The Church Grows to become New Jerusalem
The first couple presented in the Bible is Adam and Eve in Genesis 2. This record, and more through the Bible, are figures/shadows of the real marriage of New Jerusalem and Jesus Christ the Lamb. The New Testament also has the church as the developing reality of New Jerusalem.
Christ and the church as Husband and wife are in Ephesians 5. The church today will grow and develop to become New Jerusalem in eternity. This is like a girl who grows up then gets married.
The church in Ephesians 5 is like that little girl who is ten years old, and the New Jerusalem will be the consummated bride. The bride in Revelation 21 can never be improved. She will live forever, but she will not grow. The wife in Ephesians 5, however, is still growing. The church in Ephesians 5 still has wrinkles and spots, but the bride in Revelation 21 has no wrinkles or spots. The New Jerusalem is the consummation of the wife in Ephesians 5. The Lord is still working in the church to cause her to grow.*
Today we might say that the church is not glorious but rather has many defects. But the washing of the water in the Lord’s word (Eph. 5:26-27) gradually removes the negatives and imparts the divine element of glory. This causes the wife to grow from the church stage to the New Jerusalem stage.
The washing word** is not merely the printed word in the Bible but is the living word of the Spirit applying the Bible to our condition and situation. The Lord told us about this in John 6:63, “the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Words of spirit and life cause us to grow unto the glory New Jerusalem.
* From chapter 28, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.
** Two Greek words in the NT are translated “word.” One (logos) is the constant word, the other (rhema) is the living word; the latter appears in John 6:63 and Ephesians 5:26.
Posted by Don on December 12, 2022
