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I. God
А. The unique true God
B. Elohim — the faithful mighty One
C. Jehovah — the self-existing and ever-existing I Am
D. The Triune God
1. The matter of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit
2. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all being God
3. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all being eternal
4. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit coexisting simultaneously
5. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit coinhering and being inseparable
6. The Three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — being One
E. The reason for God being triune
II. Christ
А. The titles of Christ
B. The person of Christ
1. God
2. The Son of God
3. Man
4. The Creator
5. The Firstborn of all creation
C. The work of Christ
1. Creating
2. Becoming flesh
3. Being crucified on the cross
4. Being resurrected from the dead
5. Ascending into the heavens
6. Fulfilling His heavenly ministry
7. Coming again
8. Establishing the millennial kingdom
9. Being the center of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth
III. The Holy Spirit
А. The ultimate expression of the Triune God
B. The Triune God reaching and entering into the believers
C. What the Holy Spirit is
D. The two aspects of the Holy Spirit
E. The work of the Holy Spirit
IV. The cross of Christ
А. The cross being prophesied by God
B. The cross being a Roman form of execution
C. The time when Christ was crucified
D. The accomplishments of the cross
E. Boasting in the cross
In the next four lessons, we will talk about fourteen key topics of the Bible. Because the Bible is so long, it is helpful to know the key topics of the Bible in order to better understand what you are reading. Some of these topics were covered in earlier lesson books. The topics addressed in these lessons are not covered in detail. If you wish to know more about salvation, God, Christ, the Spirit, the human spirit, eternal life, and the church, you may study the previous lesson books in this series.
[God is the foremost item revealed in the Bible because He is the beginning of all things. Everything in the universe originated from Him and began with Him. God is also the main content of the Bible from its first book to the last. He created us and regenerated us and has everything to do with our life and our being. Thus, we should know Him first.]
[The Scriptures in many instances and in many ways tell us that God is uniquely one. Both in the Old Testament and in the New, there are many passages which clearly and definitely tell us that God is only one. First Corinthians 8:4 says, “There is no God but one,” and Isaiah 45:5 says, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides Me.”]
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” [Here in Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim. This is the first divine title used in the Bible to reveal God, and it means the faithful mighty One. It shows that the true God, whom we worship according to the Bible, is not only mighty but also faithful. He is the mighty One; so He could create the heavens, the earth, all things, and mankind, calling what is not being as being. He is faithful; therefore, He is dependable, ever unchanging, and immovable. His works according to His faithfulness are as enduring as the sun and as established as the moon (Psa. 89:33-37).]
In Exodus 3:14, God said that He is the “I Am that I Am.” [Here God told Moses in plain words that His name is Jehovah. The name Jehovah is the second main divine title used by the Bible in revealing God. It means the self-existing and ever-existing I Am, the I Am who was, who is and who is to come. It indicates that He is the I Am, and besides Him nothing is. Only He is, and He is the self-existing and ever-existing I Am, who was, who is, and who is coming. Thus, everything in the entire universe is vain and is not; only He is, only He exists forever, and only He is reality. He is everything to the people whom He created and who belong to Him. Whatever they need, He is.]
[The Bible reveals that God is triune. This is a revelation of great importance. God is uniquely one, and His name is Jehovah; yet this God is also triune — He is the Father, Son, and Spirit. This is a mystery; in fact, it is a mystery of mysteries.]
[The Lord says in Matthew 28:19, “Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Lord here clearly speaks of Three — the Father, Son, and Spirit. But when He speaks here of the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, the name which is used is in the singular number in the original text. This means that though the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three, yet the name is one. It is really mysterious — one name for Three. This, of course, is what is meant by the expression three-one or triune.]
The Father is God (1 Pet. 1:2; Eph. 1:17). The Son is God (Heb. 1:8; John 1:1; Rom. 9:5). The Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). [The Scriptures clearly reveal to us that all Three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — are God. This does not mean, however, that they are three Gods. We have already seen that the Scriptures tell us clearly and definitely that God is only one. Although there are three — the Father, Son, and Spirit — yet the Three are not three Gods, but one. This is really a mystery! It is unsearchable! But praise the Lord, we can simply receive and enjoy this mysterious One according to what the Scriptures have said!"]
