The New Jerusalem

The new Jerusalem will not appear for mankind to behold until the end of the thousand-year period, at which time there will be a new sky and a new earth. Then the holy city, the Wife of the Lamb, the Kingdom of Heaven, will descend from God out of Heaven and be established forever on the new earth.

When we Christians speak of going to Heaven we mean going to the new Jerusalem. Paradise, the tree of life, the River of Life, the Throne of God and of the Lamb—all are within the gates of the holy city. The new Jerusalem is the mother of every true saint of God.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:26)

Our goal as Christians is to make our eternal home in the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is the center of government of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

When we Christians speak of going to Heaven we mean going to the new Jerusalem. Paradise, the tree of life, the River of Life, the Throne of God and of the Lamb-all are within the gates of the holy city.

There is an "old Jerusalem" on the earth today. But the new Jerusalem is above us in the spirit realm. The new Jerusalem is the mother of every true saint of God.

All the longing for Heaven that is in the heart of the follower of Christ is a longing for the Presence of God. The Presence of God is in the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is "Heaven," the outward form of the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is not enough for us when we die to enter the realm of spirits. The joy we are seeking is not found everywhere in the spirit realm, in the domain of bodiless spirits. Unclean spirits find no rest in the spirit realm. The love, joy, peace, and righteousness for which we yearn are found only in the Kingdom of God, in the new Jerusalem.

Throughout the Scriptures the emphasis is on Jerusalem, the city of God. The old Jerusalem is in bondage with her children, Paul informs us. But the new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that is above, is free-free from the ordinances of the Law of Moses and free from the passions and effects of sin and self-will.

The new Jerusalem commenced with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead. The new Jerusalem, which is the Kingdom of God, was not in existence before the Lord rose from the dead. Christ is the Cornerstone. The entire city is constructed on Him.

The new Jerusalem is located above us, in the spirit realm. It never will be seen on the present earth, according to our understanding, although its citizens will return with the Lord Jesus at the beginning of the thousand-year Kingdom-age. It will not appear until the end of the thousand-year period, at which time there will be a new sky and a new earth. Then the holy city, the Wife of the Lamb, the Kingdom of Heaven, will descend from God out of Heaven and be established forever on the new earth.

Heaven is the Throne of God. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is located eternally in the new Jerusalem. When the holy city has been established on the new earth, we might say Heaven has become one with the earth. The throne will have been joined to the footstool.

Heaven and earth always are made one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah spoke of the day when the Lord God would glorify Jerusalem.

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. (Isaiah 54:11-13)

The New Jerusalem 2

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