Arise, my soul, arise

Since the Bible says that in the New Jerusalem there are twelve gates and that every gate is a pearl, we have to study every aspect of this pearl. Especially, we need to see how the pearl comes into existence. This is the purpose of God's wisdom in using an allegory. Without such an allegory of the oyster producing a pearl, how could we imagine that the gates as the pearls signify the produce of Christ in His redemptive work with His secreting life for the entry into God's building? As Christians we have heard repeatedly that Christ died and resurrected for our redemption. Merely by using the words death, resurrection, and redemption, however, our understanding is somewhat limited. In one of Charles Wesley's hymns he refers to the five bleeding wounds which the Lord bore when He was being crucified on the cross (see Hymns, #300). This, however, is a "physical teaching" concerning the divine truth. This is not an allegorization. Without such an allegory of the oyster producing a pearl, we cannot adequately understand the significance of Christ's death and resurrection to redeem and transform us.

In His vicarious death for us, Christ was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and cut off out of the land of the living for our transgression, and He bore our sin, that we may have peace and be healed (Isa. 53:5, 8b, 11c, 12c). A well-known hymn by Charles Wesley (Hymns, #300, stanza 3) speaks of the wounds Christ bore for our transgressions. The Hebrew word translated wounded in Isaiah 53:5 is different from the word for pierced in Zechariah 12:10. Christ was wounded by the nails in His hands and His feet, by the spear that pierced His side, and by the crown of thorns on His head. He was wounded for our transgressions. You may feel that, because you have never killed anyone or robbed anyone, you are a good person. You may be a good person, but did you not lose your temper toward your mother at least once? Was that not a transgression? We do not count small transgressions, but God counts them. Whether we owe someone one million dollars or one dime, we are still debtors.

Psalm 22:16c says that they pierced His hands and feet (Zech. 12:10; John 19:37; Rev. 1:7). Charles Wesley in one of his hymns spoke of the "five bleeding wounds" which Christ received on Calvary (Hymns, #300). His two hands, His two feet, and His side (John 19:34) were pierced by the Roman soldiers who executed Him.