I.　The divine revelation concerning the garden of Eden, created by the eternal Triune God, and the divine revelation concerning the New Jerusalem, builded by the processed and consummated Triune God, reflect each other—Gen. 2:7-14, 18-24; Rev. 21:1—22:2.

II.　What is revealed in these two parts of the divine revelation in the Holy Scripture is the central line of the divine revelation throughout the entire Holy Scripture; this central line should be a controlling principle to our interpreting and understanding of the Holy Scripture.

III.　God's eternal intention for us to become the New Jerusalem is seen in Genesis 1—2 as the organic blueprint, the architectural plan of the Triune God, and in Revelation 21—22 as the finished product, the organic masterpiece of the Triune God, to be the model of what we are and how we work—Heb. 11:10; Eph. 2:10:

A.　Man is a vessel created according to God's kind that man might contain and express Him—Gen. 2:7; Rom. 9:21, 23; 2 Cor. 4:6-7; Rev. 22:5:

1.　God created man in His image and according to His likeness, making man a duplicate, a copy, of Himself for His glory, His expression—Gen. 1:26; Acts 17:28-28a; Isa. 43:7; Rev. 21:11; 4:3.

2.　God created man to represent Him with His dominion, His authority—Gen. 1:26; Rom. 5:17; Rev. 20:4-6; 22:5.

3.　God created man with a human spirit to contact, receive, and contain God—Gen. 2:7; Prov. 20:27; 2 Tim. 4:22:

a.　Within us we have two lamps, the Spirit of God and our spirit, shining and enlightening our inward parts to supply us with the divine life so that we can become the city of life—Rev. 4:5; Prov. 20:27.

b.　We become the New Jerusalem by exercising our spirit to enjoy the Triune God—Jude 19-21; John 4:14b, 24, 1 Tim. 4:7; 3:15.

4.　God's implanted eternity in man's heart—Ecc. 3:11:

a.　Man has a deep desire for permanent things and the only things which are permanent are the eternal things, the life of eternity, the life of God—2 Cor. 4:16-18; Eph. 3:17.

b.　The Lord's recovery is to recover us His church from things seen to things unseen, from things which are temporary to things which are eternal—Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:27; 1 Pet. 1:8.

B.　The tree of life is the center of God's economy—Gen. 2:7-9; Rev. 22:2:

1.　The tree of life signifies the crucified and resurrected Christ who imparts life to man and who pleases and satisfies man in an edible form—John 14:6; 15:1; Exo. 15:25; Rev. 2:7; 22:14; John 6:57.

2.　The principle of the tree of life is the principle of dependence on God for everything—cf. Heb. 11:8; Josh. 9:14; Isa. 9:6; Psa. 16:7-8; Matt. 14:19.

3.　Anything we do independently of the Lord is in the principle of the tree of knowledge—John 5:39-40; 2 Cor. 3:6.

4.　Every genuine believer in Christ is a miniature garden of Eden, with God as the tree of life in his spirit and Satan as the tree of knowledge in his flesh—Rom. 8:2, 6.

C.　A river of water of life is flowing in four branches to reach the four directions of the earth—Gen. 2:10-14; Rev. 22:1; cf. John 7:37-39; Psa. 36:8-9:

D.　At the flow of the river are three kinds of precious materials for God's building—Gen. 2:11-12; Rev. 21:11-14, 18-21:

1.　The New Jerusalem is built by the Triune God, as the divine Architect and Builder, with Himself and His deified people as the material to be a miraculous structure of treasure; He is God in us to make us God in Him—Heb. 11:10; 1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; Rev. 21:3, 22; Eph. 1:11a, 18b; 3:21:

a.　We need to pay the price to buy gold, signifying God in His divine nature—Rev. 3:18; Zech. 4:12-14, 6; Matt. 25:8-9.

b.　We need to abide in the death of Christ and enjoy His life-secreting resurrection to make us pearls for the building of God's eternal expression—Phil. 3:10; 1:19; cf. John 19:34; S. S. 2:8-9, 14.

c.　We need to experience the riches of Christ through sufferings, consuming pressures, and the killing work of the cross to be transformed into precious stones for God's building—2 Cor. 3:18; 4:10-11, 16; Rom. 8:28-29.

