27.4 The Name of the New Jerusalem
© 2017 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
I will write on him… the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God (Revelation 3:12). The word “down” is always figurative, as Jesus said. That is, it speaks of a quality of life, not of geographical location. As the New Jerusalem, we are always coming “out of” heaven and appearing in earth. That is our nature and essence even now.
In the resurrection, heaven and earth together are fully visible to us in all their entwinement. Yet not all humans will have eyes opened to the heavenlies. Thus, to them, our presence among them will always seem to be heaven on earth.
Waiting for the City. One of the most precious of nuggets I found while writing out the inheritance verses is this one regarding Abraham.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:8-10).
The Covenant God makes with us is only an extension of the Covenant He first made with Abraham. And Paul is so very clear; ONLY those who are of faith in Christ Jesus are of the Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3 & 4).
The Fulness of Christ. Let me pair three lines from Scripture that are speaking of exactly the same thing. The city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. – that… He might gather together in one all things in Christ… – the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:10 & 22b-23).
This is the victorious Church of Christ, millions of Spirit-filled believers in Jesus, walking this earth as all the fullness of Christ before the resurrection, loving one another with a pure heart fervently. This is that city to which I have committed my life, that she might stand forth in her glory and take her place in heaven-earth.
Manifold Treasure. Love one another. We have no conception of the depths of treasure found in the fulfillment of these three words in our lives, the burning passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. For you are as the very face of Jesus Christ to me, yet much more than a “solitary” Jesus, a condition Jesus gave His life to eliminate (John 12).
For the treasure we have in one another is many. That now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to – heaven (Ephesians 3:10). Polupoikilos Sophia – many diverse manifestations of wisdom and clarity. The Church. You and me together.
A Quality of Life. The entirety of the next course, Symmorphy V: Life, is, actually, simply the proper extension of this one brief lesson. Our inheritance in one another, the New Jerusalem established in glory inside this heaven-earth.
Now, it might be just me, but I don’t think it’s in the nature of Christ to have crowds of thousands of people all packed perpetually into one little place. Certainly, there are times when such a gathering is exciting, but no one wants to live in a football stadium. The New Jerusalem is quality of life, not quantity of life. She shows herself in any place where two or three are gathered together inside Jesus’ new name.
Together. Two are better than one – And a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9a & 12b). This is something to think about – the gathering together of the sons of God on the one hand, and on the other, their normal state of two or three together. Father cannot be revealed as He is through one alone. Father is seen and known in and through the interrelationship between two or three and among many. You and I will know Father as we know us together. And all the members of our great estate will know Father by seeing us as we love one another.
Our action of loving one another IS the single most powerful influential force in the universe.
The Most Powerful Force. Wow! That last line is something else, a thought I have never seen placed before my eyes, a thought that must be the foundation of the entirety of Symmorphy V: Life. – Our action of loving one another IS the single most powerful influential force in the universe. –
This is right now.
Just as accusation is growing across the whole earth, ripping everything and everyone to pieces, so, in far greater measure, there is another force arising among humans on this earth. That hidden force is Love One Another. Love One Another will prevail and will swallow up everything else. This IS the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Robbed. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
This line has just taken on far more meaning. Look at your Christian life up until now; look at all Christian life experiences on this planet since the early Church. You are looking at a ROBBED people, including yourself.
Take a man of great wealth, strip him of all of it, whack off his arms and his legs, but leave him alive. Remove his eyes, reduce his hearing and taste to a minimum. Let him keep his smell, but only of rancid things, and his touch, but only of rough things. I am describing the Christian life as it has been.
Abundance of Life. By stealing Jesus from us and forcing Him into the form of a tiny and impotent humanoid demigod, the thief has then robbed us of our great treasure IN ONE ANOTHER. Describe to me the incredible value you receive all the time from other Christians in your life. – You are robbed.
Here is the abundance of life that belongs to us inside of Jesus. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! – For there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore (Psalm 133:1 & 3b). Our inheritance in one another IS our true wealth, and it is the source of all abundant outflow we will ever know. Father-among-us is always us-together.
What Do We Gain? So what am I robbed of by not having the opportunity of walking together with you side by side? And what do I gain when you and all that is yours belong to me as the closest and dearest of friends forever?
Everyone is looking in the WRONG direction for life forevermore. That’s how a con man successfully steals from his victims; they don’t know they are robbed.
Are you looking to find your treasure in the lives of other believers in Jesus walking closely together with you? Then you are looking for the greatest wealth in the universe. And when you find this, your greatest of treasures, in your fellow Christians, you give everything you are to have it for your own.
Laying Up Treasure. Let’s consider a well-known verse as it actually means. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
Jesus is NOT talking about differing geographical locations, but of His glorious Church, coming, every moment, out of the heavens and appearing as Jesus, as His physical Body, in the earth. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you…?
Utterly Personal. If you are my treasure, then my heart is with you. And home, they say, is where the heart IS.
You see, in regards to this, the most precious part of our inheritance, we do not run a list of verses showing all the different aspects of that inheritance. This part of our inheritance is utterly personal. Where two or three of you are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of you.
And Jesus in our midst is expressed through three words. Love One Another. You are personal to me, and I am personal to you.
Knowing One Another. Now, in the possession of our inheritance of all that is heaven-earth we do move towards creation living now inside our glorious liberty with a measure of authority. But “authority” as such never comes into our picture of “possessing” one another as the inheritance of Jerusalem.
I have from you only what you willingly and wholeheartedly give of yourself to me. And you have from me only what I willingly and wholeheartedly give of myself to you. Our intimacy in knowing one another is deep and mutual, yes, but always found inside of the utmost respect and honor extended to each other. Life forevermore.
Becoming Wealthy. So, what do I give you of myself? And what do I receive from you of yourself? Our skills, our abilities, our gifts, physical and spiritual, our perspectives, our ways of seeing things, our joys and delights, our tears and sorrows.
Let’s say you have the skill of chatting personally with people. I don’t have that skill, but I have you, and thus your chatting personally with people is part of my treasure. I am laying up all kinds of treasure for myself. Indeed, you make me a wealthy, wealthy man. Let’s say you don’t have the skill of writing Christ in a personal and clear way. But you have me, and I have become YOUR own great wealth.
What Is This New Jerusalem? These are just small examples of the unending treasure we possess in one another. Yet because they are personal, they speak of all the rest.
What is this New Jerusalem, this wondrous city of God that Abraham gave everything to receive from God? What is this Church without spot or wrinkle, the revelation of Father inside creation?
What does it mean to walk together in love? How does the constant flow of Christ Jesus as Spirit-Word into our togetherness cause this Church to be who and what she is?
What do you mean to me and I to you? Come with me to Symmorphy V: Life, and let’s find out.