The Father is eternal (Isa. 9:6). The Son is eternal (Heb. 1:12; 7:3). The Spirit also is eternal (Heb. 9:14). Hence, all Three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — are eternal.
In John 14:16-17 the Son says that He will pray to the Father that the Father may send the Spirit. [In Ephesians 3:14-17 Paul says that he will pray to the Father that He would grant us to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into our inner man, that Christ may make His home in our hearts. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”] [Therefore, we do not believe that the Father ceased to exist and was replaced by the Son, then after another period of time the Son was replaced by the Spirit. We believe that the Three — Father, Son, and Spirit — are eternal and co-existent.]
[The relationship among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit of the Trinity is not only that they simultaneously coexist, but, even more, that they indwell one another mutually. Coexistence means to exist together at the same time. Coinherence, as applied to the Trinity, means that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in one another and thus exist together.] John 5:43 tells us that the Son came in the name of the Father. This equals the Father’s coming. John 14:10 says that the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son. Hence, the Son can testify saying, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Other verses tell us of similar facts (John 6:46; 8:29; 14:26; 15:26; Luke 4:1). [The Triune God has never been separated. When One moves, the other Two also move with Him. When One is sent, the other Two also come with Him. When the Son comes, He comes in the name of the Father; when He comes, the Father comes. When the Spirit is sent, He is sent in the name of the Son; His being sent is the Son’s being sent. Hence, the Son’s coming is the Father’s coming, and the Spirit’s being sent is the Son’s being sent. The Three — the Father, Son, and Spirit — are one. They cannot be separated for eternity.]
The Son is the Father. [Isaiah 9:6 says, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...and his name shall be called...Mighty God, Eternal Father.” In this verse, the mighty God matches the child, and the everlasting Father matches the Son. Yes, He is a child, yet He is the mighty God. The child who was born in the manger of Bethlehem was the mighty God. Just as the child and the mighty God are one, so also the Son and the eternal Father are one. The Son is the eternal Father.]
The Son became the life-giving Spirit. [First Corinthians 15:45 states, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam, of course, is the incarnated Lord Jesus, and the life-giving Spirit, of course, is the Holy Spirit. There can never be another life-giving Spirit besides the Holy Spirit.]
Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Here we see that the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us. By having the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we are enjoying the grace of Christ coming out from the love of God. The whole Triune God is here for our enjoyment and experience.
[God is the Triune God. The one, unique God has the aspect of three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all God and are eternal, coexistent, coinherent, and inseparable. To the believers, the Father is the source, the Son is the manifestation, and the Spirit is God reaching and entering into them. Thus, the Triune God is dispensed into their being to be their life, enjoyment, and complete supply.]
[Christ is the subject and center of the Bible and is the main content of the Bible from beginning to end. Even more He is the reality of our faith. We who have believed into Him and received grace must know Him in a thorough way.]
Matthew 1:21 says, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” [When Christ was incarnated to be a man, He was given the name Jesus by an angel. Jesus is equivalent to Joshua in Hebrew (Num. 13:16), which means the salvation of Jehovah, or Jehovah the Savior. Thus, He is the Savior, who will save His people from their sins.] Matthew 1:16 says, “Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” [The second name of Christ is Christ, the equivalent of Messiah in Hebrew (John 1:41), which means the anointed One. This name reveals that He is God’s anointed One, being anointed by God with His Spirit to create and to redeem in order to fulfill God’s eternal purpose.] Matthew 1:23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” [Jesus and Christ were names given by God. When men discovered that He was God, they called Him Emmanuel, which means God with us. This name reveals that Jesus, who is our Savior, and Christ, who is God’s Anointed, are actually God Himself coming to be with us.]
“Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5). [This word simply and strongly declares that Christ is God, who is over all, the complete God blessed forever.]
“But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). Christ is also the Son of God, that is, God the Son.
“The Man, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Christ is not only God, He is also man. He is the complete God who became a genuine and perfect man. This is a great mystery.
