Tag: Earthly Jerusalem and Heavenly Jerusalem

  • Earthly Jerusalem And Heavenly Jerusalem

    Earthly Jerusalem And Heavenly Jerusalem

    Whatever is created on this earth was given to us to teach us spiritual and invisible things in heaven.

    Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

     

    God and spiritual things are invisible, but the bible says those invisible things are made clearly visible through the created things on this earth so that we can know the invisible things in heaven and cannot make any excuse to God that we did not know the spiritual world. That is why we must first look at the created things on this earth to know the spiritual things in Heaven.

    Physical Temple and Spiritual Temple

    One of things created by God on this earth is God’s Temple in Jerusalem or Jerusalem Temple where God promised that he would put his Spirit in it and dwell among his people on this earth. Through this physical Jerusalem Temple God is teaching us the reality of Jerusalem Temple in Heaven. In the Old Testament people went to Jerusalem Temple in Israel for the forgiveness of sins and salvation.

    But as God’s people who are living in the age of fulfillment, we must seek the true temple of God to receive the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Out of ignorance, however, many people come to visit the temple in Jerusalem for the worship of God. But the bible says those who worship God in the earthly Jerusalem Temple was given as copy and shadow to teach us the reality of Heavenly Jerusalem which would appear at God’s appointed time.

    First, let us find out the true reality of the temple. What is the spiritual temple? A temple is God’s dwelling place where he put his Spirit. In the Old Testament it was the physical building located in Jerusalem since God promised that he would put his Spirit inside the Temple, sitting enthroned between the cherubim in the Most Holy Place.

    However, Jesus taught us the reality of the Temple that we must seek as people of God who are living under the new covenant. The physical temple was given to the people who were under the old covenant.

    John 2:19  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

     

    Through this Jesus taught that the reality of the Temple is Christ himself because God put his Spirit in the body of Christ and dwelled among his people. That is why to truly worship God now we must come to the Christ who is the true holy temple of God. And wherever the Christ is, that is the place we should go to worship God.

    Earthly Jerusalem and Heavenly Jerusalem

    With this in mind, let us think about Jerusalem Temple, the dwelling place of God. In the time of Solomon, the king established the temple of God so that people would come to worship God and to receive the forgiveness and salvation. This earthly Jerusalem Temple was also given as copy and shadow to teach us the reality of Heavenly Jerusalem Temple, where we should go to receive the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Apostle Paul teaches us about the Heavenly Jerusalem.

    Galatians 4:24  These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

     

    Paul explains the spiritual meaning of Abraham’s family through this two sons: Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael was born through Hagar who had been a slave girl serving Sarah and Isaac who was born through Sarah, the legitimate wife of Abraham. In bible, symbolically Abraham represents God himself so Abraham’s children represent God’s people who would be the heirs of God to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Among the two sons of Abraham, Isaac was chosen as heir even though he was not the firstborn to Abraham. That is why we must become like Isaac to receive salvation as heir of God. Then how can we become Isaac?

    Paul explains the parabolical meaning of Abraham’s family history. It can be represented as table below.

    Hagar                                                  Sarah
    Old Covenant                                     New Covenant
    Law of Moses                                      Law of Christ
    Mountain Sinai                                  Mountain Zion
    Earthly Jerusalem                          Heavenly Jerusalem
    Children of Slave woman              Children of Free woman
    Death                                                   Salvation

    What is the Heavenly Jerusalem Temple?

    God gave the earthly Jerusalem Temple to those who were under the old covenant, but to his true people who are to be saved he prepared the heavenly Jerusalem Temple that we must go to worship God. Then how can we find this spiritual Heavenly Temple to meet God? Paul said, “But the Jerusalem that is above (in heaven) is free and she is our mother.” He was teaching that the heavenly Jerusalem we must seek was in heaven.

    Here we are put under a dilemma: as sinner we must receive the forgiveness of sins on this earth to go to heaven, but the only way for us to receive salvation is through the Jerusalem in heaven. Without receiving the forgiveness of sins we cannot go to heaven, but to receive the forgiveness of sins we must go to heaven to go to Jerusalem in heaven which is the true reality of the temple we must go to worship God. This was the same situation for God’s people 2000 years ago.

    Even though Jews were given the physical temple in Jerusalem to worship God, it could not give them complete salvation that is why they were still under the slavery of sins. In this hopeless state the Christ who was the reality of the temple came down as man in the flesh to this earth to give them the complete salvation. Since it was impossible for a sinner to go to heaven to worship God in the true temple of God, the heavenly temple came down to this earth to give the true forgiveness of sins.

    It would be the same today. Since we cannot go to heaven to worship God in heavenly Jerusalem, that Heavenly Jerusalem must come down to us to give us the true forgiveness of sins just like the Christ 2000 years ago.

    Heavenly Jerusalem Coming Down to this Earth

    Now the question is when the Heavenly Jerusalem comes down to this earth.

