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Scripture Reading: Exo. 25:8-10a, 11; 26:15, 29; John 1:14a; Rev. 21:2-3; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; Eph. 2:15; 4:24
After pray-reading the above verses, we can realize how much the church is something of humanity. The church is in need of the proper humanity. Many Christians talk only about spirituality when they talk about the church. But these verses show how necessary the proper humanity is in the church life.
From the types in the Scriptures we can see the need of a proper humanity for the church life. We have seen in the past what the Ark and the tabernacle signify: the Ark is Christ, and the tabernacle is the enlargement of the Ark. So the tabernacle signifies the enlargement of Christ. This enlargement of Christ is His Body, the church, which is His fullness. When Christ as the Ark is increased and enlarged, there is the tabernacle. Then we have the church. Just as the tabernacle is the enlargement of the Ark, so the church is the increase and enlargement of Christ.
This can be proved since the Ark was made of acacia wood overlaid inside and outside with gold. “They shall make an ark of acacia wood...And you shall overlay it with pure gold; inside and outside you shall overlay it; and you shall make a rim of gold upon it all around” (Exo. 25:10-11). The gold was made into a rim, or crown, all around the four sides of the top of the Ark. By the word crown we realize that the gold was mainly for decoration. It is not called the Ark of gold but the Ark of acacia wood. So the main and basic structure of the Ark is wood. Wood in typology always signifies humanity, and acacia wood typifies the humanity of Jesus. Gold, which in typology signifies the divine nature, overlays the wood, which is the human nature. So Christ as the Ark is the human nature overlaid with the divine nature.
As we look at the life of Jesus in the four Gospels, we see a real man. He was born of a mother. He was a real, solid, physical man. But in the Gospels some asked, “Who is this man?” He was a real man, but there was something extraordinary about Him. Of course, this was the overlaying gold, His divinity. He was overlaid with the divinity of God. He was a human with humanity, but this humanity was overlaid with divinity. One day, on the top of a mountain, He was transfigured. At that time the shining of the gold was made manifest. It was the outshining of His divinity. But the humanity was still there. The man Jesus was there with the shining nature of His divinity. Jesus was the Ark made with acacia wood and overlaid with the shining gold. The most interesting aspect of this Jesus is not the gold but the wood, not primarily His divinity but His humanity. This is Jesus as the Ark.
We must also consider the tabernacle. The tabernacle is mainly composed of forty-eight boards. These boards are made of the same material and in the same way as the Ark. “You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up...And you shall overlay the boards with gold” (26:15, 29a). The Ark is made with acacia wood overlaid with gold, and the boards of the tabernacle are also made with the same material and in the same way — acacia wood overlaid with gold.
However, we must note what Exodus 26:15 says concerning the boards of the tabernacle. In this verse God says that the boards are to be standing up. We all know that gold is valuable, weighty, and shining, but in a sense, gold is not capable of standing by itself. In order for the boards of the tabernacle to stand up, there is the need of the acacia wood. Acacia wood is quite adequate for standing up.
So in the tabernacle, again the acacia wood is the main structure. This means that the enlargement of Christ, the church, is composed mainly of the humanity of Jesus overlaid with divinity. We need humanity, and we also need divinity, but it is the humanity in the church that causes the church to stand up. As we look at today’s situation, we see that in so many places the so-called Christian churches are not standing up but rather falling down. Some have even fallen already. They may say that they are spiritual, but they are spiritual lying down, not standing up. They are short of the acacia wood, the proper humanity of the man Jesus. Both the Ark and the tabernacle have the acacia wood as their main substance. Just as Christ stood by the proper humanity, so His humanity alone can cause the church to stand.
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” The Word who was God became flesh and tabernacled among us. We cannot separate the tabernacle from the flesh. If God would tabernacle among us, He needs flesh. So He became flesh and then tabernacled among us. Without the flesh it would truly be difficult for God to tabernacle among us. Therefore, in a sense, the flesh is the tabernacle, and the flesh is the humanity. Of course, the flesh here does not mean the evil flesh, but the proper, pure, uplifted flesh. For God to tabernacle among us, there is the need of this flesh.
