Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem (ITERO spring 2014) WEEK 6 - The Lamb as the Lamp with God as the Light - DAY 6 Morning Nourishment Rom. 8:11 And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. 20-21 For the creation was made subject to vanity...in hope that the creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. God needs to work Himself into us [the church] as life so that we may be full of light and be controlled by this light. Then we will have the oneness, the harmony, and this will be the real building up. It is by this building that God will shine out and shine upon all creation to bring them out of confusion, the slavery of corruption, and vanity. That time will be the fullness of the times. It will be the time that all creation will be liberated, because death will have been swallowed up. After the end of the coming millennial kingdom, the ancient serpent and death will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14). Death will be the last enemy to be dealt with by God (1 Cor. 15:26, 54). After death is dealt with, the universe will be full of light. Under this light all creation will be freed from the slavery of corruption and liberated from vanity and brought into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God, which is the shining of the New Jerusalem. The shining of the New Jerusalem is the manifestation, the glory, of the sons of God. All the nations will be brought into this shining, and they will walk in this light and be controlled by this light....Creation will be completely released from the slavery of corruption and will be brought into the freedom of the glory of the holy city. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4467) Today’s Reading Today God is working Himself into us as life. Therefore, we need to be dealt with, and we need to be permeated and saturated with God. Then we will be full of light, and under this light we will be controlled, have oneness and harmony, be built up, and become the universal vessel through which God will head up all things under the shining of His Body. God placed the city in the center of the new universe so that the nations might walk by its light (Rev. 21:24). Without the city, the nations would be in darkness....Darkness is always a sign of death; moreover, being in death is to be void of oneness. When the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem, all things are one in the light of the city. Isaiah 2:5 says, “House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah,” and 11:9 says, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah.” The knowledge of Jehovah is light, and light brings everyone into oneness. If a brother is full of Christ, through this brother’s presence in his home, the light of life will shine forth and enlighten the entire home, enabling others to walk by his light. The light of life from within him will dispel the darkness in his home, and the power of life within him will swallow up any death. Even if the brothers have opinions and are fleshly and the sisters are not in harmony because of their tempers, this one brother’s presence will be as the shining of the New Jerusalem and will eliminate all the quarrels and disharmony. The flesh will not be able to operate, and tempers will not flare up. As a result of his shining, his entire family will walk in the light. Everyone will be in one accord and headed up. This is how God works to bring the entire home into the light. When life has completely finished its work in the church, the church will be the New Jerusalem....Eventually, the nations will walk by the light of life, which the church has received; however, the universe itself will not receive the life of God. Today in the church, the condition of some brothers and sisters may be compared to the center of the new universe, the New Jerusalem, which shines forth the life of God, but the condition of others may be compared to the surrounding nations, which receive the shining and influence of the New Jerusalem. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4468-4469) Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 436 © 2014 Living Stream Ministry. All rights reserved.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 07:32:50 +0000
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