How glorious, how bright it shines

C776 CB979 E979 K776 R387 T979
1
How glorious, how bright it shines,
The holy, new Jerusalem;
It is God's dwelling place with man,
The spotless bride of Christ, the Lamb.
2
Saints of the Old and of the New,
Heirs of the promise God bestowed,
Components of the city are,
Together built for God's abode.
3
Perfectly square the city lies,
All sides are equal—length, width, height;
No measurement more long or short,
No part oblique, it stands upright.
4
The city with its street pure gold
As clear as glass transparent is,
Showing that God's transcendent life
Its quality and nature is.
5
Twelve city gates are each one pearl;
Thus man is through redemption shown
Reborn and as a pearl transformed,
Entering to a realm God's own.
6
The twelve foundations of its wall
Are with twelve precious stones adorned;
Through fire and pressure recomposed
And with eternal value formed.
7
The wall of jasper, crystal clear,
God's glory by it fully shown;
His glorious light through it does shine,
And He appears as jasper stone.
8
The wall a separation makes,
Excluding all that is unclean;
Gold, pearls, and precious stones alone
The holy city has within.
9
God and the Lamb the Temple are!
We shall behold His glorious face;
His presence never will depart,
We'll worship Him thru endless days.
10
The city needs no sun nor moon
For God's own glory is its light;
The Lamb's the lamp the city bears,
In all directions blazing bright.
11
Out from the throne of God and the Lamb
Flows midst the street a living stream,
And on its banks, on either side,
The tree of life is thriving seen.
12
This signifies the life of God
Not just for food or water flows,
But carries God's authority
As it throughout the city goes.
13
The street of purest gold therein
God's nature as the way doth show;
A river in it flows for drink
And fruits of life abundant grow.
14
The number twelve means government,
Perfection which eternal is;
God blent with man it also tells—
Three multiplied by four shows this.
15
Darkness and death shall be no more,
Sorrow and pain shall pass away,
Old will be gone and all be new,
God will abide with man for aye.
16
The city has God's image full,
It rules for Him, the sovereign King,
Fulfilling His eternal plan,
Complete content to Him to bring.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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Marina

Moscow, Russia

Glorious vision of holy city New Jerusalem!

Today we are heaven people who live on earth. by this vision. Amen!


Br.Jeff Hall

Church In Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

The reality of the New Jerusalem is revealed to us in this age to guide us and lead us along the Way He ordained, that we are fully prepared and equipped to function not only now, but in the Kingdom age then ultimately in the New Jerusalem..........


Cesar Sosa Perez

Madrid, Spain

We are becoming the new Jerusalem!! , where Christ is all in all


Christine

Romford, Essex, United Kingdom

That we may apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height and depth of His love Amen


Jiyoung Kim

Columbus, Ohio, United States

Amen!


Sifiso

Southend On Sea, Essex, United Kingdom

We are becoming the New Jerusalem by His dispensing day by day.


Joanna Smathers

Baton Rouge, LA, United States

No part oblique


Thanh Le

San Francisco, California, United States

Saints of the Old and New Testament are the components of the holy City, together built for God abode. How glorious, how marvelous is God’s dwelling place with man!


Jeanna

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

Praise the Lord!

The Body of Christ is also the accomplishment of man's experience of the grace in the economy of God, which is Himself as the processed Triune God, ultimately consummating in the New Jerusalem. Hymns, #979 is a sweet hymn on the many characteristics of the holy city, the New Jerusalem. For the last two thousand years, ordinary Bible readers and even Bible scholars have been puzzled by the New Jerusalem, wondering whether it is a material city or whether it refers to something else. Because of man's natural concept according to human understanding, most consider the New Jerusalem a material city. I still remember that when I was young, I sang a hymn that says one day we will enter the golden city with a golden street, pearl gates, and a jasper wall. But within my heart I said, "Did the Lord die and shed His blood just to save me into a golden city?" From then on I began to pursue to know what the New Jerusalem really is. Eventually, around 1960 I saw clearly that this city is not a physical city but a sign to express a spiritual reality that cannot be expressed with ordinary words. God began to use such signs in Genesis 2, where there is the tree of life. In the New Testament the tree of life reappears. In Revelation 2:7 the Lord says, "To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." At the end of Revelation, the tree of life is again present in the New Jerusalem (22:2). Based upon this, I made a bold judgment that the New Jerusalem is a sign, because the tree of life within the city is a sign. Since that tree is not a physical tree but a sign, the city must also be a sign.

Furthermore, Revelation 21:22 says that there is no temple in the city of the New Jerusalem. What is the temple? The temple is God and the Lamb as the place for God's people to worship God and enjoy God. Therefore, the temple is also a sign. It is not a real building within the city; rather, God and the Lamb are the temple. Furthermore, Revelation 21:23 says, "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." Both the lamp and the light refer to God's glory. Therefore, both the lamp and the light are signs, not physical things. Moreover, in the New Jerusalem Christ is the Lamb. This surely does not mean that Christ in the New Jerusalem is a lamb with four legs and a tail. The Lamb is a sign. In addition, the New Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God (v. 3). Eventually, the city will become a tabernacle; this is also a sign. On the one hand, it is a city with gates, foundations, and a wall; on the other hand, it is the tabernacle of God—the place where God dwells with man. Finally, this city is the bride, the wife of the Lamb (v. 2). All these indicate that the entire holy city, the New Jerusalem, is not a physical city; rather, it is the ultimate sign, the greatest sign in the Bible, signifying the aggregate, the totality, of the redeemed saints throughout the generations, who have been regenerated, transformed, and glorified, as the consummation of man's experience of the Triune God, which is the organic Body of Christ.

In Revelation 21 and 22 there is a picture of a holy city. This picture must be very significant. Over thirty-five years ago, I received the understanding of the significance, in detail, of every item of this city. Hymn #979, composed of sixteen verses, gives the details of these items. We need to see what this holy city, the New Jerusalem, is. Many in Christianity say that it is a heavenly mansion, but we need to throw away that inaccurate concept.

Piano Hymns