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Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:8-9; Lev. 1:1-2a; Psa. 36:8-9a; 133:1-3; Isa. 2:3, 5; John 17:11, 17, 21-23; Eph. 4:3-6; Rev. 21:22-24; 22:1-2; Eph. 1:10
In the previous chapter we pointed out that God’s four great acts in the universe are related to creation, selection, the new creation, and the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. In each of these acts we see the matter of oneness. In God’s creation there was one corporate man, and in God’s selection of Abraham there was also just one man. Furthermore, the church, the one new man, is uniquely one as God’s new creation. Finally, the new city in the new universe will be characterized by oneness. Actually, that city will be a corporate man. Hence, oneness is the basic element of God’s acts.
The reason for this oneness is that God Himself is one. Oneness is His nature. In all God’s acts we see one origin, one element, and one essence. In God’s creation we see one God and one corporate man. In His selection we also have the one God and one man. Moreover, in the church we have the one Spirit and one new man. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem we have the unique Triune God in the one city characterized by the one throne, the one street, the one river, and the one tree. Therefore, the oneness about which we are speaking is not a partial oneness; it is a great, complete, comprehensive oneness, a oneness in entirety. May we all be impressed with the vision of such a oneness. If we see the vision of the oneness of entirety, all the germs of division will be killed, and we will be delivered from every kind of division.
In this chapter we need to go on to see the essence of oneness. What is the essence of this great oneness, the oneness in entirety? The essence of this oneness is life and light.
Genesis 2:8 says, “Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed.” A garden is a place of life. After God created man, He put him in a place that was full of life. In the midst of this place, the garden in Eden, there was a tree called the tree of life. Not only was the garden a place of life, but at the center of this place there was the tree of life. The fact that the Creator put man in such an environment indicates that God was presenting Himself to man as the source of life and also as the supply of life.
Man, however, did not partake of the tree of life. Instead, he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and, as a result, was eventually divided into nations. At Babel the man created by God for His purpose was divided into nations. This was the result of his having been seduced by Satan to eat of the tree of knowledge. Babel was the issue, the consequence, of the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This indicates that we should beware of anything that is not of life, for any such thing will result in division, Babel.
As we will see, there is a progression downward from Babel to Babylon and from Babylon to the great Babylon. Toward the beginning of the Old Testament, we have Babel, but toward the end, we have Babylon. Furthermore, toward the end of the New Testament, we have the great Babylon. Babel, Babylon, and the great Babylon all come from the source of the tree of knowledge. This means that the issue of partaking of the tree of knowledge is division.
Life, on the contrary, is the essence of oneness. The oneness in God’s economy, the great oneness revealed in entirety in the Scriptures, can be preserved only by life. Without life, there can be no oneness.
Man’s body illustrates this. Although there are many members in the body, all the members are one because they all share one life, the life of the body. Hence, the oneness of our physical body is its life. However, when a corpse is buried, it eventually decomposes because it does not have life. When life is removed from the physical body, the members of the body become detached. This illustrates the fact that the essence of the oneness of man’s physical body is his physical life. If there is no life, there is no oneness.
In a very real sense, today’s Christianity is not the Body; it is a corpse. The dry bones in Ezekiel 37 not only are an illustration of the situation of the children of Israel but may also be used as an illustration of the situation of Christians today. In this portion of the Word, the Lord caused Ezekiel to see a vision of a valley full of dry bones, bones that represent “the whole house of Israel” (v. 11). Originally, the children of Israel were a living body. But after they had been divided and scattered, they became dry bones, each detached from the others. Because the life had gone out of the bones, the essence of oneness was lost, and the bones were detached. In a negative way this reveals that life is the essence of oneness.