    Revelation 21:9  One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

    The spiritual Jerusalem is coming down to this earth and makes its dwelling among the people so that people can come to this heavenly Jerusalem to receive the forgivenss of sins and salvation. But we cannot imagine that a temple building is going to fall down from heaven to this earth. But then how would it appear to us? 2000 years ago, the reality of Temple God himself came down to this earth in the flesh and put his Spirit in his body. Through this we can see God is the reality of temple and God establishes the heavenly temple on this earth by coming as man in the flesh.

    Therefore, the Heavenly Jerusalem which is coming down out of heaven actually means God who is coming down as man with a physical body. 2000 years ago it was only God the Father came in the form of male to give us the forgiveness of sins. But according to the bible in the last days, it is the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and his Bride (Heavenly Jerusalem) that are coming down to this earth in the human form. Then who is the bride of God, the heavenly Jerusalem?

    Galatians 4:26  But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother

    The bible teaches that we have our mother in heaven too. And she is going to come down to this earth in the human form. Elohim God (our Father and our Mother) comes together as man in the flesh in the last days as true temple of God and will give us the forgiveness of sins and salvation.

    Conclusion

    Therefore, we who are living in the last days must seek the Heavenly Jerusalem our Mother who came down to this earth as the true temple of God to dwell among us and to give us salvation. That is why those who want to worship God in spirit and truth must come to Heavenly Jerusalem our Mother. To fulfill the prophecy God the Father and God the Mother came down to this earth. They are the reality of the temple.

    Revelation 21:22  I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

    Father and Mother are the true temple of God and they are God’s dwelling place which are going to be established in the last days. And we must come to this God’s dwelling place to worship God.

    Revelation 21:2  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

     

    That true reality of Temple came down to this earth to give the salvation, the water of life. Come to our Mother Heavenly Jerusalem. Come to the World Mission Society Church of God and receive the salvation.

     

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  • Christ, The Reality Of The Temple Of God

    Christ, The Reality Of The Temple Of God

    Jerusalem, The Reality of the Throne of God

    What is the true temple of God? Jeremiah said that the true temple of God is not the Jerusalem Temple in Palestine, but God would establish the true Temple of God.

    Jeremiah 3:16  In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord.

    Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple: The bible teaches that this temple and the ark of the covenant are a shadow for the reality that would appear. Then what is the reality of the temple and the ark of the covenant?

    The ark of the covenant was called the Throne of God because God said that he would sit enthroned between the cherubim on the ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the stone tablets of Ten Commandments and it was put in the Most Holy Place in the temple. But Jeremiah said that people would not seek the ark of the covenant anymore. What is the meaning of this? The most precious covenant of God is in the ark of the covenant: the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments and the ark of the covenant was the core of the faith of God’s people in those days.

    But this prophecy says that the ark of the covenant would be lost in the future and even though it was lost, people would not seek it or make another one. Then why is it so? It is because at that time the true reality of the ark of the covenant will be revealed to the people, not the earthly ark of the covenant, but the spiritual heavenly ark of the covenant. Then what is the spiritual ark of the covenant in the last days? To understand this Christ Ahsahnghong said that we should know the relationship between the ark of the covenant and the temple.

    The Ark and the Most Holy Place

    Since the covenant of God was given to the Israelites, it was necessary for them to prepare a place to put the covenant of God. For that purpose they built temple according to the pattern of the heavenly temple shown to Moses. When the temple was established, they put the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place of the temple. When Israelites finished all the commands of God concerning to the temple, God started to dwell in the temple by filling the temple with his Spirit.

    Exodus 40:33   33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

    But Jeremiah says that this is not reality. The ark of the covenant is not reality and since there is no ark of the covenant, there is no need of the temple, either. If there is no covenant of God, it is not necessary for people to prepare a place for one. So when Jeremiah prophesied about the abolishment of the covenant of God, the physical temple of God was also abolished. Instead, the prophecy says that he will establish the true reality of the ark of the covenant and the temple. Then what is the reality of the ark of the covenant and the temple? Since Moses built the earthly temple according to the pattern of the heavenly one, the reality of the covenant and the temple must have been heaven in those days.

    The Layout of the Solomon Temple: The temple was composed of two rooms: the inner room and outer room which were called the most holy place and holy place, respectively.

    Earthly Temple and Heavenly Temple

    Hebrews 8:5   They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

    The earthly sanctuary or the temple was just a copy of the heavenly temple given to us to teach us the reality of the temple which is in heaven. 2000 years ago, Jesus came down to us and revealed to us the reality of the temple.

    John 2:19   19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

    The true reality of the temple was the body of the Christ. After baptism, God put the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ. Since the temple of God is the place where the Spirit of God dwells, at that time the Spirit of God was dwelling in the body of Christ, so the body of Christ could become the temple of God.