From John 1:14 we can see that Jesus is this tabernacle. And if we go on from John to the book of Revelation, not only is Jesus Himself the tabernacle, but He is also the church, the New Jerusalem. “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them” (21:2-3). The New Jerusalem is composed mainly of precious stones, something transformed from God’s creation. Surely this signifies humanity. The ultimate tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate consummation of the church, is built up with a proper humanity, the humanity of Jesus.
Now we need to read 1 Timothy 3:15-16. These two verses are wonderful and far beyond our understanding. “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” The church is the church of the living God. The church is not just the church of God in heaven or the church in doctrine. It is the church of the living God. The church must have God living in it, and this church of the living God is the pillar and base of the truth.
The architecture used during the time 1 Timothy was written was mainly that of Greece. Greek architecture utilized columns or pillars, which supported the entire building. The church of the living God is just like such pillars with a base to hold Christ as the reality. The word truth in verse 15 can also be translated as “reality.” For the church to be such a pillar to hold Christ as the reality, the proper humanity of Jesus is required. This is shown in the following verse, where we are told that God was manifested in the flesh. As we have seen, the flesh is simply humanity. This proves that for the church to be the proper pillar to support Christ as the reality, the humanity of Jesus is required.
But 1 Timothy 3:16 does not refer only to Christ. If we read the whole verse carefully, we will see this. It says that God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. It seems that the apostle Paul made a mistake. Was Christ taken up in glory before the preaching to the Gentiles or after? We all know that He was taken up before He was preached. Yet this verse plainly states that Christ is first preached, then believed on, and then taken up in glory. I believe that by now we are all clear. This Christ includes not only the Head but also the Body. As the Head, He was taken up in glory before being preached to the Gentiles. But His Body will be taken up in glory after the preaching. By this we see that the manifestation of God in Christ is not only a matter of Christ the Head but also a matter of His Body, the church. God was manifested in the flesh with Christ, and God is being manifested in the flesh with the church. This is not just the individual person of Christ; this is the person of Christ plus the corporate Christ. Regarding the person of Christ, He was taken up before the preaching. But regarding the corporate Christ, He will be taken up in glory after the preaching. Therefore, by putting these two verses together, we can see what the church is. The church is just the manifestation of God in Christ. This depends very much on the humanity of Jesus.
According to our religious concept, the word flesh has a bad connotation. Whenever we speak about the flesh, we mean something degraded. Of course, our flesh is not good, but the flesh of Jesus is much better than ours. We do not appreciate our flesh because it is so poor and sinful, but we have another flesh. The flesh of Jesus is wonderful! This is His perfect humanity. Hence, for the church to manifest God, we need the humanity of Jesus. We need to take His humanity. I am so happy for this verse which says that God was manifested, not in the Spirit but in the flesh.
God manifest in the flesh is seen by angels and preached to the Gentiles. We are preaching not only Christ but Christ with the church. How could we preach the Head without the Body? Have you ever seen a person without a body? If you were to come into the meeting without your body, you would be a monster. But this is exactly what many poor Christians are preaching today. They preach only about Christ the Head. We are preaching Christ with His Body. Christ and the church are the great mystery of God (Eph. 5:32). This is what must be preached among the Gentiles. Eventually, this corporate Christ will be taken up in glory. This is the church life. Yet for this church life we need the proper humanity. Neither American flesh, Chinese flesh, Japanese flesh, nor any other flesh is good for the church life. Only Jesus’ flesh will do. For the church we need the humanity of Jesus.
Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, that is, God manifest in the flesh. Can we imagine this: God is manifest in the flesh? God has no intention to manifest Himself in angels. God does not love them so much; they are simply His servants. God loves the church, so He was manifested in the flesh. This is Christ and the church, the great mystery of God.
The next point that we must see is in 1 Peter. Here the apostle Peter tells us that Christ is the living stone, and we are the living stones. “Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). We know that stones in the Bible signify material for building. Christ is the living stone, and we are the living stones to be built into a spiritual house. This spiritual house is the priesthood.
In 1966, when we covered the matter of the priesthood (The Stream, vol. 5, no. 4 through vol. 6, no. 4), we pointed out that in the New Testament the word priesthood has two different meanings. First, it means the priestly service or priestly ministry. Second, it means a priestly body or a body of priests. In English there is only one word, but in Greek there are two different words with these two different meanings. In Hebrews 7 the word priesthood signifies the priestly service or office. But the word for priesthood in 1 Peter means the priestly body or body of priests. The spiritual house is not the priestly service but a priestly body. It is a corporate entity. The priests built up together are the spiritual house. This is the meaning of the word priesthood here.
