LIFE-STUDY OF GENESIS MESSAGE TWELVE: TRANSFORMATION FOR BUILDING IN THE FLOW OF LIFE

In this message I want to consider, as a parenthesis, the precious materials revealed in various portions of the Bible. Genesis 2:10-12 mentions three categories of these materials—gold, pearl, and onyx stone. Revelation 21 speaks of gold, pearl, and several varieties of precious stones (vv. 11-14, 18-21). If we read Exodus 28:6-21, we learn that onyx stones mounted in plaited settings of gold were placed upon the shoulders of the ephod and that twelve precious stones were set in gold on the breastplate worn by the high priest. Precious materials are also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:12. Paul says that we must take heed how we build the church, that we should build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Although Paul replaces pearl with silver, the other two substances remain the same. The Lord Jesus spoke of stones when He told Peter that he was a stone for the building of the church (Matt. 16:18). Then Peter, in his first Epistle, said that we all are living stones for the building of a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).

We also need to pay attention to a very crucial word in the New Testament—transformation. This word is correctly translated from the Greek language in Romans 12:2, which says that we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind. However, the same Greek word is found in 2 Corinthians 3:18 where it is rendered by the King James Version "changed." According to the proper translation, it should read, "transformed into the same image." Thus, the Greek word for transformation is found at least twice in the New Testament. An English equivalent to the Greek is the term metabolic change. Transformation is not a mere outward change; it is an organic change, a metabolic change. Transformation means to change a substance from one form and element into another form and element. Precious stones are produced by such a process of transformation. This is the meaning of transformation.

Many Christians do not know that the Bible covers the matter of transformation. Therefore, this entire message will be devoted to it. In the previous messages we have seen the eternal purpose of God, which is to express Himself and to exercise His dominion through man. For the fulfillment of this purpose, God created man in a specific way as a vessel to contain God Himself as life. Thus, God created man with a human spirit that he might contact God, receive God, retain God, and assimilate God into his whole being. After creating man in this way, God placed him in a garden with the tree of life as the center. Near the tree of life was a river flowing with living water, and at the flow of this river were gold, pearl, and onyx stones. Genesis 2 presents such a vivid picture.

What does this picture signify? We know that the Bible is very economical: not one paragraph, sentence, or word is wasted. Every word is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). Therefore, we must learn why God used nearly a whole chapter to portray a garden, a tree, a man, a river, and three precious materials. What does it all mean?

The Bible as a whole is God's revelation, and most of the seeds of this revelation were sown in Genesis 1 and 2. For example, God, man, and life are some seeds sown in Genesis 1 and developed throughout the whole Bible. The seeds sown in Genesis grow in the following books of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, producing a crop in the Epistles and a harvest in Revelation. Nearly everything sown in Genesis 1 and 2 is reaped as a great harvest in the book of Revelation.

Based upon this principle, let us attend to some of the items found in both Genesis and Revelation. In Genesis 2 we have the tree of life in the midst of the garden. Then we have a river which flows by the side of the tree and brings forth gold, pearl, and onyx stone. The setting for all of this is a garden, and a garden signifies the natural things created by God. In a garden we can see the growth of created things.

When we come to Revelation 21 and 22, we do not find a garden, but a city. A city is not created; it is built. In Genesis 2 we have creation; in Revelation 21 and 22 we have the building. In the city we also have the tree of life. Thus, the Bible begins and ends with life. Moreover, in the city we find a river of living water proceeding out of the throne of God. This corresponds to the river in the garden. Furthermore, in Revelation we find the three categories of precious materials, not in a natural state, but built into a city made with gold, pearl, and precious stones. Therefore, what was sown in Genesis as a seed is reaped in Revelation as the harvest. The growth of the seed and the development of the crop are found between Genesis and Revelation. This is not our human concept; it is the revelation of the divine Word found in the first and last chapters of the Bible.

In the beginning of the Bible we can see a garden. At the end of the Bible we see a city. Between the garden and the city a long process must transpire, and a great deal of work must be accomplished. Nevertheless, the seed sown in the garden becomes the harvest in the city. This seed includes the tree of life, a river of water, and the three precious materials. At the time of harvest in Revelation, the materials are no longer in a natural state, but become a building fitly joined together. The New Jerusalem is a building of gold, pearl, and precious stones.

If we read Revelation 21 and 22 carefully, we will see the entire city of New Jerusalem is a mountain of gold. It is not an edifice of clay. This golden mountain is also a golden city. Thus, the gold is the site, the ground for the building of the city. The precious stones are built into the wall of the New Jerusalem, and every gate in this wall is a large pearl. The site of the New Jerusalem is gold, the wall is composed of precious stones, and each of the twelve gates is a pearl. Therefore, this city is a composition of the precious materials found in a natural state in the garden. In Genesis the precious substances are lying in the garden; in Revelation they are built into a city.

