Page 268 - Through New Eyes

The New World 269

Who can doubt that the Holy Spirit would have us link up this
verse with Exodus 25:17-19 — “And thou shalt make a mercy-
seat of pure gold . . . and thou shalt make two cherubims of
gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the
mercy-seat .“ 6

The tomb enclosed by the great stone formed but one more
Most Holy Place, all the more so because here the incarnate
Word was placed.g Outside this tomb was a garden (John 19:41),
a reminder of the garden-sanctuary of the Tabernacle. When
Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, she rightly recognized Him as the
new Gardener, the new Adam (John 20: 15). The Magdalene,
restored from her seven demons (Mark 16:9), symbolizes the
Church, the new Eve.
John is not finished with his Edenic motifs. As God breathed
life into Adam in Genesis 2:7, so Jesus breathes life into His
Apostles in John 20:22. As naked Adam hid in the garden, so
naked Peter hid in the sea until Jesus restored him (John 21:7).
As Adam named the animals, so Peter and the rest of the dis-
ciples are told to guard and feed Christ’s sheep (21:15-17).
Thus our Lord wrapped Himself in the garment of the old
creation, and in His Death and Resurrection created it anew.
But what is this new creation like?

The New Heavens and Earth
According to Revelation 21:1, the work of Christ brought
about a new heavens and earth, “for the first heaven and the first
earth passed away.” This is explained a few verses later as the
New Jerusalem, coming from heaoen, overlaying a high moun-
tain, which is the earth. Thus, the New Jerusalem-mountain
complex is a picture of the new heavens and earth.
This is often nowadays taken to refer to the final eternal
estate, but I believe the older commentaries are right in referring
it first of all to the Gospel Age. After all, in the New Jerusalem
the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations (Revela-
tion 22:2), something that will not be needed after the last judg-
ment. Also, people are invited to wash their robes and enter the
gates (22: 14), and the Spirit and bride summon outsiders to
come in (22:17). Clearly, such evangelism will not take place

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