“You in the beginning, Lord, have founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands” ( Heb. 1:10). He is the Creator.
“The Son of His love...Firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:13, 15). [This tells us that Christ is also a creature, even the Firstborn among the creatures. As the Firstborn, He is the first. As God, He is the Creator of heaven and earth and all things; as man, He is the first among the creatures.]
[In being anointed by God to be God’s anointed One to fulfill His eternal plan, Christ accomplished and will accomplish the following great things:]
“You in the beginning, Lord, have founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands” (Heb. 1:10). [The first great thing Christ did was to create the heavens and the earth, all things, and man. Hence, He is the Creator of all things.]
“And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality” (John 1:14). [The second great thing accomplished by Christ, God’s Anointed, was that He as God became flesh; that is, He came to be a man in the flesh to be the tabernacle of God among men, bringing God to men to be realized as reality and to be received as grace. Reality is God known and contacted by man, and grace is God received and enjoyed by man. In the fleshly tabernacle which He became, Christ lived with man for thirty-three and a half years, thus fully bringing God to man to be his reality and grace.]
[After thirty-three and a half years, He went to the cross to be crucified to accomplish the redemption in God’s eternal plan. This is the third great thing He did, solving, once and for all, the problem of everything that God had condemned in the universe, such as Satan, sin, the world, the flesh, the old man, and the old creation. He did this for God and for those who are chosen by God, who will eternally inherit His salvation.]
Christ gave up His own life, and He Himself took it back by rising from among the dead (John 10:17-18). This is the fourth great thing He did, which accomplished justification, resurrection, and regeneration for us. “Jesus...was raised because of our justification” (Rom. 4:24-25). His resurrection is the proof of our justification. His resurrection is the receipt of our justification. We are raised up together with Him in His resurrection (Eph. 2:5-6). His resurrection also released His life into us, thus regenerating us to be the new man.
[After Christ rose from among the dead, He ascended into the heavens. This is the fifth great thing done by Him.] “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8). [Those taken captive refers to us, who were captured before by Satan and death. Now Christ, in His triumphant resurrection, has captured us from the hands of Satan and death, bringing us to the heavens to make us God’s gift to Christ that Christ may give us as gifts to the church.] “And seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). [The ascension of Christ also brought us, who have believed into Him and have been joined to Him to be one, to the heavenlies, that we may attain to a heavenly position and live in a heavenly atmosphere and state.] What wonderful things Christ has accomplished for us in His ascension!
[Upon His ascension into heaven, Christ proceeded to accomplish His heavenly ministry. He was anointed by God to do this sixth great thing, continually performing the following four matters on our behalf: After Christ enacted the new covenant (Matt. 26:28) through His death on the earth, He ascended to the heavens to be the Mediator of this new covenant, executing it upon those who believe in Him (Heb. 8:6). Christ is also the Minister of the true tabernacle in the heavens today, ministering to His believers the heavenly life and the divine, heavenly supply (Heb. 8:1-2). Today, Christ is also our great High Priest in the heavens, interceding before God on our behalf that we may be saved to the uttermost (Heb. 4:14; 7:24-26). Christ in the heavens today is also our Advocate before the righteous God. If we sin after we are saved, based upon His being our propitiation, He pleads for us in order to recover the broken fellowship between God and us (1 John 2:1-2).]
[When Christ completes His heavenly ministry, He will come back to accomplish the seventh great thing as God’s Anointed, which includes the following three matters: When Christ comes again, He will rapture all believers to the air, whether they are resurrected or living, to meet with Him, that they may always be together with Him. This is the first matter He will perform in His second coming (1 Thes. 4:16-17).] The second matter Christ will perform in His second coming is that He will save all of Israel (Rom. 11:26). The third matter the Lord will perform when He returns is that He will judge all the living unbelieving nations.
After Christ cleans up the earth at His coming, He will set up the millennial kingdom and will reign with His overcoming believers in it for a thousand years. This is the eighth great thing He will accomplish as God’s Anointed (Rev. 20:4, 6).
