At the end of the Bible we see the vision of the New Jerusalem, and in the center there’s the throne of God and the Lamb, out of which flows a river of water of life (see Rev. 22:1).
The throne and the river of water of life speak of Christ being both the King and the Priest – the throne represents God’s authority and dominion in Christ and the river of water of life is the fellowship of life, supplying everyone in the New Jerusalem for God’s corporate expression through the city.
God’s original intention in creating man – to have His image for His expression and dominion for His representation – is fulfilled in Christ together with all His redeemed and transformed people in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
Today in the church life we have a miniature of the New Jerusalem, enthroning Christ every day in the center of our being and enjoying the flowing of the divine life into us and through us – for the building of God.
Today we want to see more concerning how the throne of God and the river of life speak of Christ and us (as Christ’s reproduction and continuation today) as being both Kings and Priests.
The Throne of God and the River of Life
In the New Jerusalem and in the whole new heaven and new earth the only authority will be the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Out of the throne of God flows a river of water of life, which waters the entire city, flowing in the middle of the street and spiralling down to reach every gate of the city. On both sides of the river grows the tree of life, with fruits every month good to eat. This really shows that from God’s authority flows a river of fellowship which supplies everyone in the city of New Jerusalem.
The flow of the divine life today is the divine fellowship, saturating and soaking us as we exercise our spirit and we fellowship with one another. This fellowship of the divine life makes us God’s holy priesthood bearing God’s image, His expression (1 Pet. 2:5).
Also, the more we fellowship and we enjoy the flow of life, the more we are being brought under the throne of God and of the Lamb. The throne is the rule and the headship of Christ, which is ours as the royal priesthood to represent God in His dominion, His kingdom (1 Pet. 2:9).
In Zechariah 6:12-13 we see that the offices of the priesthood and the kingship converge in Joshua and Zerubbabel, who are types of the Lord Jesus. This is consummated in the New Jerusalem, where the Lord Jesus is both the ruling and reigning One, and He is the flowing One to reach everyone in the city for their supply.
All this – the throne of God and the river of water of life, the kingship and the priesthood – is for the building up of God’s temple!
The Way to Build up the Church
How can we as a royal priesthood build up the church as the temple of God?
As priests, we draw near to God and come forward to Him to enjoy Him, entering into the Holy of Holies to touch the throne of God. When we touch God and enjoy Him, we will then allow Him to flow as rivers of living waters into our being, saturating us with the flow of the divine life, and then flowing out through us into other people (John 7:37-39).
This is the way to build up the church: enjoying the flowing of the water of life from the throne and allowing it to flow through us to others to water them, quench their thirst, nourish them (the tree of life is in the water of life), and bring them also into the flow of life from the throne.
This is what the Bible clearly tells us when we are called “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9)! On the one hand, we are royal – we have the position and the authority of a king (by being under God’s throne and being ruled over by Him), and on the other hand, we have the fellowship of life as priests (by drinking the river of water of life and allowing it to flow to others).
Everyone among us in the church life should be a royal priest, that is, we all need to be those who have the flow of life from the throne by drinking the water of life and enthroning Christ in our being.
In every one of us there should be an expression of both the priesthood and the kingship. God intends that we all as His spiritual people today, the believers in Christ, would be a kingdom of priests to rule and reign with Him, and to shepherd others by feeding them with Christ as the Spirit flowing in the river of water of life (see Exo. 19:4, 6; Rev. 5:10).
The Priesthood and the Kingship are for the Building up of the Church
In the book of Hebrews we see Christ as the High Priest bringing the believers into the Holy of Holies, into fellowship with God (see Heb. 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:6; 7:1). This is for the building up of a city, whose Architect and Builder is God (Heb. 11:9-10, 16; 12:22).
In the Gospel of Matthew we see Christ as the King and as Emmanuel, God with us, to join God with man and man with God and bring the authority of God to man (see Matt. 1:1, 23; 2:6). Also, in Matthew, we see that Christ is building the church.
