The Whole City is the Expression of God
Revelation 4:2 presents One sitting on the throne in heaven and verse 3 says “He who was sitting was like a jasper stone.” Revelation 21’s description of New Jerusalem includes “the building work of its wall was jasper” (v. 18) and “the first foundation [of the wall] was jasper” (v. 19).
Revelation 21:18a tells us that the wall was built with jasper, signifying the appearance of God (4:3a) for His expression. God sitting on His throne looks like jasper, and the entire wall, a great and high wall, is built with jasper. Also, the first foundation of the wall is jasper. Jasper, according to Revelation 21:11, is “a most precious stone…clear as crystal.”….God’s appearance being like jasper means that His very appearance is life in its richness. Jasper is the appearance of God, which will also be the appearance of the holy city, New Jerusalem (v. 11). The entire city, in appearance, looks the same as God.*
New Jerusalem, as the expression of God, is the fulfillment of God’s purpose for creating man in His image (Gen. 1:26) so that man could express God. Man fell from God and His purpose in Genesis 3 but sin, death, the Devil, and every negative thing has been negated when New Jerusalem appears.
What remains is a new creation with New Jerusalem brought forth, grown, and built solely with God’s life imparted into man. It is a city of precious jasper, clear as crystal, with God on the throne at its center.
* From chapter 36, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.
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Posted by Don on March 22, 2023
