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.
