New Jerusalem Expresses the Triune God

Revelation 21:18 says of New Jerusalem “the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” Verses 12 and 21 tell us that New Jerusalem “had a great and high wall and had twelve gates” and “the twelve gates were twelve pearls.” Verse 19’s description is “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone” and then twelve stones are named.

The city is a mountain of gold with pearl gates and with a jasper wall built upon twelve layers of precious stones. Gold expresses God in His divine nature, pearls express Christ in His death and resurrection, and precious stones express the Spirit in His transforming work with all the unsearchable riches of Christ. In the New Jerusalem we see the triune expression of the Father as the source of all the divine riches, of the Son as the embodiment of all the divine riches, and of the Spirit as the realization of all the divine riches.*

God’s eternal purpose is to express Himself in a corporate humanity. The gold, pearls, and stones are outward symbols; the reality of New Jerusalem is that it expresses the Triune God. God is preparing this expression now by working in all the people who have received Christ Jesus as their Redeemer and their Life.

God’s preparation work is described in multiple verses. Romans 8:29 says that we were “predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Now we, beholding “the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

And 1 Corinthians 15:49 promises, “as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” New Jerusalem will be our corporate bearing of the heavenly image.

* From chapter 44, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

Tagged 2 Corinthians, conformed to the image of God’s Son, corporate expression of God, God's eternal purpose, pearl gates, precious stones, pure gold, Revelation 21:12-21, Romans, spiritual signs, transformation, Triune God

Posted by Don on November 17, 2023

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