NEW CREATION
[p. 484] NEW CREATION
Isaiah 65: 17 to end; Isaiah 66:22,23
JT It occurred to me that God’s way in bringing to pass His thoughts in regard to His earthly people is the same in principle as that which He follows in connection with the heavenly people, so that you get in scriptures relating to Israel truths analogous to those found in connection with the church. For instance, in Isaiah you have the overthrow of idolatry, and this takes place in each individual, and then you have the marriage relation suggested in type, and also new creation. In chapter 51: 17 there is an appeal to the people to hearken, then in verse 4 He owns them as His people. All this shows how we reach the collective position. The truth in its individual application is apprehended, so that righteousness is followed; chapter 52. God recognises them as His people; chapter 51: 4. The remnant are regarded as God’s people as following righteousness; and then He proposes a law in regard to them. I think all this is analogous to our own position. If we are to be in relation to God we must be regulated by a law. Then in verse 7, “Hearken unto me ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law”. They now know righteousness and God’s law is in their heart. In this way God brings in a people who are formed after Christ. They answer to the ark of the covenant. The law was in Christ’s heart; now it is in the hearts of the remnant. Then He says, “Fear ye not the reproach of man, neither be ye afraid of their revilings”. As thus formed after Christ they would come into reproach and suffering, but they were not to fear.
The remnant now implores Jehovah to awake in His strength, so that they should return to Zion with gladness and joy. But Jerusalem is to awake and [p. 485] put on strength, chapter 52: 1. God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Then, the remnant are to know Jehovah’s name; verse 6. They follow righteousness, and know righteousness, and as a consequence lawlessness is broken up in them; and then they know Jehovah, which means that idolatry is overthrown. In this way God recovers. Israel for Himself. All is really affected through the Servant, He who is introduced in chapter 42. Following upon this you get the marriage relation formed. In Psalm 45 there is the spirit of admiration for Christ. “My heart is inditing a good matter”. The Psalmist eulogises Christ and then the King’s daughter is alluded to: “Hearken, O daughter”. In eulogising Christ the Spirit appeals to the daughter; that is to say, to Jerusalem, she is called upon to incline her ear, and to forget her own people and her father’s house, so that the king should desire her beauty. That is to say, Jerusalem is now prepared for Christ, and He delights in her. The Spirit sees her within. She is all glorious within; that is, in the king’s apartment. I think that is in principle how we are brought into union with Christ.. So that when you come to chapter 62 of Isaiah you get the marriage relation alluded to formally. She is no longer regarded as desolate.
I have said so much thinking it would be helpful to see how the Spirit leads on to union in the development of the truth. Such lines of truth as the kingdom, the new covenant, and eternal life prepare the way for union. These three are on an ascending scale reaching up to union.
BTF Referring to Psalm 45, is not what you have been speaking of the work of the Spirit in the believer producing suitability to Christ?
JT Her clothing is of wrought gold. She is all glorious within; the Spirit produces all that; and you find here in Isaiah that Jerusalem is called upon [p. 486] to awake and to put on her beautiful garments. Jerusalem will be adorned in a spiritual way, and will be in relation with Christ as the earthly bride. The Lord would not unite to Himself what is not in accord with Him. The remnant will know righteousness and follow righteousness, and they put on strength and beautiful garments. Thus they are in suitability for union so far as will be known on earth.
I think the principles are the same as to us. The church primarily came into evidence as knowing and following righteousness, and she was clothed with the grace of the Spirit. The Spirit forms us in the grace of Christ. According to Ephesians 1 God has “graced” us in the Beloved. I have no doubt it is what the Spirit creates in us.
RSS And it qualifies us for the great relationship in which we are set.
AFM What has been before us in regard to these scriptures is interesting because it shows that divine truths are unchanging; that what applies to the earthly side also applies to the heavenly.
CHB In connection with the church it says, His wife has made herself ready, she has put on the garments.
WBr In a sense the responsibility is with her.
