1. Kurze Darstellung des Lehrbegriffes der neuen Kirche, welche unter dem neuen Jerusalem in der Offenbarung verstanden wird

Nachdem in einer Reihe von Jahren mehrere größere und kleinere Werke über das neue Jerusalem, unter welchem die neue vom Herrn zu gründende Kirche verstanden wird, von mir veröffentlicht worden sind, und nachdem auch die Offenbarung enthüllt worden ist, entschloß ich mich, die Lehre dieser Kirche in ihrer Fülle, somit vollständig erscheinen zu lassen; weil aber dies ein Werk von einigen Jahren ist, so hielt ich für geraten, eine Skizze davon herauszugeben, damit man vorerst eine allgemeine Idee von dieser Kirche und ihrer Lehre fasse, da ja, wenn das Allgemeine vorausgeht, nachher alles und jedes, was in dessen Umfang liegt, in seinem Licht erscheint; denn dies dringt ins Allgemeine ein, wie die gleichartigen Dinge in ihre Aufnahmegefäße. Dieser kurze Abriß wird jedoch der Beurteilung der Kritik nicht unterworfen, sondern bloß zur [vorläufigen] Notiz mitgeteilt, weil sein Inhalt im Werk selbst vollständig erwiesen werden wird. Es müssen aber die heutigen Lehrbestimmungen betreffend die Rechtfertigung vorausgeschickt werden, wegen des Folgenden über die Abweichungen der Dogmen der heutigen Kirche von denjenigen der neuen Kirche.

62. The New Church Is Meant by the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation

After the book of Revelation describes what the state of the Christian Church would be at its end, and what it is now, and after those people of that church who are meant by the false prophet, the dragon, the harlot, and beasts have been cast into hell, thus after the Last Judgment had been accomplished, we are told then:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.... Then I, John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.... And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And (He) Himself will be with them and be their God.... He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:1-3, 5)

The new heaven and new earth that John saw, after the first heaven and first earth had passed away, do not mean a new stellar or meteorological heaven visible to human eyes, nor a new earth for people to dwell on. Rather they mean the new existence of a church in the spiritual world, and the new existence of a church in the natural world.

[2] Since the new existence of a church in both worlds, spiritual and natural, was brought about by the Lord when He was in the world, therefore a similar prediction is made in the Prophets, namely that a new heaven and new earth would then come into existence, as said in Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, and elsewhere. And these cannot mean, therefore, a new heaven visible to the eyes, or an earth inhabitable by people.

By the spiritual world we mean the world where angels and spirits dwell, and by the natural world we mean the world where people dwell.

The new existence of a church has been recently brought about in the spiritual world, and the new existence of a church will be brought about in the world, as we have shown several times in the short work The Last Judgment, and as we will show more fully in its Continuation.