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Scripture Reading: Heb. 12:5-7, 9-11; Gal. 5:22-23; 4:19; 1 Cor. 3:12, 14; Gen. 2:12; Phil. 4:11-12
The title "the God of Jacob" implies how the Holy Spirit disciplined Jacob, how He dealt with Jacob's natural life, how He constituted Christ into Jacob, and how He bore the fruit of the Spirit in Jacob. If we want to know the God of Jacob, we have to know the constitution by the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. If we want to know the God of Jacob, we need to allow the Spirit to perform His work in us, to deal with our natural life, to constitute Christ into our inward being, and to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in us so that we can become the vessels of God's testimony.
God deals with our natural life for the purpose of ushering us into the carving work of the Spirit, the processing by the Spirit, and the constituting of the Spirit. What is the meaning of constitution? The constitution referred to here is a vertical and horizontal interweaving of knitwork. The constitution of the Spirit means that the Spirit constitutes Christ into our being to the point that we and Christ become one. Therefore, the constitution of the Spirit is one step more advanced than Christ being our life. Christ being our life is the foundation; the Spirit constituting Christ into our being is maturity. Christ being our life is Christ within us living for us. The constitution of the Spirit is the constituting of Christ into us to the extent that Christ's character becomes our character. God's goal in dealing with our natural life is that we would have the constitution of the Spirit. The knowledge of the God of Isaac is a knowledge of the God who has given Christ to us for our enjoyment. The knowledge of the God of Jacob is the knowledge of the Spirit who is constituting Christ into our being. This condition is like the weaving and constituting of an embroidery work.
Hebrews 12:9-10 says, "The Father of spirits...disciplined...for what is profitable that we might partake of His holiness." God deals with us and the Spirit works in us step by step, leading us through many hardships and distressing situations for the purpose of making us partakers of "His holiness." "His holiness" here is not the "sanctification" spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:30. The sanctification in 1 Corinthians 1 is a matter of Christ being our sanctification; Christ is made sanctification to us. Hebrews 12 speaks of the Father of spirits who takes us through disciplines and trials so that we may partake of His holiness. Such a holiness is produced through our trials. It is wrought out of discipline and produced by the Spirit through all the difficult and adverse environments we encounter. "Now no discipline at the present time seems to be a matter of joy, but of grief; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it" (Heb. 12:11). This is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
The natural life of some Christians is inclined to exhibition. They are like Hezekiah, who was fond of showing off all that he had to others (2 Kings 20:12-13). When God heals them of a particular kind of sickness, they incessantly "testify" of this matter to others. Actually this is not testifying, but idle talking, and the particular sickness often returns because these people are prone to show themselves off; therefore, God has to discipline them. When they eventually become tired of their exhibition, they will spontaneously stop their bragging "testimonies." They will not need to grit their teeth and make up their minds to not brag anymore. They will have been dealt with by God to such an extent that the peaceable fruit has been produced spontaneously, and they no longer act the way they once did. This is the constitution of the Spirit. God has not only given Christ to us to be our life, but He is constituting Christ into our being to be our character. Christ being our life is the foundation, while the nature of Christ becoming our nature is the constitution of the Spirit. The Spirit deals with our natural life with the purpose of producing a new character in us. God uses all kinds of ways to discipline us so that we may partake of His holiness and bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
This is what the history of Jacob shows. Jacob not only knew that God is the beginning of everything and the strength behind everything; he also acquired a new character. God worked on him and constituted Christ's character into him so that Christ's character became his character. In his later years, Jacob was entirely changed because Christ's character was constituted into him.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control." This shows us that "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control" are not virtues given to us by the Holy Spirit, but are fruit borne by the Holy Spirit in us. The fruit of the Holy Spirit means that something of Christ is assimilated by us through the work of the Holy Spirit with the result that these things become our character and our characteristics. This is the meaning of the fruit of the Spirit. This is what we mean when we say that the Holy Spirit is constituting Christ into us. The Holy Spirit is doing one work in us, which is to deal with our natural life and to constitute Christ in us, making Christ's character our character so that spontaneously "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control" will be lived out of us and we will bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is what God is showing us today.
Paul told the Galatians that he travailed "again in birth until Christ is formed in you" (Gal. 4:19). God has given Christ to the believers; this is the first step. But He wants to do a deeper work, which is to have Christ formed in us. God deals with our natural life so that Christ may be formed in us, that is, that Christ may be wrought into us and constituted in us.
Peter was originally a very strong person. His natural life always put him ahead of others. After God touched his natural life, that is, after He touched his strongest part, Peter became weak. However, Peter's weakness was not the end. God went on to constitute Christ into his being. As a result, when others touched Peter, they realized that his being was changed and that he had become a new person. What is the extent of the work of the Spirit? He works to the extent that Christ is constituted and formed in us.
Paul said in Philippians 4:11, "I have learned." This was Christ being formed in him, which he learned step by step. He learned "how to be abased" and "how to abound;" he learned "in whatever circumstances..to be content." "In everything and in all things I have learned the secret" (v. 12). Paul's person had undergone a basic change. Therefore, not only do we need Christ in us to be our life, but we also need Christ to be formed in us. Not only do we have the Christ given to us by God, but we also need the Christ assimilated by us and then formed in us. This is what God wants us to attain. This is to know the God of Jacob.
We need to pay special attention to three portions of the Scripture. One portion is Genesis 2, where gold and precious stones are mentioned. Another portion is 1 Corinthians 3, where gold and precious stones are built upon a foundation. The third portion is Revelation 21, which speaks of the New Jerusalem being composed of pure gold, and the foundations of the wall of the city being adorned with every precious stone. God's purpose is not only with gold and silver, but also with precious stones. We know that gold typifies God the Father. All that is of God is gold. Silver signifies redemption, typifying the Son. All the gifts of Christ are silver. How about the precious stones? The precious stones are not like gold and silver, which are elements. They are compounds of several elements. Precious stones are formed through the process of intense underground heat. Continuous heat brings about a chemical change, and precious stones are formed. Only after the stones are carved, cut, and polished do they become beautiful and valuable gems. Therefore, the precious stones typify the work of the Holy Spirit in man. Day by day the Spirit works on us, carves us, deals with us, and constitutes us until Christ is formed in us. The Spirit leads us through many difficulties and environments so that Christ may be constituted into our being. When Christ in us becomes not only the Christ given by God, but the Christ digested and assimilated into us, we become the precious stones.
In Genesis 2 there is gold and there are the precious stones, but there is no silver. According to God's eternal plan, this signifies that everything comes out of Him and that the Holy Spirit constitutes Christ into us. Silver signifies the Christ that God has given to us; yet this alone is not enough. God wants Christ to be constituted into us, that is, to be digested and assimilated by us and formed in us until we become precious stones. In the new heaven and new earth, God will reach His goal, and there will be only gold and precious stones, but no silver. All the silver will have become precious stones. Hence, God's ultimate goal is to have precious stones. Consequently, in Genesis 2 God used the fruit of the tree of life to signify the life that He gives to us. Fruit is something that is eaten and digested. God not only wants to give us life; He also wants us to digest life.
May God open our eyes to see that in His holy way and according to His plan, He wants to gain some vessels to fulfill His goal. These vessels must know the God of Abraham; they must know that all things are of God. They must also know the God of Isaac; they must know that everything for our enjoyment and inheritance is given to us by Him. They must know that everything depends on our being in Christ and Christ being in us. They must also know the God of Jacob; they must know that God deals with our natural life and constitutes Christ into our being through the Spirit. May God bless us, and may He lead us to the knowledge of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob so that we may become vessels for His testimony.
