Scripture Reading: John 8
The Gospel of John is a record showing us the fulfillment of the tabernacle and all the offerings. As we have pointed out, in the first chapter of this Gospel we have the tabernacle and the Lamb of God. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Christ is God incarnated to tabernacle among men. In 1:14 the word tabernacled is used as a verb. According to this verse, Christ Himself was the tabernacle dwelling among men. Hence, He is a living tabernacle. In 1:29 John the Baptist said of Christ, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Here we see that the Christ who was incarnated to be the living tabernacle is also the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God is the aggregate, the totality, of all the offerings. Therefore, in two verses, verses 14 and 29 of John 1, we have the words tabernacled and Lamb. These terms indicate that the Gospel of John covers the matters of the tabernacle and the offerings.
Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John is a prologue, or introduction, to the entire book. This means that what is mentioned in the first chapter of John is defined and developed in the remainder of the book. The fact that in the prologue we have the tabernacle and the Lamb of God indicates that John in his Gospel intends to unveil the tabernacle and the Lamb of God. For this reason we say that the Gospel of John is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and all the offerings.
In the book of Revelation, which is the conclusion of the Bible, we can also see the tabernacle and the Lamb. Revelation 21:3 says, “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.” As God’s habitation, the New Jerusalem will be the tabernacle of God for eternity. The tabernacle made by Moses was a type of this tabernacle, and that type was fulfilled in Christ as God’s tabernacle among men. Eventually, that type will be fulfilled in the fullest way in the New Jerusalem, which will be the enlargement of Christ as God’s dwelling place.
Within the eternal tabernacle of God, that is, within the New Jerusalem, the Lamb of God will be on the throne (22:1). Revelation 5:6 says that in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders, there was a Lamb standing as having just been slain. This book mentions the Lamb many other times (5:12; 6:1; 7:9-10, 14, 17; 12:11; 14:1, 4; 19:7, 9; 21:22). Therefore, in the book of Revelation we have both the tabernacle and the Lamb of God. This is a further indication that John’s writings are a record of the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings.
We need a clear view of the Bible as a whole. The Bible is a record of the universal reality. Anything that does not have reality is empty, vain. For example, if we had only a physical body but did not have an inner being, we would be empty, altogether lacking in reality. Our inner being is our reality. If we had only a body with skin, flesh, and bones, we would have a “shell,” but we would not have reality.
If the universe does not have a reality, then the entire universe is a shell. For there to be no reality in the universe would mean that the universe would not have any content. If the universe were merely a shell, there would be nothing but emptiness and vanity. King Solomon said, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). He said that everything under the sun is vanity. It is true that if we do not have the content or reality of the universe, everything will be vanity.
Now we need to go on to ask what the content of the universe is. Philosophers and other thoughtful people cannot answer this question. It is hard for anyone to tell you what the content, the reality, of the universe is.
Some among us may say that the reality of the universe is Christ. However, this may be merely a doctrine to us. A doctrine is not reality; rather, it is also a shell. We may compare doctrine to a menu. A menu is a description of food, but it is not the food itself. Only the food, not the menu, is the reality. When you go to a restaurant, you go there for food, for reality; you do not go for the menu. To say that the reality of the universe is Christ may simply be a doctrine, a menu; it may not be the reality, the food. However, I definitely agree with those who say that Christ is the reality of the universe. But in what sense is Christ this reality? It also may merely be a doctrine to say that the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit is the reality of the universe. This may be a doctrine that you learned in the Lord’s recovery. As we will see, according to the record of the holy Word, the reality of the universe is actually the tabernacle and the offerings.
What is recorded in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation? We may say that in the Bible we have God, Christ, the Spirit, the church, and the New Jerusalem. This, of course, is correct. But if we get into the depths of the truth revealed in the Bible, we will see that in these depths we have the tabernacle and the offerings.
The tabernacle is God’s dwelling place. However, it is not adequate to say that the tabernacle is merely a dwelling for God. Actually, the tabernacle is a universal dwelling place for both God and man. Consider the New Jerusalem. Will God be the only one dwelling in the New Jerusalem? No, God and all His redeemed people will be dwelling in the New Jerusalem. Hence, it will be a dwelling place for both God and man. This dwelling place is a mutual abode, a mutual dwelling place.
In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” Here the word abode is used. The abode here is actually a mutual abode. We abide in the Lord, and He abides in us.
For there to be a mutual abode, the Lord must first become our dwelling place. When we abide in Him, He surely is our abode. Then as He abides in us, we are His abode. The Lord spoke concerning this mutual abode when He said in 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Therefore, the Lord is our dwelling place, and we become His dwelling place. The New Jerusalem will be such a mutual dwelling place, a place where we will abide in God and He will abide in us. Even today we may experience the mysterious fact of abiding in the Lord and the Lord abiding in us. Our real home is the Lord. The Lord is our dwelling place, and we dwell in Him.
