Ⅱ
The vision that the Lord has given to us in His present recovery is the all-inclusive vision of God’s eternal economy with its ultimate consummation—the vision of the New Jerusalem—Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:18-19; 22:15; Rev. 21:2, 9-11:
A
The totality of what the Bible reveals to us is the New Jerusalem; the New Jerusalem is the total composition of the entire revelation of the Bible—Gen. 28:10-22; John 1:1, 14, 29, 32, 42, 51; Rev. 21:3, 22.
B
Our living out the New Jerusalem is for us to become the New Jerusalem, and our working out the New Jerusalem is for us to build the New Jerusalem by the flowing Triune God—Jer. 2:13; John 4:14b; 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1-2a.
C
Every local church should be a miniature of the New Jerusalem, and every believer should be “a little New Jerusalem”; whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our corporate and personal experience—21:3, 22-23; 22:1-2, 14, 17; 3:12.
D
The New Jerusalem is the embodiment of God’s complete salvation with its judicial and organic aspects—Rom. 5:10; Rev. 22:14:
１
God’s full salvation is a composition of God’s righteousness as the base and God’s life as the consummation—Rom. 1:16-17; 5:10, 17-18, 21; Luke 15:22-23; cf. Jer. 2:13; 13:23; 17:9; 23:5-6; 31:33.
２
The entire New Jerusalem is a matter of life built on the foundation of righteousness—Rev. 21:14, 19-20; 22:1; cf. Gen. 9:8-17; Psa. 89:14.
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life…
The sixty-six books of the Bible consummate in the New Jerusalem. The totality of all the positive things recorded in the sixty-six books of the Bible is the New Jerusalem. On the one hand, we may say that the Bible unveils to us the central line of the divine revelation, which is God’s economy and God’s dispensing. On the other hand, we may say in brief that the totality of what the Bible reveals to us is the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the total composition of the entire revelation of the Bible. (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 348)
Today’s Reading
God is the One who had a purpose and who made a plan in eternity past and who created all things for the fulfillment of His plan. The Lamb is the One who redeemed us, the One who has accomplished a full redemption to fulfill God’s plan. Thus, the throne of God and of the Lamb [in Revelation 22:1] denotes that this throne is to carry out God’s plan through Christ’s redemption. Both God’s plan and Christ’s redemption are being carried out through this throne. The throne is the very source from which the river of water of life flows, and it flows with the tree of life growing in it (v. 2). The throne for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose is to flow out God Himself so that by this flow of life His purpose could be accomplished.Do not think that the New Jerusalem is merely something objective in the future for a certain group of people. We have to realize that what is recorded in Revelation 21 and 22 should be experienced by us today in a very personal way. Experientially speaking, every proper and normal Christian is “a little New Jerusalem.” Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem corporately should be experienced by us individually and personally. With and in each one of us are the three gates of the Divine Trinity. Furthermore, in each one of us there must be the throne of God and of the Lamb. We must enthrone Him in our heart and in our spirit. In other words, in the very center of our being there should be the throne of God and of the Lamb.
In our Christian experience the unique item should be the throne of the One who purposed and of the One who redeemed. Such a throne must be set up in our entire being, and this should be the center of our Christian life. This means that we would accept the God who purposed and the Christ who redeemed us as our Head, Lord, and authority. We should be willing to subject ourselves to such a headship. We adore Him as the Lord, and we take Him as our authority. We enthrone Him in our being and in our Christian life.
We are not here living for ourselves. We are living and existing for the accomplishment of God’s purpose, to carry out what Christ has accomplished. Therefore, we experience the One on the throne in His headship and lordship, and we submit ourselves to such an authority. In our daily life, in our family life, in our marriage life, in our business life, and in our church life the center must be God’s throne. Everything should be subjected to His headship. Whenever we would subject ourselves to this headship, we immediately sense something full of God’s riches flowing within us. This is the flow of the Triune God as life, the life supply, and everything to our being. Within us we sense such a flow, and this flow is from the throne of God and of the Lamb as the water of life. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” pp. 459-460)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” chs. 13-14, 16; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The God-men,” ch. 4