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To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must hold on to this principle: God's presence is the criterion for every matter—21:22; 22:4; Exo. 25:30; Psa. 27:4-5, 8; 31:20; 91:1:
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The New Testament commences with the individual Christ as the God-man, "God with us," and ends with the New Jerusalem as the corporate Christ, as the great God-man, "Jehovah Is There"—Matt. 1:23; Ezek. 48:35.
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The Spirit is the presence of Christ with our spirit; we must live and act in the person of Christ, in the presence of Christ, according to the index of His whole person, expressed in His eyes—2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; 2:10, 13; Exo. 33:11a, 14-17; 1 Cor. 14:24-25; cf. Rev. 5:6.
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To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be under the throne of God, the ruling of God—22:1, 3:
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Sin is lawlessness, a dethronement of God; we need to dethrone ourselves, humble ourselves, to live in our spirit, coordinate with the saints for God's move, and maintain a "clear sky" in our Christian life and church life in order to be filled with God's ruling presence of reigning grace—1 John 3:4; Ezek. 1:13-16, 22, 26; Rom. 5:21; Rev. 4:1-3; 22:1; cf. 1 Kings 10:18.
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To reach this point means that in everything we allow God to have the preeminence and are completely submissive to His authority and administration so that He can fulfill His eternal purpose in us, through us, and with us—Rom. 5:17; Matt. 8:9; Rom. 14:17; cf. Num. 17:8.
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To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must have the flow and supply of life—Rev. 22:1-2; Hymns, #509:
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The flowing river of life and the edible tree of life should be the outstanding features of our Christian life and church life for the enjoyment of God as our real Eden, our pleasure, entertainment, and joy—Gen. 2:8-10; Psa. 36:8-9; 43:4a; Neh. 8:10.
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To drink one Spirit is to be mingled with the Spirit as the oneness of the one Body; this requires us to call on the Lord continually and draw water with joy from Him as the fountain of living water—1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 4:3-4a; Isa. 12:3-4; Jer. 2:13; John 4:10, 14; 7:37-39; Rev. 22:17.
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To eat the tree of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life; to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love; loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord go together—2:4, 7; 22:14.
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To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be full of the light of life—21:11, 23; 22:5; Luke 11:33-36:
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The light of the New Jerusalem is God as the illuminating glory shining out through Christ the Redeemer as the lamp, and the entire holy city is the diffuser of the divine light; today this diffuser to spread the divine light is the Body of Christ—Rev. 21:23-24a; 22:1, 5; 21:11; Eph. 5:8-9.
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Light is the presence of God; we enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion in the light to deliver us out of the authority of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and to transfer us into the kingdom of the Son of God's love—Col. 1:12-13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 13:11-14; cf. Mark 9:2-8.
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The light of God is in the sanctuary, God's dwelling place, which is our spirit (Eph. 2:22) and the church (1 Tim. 3:15); in our spirit and in the church we receive divine revelation and obtain the explanation to all our problems (Psa. 73:16-17, 22-26).
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel" (which is translated, God with us).Ezek. 48:35 ...And the name of the city from that day shall be, Jehovah Is There.
We must hold on to this principle: God's presence is the criterion for every matter.... Do we have God's presence while we are saying certain things or taking a certain attitude? Is God's presence in our suggestion or proposal? If we touch the presence of God in all things, we will see that God will be there as the temple, and the building of God will be with us.
The more we reason, the more we lose God's presence. Please remember that the temple in the New Jerusalem is God Himself. God's presence is the center of the city. Therefore, in the church we must have the presence of God; we must have God as the temple. Then we will be built up to have the condition of the New Jerusalem. (The Building Work of God, pp. 89-91)
Today's Reading
If the church is built up, it will have the throne of God, the ruling of God. In the New Jerusalem there is the throne of God....Because the throne of God is established, God can exercise His authority. If we want to know whether a certain church is being built up, we need to see whether there is God's throne and God's dominion among them. (The Building Work of God, p. 91)Second Corinthians 2:10 mentions [that] ...Paul forgave a brother in the person of Christ. [The] Greek word [for person] means the face, the part around the eyes, which is the index of all the inward thoughts and feelings to signify the presentation of the whole person. The part of the face around the eyes is the index of all the inward thoughts and feelings, signifying what a person is thinking and how he feels within. Paul forgave that brother in the person of Christ, according to the index of His whole person expressed in His eyes. Paul lived not only in the presence of the Lord but also in the index of the inward feelings and thoughts of Christ. This is so deep, so tender, and so delicate. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, "An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit," p. 158)
A builded church has the flow and supply of life. The Scriptures show us that there is a river of water of life proceeding out of the throne, and on both sides of the river there is the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, and yielding its fruits each month (Rev. 22:1-2). This indicates that in God's presence and God's reigning there is the flow of life. Here there is the water of life which quenches people's thirst and causes people to be watered. Here there are also the fruits of the tree of life which enable the hungry people to be satisfied.
A builded church has light. In the New Jerusalem there is light (Rev. 21:23). This light is not natural light, neither is it the light of the sun or of the moon; this light is God Himself. God is the light, and Christ is the lamp. (The Building Work of God, pp. 93-95)
The New Jerusalem will have a particular kind of light— the redeeming and shining God (Rev. 21:23). The redeeming God shines as the shining God. The illuminating glory of God is the light within Christ, and the redeeming Christ is the lamp containing the light.
Also, the entire city of the New Jerusalem is the diffuser, diffusing the divine light over the nations outside the city (v. 24a).... Today this diffuser to spread the divine light is the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, "The Application of the Interpretation of the New Jerusalem to the Seeking Believers," pp. 240-241)
[In Psalm 73] the solution to the psalmist's perplexity concerning the prosperity of the wicked was obtained in God's sanctuary. First, God's sanctuary, His habitation, is in our spirit (Eph. 2:22) and, second, it is the church (1 Tim. 3:15)....In our spirit and in the church we receive divine revelation and obtain the explanation to all our problems. (Psa. 73:17, footnote 1)
Further Reading: The Building Work of God, chs. 7-8; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, "The Application of the Interpretation of the New Jerusalem to the Seeking Believers," chs. 4-5