265. The City, the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” Rev. 21:9-10.

It is worth noticing that the angel who had the last seven plagues was the one that showed John the bride. This angel had the final cup for the flesh because the inward judgment over God’s house (us) is first carried out before it goes over sinners. 1 Pet. 4:1, 17. That is why Jesus had to become a man and suffer death according to the flesh in order to become a judge of the people. The bride, who is one flesh with Him, now has to go through the same process so that she can judge and reign with Christ through all eternity.

In order for us to be able to see the bride, the angel who has the last seven plagues over the flesh needs to lead us in the Spirit to a great and high mountain. For the bride has fought her way upward to Mount Zion through the spiritual hosts of wickedness. She is a “mountain Christian” with a solid foundation under her feet. The city is called the City of the Living God, because the bride has been made alive by the last Adam, who became a life-giving Spirit. She has come to Him, the living stone, and has herself become a living stone. This was the stone the builders rejected, but in doing so they also rejected the city whose builder and maker is God—the New Jerusalem. He was rejected by men. 1 Pet. 2:4-9. It is not enough simply to be a person with a flesh that lusts against the Spirit. The city consists of people who suffer death according to the flesh and are made alive according to the spirit, those who are always delivered to death so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in their mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10-12. From this we see that everything depends on the life we live in the days of our flesh. For it is now, while we have flesh and blood, that we can demonstrate faithfulness and show God our attitude of mind, whether we truly love Him above our lusts, whether we really want to keep His commandments.

“The city had the glory of God, and its light was like a most precious stone; a jasper, clear as crystal.” This is quite natural, for if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified together with Him. The light from the glorified bodies was like jasper, clear as crystal, and in this light the nations shall walk. Rev. 21:24. The nations cannot bear God’s glory and the Lamb’s light. They were never able to tolerate it in the days of their flesh; consequently, they will not bear it in all eternity. They have not endured judgment in the light, and they never lost their lives in the same way as the Master and His bride. Therefore the light for the nations is shielded by the crystal-clear jasper. But the city itself is not illuminated by the sun or the moon, but by the glory of God and the Lamb’s light. Verse 23. Generally speaking, most of the nations’ peoples have been content with so-called grace for the forgiveness of sins. As a rule, these peoples’ Christian lives do not extend any further than this, even though it is actually only the beginning. They regard the light from the Lamb as judgment and judging, and here they are quite right since “this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world.” To the extent that people deny God’s glory and the Lamb’s light in this life, to that same extent they will also be denied the same glory and light in eternity. Nonetheless such people do call on the name of the Lord, and they will be saved to walk in the light of the city, the light of the bride. Once again we see the Holy Place (the tabernacle) and the outer court; in other words, temple Christians and the Christians of the outer court. The nations will be governed and led by the light that comes from the city.

God revealed by signs to John the things that would shortly take place, and these signs need to be interpreted. “The Lord God, who gives His Spirit to the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants the things which will shortly take place.” Rev. 22:6 [Norw.]. We understand from this that it is only His servants who, in the Spirit, receive the interpretation of the signs that show what will soon come to pass. Everything happens quite naturally.

The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Rev. 21:16.

The city is cubic. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. All those who walk on the new and living way through the veil, which is the flesh, are enriched with content. They become cubic Christians by obedience to the faith and by daily taking up their cross and denying themselves. On the other hand, those who refuse to take up their cross and deny themselves, and instead sin under grace, ultimately relying on the forgiveness of sins, become superficial, two-dimensional Christians. For them it is appropriate to use their worn-out phrase, “Don’t look at us, but at Jesus.” If you look at a two-dimensional object from the side, you don’t see anything. Paul could say, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.” There was depth in his Christianity: it had become substantial, or cubic. Everyone who strives against sin to bloodshed receives content in their life, and it is this content that the angel measures with his golden reed. The forgiveness of sins cannot be measured as it contains no life behind it. The obedience of faith however can be measured. That makes sense. Think about this in regard to your own life, and God will give you light.

Jesus went into the depths. Being found as a man, He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He poured out His soul unto death. Paul was also accounted as a sheep for the slaughter, but in all this he was more than a conqueror. Jesus had gone first, conquering principalities and powers in the days of His flesh. Because of this, Paul could also say these cubic words: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8:37-39. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. 2:9. So all those who are in Jesus’ body will receive all the help they need to be able to grow up to maturity, up to Him who is the Head of the body, which is the church. For that same reason, all knowledge and all wisdom must be sought after within the body of Christ. Even understanding about the city, the heavenly Jerusalem, must be sought within the body. Anyone who seeks biblical knowledge and light outside the body searches in vain. We understand from this that only the God-fearing, those who keep His commandments, receive His true light. All the light that a person thinks he has received outside the body is a false light. Let this truth be established, and may it never be forgotten! For outside the city (which has the Lamb’s light) are murderers, sorcerers, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Besides this, all understanding about the bride—the heavenly Jerusalem—is also found in His body, in which all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. The bride is one flesh with Christ, He who suffered death according to the flesh. Have you considered this? Consequently the bride must also suffer death according to the flesh. This is something totally different from grace for the forgiveness of sins. When the flesh that is capable of committing sin is crucified and has to suffer death, the result is victory over sin. Jesus endured God’s light and offered Himself in the power of an eternal Spirit. The bride endures the Lamb’s light and also offers herself in the power of an eternal Spirit. Thus Jesus receives His mate, His equal, His bride. Both attended the same school of life and death. Jesus loved the Father and kept His commandments right until death. The bride loves Jesus and keeps His commandments until death.

To be one flesh with Christ is no small thing. Those who suffer with Him shall be glorified together with Him. Those who die with Him shall be made alive with Him. These are the ones who receive God’s glory and the Lamb’s light, and it is in this light that the nations shall walk.

Here we can see the King, His bride, and His people in the world to come.

“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.” Jer. 3:17.

“Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.” Zech. 8:3. “And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem.” Zech. 14:8.

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Rev. 22:1.

All blessing, all glory, and all light come from the city, which is where God and the Lamb dwell, together with the best and most faithful of all His creation, those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes and who have already partaken of divine nature in this life. Those who are envious remain outside, for this evil must die. There are plenty of opportunities to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. There are plenty of opportunities to suffer with Christ, but we must have the mind for it. Those who want to draw near do so by Jesus’ blood, by obedience to the faith. The city is built by such faithful ones. We are built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Eph. 2:19-22.

Abraham was obedient and went out to the place he was to receive as an inheritance. And 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. Heb. 11:8-10.

As long as we are present in this body, we are also strangers and foreigners, and we, too, await the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So it is good for us not to drive our tent pegs too deeply down here, but instead to behold the things which are invisible and eternal.