Our Growth in Christ for God’s Building
New Jerusalem is the consummation of all God’s building work through the ages. It is the ultimate reality of the Old Testament shadows and is the conclusion of the New Testament building of the the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God.
The principle is the same [as in the prior post] with the New Jerusalem, which is the consummation of the building in 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians 3 the building is in process and has not yet been consummated. The New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 is the consummation of that building. This is the city for which Abraham was waiting. He was waiting not for a material city but for a marvelous city built with the Father’s nature, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s transformation.*
The divine, eternal view of New Jerusalem is in Hebrews 11:16, “God has prepared a city” and Revelation 21:1, 2 where John says, “I saw…I saw.” But we are in time and must cooperate in the building work, as in 1 Corinthians 3. Let us not be passively waiting for the future.
“Let each man take heed how he builds” on the foundation which is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:10-11). This building effort is intimately tied to our growth in the Lord, as in Ephesians 4:16—”the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
“Let us be brought on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1), growing and building with New Jerusalem in view.
* Life-Study of the New Testament, Conclusion Messages: The Church, the Kingdom, and the New Jerusalem, message 256, p. 2684, by Witness Lee. Published 1998 and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California.
Posted by Don on October 18, 2024
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/10/18/our-growth-in-christ-for-gods-building/
