Jerusalem Above, the Mother of the Believers
New Jerusalem is the consummation of the Bible. Prior posts have covered four designations of this city: New Jerusalem, the holy city, the tabernacle of God, and the wife of the Lamb. Now we consider a fifth designation, the mother of the believers and the new covenant of grace.
Galatians 4:26 declares, “the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” Galatians 4:22-31 is about Abraham’s two sons, one of the maidservant and one of the free woman. Verse 24 says “These things are spoken allegorically, for these women are two covenants.”
Galatians 4:26-28 and 31 reveal the New Jerusalem as the mother of the believers. This mother is the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem (v. 26). It is impossible for a physical city to be a mother bringing forth children….Sarah symbolizes the new covenant of grace that justifies and brings in life, bringing forth children unto freedom (vv. 26-28, 31). The New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above, is our mother, and this mother is the new covenant of grace. This new covenant is our mother because it brought us forth as children of freedom.*
New Jerusalem is a living city and we have been born of God as our Father and of the city as our mother to have forgiveness of sins and to receive the eternal life and to be part of this city.
* From chapter 28, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.
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Posted by Don on December 16, 2022