This is not my interpretation. Between Genesis and Revelation we have 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says that as a masterbuilder he laid the unique foundation, Jesus Christ, and that we all must take heed how we build upon it. What materials are we using in building up the church? Paul tells us to build with gold, silver, and precious stones. (Later we will see why he substituted silver for pearl.) By this we can see that not only the New Jerusalem is built with gold, pearl, and precious stones, but even the church in this age must be built with gold, silver, and precious stones, not with wood, grass, and straw. As we shall see, gold contrasts with wood, silver opposes grass, and precious stones are versus straw.

When I saw this as a young Christian, I was excited. I saw a garden in Genesis 2 with precious materials. I saw a city in Revelation built with these same materials. Between Genesis and Revelation I saw a church built with gold, silver, and precious stones. I saw that the church is a composition of all the redeemed people, and that this composition is a building. Who are the gold, silver, and stones? You and I. We, God's redeemed people, are the materials for His spiritual building.

In Old Testament times God also had a people, the children of Israel. The most prominent person among them was the high priest who represented them in the presence of God. Whenever he went into the presence of God on behalf of the people, he had to wear two shoulder plates and a breastplate. On the shoulder plates were two large pieces of onyx stone on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the breastplate was a beautiful setting of fine, inlaid gold, and within this setting were set twelve precious stones in four rows of three stones each. The twelve stones in the breastplate correspond to the number twelve in the New Jerusalem. The number twelve both in the city and on the breastplate is composed of four times three. For instance, the breastplate has four rows with three stones in a row, and the city has four sides with three gates on each side, giving a total number of twelve in both the breastplate and the city. Thus, the number of the stones on the breastplate of the high priest was the number of the New Jerusalem. Furthermore, on these twelve stones were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Revelation 21 we find the names of these twelve tribes on the twelve gates of the city. This is very significant.

Let us consider the meaning of this. In the New Testament we have a church built with gold, silver, and precious stones. In the Old Testament we have God's people composed with gold and precious stones to become a complete entity. In the eyes of God, the breastplate of the high priest was a part of the miniature of the coming New Jerusalem. Likewise, the church built with gold, silver, and precious stones is also a part of the miniature of the New Jerusalem. In the Old Testament we have Israel with twelve tribes. In the New Testament we have the church with twelve apostles. Hence, Israel plus the church equals the New Jerusalem. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem, and the names of the twelve apostles of the church are on the twelve foundation stones of the city. This building covers the entire Bible from the beginning with a garden in Genesis to the conclusion with a city in Revelation. Between the garden and the city are two peoples, Israel and the church. Both Israel and the church have twelve names. Eventually, all of these have been transformed into gold, silver or pearl, and precious stones. Hence, the garden, the city, and the two peoples are all related to the three categories of precious materials.

In the Bible, between the garden and the city, there are not only the two peoples, Israel and the church, represented by gold and precious stones, built together as God's dwelling place, but there are also the life and the river enjoyed by these two peoples. Psalm 36:8-9 tells us that the children of Israel enjoyed the fountain of life and the river of pleasures in God. John 6 and 7 point out that the people in the church enjoy the bread of life and the rivers of living water. Hence, in the Bible there is the continued mention not only of the precious materials but also of the life and river mentioned at the beginning and at the end.

Why is pearl found in Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 and silver in 1 Corinthians 3? In 1 Corinthians 3 we have silver because in typology silver represents redemption. The meaning of redemption is to deal with sin. If there had been no sin, there would have been no need of redemption. In the garden of Genesis 2 there was no sin, and for eternity in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 sin will be banished. Sin came in from Genesis 3 and will be fully eliminated in Revelation 20. Thus, in neither Genesis 2 nor Revelation 21 do we find sin. Therefore, in these situations there is no need for redemption, for silver. The need there is not silver for redemption, but pearl for regeneration. Redemption is to take away sin; regeneration is to bring in the divine life. Silver stands for redemption between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 because of the great problem of sin that necessitates redemption. In the present age we need silver.

With all of this as a background, we come to the subject of transformation. We have seen that God has a purpose, and for the fulfillment of His purpose He created man as a vessel to contain Him, making him with a human spirit. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit (John 4:24). If we are going to worship God, we must use the proper organ. For example, we cannot drink water with our ears, but with our mouth. God is living water. If we want to drink Him as our living water, we must exercise our spirit to contact Him. When we exercise our spirit to contact God the Spirit, we are actually drinking of God as the living water (John 4:24, 14). Thus, God made man with a spirit to contact and worship Him.

