Resulting in One People
These three persons resulted in one people—Israel (Exo.—Mal.). In the Triune God’s preparation for the carrying out of His eternal economy, there was first one man, then three persons, and finally a collective people.
To Bring Forth Christ, the God-man
This preparation was for bringing forth Christ the God-man, the complete God mingled with the perfect man (Matt. 1). The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament are not books of waste. They are books that reveal the preparation to bring forth Christ the God-man. Matthew 1 speaks of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (v. 1). Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers (v. 2). Eventually, Jesus who is called Christ was born of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph (v. 16). The God-man was brought forth for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy. The incarnation was the start of the New Testament, the first step of God’s actual move on the earth.
For the Producing of the Body of Christ
The bringing forth of Christ was for the producing of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1—4).
As the Organism of the Processed
and Consummated Triune God
This Body of Christ is the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God (3:17-19).
Consummating in the New Jerusalem
The Body of Christ as the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-23). This consummation, the New Jerusalem, is the eternal enlargement (cf. John 3:30) of Christ the God-man. Then this enlargement is the eternal mingling of the Triune God with the tripartite man and also the mutual dwelling of God and man. The redeemed will be the tabernacle for the dwelling of God (Rev. 21:3), and the redeeming God will be the temple for the dwelling of the redeemed (v. 22) to express the processed and consummated Triune God in His nature and glory (vv. 18b, 21b, 10-11, 23) in the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man for eternity (vv. 12-21a).