Message Eight

Christ as the Covenant and
as the Light to Be God’s Full Salvation

Scripture Reading: Isa. 42:5-7; 49:6, 8b-9a;
55:1-4; Acts 13:34-35

Isa. 42:5-7 Thus says God Jehovah, / Who created the heavens and stretched them out, / Who spread forth the earth and what springs up from it, / Who gives breath to the people upon it / And spirit to those who walk on it: ⁶I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; ⁷To open the eyes of the blind, / To bring the prisoner out from the prison, / Those who dwell in darkness from the prison house.

Isa. 49:6 He says, It is too small a thing that You would be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob / And bring back the preserved of Israel; / I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Isa. 49:8b-9a And I will preserve You and give You for a covenant of the people, / To restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances, ⁹To say to the prisoners, Come forth, / To say to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves.

Isa. 55:1-4 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price. ²Why do you spend money for what is not bread, / And the result of your labor for what does not satisfy? / Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, / And let your soul delight itself in fatness. ³Incline your ear and come to Me; / Hear, so that your soul may live; / And I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David. ⁴Indeed, I have given Him as a Witness to the peoples, / A Leader and a Commander to the peoples.

Acts 13:34-35 And as to His having raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He spoke in this way, “I will give you the holy things of David, the faithful things.” ³⁵Therefore He also says in another place, “You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

I. God’s full salvation is based on His righteousness and consummated in His life—Rom. 10:3; 3:21-28; 5:10, 17-18, 21; 1:16-17:

Rom. 10:3 For because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God.

Rom. 3:21-28 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, witness being borne to it by the Law and the Prophets; ²²Even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe, for there is no distinction; ²³For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ²⁵Whom God set forth as a propitiation place through faith in His blood, for the demonstrating of His righteousness, in that in His forbearance God passed over the sins that had previously occurred, ²⁶With a view to the demonstrating of His righteousness in the present time, so that He might be righteous and the One who justifies him who is of the faith of Jesus. ²⁷Where then is boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, but through the law of faith. ²⁸For we account that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Rom. 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

Rom. 5:17-18 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.

Rom. 5:21 In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom. 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek. ¹⁷For the righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith, as it is written, “But the righteous shall have life and live by faith.”

A. The righteousness of God is what God is with respect to justice and righteousness—10:3; 3:21-23:

Rom. 10:3 For because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God.

Rom. 3:21-23 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, witness being borne to it by the Law and the Prophets; ²²Even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe, for there is no distinction; ²³For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1. Because we are fallen, God must deal with us according to His righteousness.

2. As the righteous God, He cannot forgive sinful people without meeting the demands of His righteousness—1 John 1:9.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

B. Justification is God’s action in approving us according to His standard of righteousness—Gal. 2:16; Rom. 3:28.

Gal. 2:16 And knowing that a man is not justified out of works of law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we also have believed into Christ Jesus that we might be justified out of faith in Christ and not out of the works of law, because out of the works of law no flesh will be justified.

Rom. 3:28 For we account that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

C. The proof of God’s justification is the resurrection of Christ—4:22-25:

Rom. 4:22-25 Therefore also it was accounted to him as righteousness. ²³Now it was not written for his sake only that it was accounted to him, ²⁴But for ours also to whom it is to be accounted, who believe on Him who has raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification.

1. The redeeming death of Christ as the ground for God to justify us has been fully accepted by God, and Christ has been resurrected as a proof of this.

2. The resurrected Christ who sits at the right hand of God is the evidence that God is satisfied with Christ’s death on our behalf and that we have been justified—1 John 2:1.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous;

3. Now that Christ has died and has been raised from the dead, it is impossible for God to change His mind about forgiving us; He is bound by His righteousness to forgive us—1:9.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

D. God has given Christ to us as the righteousness of God—1 Cor. 1:30.

1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

E. Our experience of Christ rests upon the foundation of God’s righteousness—Psa. 89:14.

Psa. 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; / Lovingkindness and truth go before Your face.