The content, or reality, of the universe is this mutual abode, this mutual dwelling place for God and man. The word that describes this dwelling place is tabernacle. But how can we, sinful human beings, dwell together with God and even dwell in God, who is holy and righteous? It is only by the offerings that we can dwell in the holy and righteous God.
It is helpful to consider the picture of the tabernacle and the offerings in the Old Testament. According to chapter 40 of Exodus, when the tabernacle was erected, God’s glory descended upon it and filled it. What a glorious scene that was! In this scene God was camping among His people. Although He was in the heavens, He came down to dwell in a tent among the children of Israel. How could sinful people come into God’s tent? The only way they could enter the dwelling place of God was through the offerings. Therefore, before anyone could come into the tabernacle, he had to come to the altar and offer the sacrifices required by God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory.
As sinners, we cannot fulfill the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. But God has prepared the offerings. According to Leviticus, the main offerings are the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. In addition, there are the wave offering, the heave offering, and the freewill offerings. By means of these offerings the problems between us and God can be solved. When the offering comes, the problem goes. Hence, by means of the offerings we may enter God’s dwelling place and meet with Him, eat with Him, converse with Him, and enjoy Him.
As we enjoy God, He enjoys us. We may use family life as an illustration. On the one hand, children enjoy the parents; on the other hand, parents enjoy the children. We may say that the children’s enjoyment of the parents becomes the parents’ enjoyment. Likewise, when we come into the tabernacle through the offerings, we enjoy God, and He enjoys us.
Now we can see that the reality of the universe is the tabernacle and the offerings. It is true to say that both the tabernacle and the offerings are Christ. However, we need to go on to speak in a more detailed way and say that the tabernacle is God incarnated, and Christ is the incarnated God. Furthermore, as the Lamb of God, Christ is all the offerings. God manifested in the flesh is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. The content, the reality, of the entire universe is God incarnate, God becoming a man. Jesus Christ, the God-man, is the tabernacle and the offerings.
Jesus Christ is both God and man. As the God-man, He is the tabernacle to be the dwelling place for God and man. He is also the offerings for man to enter into God. This One, who is both the tabernacle and the offerings, is the reality and content of the universe.
How can the tabernacle and the offerings, which are the reality of the universe, be realized by us and enjoyed by us? First Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Here we have the last Adam and the life-giving Spirit. Who is the last Adam? The last Adam is God incarnated to become a man. The first Adam was simply and merely a man. But the last Adam is the God-man, One who has both divinity and humanity. The last Adam is God manifested in the flesh and God mingled with humanity. He is Adam, but He is Adam with the divine nature and also the divine person. Therefore, the One who is the last Adam is nothing less than God Himself. But He is God with humanity, God with the flesh. Eventually, this One who is the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit.
The life-giving Spirit is the extract of the last Adam. In the first chapter of this book on the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings in the writings of John, we pointed out that an extract may be understood as a liquid extracted from a plant or other organic matter that contains its essence in concentrated form. A synonym for extract is spirit, which is the essence of a substance extracted in liquid form. Wine, for example, may be regarded as an extract, or the spirit, of grapes. Whenever you extract the essence of a particular substance, you get the spirit of that substance. In a similar manner, the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit, and now the life-giving Spirit is the extract of the last Adam.
Suppose a certain kind of herb is useful in healing a particular illness. How can that herb be applied to a sick person? The best way is to take out the extract of that herb and use it to make medicine. Then a sick person simply needs to take this medicine. There is no need for him to eat the herb. We may use this as an illustration of the life-giving Spirit as the extract of the last Adam, God in the flesh. Just as herbs need to pass through a process in order for an extract to be brought forth, so the last Adam, the God-man, had to pass through a process in order to become the life-giving Spirit. Just as herbs may be pressed to produce the extract, so the last Adam was “pressed” on the cross. He certainly passed through the process of death and resurrection.
Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians is concerned with resurrection. It was through resurrection that the last Adam was made an extract, an extract that is the life-giving Spirit. Of course, resurrection was preceded by death. Hence, through death and resurrection the last Adam became the omnipresent life-giving Spirit.
Because the Spirit is everywhere, we can contact Him simply by exercising our spirit and calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. In this way we enjoy Him as the Lamb of God, as the all-inclusive offering. Then through Him as the offerings we enter into Him as the tabernacle. How marvelous!
The content of the record of the Bible is the Triune God passing through a process to become the tabernacle, a mutual abode for God and man. Now we may dwell in Him and He in us through Himself as the offerings. This is the content of the Bible and the reality of the universe.
The Gospel of John is the condensation of the whole Bible. In this book we have the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings. The reality of the universe is the Triune God as the tabernacle and the offerings, and this reality is the content of the Bible. The whole Bible is condensed into one book, the Gospel of John. Therefore, in the record of this Gospel we have the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings.