[At the end of the millennial kingdom, the old heaven and the old earth will be abolished. Christ will be the center of eternity in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth to come. This is the last great thing to be done by Christ as God’s Anointed in fulfilling God’s eternal plan. All those redeemed by God throughout the ages will then be with Him, enjoying the bountiful issue of God’s work throughout the ages in God’s eternal life forever and ever] (Rev. 21:23).
[The Holy Spirit is the One who brings in the Triune God for our experience and enjoyment. Therefore, we should also know Him that we may richly experience Him.]
[In the divine Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, is listed last, showing that He is the ultimate expression of the Triune God (Matt. 28:19).]
The Lord said in John 14:16-17 [that the Holy Spirit is the Triune God reaching man, that is, the Triune God becoming the Spirit to reach man and be with him forever.]
He further revealed to us in John 14:17 and 20 [that the Holy Spirit, who reaches us with the Father and the Son, will also enter into us. This indicates that He is the Triune God entering into the believers. When He enters into us, the Father and the Son enter into us (John 14:23).]
The “Spirit of God” (Gen. 1:2) participated in God’s work of creation. The “Spirit of Jehovah” (2 Chron. 20:14) participated in God’s relationship with man (Gen. 2:7). The “Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:35) participated in Christ’s incarnation to sanctify man unto God. The “Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7) participated in the birth, the living, and the sufferings of Jesus. The “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9) participated in the resurrection of Christ and the impartation of life. The “Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19) participated in the birth, living, and death of Jesus, as well as in the resurrection of Christ and the impartation of life, with a bountiful supply that the believers may be saved in all things. The “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), “the life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45), participated in Christ being man’s life and giving man life. “The Spirit”, which was not yet because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39), [is the issue of the Holy Spirit having passed through all the items of what He is, mentioned above. Thus, He is the all-inclusive and consummated Spirit as the ultimate expression of the Triune God to reach and enter into those who believe into Christ.] The “seven Spirits” (Rev. 1:4) refers to the sevenfold intensified Holy Spirit, that the church in desolation may receive the sevenfold riches of grace and power.
[In the New Testament, there are two aspects of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, related to the believers. On the one hand, He is the Spirit of life in us to be the essential Spirit of God that we may have the divine life to live and to exist. On the other hand, He is the Spirit of power upon us to be the economical Spirit of God that we may have the divine power and gift to work for God.] Jesus said in John 14:17, “The Spirit of reality...shall be in you”. [This is the Holy Spirit as the essential Spirit of God in the believers that they may have God’s life to live for God.] Then He said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the remotest part of the earth.” [This is the Holy Spirit as the economical Spirit of God upon the believers that they may receive God’s power to work for the Lord.]
The Holy Spirit did and is still doing many wonderful things for us to bring us fully into God’s economy. There are ten crucial things that help bring us fully into God’s economy: 1) The Holy Spirit became the transfiguration and reality of Christ in His resurrection to testify concerning the reality of Christ in resurrection (John 15:26); 2) The Holy Spirit came to convict sinners of their sins that they may repent and believe into Christ to obtain eternal life (John 16:8); 3) The Holy Spirit, as God’s essential Spirit of life, regenerates the repentant sinner in his spirit that he may have the life of God and become a child of God (John 3:6); 4) The Holy Spirit, as God’s essential Spirit of life, also renews man through regeneration that man may receive God’s salvation of life (Titus 3:5); 5) The Holy Spirit, as God’s essential Spirit of life, abides in us to continually supply us with God’s life and riches (2 Tim. 1:14); 6) The Holy Spirit, as the essential Spirit of God, anoints the essence (element) of God into the believers, thus producing a teaching for them that they may abide in the Lord according to the teaching of God’s essence (1 John 2:27); 7) The Holy Spirit, as God’s essential Spirit of life in the believers, also supplies them with God’s holy nature, that is, the divine essence (Rom. 15:16); 8) The Holy Spirit, as the essential Spirit of God in the believers, transforms the believers metabolically with God’s divine essence into the Lord’s image from one degree of glory to a higher degree of glory (2 Cor. 3:18); 9) The Holy Spirit, as the economical Spirit of God, is the power upon the believers for them to work for God (Luke 24:49); and 10) The Holy Spirit is upon the believers, as the economical Spirit of God, giving them diverse gifts to work for God (1 Cor. 12:7-11).
