Spiritual Blessings for New Jerusalem (6)
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Purified for New Jerusalem by Cooperating with the Lord
The Lord Jesus early in the New Testament said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). The New Testament concludes with New Jerusalem, “the city was pure gold” (Rev. 21:18) and in it we “will see His face” (22:4).
In ourselves we are not pure* in heart; we need the Lord’s cleansing*! And we can receive His cleansing! He cleansed our hearts in response to our faith and He cleanses us from unrighteousness when we confess our sins. These are two steps toward the purity of New Jerusalem.
We also need an experiential purification of our being. This requires our cooperation with the Lord.
First John 3:3 says, “everyone who has this hope [His second coming, v. 3:2] set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.” Here to purify ourselves is to abide in Christ by the teaching of the anointing (v. 2:27)…
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Shadows of New Jerusalem, Psalms 135-147
Christ brings us to God’s house, which is enlarged to be His city Jerusalem on the mount of Zion, a blessing to the whole earth. This is one of the last looks at verses in Psalms which present something to be fulfilled in New Jerusalem.
New Jerusalem and the new heaven and new earth are eternal. Eternity is mentioned in many Psalms including these:
Psalm 135:13 ” O Jehovah, Your name is forever; O Jehovah, Your memorial is from generation to generation.”
Psalm 136 “His lovingkindness is forever” (in each of the 26 verses)
Psalm 145:13 “Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and Your dominion is throughout all generations.”
Psalm 145:21b, “all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.”
Psalm 146:10 Jehovah will reign forever, your God, O Zion, forever and ever. Hallelujah!
In New Jerusalem we will be in God’s kingdom and we will be partaking of His lovingkindness forever…
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The Son is the Brightness of God’s Glory, Both Now and in New Jerusalem
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that the Son of God, who is God (v. 8), is “the effulgence of His [God’s] glory.” This effulgence/radiance/brightness/brilliance° ‘is like the shining or the brightness of the light of the sun. The Son is the shining, the brightness, of the Father’s glory.’* This is true today and will be visible to all in New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:11 says that New Jerusalem came down “having the glory of God” and verse 23 says “the glory of God illumined” the city New Jerusalem.
With Hebrews and Revelation together, we realize that New Jerusalem has the glory of God because the Son is in New Jerusalem, and that the glory of God illuminates the city because God in the Son shines in it.
God’s glory radiating through Jesus was seen when He took three disciples up the mountain. Matthew 17:2, “He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became…
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Shadows of New Jerusalem, Psalms 122, 132
The Psalms have many prophecies and shadows of Christ, God’s house and city, and their blessings to the whole earth. All of these point to Christ in New Jerusalem on the new earth.
Psalm 122:1-3 says,
I rejoiced when they said to me, let us go __to the house of Jehovah.
Our feet are standing within your gates, __O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem has been built as a city that __has been compacted together.
The present reality of the house of God is the church (1 Tim. 3:15). Let us go with rejoicing to this house to enjoy Christ with all the believers. When we do this we are standing within the gates of God’s spiritual city. All of this is our foretaste of New Jerusalem. And, as Jerusalem was built, so the church now is being built now (e.g. Eph. 4:16, 1 Peter 2:5) as a forerunner of the builded…
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Shadows of New Jerusalem in Psalm 118 (2)
Everything Christ is, everything He has done, and everything He is doing is due to the fact that He is the cornerstone. It is by His being the cornerstone that He could die for us, that we could be crucified with Him, made alive with Him, resurrected with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies, and that He could save us, transform us into precious stones, and build us together to be God’s precious habitation, God’s unique temple in the universe (Ps. 118:24 footnote 1a). Hallelujah!
Four crucial matters in the Psalms are Christ, house, city, earth. Christ is prophesied in many Psalms. Our experience of Christ brings us into God’s house, which enlarges to become God’s city for His reign over the whole earth. The climax of these four matters is New Jerusalem on the new earth (Rev. 21:1-2).
We resume looking at prophecies and shadows in Psalms about Christ, God’s house, city, and the earth. The prior Psalms post ended at 118:19, “Open to me the gates of righteous-ness: I will enter in.” Christ and His death are the New Testament gate; let’s all enter.
Psalm 118:22, quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, and 1 Peter, says:
Ephesians 2:20-22 tells us that Christ Jesus Himself is the Cornerstone*, in whom all of God’s building is fitted together, growing, and being built. God’s house and God’s city exist in Christ, who is the Cornerstone joining us all together. Ultimately
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New Jerusalem Prepared, Adorned
Prepare is Lord as a Your corporate bride adorned outwardly, but inwardly!
Revelation 21:2, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
What is the adorning of New Jerusalem? Let us ask the Bible, putting aside any natural ideas. The first use of adorn in the New Testament is Matthew 23:29, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build up the graves of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the righteous.” Any outward adornment without inner reality is hypocrisy; surely this is not New Jerusalem.
Next, Luke 21:5 says that “the temple…was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated offerings.” In the following verse the Lord says this will be torn down; clearly this outward adorning was not precious to God.
Thirdly, 1 Timothy 2:9 instructs “that women adorn themselves in proper clothing with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing.” Again, adorning (both in this age and for New Jerusalem) is not something outward but rather inward virtues. First Peter 3:3 is…
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The Spirit and a Serpent for New Jerusalem
It is well-known that John 3 is a chapter on new birth and eternal life. In verse 3 Jesus speaks about being born again (or born anew), in verse 5 about being born of water and the Spirit, and in verse 6 He tells us, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When we are born anew, our deadened human spirit is born of, made alive by, the divine Spirit. Being born again begins our walk on the golden street of New Jerusalem.
When we believe into Jesus Christ, not only is our human spirit made alive, but also we receive eternal life. This is John 3:15-16. This is a new beginning with a new life. The consummation, the maturity, of this life is New Jerusalem.
But how can a serpent be related to New Jerusalem? Numbers 21:4-9 has the base for our answer. The people of Israel sinned in complaining against God and serpents bit them…
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Shadows of New Jerusalem, Psalms 110-118
Psalm 110 is a prophecy concerning Christ, often quoted in the New Testament*. This Psalm is about the present spiritual warfare and the defeating of God’s enemies. By the time of the new creation and New Jerusalem all the enemies will be gone, cast into the lake of fire, but Christ will endure as “a Priest forever” (v. 4).
Psalm 111:9 says “He has sent redemp-tion to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever.” The redemption sent to us is in Christ (Rom. 3:24). This redemption (Gal. 3:13) brings us the blessing of the Spirit covenanted to Abraham (v. 14), a blessing which continues “forever” as portrayed by the river of life in New Jerusalem.
Psalm 113:1-2 says, “Hallelujah! Praise, you servants of Jehovah, praise the name of Jehovah. Let the name of Jehovah be blessed, from now and to eternity.” We can surely praise God now and shout hallelujahs. And we will…
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Shadows of New Jerusalem in Psalms (5)
In the Psalms we can see many prophecies and allusions to Christ and God’s house and city. These ultimately point to New Jerusalem with Christ as its center to be God’s eternal house and city with His reign on new earth.
Psalm 66:1, 4, “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth….All the earth will worship You and sing psalms to You; they will sing psalms to Your name.” Not only within New Jerusalem, but also all the nations around it will shout with joy and worship God by singing.
Psalm 68:3, “The righteous will rejoice; they will exult before God and be glad with rejoicing.” We are righteous in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), so we rejoice now (Phil. 4:4) and in New Jerusalem.
Psalm 68:18, “You have ascended on high; You have led captive those taken captive; You have received gifts among men, even the rebellious ones also, that Jehovah God may dwell…
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