The priesthood in the New Testament is different from that mentioned in the Old Testament. In the New Testament the priests built up together are the tabernacle. They are the spiritual house. In the typology of the Old Testament, it is rather difficult to put these two together. Hence, in the type, the tabernacle and the priests are two categories of things. Actually, these two categories typify one thing in two aspects, that is, God’s building which is the tabernacle, the house of God. This house is built up with the priests who are the living stones. We are the priesthood, and we are the living stones. When we are built up together, we become a body of priests, and this is the priesthood.
In Leviticus we see that the priests lived mainly on the meal offering. Their entire existence depended principally upon the meal offering. The priests are the boards of the tabernacle standing up, and they exist by feeding on the meal offering, which is just the fine humanity of Jesus. Today as the priests we are the boards of the tabernacle, but to stand up we must feed on the humanity of Jesus. It is not enough to feed on Jesus as the Passover Lamb or as the heavenly manna. Feeding on Jesus as the heavenly manna is only sufficient to maintain us in the wilderness. To be the standing boards in the tabernacle, we need the humanity of Jesus as our daily food.
Suppose that not one of the Israelites offered the meal offering, and the priests did not receive anything as a meal offering. This would put the priests upon a starvation diet; they would not have their proper food. The food of the priests is not ordinary food but quite extraordinary; it is the meal offering. If in the church there is a shortage of enjoying Christ’s humanity, the local church will be extremely weak. If all the members enjoy Christ merely as the slain Lamb and as the heavenly manna but do not enjoy Him as the meal offering, all the boards will not be standing but fallen.
We may have some knowledge of the Bible, and we may have some gifts; we may even have a certain measure of spirituality; but if we are not enjoying the humanity of Jesus, we are simply fallen. We have nothing that is able to support us. The only thing that can make us stand up is the humanity of Jesus. This has been lost and neglected by Christianity for centuries, but I do believe the Lord is going to recover it. This is what is needed for the church life. The tabernacle is composed mainly of the boards, and the boards are the priests, who can exist only by feeding on the meal offering. We are the priests, the boards, the materials for building up the local church. We need something to feed on in order to stand up — this is the humanity of Jesus, which is the meal offering.
Let me illustrate again. Suppose all the Israelites had offered only the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering, without presenting the meal offering. I do believe many priests would have starved. This is the situation of today’s Christians. They appreciate the Lord’s death on the cross as the sin and trespass offering; they enjoy peace with God through Christ as the peace offering; but they have no experience of the meal offering. They simply do not have this kind of apprehension or understanding. This is why there is little building up of the church among Christians today.
The church is the house of God. It is today’s tabernacle and is composed of the boards standing up. The standing boards are the priests, who can exist only by feeding on the meal offering. This means that for us to be the boards for the building up of God’s tabernacle, we must feed on the humanity of Christ. Without the meal offering, there can be no standing boards for the tabernacle, and the whole tabernacle will fall apart. This is the situation today. We may have the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering, but without the meal offering we have nothing to support the priests who are the standing boards. The real support is the priestly food of the meal offering. Only the humanity of Jesus is the priestly food capable of supporting the priests as the standing boards. We all must pray that we may experience and masticate the humanity of Jesus. We will then have something of His humanity to bring into the meeting and present to God as the meal offering. This meal offering will be the priestly food to so many priests among us, enabling them to become the standing boards. Something will then be built up as the tabernacle, and God will have a dwelling place.
Eventually, we come to the new man in the book of Ephesians. To see this new man we must read both Ephesians 2:15 and 4:24. “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace...And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” The church is a new man, and as a man it requires the proper humanity, the new humanity, which is just Christ. We must put on the new man, which means that we must put on the humanity of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ has already created the new man, and then Ephesians 4:24 tells us to put on the new man. Let me illustrate it in this way: Christ has already accomplished redemption, but we must apply this redemption to ourselves. This means that we must put on His redemption. If anyone will not apply or put on this redemption, it will not affect him in any way. It is the same principle with the new man. The new man has been created, but we need to put on the new man and apply to ourselves what Christ has created on the cross. The way to put on the new man is simply to enjoy the humanity of Jesus. By partaking of the humanity of Jesus day by day, we are putting on the new man.