F. Whereas God’s righteousness justifies us through the death of Christ, God’s life germinates us by Christ as the life-giving Spirit—Rom. 10:3; Gal. 2:16, 21; Rom. 5:10, 18; Eph. 2:5; 1 Cor. 15:45b.

Rom. 10:3 For because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God.

Gal. 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through law, then Christ has died for nothing.

Rom. 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

Rom. 5:18 So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.

Eph. 2:5 Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

1 Cor. 15:45b the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

II. Christ has been called by Jehovah to be a covenant for the people—Isa. 42:6b; 49:8b; Heb. 7:22:

Isa. 42:6 I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;

Isa. 49:8b And I will preserve You and give You for a covenant of the people, / To restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances,

Heb. 7:22 By so much Jesus has also become the surety of a better covenant.

A. The covenant is the legal agreement between God and His people (cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-12); through the death of Christ, the covenant became a testament, a will (9:16-17).

Jer. 31:31-34 Indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³²Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by their hand to bring them out from the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, declares Jehovah. ³³But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Jehovah: I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. ³⁴And they will no longer teach, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for all of them will know Me, from the little one among them even to the great one among them, declares Jehovah, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

Heb. 8:8-12 For finding fault with them He says, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah, ⁹Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me. ¹¹And they shall by no means each teach his fellow citizen and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will know Me from the little one to the great one among them. ¹²For I will be propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I shall by no means remember anymore.”

Heb. 9:16-17 For where there is a testament, the death of him who made the testament must of necessity be established. ¹⁷For a testament is confirmed in the case of the dead, since it never has force when he who made the testament is living.

B. A covenant and a testament are the same, but when the maker of the covenant is living, it is a covenant, and when he has died, it is a testament; a testament in today’s terms is a will.

C. A covenant is an agreement containing some promises to accomplish certain things for the covenanted people, while a testament is a will containing certain accomplished things that are bequeathed to the inheritor—vv. 16-17; cf. Deut. 11:29; 28:1, 15; Jer. 31:31-32.

Deut. 11:29 And when Jehovah your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, you shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal.

Deut. 28:1 And if you listen diligently to the voice of Jehovah your God and are certain to do all His commandments, which I am commanding you today, Jehovah your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth;

Deut. 28:15 But if you do not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God and are not certain to do all His commandments and His statutes, which I am commanding you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.

Jer. 31:31-32 Indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³²Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by their hand to bring them out from the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, declares Jehovah.

D. Christ enacted the new covenant (which became the new testament—the will) with His blood according to God’s righteousness through His redeeming death—Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20; Heb. 9:15.

Matt. 26:28 For this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:20 And similarly the cup after they had dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant established in My blood, which is being poured out for you.

Heb. 9:15 And because of this He is the Mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

E. In resurrection, Christ became the reality of all the bequests of the new testament, and in ascension in His heavenly ministry, He is the Mediator, the Executor, to execute the new testament according to God’s righteousness—8:6; 9:15; 12:24.

Heb. 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as He is also the Mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.

Heb. 12:24 And to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks something better than that of Abel.

F. Therefore, Christ is the new covenant as the new testament; as the embodiment of the riches of the Godhead (Col. 2:9; 1:19) and as the crucified and resurrected One, He has become the covenant of God given to His people.

Col. 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,

Col. 1:19 For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell

G. Christ as God’s sure mercies is the reality of all that God is and of all that God has given us; God’s salvation, God’s righteousness, God’s justification, God’s forgiveness, God’s redemption, God’s riches, and all God has and will do have been covenanted to us—Isa. 55:1-4; Acts 13:34-35.

H. As the reality of all the bequests in the new testament, Christ, who is the all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling, consummated Spirit, is in our spirit and has become one spirit with us—1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:9-11; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17.

1 Cor. 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

2 Cor. 3:17 And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Rom. 8:9-11 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹And 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.

2 Tim. 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

I. As a covenant Christ is the surety (Heb. 7:22), and the Spirit is the pledge (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14), to guarantee that God embodied in Christ is the inheritance to His people (Rom. 8:17a; Acts 26:18).

