when he is expressing his opinion, than whether his opinion is supported by the best reasoning or not .
Secondly, God's presence is fully experienced when we are together in unity. From Revelation 21:2, we can see that God dwells among "them." Being individualistic is not God's way to build up His Body. And the Lord Jesus teaches us in Matthew 18:20 that when we are gathered together in His name, He will be there in our midst. Therefore we must serve together in harmony and unity with love. We must learn the idea of "unity in diversity." And we must remember that reasoning, arguing, judging and criticizing are causing us to lose this unity, and, as a consequence, God's presence.
Thirdly, one of the outcomes of God's presence is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). The services for the Lord may not be easy. We may have to sacrifice many things in order to serve Him. But serving without grudging is a hallmark of a true Christian who has a right devotion to Him. May God help us that we will serve Him wholeheartedly with His presence as the source of our full joy.

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 NKJV)

2. The built-up Church has God's ruling.

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1 NKJV)

In the New Jerusalem, the throne belongs to God and the Lamb. Likewise, we must allow God to reign over our lives and our church. He must have the dominion over all things. God has all authority, and He has given us His authority to do his Great commission. All of us has this authority. Therefore no one is to claim his own authority in his services for Him.
We have to be careful, particularly when we have got an important role in a church, such as deacon, elder or pastor. We must realise that only God sits on the throne. We must not do or act as if we are sitting on the throne. We must serve one another with the true humility, following the Lord's perfect example. We must respect others as God's beloved children and chosen people, and allow God to be on the throne with full dominion over our church.

3. The built-up Church has the flow and the supply of life.

¹ And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
² In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2 NKJV)

After the Fall, man cannot access to the Garden of Eden anymore. Therefore the tree of life and the river of water in the Garden of Eden have not been available to us since then. But praise to the Lord, in the New Jerusalem, we will enjoy the supply and the flow of life forever. Actually we now already have the Lord as our tree of life and river of water of life, and we can enjoy them anywhere anytime by using our spirit to contact the life-giving Spirit. And when this life is supplied and flowed into us, we are also to minister this life to others, and bring others to the flow and the supply of life.
Sometimes we need not to do many things to minister this life to others. We first need to come to the source of life. And when our lives are filled with His life, the life will flow out from us and others will experience it even before we do anything for them. In contrast, one may have much of natural constitution. He may be so eloquent, and can give a very impressive sermon. But if he does not have much of life, this life can never flow out from him.

4. The built-up Church has the light.

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (Revelation 21:23 NKJV)

In the New Jerusalem, there will be no night, as the glory of God will be the light, and the lamb will be the lamp. Likewise, the church has the Lord as our light.
Before we received the Lord as our Saviour, we did not know the Light. But we now see the true Light that enlightens us, and leads us to walk in the light. We are not to walk in the darkness anymore.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. (John 1:9 NASB)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12 NKJV)

Moreover, God also calls us to be the light of the world. We are to express God, our true Light, to this dark world. We are to be the corporate expression of our God, through which Christ is clearly manifested.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14 NKJV)

May the Lord have mercy on us that we may always have His presence and His ruling, with God Himself as our source of life, and our true light. May these conditions be built up in us, so that God's name will be glorified.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body, week 7.

• Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 13, by Witness Lee (http://www.ministrysamples.org/excerpts/IN-THE-NEW-JERUSALEM-AS-THE-CONSUMMATE-CORPORATE-EXPRESSION-IN-THE-NEW-CREATION.HTML)

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)