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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Building the House of God, #10
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:3—NIV)
The question now is, who are the men with whom God has decided to dwell?
The answer is, the nations of saved people on the earth.
The passage is not speaking of God dwelling with the people who are part of the new Jerusalem. The people who are part of the new Jerusalem are God's elect, His true Israel, the royal priesthood, the Body of the Christ.
The passage refers to the nations of saved people, the "sheep nations," who are not members of the Church but are the inheritance of Christ and His coheirs.
Until the reader grasps clearly that the new Jerusalem is the glorified Church, and its purpose is to govern and bless nations of saved people on the new earth, much of the Old Testament and the New will remain obscure.
In fact, the new Jerusalem is the Kingdom of God that John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus proclaimed.
This actually is a simple picture but it has been lost in our traditions of the Christians going to live forever in mansions in Heaven.
Of course there are the sheep nations of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. It seems obvious that, although these are the people for whom the Kingdom has been prepared, that they are not part of Christ's "brothers," not part of the Body of Christ.
Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34—NIV)
But let's see if Revelation itself suggests there are saved people on the new earth who are not part of the Church, the new Jerusalem. but rather are ministered to by the saints of the new Jerusalem. After all, the Lord Jesus referred to us as "the light of the world," and this is what the new Jerusalem will be.
We already have mentioned the fact that Revelation 21:3 says "the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them." I think the current view is that these "men" are the saved people of today, that is, the Christians. Given the testimony of the entire Scriptures, I believe the current view to be incorrect.
Let's proceed.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes." Again this usually is applied to Christians in Heaven and is quoted as such to comfort the believers. What if it had nothing to do with the believers but with the people of the world who were being comforted by the believers? An exciting thought!
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:7—NIV)
Perhaps the above verse is referring to the fact that the Christian who lives the victorious life in Jesus will inherit all that is presented in the last two chapters of the Bible, including the people on the earth. Maybe, as suggested by the second Psalm, the inheritance of the Lord and His coheirs includes the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. Perhaps these nations that Christ prayed for are not the Church but the inheritance of the Church!
To be continued.