Title: Newness of Life
Topic: Salvation
Summary: What the Bible calls newness of life is not just a matter of changing our behaviors but of gaining a new heart and a new spirit.
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Romans 6:1, 4
Isaiah 65:17; 66:22
Jeremiah 31:31
Leviticus 3:1, 14, 17, Leviticus 3:23, Leviticus 3:26, Leviticus 3:33, Leviticus 3:40-41
Ezekiel 11:16; 18:30; 36:25
John 3:3
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:17, 10
Galatians 6:12
Ephesians 4:17, 24
Colossians 3:5, 9-11
Titus 3:1-5
Revelation 21:1-5
Isaiah 62:1-2
249 - Newness of Life
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 12/30/2015. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Revelation 21:1-5
1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Apocalypse Revealed #813
813. "And His wife has made herself ready." This symbolically means that those who will belong to this church, namely, the New Jerusalem, are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed.
The wife symbolizes the Lord's New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, as is clearly apparent from chapter 21 that comes later, where we find the following:
I... saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
And in the same chapter:
(An angel) came to me..., saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he... showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God... (Revelation 21:9-10)
The wife's making herself ready means, symbolically, that those who will belong to that Lord's New Church are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed. And because her making herself ready has the symbolic meaning, therefore it follows next that as a wife she was "arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright," which symbolizes an introduction through instruction. Moreover, for the same reason a white horse is also afterward described, which symbolizes an understanding of the Word provided for them by the Lord.