JT Well, we see how she is brought in and presented to Christ in suitability. As to Jerusalem she was the queen in gold of Ophir; and then she is referred to as a daughter. She is the queen, companion of the King, but she is also referred to as daughter, and then there are other daughters. Jerusalem will be the great central feature for Christ on earth. This is the theme of the Song of Solomon.
I think the idea of a city being the companion of Christ is easily understood, and the same thing applies to the church. It suggests I think, that the relation of the bride to Christ is in connection with [p. 487] the government of the world. The church is formed after Christ so that she reflects Him in the character of a city.
RSS It has been a question in one’s mind as to what the relationship involved. I mean that the two figures, the bride and the city, did not seem to go very well together.
JT I think the bride comes in in connection with government. Jerusalem is called “the queen”. The very term is royal, and royalty is necessarily connected with government; so that I suppose the remnant of Israel will be formed after Christ according to what He was amongst them in holy discrimination. A sceptre of uprightness shall be the sceptre of His kingdom, and this came out in His ministry on earth, and the remnant will be formed accordingly, Jerusalem will thus be “the queen in gold of Ophir”.
AFM What they failed to do under law in the past dispensation they will do thoroughly in the time to come. Through them there will be an administration of righteous government on earth, and love will be the motive principle.
JT Isaiah 53 shows how the remnant will feel and own their want of appreciation of the Messiah when He was in humiliation amongst them. They saw no beauty in Him then, but it was there, and now they recognise it. The spirit of prophecy goes on to say what He was, so that you have an outline of what Christ was in humiliation and rejection. He grew up before Jehovah as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. The chapter is extremely touching, for in it the Lord’s humiliation, sufferings, and death are outlined in the most perfect way by the keen sensibilities of the prophetic spirit working in the repentant remnant, which rejected Him; they now feel their sorrow in that.
WBr Would you say that they are prepared for marriage relationship in chapter [p. 488] 62?
JT Yes, God is opening up His heart now; He says, “thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name ... . Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate, but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall he married”, verses 2 - 4.
BTF You spoke of government in the city, regarding the queen and royalty; has that any present application, or is it looking forward to the millennium?
JT The government of God is carried on now in principle in the church. I think every testimony of God finds an answer in some way in the church.
RSS Matthew is occupied with that side of things. The church as presented there largely takes the place of Israel in the ways of God on earth.
JT And qualification for this was learned from Christ. In Isaiah He is introduced as Jehovah’s Servant; Israel had that place, but failed in it. Christ took the position and answered to it perfectly. Thus Jehovah’s Servant is to carry out His service for Him. In chapter 65: 13 - 15 they are referred to as servants.
RSS Of necessity Christ could not remain here, but the church remains here to maintain and carry out all that He witnesses to. Government is a great thought with God, and what you have been saying in connection with Israel and the church in this connection is exceedingly important.
JT We learn how to govern first of all by governing ourselves. We are taught how to govern in view of the millennial state of things.
JS So that you see the failure in Noah, which unfitted him for governing.
JT Noah broke down; because he did not know how to govern himself.
RSS “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”, is that the indication that government was committed to Noah?
JT Yes. If a Christian is unable to govern himself he has no place in the assembly. He is disqualified. Matthew 18 especially deals with administration. You are converted and become as a little child; this shows that you can govern yourself. It is a very great victory for a man of strong will and energy to become as a little child. You become a little child by self judgment.
WLP Is that the effect of the Spirit’s work in us?
RSS It is illustrated perhaps in Naaman, the Syrian, who came out of Jordan with his flesh as a little child.
JT And as a little child you learn how God does things. So Jerusalem is to learn from Christ how to govern.
BTF Would you say the government of God on the earth connected with millennial times is a reflection of the government set forth in the-heavenly city?
JT The divine thought, is that government is to come out of heaven. That was indicated in the beginning. The fact that the sun and moon, and stars were set in the heavens indicated that God’s purpose was that government should come out of heaven.