The one corporate man created by God was destined to produce a great number of descendants. How could these descendants remain one? By education? By some kind of power? By organization? The only way that oneness can be maintained is by life, in life, and with life. If Adam had eaten of the tree of life, all his descendants, even though they number in the millions, would have been kept in oneness. But because Adam partook of the tree of knowledge, the essence of division was injected into him, and his descendants were divided. The essence of Babel that is manifested in Genesis 11 was put into man in Genesis 3. This indicates that divisiveness and divisions are the issue of taking into our being something other than life. This element is the factor, source, and essence of division. The essence of oneness, on the contrary, is life. Only life can keep us in oneness.
Because of Babel, God was forced to give up the created race and to initiate another action — His selection of Abraham. The record in Genesis concerning Abraham does not use the words life or light. Nevertheless, in reality the matters of life and light have much to do with God’s selection of Abraham. God’s presence was with Abraham, and His presence was life to him. When Abraham was called by God, he did not know where to go. He did not have a map or any detailed directions. God’s presence was his map, his guidance, and his supply. God’s presence was life and everything to Abraham. Apart from God’s presence, Abraham had nothing. He was surely a person who enjoyed the presence of God.
According to the record in the book of Genesis, God appeared to Abraham a number of times. Of course, when God appeared to him, He spoke to him. However, God’s speaking was not as important to Abraham as God’s appearing. Acts 7:2 indicates that Abraham was called by the appearing of the God of glory.
When Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, made their exodus from Egypt and were brought into the wilderness, they built a tabernacle. God took up residence in this tabernacle, and as a result, it became the Tent of Meeting. The books of Leviticus and Numbers are filled with God’s speaking. Leviticus 1:1 says that the Lord spoke to Moses out of the Tent of Meeting. Thus, the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, became the center of God’s oracle, of God’s speaking. Almost the entire book of Leviticus is a record of the Lord’s speaking out of the Tent of Meeting.
If Moses and the children of Israel had departed from the Tent of Meeting, they could not have heard the word of God. Perhaps some of the children of Israel said, “God is everywhere. What right do you have to claim that He speaks only out of the tabernacle? You are too narrow and too exclusive. God is great, and He is not limited to a tent. You cannot say that God speaks only in one place. You simply cannot limit the unlimited God to your little Tent of Meeting.” Yes, God is great, and He is omnipresent. But according to the Old Testament, He was happy to reside in the tabernacle built for Him in the wilderness by His people. Although heaven is spacious, God is not satisfied to remain there. Furthermore, He did not speak to His people from heaven; He spoke to them out of the Tent of Meeting.
Perhaps you are wondering what this has to do with the ground of the church. What does God’s speaking, you may ask, have to do with the church ground? God’s speaking is intimately related to the ground of oneness. If we are on this ground, which is the proper ground, we will have God’s speaking day by day. But if we do not have the speaking of God, then we probably do not have the ground of oneness.
According to the book of Leviticus, God spoke from the Holy of Holies. The book of Leviticus is the result of this kind of divine speaking. Hence, God spoke from oneness. When this oneness is lost, God’s oracle is lost also.
God’s speaking brings in light, and light issues in life. When we do not have God’s speaking, we have death and darkness. Death and darkness damage the Body and cause the members to become detached. Today’s Christianity is filled with death and darkness because the genuine oneness in life is lacking.
Many times Christians have asked where we get the light that is conveyed in our writings. Regarding this matter of light, we have no reason to boast in ourselves. We receive our light from the speaking God. In order to receive light, we need God’s speaking on the proper ground of oneness. Today God is still speaking in the Tent of Meeting, that is, in the center of oneness and on the ground of oneness. The Tent of Meeting is the ground, the base, of oneness. It is in this place that God’s word is spoken to enlighten us. Apart from God’s speaking, we are in darkness. But when His word comes, we are in light. Where God’s speaking is, there is always light.
