Revelation 22:1 and 3 show the center of New Jerusalem: “the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
We should be those living with the Father as the source of life (John 1:13; Eph. 4:18; John 5:26) on the throne. The first striking point of the New Jerusalem is that God is sitting on the throne. This God is the Lamb-God, the redeeming God….The first verse of Genesis tells us that God only created. In Revelation 22:1, however, we see God and the Lamb, which signifies that God is now the redeeming God, no longer merely the creating God. In Genesis 1:1 He was the creating God, but in Revelation 22:1 we see the redeeming God.*
The redeeming God is on the throne and the Spirit flows out from the throne as the “river of water of life.” God’s intention in creation was that man would eat the tree of life in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9) to take God in as His life and thereby express God.
But man took the fruit God had commanded him not to take and fell away from God into sin and death. As a result, man was shut out of the garden and kept away from the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24). Much later Jesus came to redeem man from sin. However, redemption was not the goal; redemption was a step to restore man to the position to receive God as life (John 3:15-16).
After we accept God’s redemption and receive Christ as our life, this life grows in us. This growth causes us to live Christ and magnify Him. The ultimate stage of this growth, living, and magnification is New Jerusalem.
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