Beholding the Glory, Transformed into the Image
New Jerusalem is the mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed people. To achieve this goal, the Triune God constitutes us with Himself to bring forth His expression through us. The first step is regeneration with the divine life and nature. The second aspect in Christ gradually imparting Himself into us to be formed in us and to conform us to His image.
The third item of the triune constitution is the precious stones through the transformation of the Spirit (Rev. 21:18a, 19-20), from the time that we began to look to the Lord. In the New Jerusalem we first see the base, the golden mountain, then there are the pearly gates, and finally, there is the building, mainly with jasper and other precious stones. The gold is given, the pearl is produced by Christ’s resurrection life through His death, and the precious stones are produced by the transforming work of the Spirit.*
The transformation proceeds as we turn our hearts to the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16) which removes the inner veils from our being. Then, “we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (3:18).
“We all [plural] with unveiled face [singular]” indicates that we need companions in our beholding and reflecting of the Lord. This is a corporate experience which brings us to New Jerusalem as the corporate manifestation of all God’s riches and glory.
* From chapter 40, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.
Posted by Don on August 28, 2023
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/08/28/beholding-the-glory-transformed-into-the-image/