Many of us can testify that before we came into the Lord’s recovery, we were in darkness. But now we have the sense that everything is clear and transparent. This is light. As you listen to messages, you experience the Lord’s shining. Whether in the meetings or at home, you realize that you are under the Lord’s enlightenment. This enlightenment comes from God’s speaking on the ground of oneness. Therefore, to those who inquire about the source of the light we have received, we can only say that we have light because we are on the ground of oneness.
The children of Israel not only enjoyed the oracle of God; they were also saturated with the fatness of God’s house (Psa. 36:8). God’s house refers to the temple, which was the continuation and enlargement of the Tent of Meeting. In Psalm 36:9 the psalmist goes on to say, “With You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.” This verse is also related to the temple. Only in the temple could God’s people enjoy the fountain of life. Furthermore, it was in the temple that they could see light in God’s light. This is a further indication that the essence of the oneness of God’s children is life and light.
This is confirmed by Psalm 133, which begins with, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brothers to dwell in unity!” The psalm concludes like this: “For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: / Life forever.” As this psalm makes clear, the blessing of life is related to the oneness of God’s people.
Psalm 133 also speaks of the ointment and the dew of Hermon. The ointment and the dew were not omnipresent. On the contrary, they were to be enjoyed only at a particular place. If an Israelite wanted to share in the Lord’s commanded blessing, he had to be in the place of oneness. This means that, at least three times a year, he had to make a journey to Mount Zion. Suppose some from the tribe of Dan were to say, “Why must we all go to one place for the worship of God? This is too narrow, too sectarian, and too exclusive. God is everywhere. We can stay here in Dan and enjoy singing praises to God.” Those from Dan could enjoy singing, but unless they went to Mount Zion, they could not enjoy the commanded blessing.
The principle applies today also. If we would be under the Lord’s commanded blessing of life, we must be on the ground of oneness. Dissenting ones may claim to have the commanded blessing, but actually they do not have it. Those who think that they do are superstitious. God is neither narrow nor exclusive, but He is definite. He is definite regarding His principle and His economy. God will never act contrary to His definiteness. Verse 3 of Psalm 133 is very definite. Here the psalmist says that there, upon the oneness, the Lord commands the blessing, life forever. In the oneness of brothers dwelling together the oil flows, the dew descends, and God’s people enjoy life. If we lose the oneness, we lose the experience of the fine oil, the dew, and the blessing of life. If we would remain in the oneness, we must remain in life, because life maintains the oneness. This was true with the children of Israel, and it is true with us today.
We have seen that life is related both to the corporate man of God’s original creation and to Abraham and his descendants, the children of Israel. Now we will go on to consider how life and light are the essence of the oneness of the church as God’s new creation. In John 17 the Lord dealt with the matter of oneness not by teaching His disciples about it but by praying regarding it. This prayer reveals that oneness can be preserved and realized only in life. In verse 11 the Lord prayed, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, that they may be one even as We are.” To be kept in the Father’s name is to be kept by His life, because only those who are born of the Father and have the Father’s life can participate in the Father’s name. The Son has given the Father’s life to those whom the Father has given Him (v. 2). Hence, the believers enjoy the divine life as the essence of their oneness. If we are kept in the Father’s life, we will be preserved in the oneness.
In verse 17 the Lord went on to pray, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” To be sanctified is to be separated unto God from the world. In a very real sense, to be sanctified is to be preserved. Here the Lord prayed to the Father to sanctify the believers in the truth, which is the Father’s word. As the Father’s name is a matter of life, so the Father’s truth is a matter of light. Life and light are, therefore, the very essence of oneness.
John 17:22 says, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one.” This verse indicates that the Triune God with His glory keeps the oneness of the believers. We are not kept in oneness by teachings or doctrines. We are preserved in oneness by life and light. The Triune God Himself is the life, and His word with His speaking is the light. By this life and this light the oneness is maintained. This is the reason that Ephesians 4 relates the oneness of the church, the Body of Christ, to the Triune God, to the Spirit, the Lord, and God the Father.