Heb. 7:22 By so much Jesus has also become the surety of a better covenant.

2 Cor. 1:22 He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Eph. 1:14 Who is the pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory.

Rom. 8:17a And if children, heirs also; on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other, joint heirs with Christ

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

III. Christ has been called by Jehovah to be a light for the nations—Isa. 42:6b-7; Matt. 4:13-16:

Isa. 42:6-7 I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; ⁷To open the eyes of the blind, / To bring the prisoner out from the prison, / Those who dwell in darkness from the prison house.

Matt. 4:13-16 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is beside the sea in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴In order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: ¹⁶The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.”

A. Christ is the light of life, the true light, that shines over the world and enlightens every man to enliven man for regeneration—John 1:4, 9, 12-13.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:9 This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, ¹³Who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

B. He is the divine, marvelous light to open the eyes of the blind (Isa. 42:7a; Luke 4:18; John 9:14) and to deliver God’s chosen people out of the darkness of death, the death-realm, the authority of Satan, into God’s life-realm of light (Isa. 42:7b; 1 Pet. 2:9b; Acts 26:18a; Col. 1:12-13).

Isa. 42:7 To open the eyes of the blind, / To bring the prisoner out from the prison, / Those who dwell in darkness from the prison house.

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed,

John 9:14 Now it was the Sabbath, on which day Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

1 Pet. 2:9b so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Acts 26:18a To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God,

Col. 1:12-13 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; ¹³Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

C. Christ as the covenant is for God’s people to gain God with His riches as their inheritance, whereas Christ as the light is for God’s people to receive God as life:

1. The condemnation of God is dissolved by Christ as the covenant, and the death that comes from Satan is annulled by Christ as the light that issues in life—John 8:12.

John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

2. Christ as God’s life germinates us to regenerate, sanctify, renew, transform, conform, and glorify us, organically saving us unto our full sonship for His complete expression—Rom. 5:10.

Rom. 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

IV. Christ as the Servant of Jehovah serves God’s people by being a covenant and a light to God’s chosen people that He may be the full salvation of God extending to the ends of the earth—Isa. 49:6, 8b-9a; 42:5-7:

A. Righteousness in God’s justice and life through God’s light are the two basic factors of God’s salvation—vv. 1, 4; Rom. 1:16-17; 5:18b; Titus 3:7:

Isa. 42:1 Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, / My chosen One in whom My soul delights; / I have put My Spirit upon Him, / And He will bring forth justice to the nations.

Isa. 42:4 He will not faint, nor will He be discouraged, / Until He has established justice in the earth; / And the coastlands will wait for His instruction.

Rom. 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek. ¹⁷For the righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith, as it is written, “But the righteous shall have life and live by faith.”

Rom. 5:18b so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.

Titus 3:7 In order that having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1. God’s salvation in its two aspects is composed of Christ as the covenant for justification and Christ as the light for life—Rom. 5:10.

Rom. 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

2. Through His death Christ as the covenant satisfies God’s righteousness for justification as the base of God’s full salvation, and in His resurrection Christ as the light imparts life as the consummation of God’s full salvation.

3. Through His death and in His resurrection Christ has become the new covenant as the new testament according to God’s righteousness to be the base of God’s full salvation—Heb. 8:10-12; 9:15-17.

Heb. 8:10-12 For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me. ¹¹And they shall by no means each teach his fellow citizen and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will know Me from the little one to the great one among them. ¹²For I will be propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I shall by no means remember anymore.”

Heb. 9:15-17 And because of this He is the Mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶For where there is a testament, the death of him who made the testament must of necessity be established. ¹⁷For a testament is confirmed in the case of the dead, since it never has force when he who made the testament is living.

B. God gave Christ as a light to the nations that He might be God’s salvation to all the world—Matt. 4:16; Luke 2:30-32:

Matt. 4:16 The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.”

Luke 2:30-32 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, ³¹Which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, ³²A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.