    The temple of God is the place where the Spirit of God dwells. In the time of baptism, Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God dwelt in Jesus’ body. In this respect, the body of Christ became the dwelling or the temple of God. That is why we can say that the body of Christ was the reality of the temple.

    But this is not the end of the reality of the temple. When Moses built the temple, he did according to the pattern of the heavenly one. Through the earthly sanctuary God wanted to teach us the reality of the sanctuary, that is, Christ. Just as the earthly temple has two parts, the Holy Place (outer room) and the Most Holy Place (inner room), the heavenly sanctuary must have two parts too. As we have seen Jesus Christ represent the sanctuary of God, which part does he symbolize? Apostle Paul says Jesus Christ symbolizes the outer room, the Holy Place.

    The Meaning of the Destruction of the Body of Christ

    Hebrews 10:19  Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.

    According to the bible, the inner room and the outer room was separated by a curtain and nobody could go behind the curtain. Only once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place through the blood of animals. But Jesus came as true reality of the animal sacrifice and sacrificed his own body shedding his own blood. And Paul explains the true meaning of Christ’s shedding his blood: Christ’s body was destroyed and torn apart to tear away the curtain separating the two rooms of the temple and open the way to the Most Holy Place where the throne of God or the ark of the covenant was placed. (Mt 27:51)It means Christ’s body was the reality of the Holy Place including t he curtain. While the curtain was standing, people could not enter the Most Holy Place to meet God and receive blessing from God. By destroying his body of temple, however, he could open the way to the Most Holy Place.

    What is the meaning of the crucifixion of Christ? By destroying his body of the temple, actually Christ was opening the way to the Most Holy Place to the Throne of God so that people could meet God for the forgiveness of sins. (Mt 27:51, Heb 8:8, Heb 10:19)

    This means through the sacrifice of the Christ, he wanted to lead us to the reality of the Most Holy Place where the true ark of the covenant is. Then what is the reality of the Most Holy Place? Just as the reality of the Holy Place of the temple came down to this earth 2000 years ago, according to the prophecies of the bible the reality of the Most Holy Place will come down to this earth: the reality of the ark of the covenant and the true reality of the Throne of God where God dwells by putting his Spirit in it.

    The Reality of the Most Holy Place

    1King 6:19   He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

    The most important feature of the Most Holy Place is that it has the same length, width, and height, that is, a cube. But this earthly inner room of the temple was given to us to teach us the reality of the Most Holy Place which Jesus would reveal to us through the sacrifice of his body of the Holy Place. In the last days, the reality of the Most Holy Place, the Throne of God is coming down from heaven. Apostle John describes the Heavenly Jerusalem coming down from heaven:

    Revelation 21:15   15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

    What is the heavenly Jerusalem temple that is coming down from heaven in the last day? The bible describes it as shaped like a cube. This description of the temple exactly matches with the Most Holy Place of the temple. Then what is the reality of the Most Holy Place of the tempel?

    What is this? The CUBE or the Most Holy Place. Then when it comes down from heaven, how would the Heavenly Jerusalem be revealed to us? Think about Jesus who was the reality of the Holy Place. How did he appeared to us? By coming as man with a physical body and By putting the Spirit of God in his body, his body could become the temple of God. Then how would this reality of the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple appear to us? First, who is this Heavenly Jerusalem?

    Revelation 21:2   I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

    The heavenly Jerusalem is coming down from as bride of the Lamb. The Lamb is God the Father coming down from heaven as man. Then who is this heavenly Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb?

    Galatians 4:26   But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our Mother.

    Heavenly Jerusalem is our Mother and she is the reality of the Most Holy Place. Just as our Father in heaven came down from heaven as man by putting the Holy Spirit in his body of temple, it means our Mother in heaven will come down from heaven as woman with body of the temple and she will put the Spirit of God in her body. Therefore, in the last days, our Father and Mother will appear as man in the flesh as man and woman or the last Adam and Eve to give us eternal life. 2000 years the reality of the Holy Place of the temple appeared, but people rejected him because they saw the appearance of Christ and despised him, rather than looking at the prophecies of the bible.

    What is the reality of the temple of God? What is the water of life we can receive from the temple?

    Conclusion

    God would test us again on our faith in God and the words of God in the bible by coming down to this earth as man in the flesh. They would appear as man and woman, which would be harder for the people to accept. But what does the prophecy of the bible say? They would come down from heaven and they would give the eternal life. What we should do is to believe in the words of God in the bible and accept the Jerusalem our Mother as the source of salvation: the true Throne of God and True reality of the Most Holy Place where the Spirit of God dwells. Let us serve the ark of the covenant by accepting Mother and following her to the end.

    Thanks to heavenly Father Christ Ahnsahnghong and heavenly Mother for teaching us all these truth. Help our weak faith now and strengthen us with your Spirit so that we can stand firm without swaying to the right or left. And please forgive our sins and transgresions.

    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

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