In the meetings of the church we enjoy the presence of the Triune God. This is especially true at the Lord’s table meeting and at the prayer meeting. Through the prayers uttered by the saints in the prayer meeting, I enjoy the sweetness of the Lord. I can testify that whenever I come to the prayer meeting, I enjoy the Lord’s anointing. Many of us can testify that we did not have such an enjoyment before we came into the Lord’s recovery. But as we taste the sweetness of the Lord in the church meetings, we receive the supply of life and experience the enlightenment of life. Oh, how I am supplied and enlightened in the church prayer meetings! The Triune God with His glory surely is present with us. In the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — with His glory we are kept in oneness. For this reason, after the prayer meetings we often sense a fresh love for the saints. We also have the consciousness of having experienced more building up.
It is crucial for us to see that the oneness among God’s children is preserved by life and light. It is not maintained through doctrine, organization, or maneuvering. We thank the Lord that in His recovery we have light and life. First, we are enlightened through the Lord’s speaking. Then we receive the supply of life. Eventually, however, the life brings in more light. Actually, we enjoy the cycle of light and life, and life and light. The more light we have, the more life we enjoy; the more life we enjoy, the more light we receive. Light, life, and oneness go together. The more light, the more life; the more life, the more oneness; and the more oneness, the more light. This cycle of light, life, and oneness preserves the oneness.
However, we lose the oneness whenever we are in darkness and death. Darkness brings in death, and death causes detachment. But when we repent and confess to the Lord, we are cleansed by the precious blood. The cleansing of the blood is always related to the shining of light (1 John 1:7). As we are cleansed by the blood under the shining of light, we once again experience life. According to our experience, we can testify that the life, light, and blood in 1 John 1 also function as a cycle that keeps us in the oneness. But when we are in darkness, we lose the oneness, for we lose the proper ground of the church. The result is death and detachment. Once again we see that the essence of the oneness is life and light. The oneness is in life, with light, and on the proper ground.
Life and light are also the essence of the oneness of the new city, the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21 and 22 speak of this new city. In chapter 21 we mainly see the matter of light, whereas in chapter 22 we primarily have the matter of life. Revelation 21:23 says, “The city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” In the New Jerusalem there will be no need of natural light because the city will be enlightened by the glory of the Triune God. The city will be illumined by the shining of God Himself. Furthermore, as the next verse says, “The nations will walk by its light” (v. 24). This reminds us of Isaiah 2:5: “House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.” Light preserves oneness and rules out disorder. The light in the New Jerusalem will control, rule, guide, and keep everything in order. Hence, it will preserve the oneness.
Revelation 22:1 and 2 say, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life.” The river of water of life flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply the city. The water of life here is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply. In Revelation 22:1 the water of life is a river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. In this way the city will be filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life.
As verse 2 says, the tree of life grows “on this side and on that side of the river.” The one tree of life growing on the two sides of the river signifies that the tree of life is a vine, spreading and proceeding along the flow of the water of life for God’s people to receive and enjoy. For eternity God’s redeemed people will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their eternal portion (vv. 14, 19). As the tree of life, Christ is the life supply available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. By the water of life and by the tree of life, the new city will be richly supplied for eternity. Through this abundant supply of life the oneness of the New Jerusalem will be forever maintained. It will not be possible for there to be any division. The light will shine throughout the city, and the life will water and supply the city. This life and light will eliminate the possibility of division. Even the nations that surround the new city will be one. At that time, all things in heaven and on earth will be headed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10). This will be the ultimate, universal, and eternal oneness. As we have pointed out again and again, this oneness will be kept and preserved in life and with light.
All the churches in the Lord’s recovery must be in life and under the shining of light. By the shining of the light and through the watering and supplying of the life, we are one. There is no need for us to make arrangements or to organize anything. The essence of our oneness is not organization — it is life and light. May we all be deeply impressed with the fact that oneness can be prevailing and can be preserved only by life and light.