RSS In connection with our brother’s question as to the church in administration in Matthew, is it not rather significant that connected with the first mention of the church is the thought of administration? The Lord committed the keys of the kingdom to Peter in Matthew 16.
JT You are introduced into the kingdom as a little child and nurtured up in it in the knowledge of God; you learn how He does things. Matthew 18 contemplates that the Lord was to leave this [p. 490] scene; He was not to be here with them, but they were to carry on the administration in His absence; and He encourages them by saying that if two of them should agree concerning anything they should ask it should be done of the Father in heaven; and that if two or three should gather together in His name He would be in the midst. Thus they should receive help in carrying on divine administration.
RSS And then Peter asks the question as to forgiveness.
JT Their administration was to be carried on in grace.
RSS So that in Christianity grace is righteousness.
JT Government as seen in the assembly is not carried on in the way of retribution. You are in accord with the dispensation of grace, and you do not want to discontinue it, so if a brother offends seventy times seven and he confesses his guilt, you are to forgive him.
WLP You say that grace is righteousness. Could grace be shown by a person who is not following righteousness?
RSS I hardly think so. To demand your due may be righteous in the eye of the law, but in the light of Christianity righteousness is seen more in not demanding it.
WBr Do you connect righteousness with administration?
JT Surely, but administration is carried on in grace. You could not have the kingdom without righteousness. It does not say that righteousness is on the throne, but in a sense, righteousness is on the throne if grace is there, because it is right that grace should reign now. God has a right to be gracious. We really have no rights. God only has rights. If man has rights then God’s sovereignty cannot be admitted; but God has shown (Romans 3) that man [p. 491] has no rights, so that the ground is clear for God to assert His righteousness, and He asserts it in grace. It is right for God to be merciful.
The dispensation is summed up in this, that grace is on the throne. The idea of a throne in Scripture is, that it is absolute, and this fact only emphasises the greatness of the moment. The reign of grace now is absolute and universal. Grace reigns through righteousness. The idea of righteousness is what is right. One is liable to think that grace is something different from righteousness, whereas it is not, but righteousness will take the form of retributive judgment presently; that is another matter.
RSS In connection with what our brother was saying regarding paying one’s debts, it is not a question there of grace at all. A man who buys a thing from you does not expect it to be given. It is on another basis and in connection with another order of things altogether.
JT The world is a sphere in which God carries on His government outside the veil, His providential government, that is one thing by itself; it is indirect. We are under the providential ways of God. But God is carrying on a direct government here as a testimony. This testimony is in the assembly. We take no hand in the government of the world, but we are to be engaged in the direct government of God in the assembly. The government of England is under the government of God, who is carrying on providential government, but it is not direct government. Direct government is carried on by the Spirit and we are under this. In God’s kingdom I am under the direct government of God, whereas in the providential sphere, I am only under His indirect government. You could not think of God as directly governing any existing nation. He simply overrules things. He does not put any king or president in as David was put in. We may say that [p. 492] the transaction of business comes under the providential government, only the Christian cannot be untrue to the principles of God’s kingdom; and these are set forth in Matthew 18.
PHP Am I right in supposing that every man is under the providential government of God, whether Christian or not?
JT Certainly.
AR Would not the principles of the kingdom be shown to a certain extent in our dealings with the world?
RSS There are no better principles than the divine ones, to help you in the things of this life even as stated in Matthew 18. If you have a difference with a man in business there is no better way than to see him personally.
WB Will the providential government of God terminate before the millennium?
JT In the millennial world there will be the direct government of God, whereas in the present world it is His providential government; that is to say God is holding the world in check. Satan would bring things to a head quickly if it were not for that.
Ques Is all Christendom under the present government of God?
JT I do not think God takes account of Christendom as anything but Babylon. The government of God is spiritual. Baptism is that you have taken up the responsibility to answer to that, so that baptism places you outwardly in direct responsibility to Christ as Lord, and if you do not answer to that you are in rebellion.
RSS I suppose we are all more or less in the good of it, although we may not be able to understand it.