The building up of the city in Hebrews and the building up of the church in Matthew are one and the same thing. Christ as the King and as the Priest is for God’s building!
The goal is the building, the church, the city; for this, Christ flows out the fellowship of life to us to make us His expression to express God in His image, and He brings us under the authority of the throne of God for us to represent God with His dominion.
Even more: when we received the Lord Jesus at our regeneration He came into us as a Priest, making us also priests of God! We now have Christ’s priestly life in us, and we can draw near to God to fellowship with Him, enjoy the flow of life, and allow God to flow out through us into others.
Also, at our regeneration, we have received the King into us, and we are now the citizens of God’s kingdom. Daily we need to enthrone Christ in us, giving Him preeminence and the first place in everything.
When we enthrone Christ in the center of our being, from the throne there will be a flow of water of life watering us and flowing through us to others for God’s building!
This is the church life! Today we are a royal priesthood, kings and priests to God enjoying Him and being under His throne, flowing God out to others for the building up of the church, the temple of God!
Lord Jesus, thank You for making us a kingdom and priests to God that we may be under God’s throne and enjoy the river of water of life flowing in and out of us! We enthrone You right now, Lord, and we give You the first place in everything. We want to live a life under Your throne, enjoying the river of water of life flowing from the throne and watering us daily. Lord, we want to allow You to flow into us, flow into all the inward parts of our being, and flow out through us into others for the building of God!
References and Further Reading
- This sharing is inspired from brother Ed Marks’ sharing in this message and portions in, The Priesthood and God’s Building (ch. 2), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 12 (entitled, The Priesthood and the Kingship for the Building Up of the Church as the Temple of God).
- Hymns on this topic:
# And He showed me a river / Of water of life, / Bright as crystal, / Proceeding out / Of the throne of God / And of the Lamb. / And Thou shalt make them to drink / Of the river of Thy pleasures.
# Drink! A river pure and clear that’s flowing from the throne; / Eat! The tree of life with fruits abundant, richly grown; / Look! No need of lamp nor sun nor moon to keep it bright, for / Here there is no night!
# River of living water, / River that flows from the throne, / Fellowship giving and making / God’s own authority known. - Pictures credit: the first via a friend on Facebook, and the second here.
The Flow of the Water of Life
Rev 22:1 & he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of t throne of God & of t Lamb n t middle of its street.
Flow=Fellowship 'As believers, we can touch the source of the water of life, & we can allow t water of life 2 flow n2 us & to flow out of us as rivers of living water…T flowing…s t only way that builds up t church.'
Rom 10:14b how shall they hear without one who proclaims Him?
1 Pet 2:9 But u r a …royal priesthood..,that u may tell out the virtues of Him who has called u out of darkness n2 His marvelous light.
PTL!!!
🙂
In Revelation 22:1 a river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne signifying authority and fellowship of life. In the New Jerusalem, the authority of the throne flows to every part of the city through the fellowship of life; the entire city is in fellowship of life and under authority of the throne. The throne speaks of Christ as the King and the water of life speak of Christ as the Priest. Christ is both the Priest and the King for God’s building. On the one hand, Christ flows out the fellowship of life to us for God’s image, and on the other hand, He brings us under the authority of the throne for God’s dominion… 1 Peter 2:9 unveils the redeemed ones are a “royal priesthood.” Royal indicates our position and authority of a king, and priesthood indicates the fellowship of life… Everyone among us should be a royal priest, one who has the flow of life from the throne; in every one of us there should be an expression of both the priesthood and the kingship. The Lord Jesus is our Priest, and His priestly life has entered into us, hence, we can draw near to God and touch the source of the water of life, and let the water of life to flow into us and to flow out of us as rivers of living water…
The building of the church depend upon whether or not the saints will bear the priesthood before God. Only the priests draw near to God, touch the throne of God, and allow God to flow through them into others. The flowing of the water of life is the only way that build up the church of God.