I haven’t done much study on the New
Jerusalem nor paid much attention to it in scripture because I have always
thought that it pertained to Israel.
Should it be more of a priority for me?
Revelation 3:12
Him that overcometh will
I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I
will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,
which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and
I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 21:2
And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.
That
it has not been a priority for you, is fine.
There are weightier matters in
God’s word for you in this dispensation of grace. As the Lord said:
Matthew
23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Paul mentions New Jerusalem in
Galatians, but in context it is to the Jews in the body of Christ who had their
minds set on the Jerusalem here on earth and he was trying to get them to focus
their attention on things above.
Colossians
3:2
Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth.
A study about the New Jerusalem
would help in your knowledge and understanding of that heavenly city; but not having a complete understanding of it will
not take away from your knowledge of the grace of God and the Pauline grace
message of the mystery of Christ.
Acts 20:24
But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my
course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Romans
16:25
Now to him that is of
power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept
secret since the world began,
Ephesians
3:9
And to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
I plan to do a study on New
Jerusalem and post it to our YouTube site (http://www.youtube.com/user/norcalgrace/videos),
but learning how to rightly divide the word of truth is the number one priority
for a believer.
2 Timothy
2:15
Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.
You won’t understand any of God’s
word if you don’t rightly divide the word of truth and understand that it is
the 13 letters of Paul that speak to you and me today. That is your sound doctrine, teaching and
wholesome words.
Titus 2:1
But speak thou the things
which become sound doctrine:
Colossians
3:16
Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord.
1 Timothy
6:3
If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
It’s good to know Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, but those books will not do a thing to edify you in the grace
message for today which is the mystery of Christ.
Ephesians
3:4
Whereby, when ye read, ye
may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John speak
to the nation of Israel. They are
written to, for and about Israel. In
fact, the books of Genesis through Acts and Hebrews through Revelation are
written to and about the nation of Israel.
They are for our learning.
Romans
15:4
For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
We should know them. We should study that information, but the way
we study Prophecy (Genesis through Acts, Hebrews through Revelation) is in
light of Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon).
2 Timothy
2:7
Consider what I (Paul) say;
and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
You can learn the prophetic program
by studying the letters of Paul first.
He will give you the understanding you should have about the Old
Testament (time past) and the future (ages to come).
Ephesians
2:2
Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians
2:7
That in the ages to
come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus.
God, through the apostle Paul, will
interpret Old Testament passages for you so that you will know how to
understand them. As long as you rightly
divide Paul’s epistles from the other 53 books of the Bible you will be able to
understand. It takes years and years of
study.
Regarding New Jerusalem – although the
major focus is Israel because it is mentioned in the book of Revelation which
is written to Israel by the Jewish apostle John – Paul also mentions it in
regard to the mystery of God.
Galatians
4:26
But Jerusalem which is
above is free, which is the mother of us all.
God never mentioned the body of
Christ outside of Paul’s epistles.
Ephesians
3:9
And to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
In contrast, the
death of Jesus Christ on the cross and his burial and resurrection were
prophesied. But there was no mention of
his death being for gentiles outside of Paul’s epistles. We now know through the mystery of Christ that
was revealed to Paul, that the same blood shed on Calvary (not by covenant, an
agreement or contract made with us, but by the pure grace of God) gives us the
spiritual benefits that Israel will receive under their new covenant (Jeremiah
31; Ezekiel 36).
Colossians
2:14
Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Ephesians
2:13
But now in Christ Jesus
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
We now know that the body of Christ
will live in the heavens with God the Father.
He lives in the New Jerusalem.
Ephesians
2:6
And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Hebrews 12:22
But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels,
Hopefully this helps...Maranatha!
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