God is life. God Himself is the tree of life. When He came in the flesh, He revealed Himself as life and as the life supply. Christ is the bread of life (John 6:35). Whatever we take into us as food will be assimilated into our being. This is very meaningful and significant. God is life to us in the form of food. We need to receive Him by eating Him. Once God enters into us, He becomes the flow of life within us. For proper eating we need food and drink. John 6 covers the bread of life for our eating, and John 7 covers the living water for our drinking. If we have food without water, it will be difficult for us to eat. How can we digest and assimilate our food without water? We need the flow of life. In Genesis 2 we have the tree of life for our food and the flowing river for our drink. Food comes first and drink follows. When we take in the Lord as our food, we will also have Him as the water flowing within us.

 

I. CAUSING MAN TO HAVE THE DIVINE NATURE—GOLD

In message eleven we saw that this flow of living water brings forth three kinds of materials. The first of these is gold, which typifies God's divine nature. All Bible scholars agree that in typology gold signifies the divine nature. Gold itself is not a transformed substance; it is an element. Unlike gold, pearl, and precious stones are transformed materials, for they have been changed from one form into another. Gold is a created element and can never be transformed or changed. This is meaningful. Iron or steel can change through the years, but gold remains the same. It is the strongest and the most unchangeable element. Therefore, gold is precious, expensive, and valuable. Thus, in typology God used gold to signify His divine nature. This divine nature has been brought into our being. The element of gold has been added to us (2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:18, 21).

Whenever you worship God or pray to Him for a period of time, you will have the sensation that you are golden. You will sense that you are shining, precious, and weighty. Gold is weighty. Before you prayed in such a way, you were light and loose. However, after praying for two hours, you have an element in you that is precious, shining, and weighty. Have you not had this experience? When you pray to God the Father or call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the divine life flows within you to bring forth gold.

At this point, I would like to talk to the sisters about shopping. Suppose you sisters pray for two hours. After your prayer, you have the sensation that you are precious and weighty. Then you go to the department store and do your shopping carelessly, unconcerned about the inner gold. If you shop in this loose manner, you will sense that your gold has gone. It disappeared. Although it remains within you, it has disappeared as far as your sensation is concerned. On the contrary, suppose you intend to go shopping after a two-hour period of prayer, and the inner sense of the divine gold does not agree. If you say, "Amen, Lord. I will not go," you will have the sense that the gold within you has increased in weight. If we walk in the spirit continually, we will sense that the inner gold is increasing constantly. The divine nature will increase within us.

How much "gold" do you have within you? Perhaps some will have to admit that they have just a little. If we pray and walk in the spirit, the inner gold will increase daily. The flow of the divine life will add more of the divine nature to us. Although we were made of clay, God's intention is to impart His gold into us by the flow of His life. In this way the process of transformation begins.

Transformation requires a new element to be added to the original element. Suppose I am a person with a pale complexion. If you color my face with make-up, that is outward beautification, not inward transformation. If I am to have a real change, a new element must be added to me. How can it be added? By my eating. If I eat healthy meals day after day, I will undergo an inward transformation, an inward metabolic change in life. When a metabolic change occurs, new elements are added and old elements are discharged. This is transformation.

 

II. CAUSING MAN TO BE REGENERATED—PEARL

What does the pearl signify? Although pearl is replaced with silver in 1 Corinthians because of the need for redemption, pearl was God's original concept. When I was young, I did not know what the Bible meant by pearl. However, after passing through many experiences with the Lord, we now understand the meaning of pearl.

Consider how a pearl is formed. An oyster living in the sea is wounded by a piece of sand. The oyster secretes life juice around the grain of sand until the sand becomes a pearl. Christ is the oyster who lived in the ocean of this world. We are the grains of sand that wound Him and, after injuring Him, stay at His wound. His life secretes His life essence, enveloping us with it layer upon layer. Eventually, after becoming fully enclosed by this life-secretion, we become a pearl (Matt. 13:46). This is the experience of regeneration. Originally, we were small pieces of sand, but we became pearls as the life juice of Christ enveloped our being. Every gate of the New Jerusalem is a pearl, signifying the entrance into the kingdom of God (Rev. 21:21). The Lord Jesus said that unless we are born anew we cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5; cf. Titus 3:5). We all have been born again and can enter into the kingdom. Furthermore, by becoming pearls, we even become the entrance itself.

After entering the New Jerusalem through the gate of pearl, we find ourselves on the street of gold (Rev. 21:21). This means that we walk according to the divine nature and that the divine nature becomes our way. Regeneration is our gate; the divine nature is our way. Do not go to others to ask them what you should do. The Lord Jesus is your way (John 14:6). You simply need to walk according to the golden street, the divine nature within you. Brothers, do you get your haircut according to the divine nature? Sisters, do you shop according to the divine nature? I am quite sure that the golden way never leads to a movie theater. When you are going in the direction of the movies, you will find yourself on the way of clay. We all need to walk the golden way. To be on the street of gold is to touch the divine nature of God.

