Eph. 4:4-6 One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
The Triune God is the triune constitution of the New Jerusalem: the Father is typified by gold (the base and street of the city), the Son is typified by the pearls (the gates into the city), and the Spirit is typified by the precious stones (the wall and the foundations of the city).
The entire city is constituted with the Triune God who works Himself into man and operates within man to constitute man with the Divine Trinity and make man into golden men (man who partake of the divine nature and walk according to the divine nature), pearly men (men who remain in the death of Christ so that His resurrection life would be secreted and released through them for others to enter into the city), and precious stones men (men who are in the process of transformation from clay into precious stones to express God).
Furthermore, the Triune God is the triune existence of the New Jerusalem. In Rev. 22:1 we see how the Triune God (the Father and the Son on the throne, and the Spirit flowing as living water from the throne) is for the existence of the city.
How can the people in the New Jerusalem live and what is their supply? It is by the river of water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, on whose banks is the tree of life growing. In order for the whole New Jerusalem to be supplied and exist, the Triune God is the Father and the Son on the throne and the Spirit flowing out of the throne to supply everyone in the city as water of life and as food of life.
The Apostle Paul made a very good application of the New Jerusalem in its triune existence in Eph. 4:4-6 where he said,
4 One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
The church as the Body of Christ today can exist because of and in the Triune God, with the Father being over us, through us, and in us, the Son living in us and we living by Him, taking Him as our life, and the Spirit reaching us, being our essence, and being everything to us.
Our existence as believers is the Triune God Himself. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the substance of our daily existence. Today in the church life through the exercise of our spirit we can have a foretaste of the triune existence of the New Jerusalem.
We can drink of the “throne water” by drinking the Spirit into whom we have been already baptized (1 Cor. 12:13), and when we drink the Spirit we live because of Christ (John 6:57) and the Father is in us, through us, and over us. Let’s see in more detail what does it mean that the Triune God is our triune existence in our Christian life today for the New Jerusalem:
Existing with God the Father who is Over All, Through All, and In All
God the Father is the originator of all things: He is the origin of life itself, and with Him there’s an economy, a plan, an eternal purpose. He created us in the old creation and He gave us the human life, and because of Him we exist and have breath today in the old creation.
In the new creation, the Father’s life and nature has been dispensed into us at the time of our regeneration, and in Him we are a new creation, even a new man (Eph. 2:15). We need to allow the Father to be the source, the originator, the One over all, through all, and in all.
As Christians, our source and origin is the Father God: He is the source of life. As the Body of Christ, God is the originator and the Father is the source. He who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, and He is imparting life to our mortal body to saturate it with His divine life day by day (Rom. 8:11). We can experience existing with and because of God the Father by allowing Him to be over us, through us, and in us in all things.
Existing with Christ by Living Him and Existing by Him by the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit
Christ is our life (Col. 3:4) and today our existence is with Him in us as our Savior, Lord, Friend, Advocate, Counselor, bread of life, water of life, way of life, and everything. We need to exist with the Lord Christ by being one with Christ and allowing Him to live in us (Gal. 2:20).
The Son’s living in us is actually the Father’s living in us and being over all, through all, and in all. We need to let Christ live in us (Gal. 2:20) and live because of Christ (John 6:57), even live Christ (Phil. 1:21).
The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, is the element of the Body of Christ, and we can live Him, exist by Him, through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for His magnification in our existence.
Through our faith into Christ and baptism we have been cut off from the world and anything of the old man and we have been organically joined to Him in spirit; now we who are joined to the Lord are one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). This precious union with the Lord Jesus means everything to us.
We can enjoy Christ’s existence in us and with us by eating Christ as the bread of life, the living bread, to be supplied with Him as the Spirit of Jesus Christ for us to magnify Him, make Him known in our existence. Whatever we eat we become; what we eat is constituted into us to cause us to live and be expressed in us.
When we eat Christ, we exist because of Him, we live Him, and He lives in us to be expressed in us. In this way we have a foretaste of existing with Christ for the New Jerusalem.
Existing with the Spirit by Walking by the Spirit, Serving by the Spirit, Drinking the Spirit, and being Transformed by the Spirit
1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
One Body and one Spirit (Eph. 4:4) – this shows us that the Spirit is the essence of the Body, the Body is one with the Spirit, and the essence of the church in reality today is the Spirit. If there’s no Spirit, there’s no church – there is only a human congregation. But in the spirit we are being built up as a dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:22).
We are existing with the Spirit as the essence of the Body by walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), serving by the Spirit (Phil. 3:3), drinking the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), being transformed by the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18), and being strengthened and enriched by the sevenfold intensified Spirit (Rev. 4:5; 5:6) for the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.
By the exercise of our human spirit to touch and enjoy the Spirit we enjoy the existence of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
We have been baptized into the Spirit and we were given to drink the Spirit; what we drink becomes our essence and intrinsic element, so if we drink the Spirit we will live by the spirit, serve in the spirit, and we are transformed by the Spirit. As we drink the Spirit the old element in our being is discharged and the new divine element is added to us, causing us to be transformed even as from the Lord Spirit.
This Spirit today has been sevenfold intensified to strengthen us and enrich our experience of the Triune God for the Body life, for the producing of the overcomers which will end this age, bring in the age of the millennium, and consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 1:4).
We need to take care of our spirit, exercise our spirit, and live in the spirit so that we may enjoy the Triune God as our triune existence for the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.
Father, be over all, through all, and in all for us and to us today. You are the originator and the source of both our human life and divine life. We exist because of You and we are a new man created according to You. Lord Jesus, keep us eating You to live because of You. We are joined to You in spirit and we exist by You and in You. Supply us bountifully with the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that we may live Christ! Lord, keep us exercising our spirit to drink of the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, serve by the Spirit, and be transformed by the Spirit. Cause us to realize that our entire existence as believers in Christ is wrapped up with the Triune God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, God’s New Testament Economy (ch. 41), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 7 / msg 7, The Triune God as our Constitution, Existence, Enjoyment, Living, and Expression (you can buy this morning revival book here).
- Hymns on this topic:
# How rich the source, the Father as the fountain, / And all this wealth He wants man to enjoy! / O blessed fact, this vast exhaustless portion / Is now for us forever to employ! (Hymns #608)
# God is in Christ to be my supply, / God as the Spirit nourisheth me; / If upon Christ in spirit I feed, / Filled with His life I’ll be. (Hymns #509)
# O Lord, Thou art the Spirit now / That transforms us and saturates, / And to Thine image true conforms / And with Thy light illuminates. (Hymns #493)
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