Sufferings and Transformation for New Jerusalem
The description of New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 includes gold and “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper…” Verses 19 and 20 name the twelve different precious stones.
The main element of New Jerusalem is gold, representing the nature of God. But the wall (v. 18) and the foundations (v. 19-20) are precious stones, portraying the work of the Spirit in the believers.
There is a basic difference between precious stones and gold. Gold is a chemical element, while a precious stone is not a chemical element, but a compound. Gold is an element because God created it as gold; it was made directly by God. But a precious stone has been formed from various kinds of elements, which have been composed together through chemical combi-nation through countless years of heat and pressure in the earth. In other words, the precious stones do not signify something given directly by God, but something which the Holy Spirit has produced in man by much effort and many years of burning.*
We receive the gold, the eternal life of God, simply by believing. But we become something of precious stone by turning our heart to the Lord day by day and receiving the Spirit’s transformation (2 Cor. 3:16-18). The totality of New Jerusalem is a combination of God’s nature and the Spirit’s transforming work.
The book from which these quotes are drawn* presents Jacob as an illustration of transformation. Through many decades of suffering he became someone precious to God, blessing all around him (e.g. Gen. 47:10).
The gradual transformation is part of the preparation of New Jerusalem. The city expresses the Father’s nature, the Son’s redemption (the Lamb in Rev. 21–22), and the Spirit’s transformation.
* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.
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Posted by Don on June 27, 2022