1. The life of this light (John 1:4; 8:12), as the indestructible life (Heb. 7:16b), the incorruptible life (2 Tim. 1:10b), and the real and eternal life that we should lay hold on (1 Tim. 6:19, 12), becomes God’s salvation to us in His righteousness (Rom. 5:10, 17).

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Heb. 7:16 Who has been appointed not according to the law of a fleshy commandment but according to the power of an indestructible life.

2 Tim. 1:10 But now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel,

1 Tim. 6:19 Laying away for themselves a good foundation as a treasure for the future, that they may lay hold on that which is really life.

1 Tim. 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.

Rom. 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

Rom. 5:17 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

2. This life also ensures us, guarantees us, the heirs of God in His life, the right to inherit God with all His riches as our eternal inheritance—Acts 26:18.

3. Such a life of light grows in us continually, issuing in our church life today (Eph. 5:8) and consummating in the New Jerusalem in eternity (Rev. 21:2-3, 9b-11, 18-23; 22:1-5).

Eph. 5:8 For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light

Rev. 21:2-3 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

Rev. 21:9b-11 Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. ¹⁰And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹Having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.

Rev. 21:18-23 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; ²⁰The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. ²²And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Rev. 22:1-5 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. ²And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³And there will no longer be a curse. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; ⁴And they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever.

V. The New Jerusalem is the embodiment of God’s full salvation, and God’s full salvation is a composition of God’s righteousness as the base and God’s life as the consummation:

A. The totality of what the Bible reveals to us is the New Jerusalem; the New Jerusalem is the total composition of the entire revelation of the Bible.

B. Ultimately, the complete salvation of God is embodied in the New Jerusalem, which is a matter of life built on the foundation of righteousness—Rev. 22:1-2; 21:2, 10, 14, 19-20, 23:

Rev. 22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. ²And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev. 21:10 And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Rev. 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

1. The foundation of the New Jerusalem is the righteousness of God with God’s faithfulness—vv. 19-20.

Rev. 21:19-20 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; ²⁰The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

2. The content of the New Jerusalem is life, which issues from light—v. 23.

Rev. 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

3. Life is the consummation of righteousness, and righteousness is the base, the foundation, of life.

VI. For His chosen people to receive Christ as a covenant and as light, God, as the Creator of the heavens and the earth and as the One who gives breath to men, gives also spirit to them that they may be able to enjoy Him, the Triune God, who is Spirit, as their inheritance and life—Isa. 42:5; Gen. 2:7; Zech. 12:1; John 4:24a.

Isa. 42:5 Thus says God Jehovah, / Who created the heavens and stretched them out, / Who spread forth the earth and what springs up from it, / Who gives breath to the people upon it / And spirit to those who walk on it:

Gen. 2:7 Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Zech. 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him,

John 4:24a God is Spirit

VII. The way to receive and enjoy the full salvation of God is to exercise our spirit, live according to our spirit, and remain in our spirit, with which is Christ, by calling on the Lord’s name—Rom. 8:4; 10:12-13; Psa. 116:13; 2 Tim. 4:22.

Rom. 8:4 That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

Rom. 10:12-13 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him; ¹³For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Psa. 116:13 I will take up the cup of salvation / And call upon the name of Jehovah.

2 Tim. 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

VIII. God’s full salvation is full of springs, and we need to learn to draw water out of these springs by calling on the Lord’s name—Isa. 12:2-6; 55:1-4, 6.

Isa. 12:2-6 God is now my salvation; / I will trust and not dread; / For Jah Jehovah is my strength and song, / And He has become my salvation. ³Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation, ⁴And you will say in that day, / Give thanks to Jehovah; call upon His name! / Make His deeds known among the peoples; / Remind them that His name is exalted. ⁵Sing psalms to Jehovah, for He has done something majestic! / Let it be made known in all the earth! ⁶Cry out and give a ringing shout, O inhabitant of Zion, / For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Isa. 55:6 Seek Jehovah while He may be found; / Call upon Him while He is near.