 

III. CAUSING MAN TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST—PRECIOUS STONE

Although we may have the gate of pearl and the street of gold, we do not yet have a wall built up to express the image of God. The wall of the New Jerusalem is not only an erected boundary that separates the holy from the common, but also a building that expresses the image of God. In Revelation 4:2-3, God sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper. The wall of the New Jerusalem and the first foundation stone of the wall are also built with jasper (Rev. 21:18-19), bearing the same appearance as God. Although we have passed through the gate of pearl and are walking the golden way, I still expect to see around us a wall built up to include all godly things, to exclude all worldly things, and to express the image of God. This wall is built up by the way of transformation (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2a; 1 Cor. 3:12a). The materials of the wall are all transformed precious stones (Rev. 21:11, 18a, 19-20). Only transformed people can be built together.

Where do precious stones come from? A precious stone is a transformed item. All precious stones originally were of other materials. Some of them were formed into igneous rocks by pressure and heat. Others were formed into sedimentary rocks by pressure and by the flowing of water. All became precious stones. Diamond (Exo. 28:18) is formed out of carbon by heat and pressure. Under extreme pressure and intense heat the carbon becomes a diamond. These are the principles of the transformation of precious stones. Oh, we need the burning, we need the flowing of the living water, and we need the pressure!

After entering the gate of pearl and walking the street of gold, you may think you are right with the Lord in every respect. As far as the gate and the street are concerned, you are right with Him. As you walk the golden way, you may have no problem with the Lord, but other difficulties will arise. For example, as a young brother you may expect to have a very good sister as your wife. Also, the sisters expect to have a fine young brother as their husband. However, married people can testify that while marriage is an enjoyment, it also causes suffering. Each husband is a source of suffering to the wife, and each wife is a source of suffering to the husband. Although you may provide enjoyment for your spouse, you also provide some suffering. We try our best to make our spouses happy, yet we cannot avoid making them suffer. Although marriage is a cause of suffering, we cannot do without marriage. Our marriage is not in our own hands; it is overruled by the sovereign Lord Himself according to His economy. Besides the suffering caused by marriage, there are many other sufferings. Along the golden way are many pains and piercing thorns.

In your kitchen you have many appliances. Among them is a stove with an oven. It is difficult to cook properly without a stove and oven. In one sense, the church is a garden. In another sense, the church is a dining room and a kitchen. Without the kitchen, the dining room is empty. The church kitchen has a big stove with many compartments. There is a place in that stove for every one of us. I can testify from my own experience that in the church we are truly burned for the sake of our transformation. The leading brothers burn one another constantly. The husbands burn the wives, and the wives burn the husbands. This is God's burning for our transformation.

We were made earthen vessels. Although these vessels are useful, their material, which is clay, does not match the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there are no bricks, only transformed stones. We need a great amount of pressure and burning and flowing of life before we can be transformed into precious stones. The more pressure, burning, and flowing we experience, the more precious we become.

 

IV. FOR THE BUILDING OF GOD'S REDEEMED PEOPLE

Paul warned us to build the church in a proper way. Most of the work among Christians is not with gold, silver or pearl, and precious stone, but with wood, grass, and straw. As gold in typology signifies the divine nature, wood represents our human nature. Thus, wood is versus gold. We are fond of saying that we are all human, especially when we make a mistake. However, we should not make our humanity an excuse. Our humanity must be a resurrected humanity, for the natural humanity is inadequate for the building of God's church. The building of the church requires a transformed humanity, not a humanity of wood.

Grass is versus silver. The Bible tells us that all flesh is grass (Isa. 40:6; 1 Pet. 1:24). Grass typifies the people having become flesh. Grass is not solid like wood; it is weak and fragile. Thus, grass represents the fallen nature of man.

The last item that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 3:12 is straw. Straw is the stock or stem of a crop which remains after the grain has been threshed. Straw, which comes out of the ground, is versus the precious stone, which is a transformed substance. First Corinthians 3:12 presents a vivid contrast. Wood is a tree without fruit, and straw is a crop without grain. We should not be wood or straw, materials that will be burned away and that are useless for the building of God's church.

For the Lord's building, we need the divine gold, the regenerated pearl, and the transformed precious stones. The more we have of these items, the easier it will be for us to be built together spontaneously. If we experience the gold, pearl, and precious stones, we will not only be the precious materials, but also a building fitly joined together to form a habitation of God in our spirit (Eph. 2:22). Thus, transformation is for God's building. We need to pray about these matters and fellowship concerning them that the Lord may bring us all into the reality of transformation for His building.