2.　We need to build the New Jerusalem by ministering the Triune God into others for their transformation—Acts 6:4; S. S. 1:10-11.

E.　The goal is the producing of a couple, a corporate, great God-man—Gen. 2:22; Rev. 21:2, 9; 22:17a:

1.　The Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God marries the bride as the consummation of the processed tripartite man—22:17a.

2.　The processed man will match the processed God forever for His full expression and satisfaction—21:11, 23.

3.　The New Jerusalem is the ultimate and eternal Eve, the corporate bride, the wife of the Lamb, built up with precious materials produced by the flowing, transforming, building, resurrection life of Christ—Gen. 2:22:

a.　The building of Eve with the rib taken out of Adam's side typifies the building of church with the resurrection life of Christ—cf. John 19:34.

b.　Just as Eve was a pure product out of Adam, the church is a pure product out of Christ; anything that is other than Christ is not the church—Gen. 5:2; Eph. 5:28-32; cf. 1 Cor. 1:9.

IV.　According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, the unique goal of the Christian work should be the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God's eternal economy—Rev. 21:2, 10:

A.　The Triune God who passed through all the processes, the all-inclusive Christ who was incarnated to die and resurrect, and the life-giving Spirit who was consummated to indwell us all take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal.

B.　The Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the flowing river all take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal—John 4:14b.

C.　The degradation of the church is mainly due to the fact that nearly all the Christian workers are distracted to take many things other than the New Jerusalem as their goal.

D.　Hence, under the degradation of the church, to be overcomers answering the Lord's call we need to overcome not only the negative things but even more the positive things, which replace the New Jerusalem as the goal.

E.　An overcomer's goal should be uniquely and ultimately the goal of God's eternal economy, that is, the New Jerusalem—Rev. 2:7; 3:12.

V.　The New Jerusalem is the Triune God, the Divine Trinity, as three basic factors, wrought into and structured together with His redeemed to be a miraculous structure of treasure as the conclusion of the whole Bible:

A.　The first main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its structure with its base signified by the gold as the Father's nature, its gates signified by the pearls as the issue of the Son's redeeming death and life-dispensing resurrection, and its wall signified by the precious stones as the consummation of the Spirit's transforming work—21:12-13, 18-21.

B.　The second main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its furnishings with the reigning center of the Father signified by the throne, the abiding place of the Son signified by the temple, and the enlightening and shining light of the Spirit signified by the oil in the lamp—22:1; 21:16, 22-25; 22:3, 5.

C.　The third main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its supply being the flow of the Divine Trinity; its base and source for the flow is the Father signified by the street, its flow is the Spirit signified by the river of water of life, and the element of its flow is the Son signified by the tree of life—vv. 1-2.

D.　Thus, the entire constitution of the New Jerusalem is the processed and consummated Triune God built with His regenerated, transformed, and glorified elect in His Divine Trinity in a threefold way—cf. Eph. 4:4-6.

VI.　As co-workers and elders, we must have the realization that we are living out the New Jerusalem to become the New Jerusalem and working out the New Jerusalem to build the New Jerusalem—1 Cor. 3:9, 12-17:

A.　We must adorn and consummate the New Jerusalem with God the Father as its golden base, God the Son as its pearl gates, and God the Spirit for the wall of precious stones, by drinking the Spirit, the flowing Triune God, as the river of water of life and eating Christ, the overcoming Lion-Lamb, as the tree of life with His rich and fresh supply:

1.　The New Jerusalem needs not only to be consummated but also adorned; she is "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband"—Rev. 21:2, 18-21.

2.　We need to adorn the divine building by coordinating with the transforming Spirit to minister the Triune God into others, perfecting them with the attributes of the Triune God so that these divine attributes become their human virtues for the building up of the Body of Christ—2 Cor. 3:18; S. S. 1:10-11; Eph. 4:11-12.

B.　Even today the New Jerusalem is still under construction; we are building up the Body of Christ for the building of the New Jerusalem:

1.　We are working together with God to build up the New Jerusalem; the Lord's concern is to gain the New Jerusalem through the precursor of the organic Body of Christ produced in the churches.

2.　As we grow in the divine life and minister the Triune God to others for their growth in the divine life, we are building up the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:16.