JT New creation is spoken of in chapter 65 and 66. I have been thinking lately that there is [p. 493] nothing that we are less accustomed to than the idea of what is new. New creation in Israel may take a different form, but at the same time the principle is there.
Ques Does Ezekiel bring that out where the “valley of dry bones” is alluded to?
JT Ezekiel has more to do with the power of God than with new creation. I think the great point in Ezekiel is resurrection. The name “Ezekiel” has reference to God’s strength. Isaiah brings in new creation; it is an additional thought to resurrection. New creation has application to Israel and to the church, and indeed it has application to everything in result. “I make all things new”, but the practical point I should like to emphasise is that we should be prepared for appreciation of what is new. I think that the want of this has led to adapting Christianity to the old; the endeavour is to make it fit into the old system. But God’s thought was that all was to be new. From the very outset the necessity for the new is conveyed in the gospel; compare John 3. The Lord said to Nicodemus “Ye must be born again”. In the epistle to the Romans we find that as Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even-so we also should walk in newness of life. There you have the thought of our walk here in the world.
LTF Creation involves quite a different thing from recovering something, it is entirely a new start.
JT There is also to be “new wine”, and it was to be put into “new bottles”, Luke 5: 38.
RSS Mr. Stoney composed the following lines:
“If you be true to what is new,
You’ll grow in beauteous grace,
If you decline and drink old wine,
The fool is in your face”.
JT Apart from the new you cannot have Christianity.
PHP In what sense do you speak of the “new”?
JT Look at Isaiah 42: 9: “new things do I declare”. I think there God indicates that whilst He would bring to pass all He had spoken of as “former things”, He would declare new things.
JS I think the Lord showed in the gospels that He was bringing in “new wine”. He says new wine is not put into old bottles. He showed from that, that He was bringing in something entirely new. Here the prophet says, “new things do I declare”.
AFM The householder in Matthew 13, brings out of his treasure, “things new and old”.
JT It is remarkable that the new things come out first. The new things were really before the old. The old things I suppose are the things of Israel. The new things are what Wisdom had devised (Proverbs 8) and they were first in God’s mind.
HB The new things should be a source of joy and gladness to us as this, Isaiah 65, indicates.
JT New things are things which God has kept secret.
WLP The new things were in God’s mind from the outset.
LTF Like as in the first creation, “things which are seen were not made of things which do appear”, Hebrews 11: 3.
JT The new is not made out of the old. The old appeared. I think, however, that although new creation is referred to in this chapter 65, the application is to Israel; see verse 18. I think new creation as applied to Israel here is not strictly literal. It is rather that Jerusalem is made that which she was not before; she is created a rejoicing, the people a joy. What I mean is that it is Jerusalem [p. 495] on earth as it will be constituted in the millennium that is in question. The new Jerusalem is above. She is literally new, wholly a new creation, and finally this will extend to the whole universe. What is immediately in the prophet’s mind here is Jerusalem on earth. Isaiah is not dealing with the universe, he is dealing with Jerusalem. In the New Testament Isaiah 65: 17 is fully opened up, but in the millennium the great end reached is that Jerusalem is a rejoicing, and her people a joy. Faith in an Israelite would lay hold of the promises, of the purpose of God; faith in a Christian would embrace all the counsels of God as to the Christ. In these chapters the former is in view.
RSS So shall your seed remain and your name remain; that is, will go on to the kingdom. God’s thoughts for Israel are eternal.
WB What distinction do you make between reconciliation and new creation?
JT As to us new creation is essential to reconciliation, but reconciliation in Scripture is stated as an objective truth. We are reconciled through the death of Christ; as having faith in Christ, God regards you as recovered. 2 Corinthians 5 speaks first of new creation and then of reconciliation.
WBr So that reconciliation has been effected from God’s side in His Son, and new creation insures the answer to it in us.
JT You cannot be for God’s pleasure practically apart from new creation. Reconciliation is by the death of Christ; new creation is by the Spirit.