[The cross of Christ accomplished God’s eternal redemption for us according to the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory to become the basis of our eternal salvation. Hence, we must thoroughly know the cross.]
Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree.” [“Tree” here signifies the cross, which was made of wood. In Deuteronomy 21:23 of the Old Testament, God prophesied in the judgments of the Law that Christ would be hung on a tree, that is, be hung on the cross.]
John 19:15 tells us, “They cried out then, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate says to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.” [The Jewish form of execution was to stone a criminal to death (Deut. 22:24). However, about sixty years before the Lord’s birth, the Jewish nation fell to Rome. Not long before the Lord was put to death by the Roman governor, the Roman Empire had adopted crucifixion as the form of execution for the most evil persons. Thus, when the Jews sought to kill the Lord, they crucified Him through the hands of the Roman governor, fulfilling God’s prophecy in Deuteronomy 21:23 concerning how the Lord would die. This was done by the sovereign hand of God.]
According to Mark 15:25 and Matthew 27:45 Christ was crucified beginning at nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon, a total of six hours. [In the first three hours, God did not punish Him in the sinners’ place; rather, men persecuted Him. In these three hours, He suffered for martyrdom, not redemption. At noon, the earth became dark. From this point until three o’clock, men did not persecute Him, but God judged Him in the sinners’ place. In those three hours, He suffered for redemption, not martyrdom.]
Christ accomplished eleven matters on the cross. We can participate in God’s economy because of His various accomplishments.
[The first thing Christ accomplished on the cross was to bear the various sins in our outward actions, that is, the sins committed by us personally, that we may be saved and pass from death into life (1 Pet. 2:24).
On the cross, at the same time, Christ removed the sin in our inward nature, that is, the sin inherited by birth, that we may be delivered from our sinful nature within (Heb. 9:26).
Christ bore our outward sins and removed our inward sin on the cross, receiving the curse which, according to God’s law, we should have received because of our fall and our sin (Gal. 3:13).
Christ not only dealt with our twofold sin on the cross; He also crucified our sinful old man that the body of sin might be made of none effect, that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Rom. 6:6).
Since our old man has been crucified with Christ, our “I” is also crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20).
Not only did Christ crucify our old man on the cross; He also crucified our flesh with its passions and lusts. Here it says that we who are of Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. We can do this based on the fact that the Lord crucified our flesh on the cross (Gal. 5:24).
On the cross, Christ destroyed the Devil, who has the might of death, and released us from the slavery of death (Heb. 2:14-15).
Since Christ destroyed the Devil, who has the power of death, obviously He also judged and dealt with him, the old serpent who had poisoned mankind, that all who believe in Christ may have God’s eternal life and pass from death into life. This is typified by Moses’ lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, which brought the Israelites from death to life (John 3:14-15).
On the cross, Christ destroyed Satan the Devil, and at the same time He crucified the world organized by Satan and hanging on Satan, causing the world to lose its usurping power on those who have believed into Christ (Gal. 6:14).
On the cross, Christ abolished the Old Testament law of the commandments in ordinances, which separated the Jews from the Gentiles, making them one and creating the two in Himself into one new man, which is the church (Eph. 2:14-15).
Christ not only dealt with all the above negative items for God and for us on the cross, but through His death on the cross He also released the divine life within Him into us so that we could become His many members which constitute His Body (John 12:24).]
Galatians 6:14 says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Those zealous for the Jewish religion forced others to be circumcised in order to boast in others’ flesh (Gal. 6:12-13). However, the apostle Paul, being gained by Christ, did not boast in anything but the cross of Christ.]
God is the One who planned. Christ is the One who accomplished. The Spirit is the One who applies. The Spirit brings to us the reality of what God is, what Christ has accomplished on the cross, and what Christ went through, obtained, and attained. The person and the work of the Triune God has delivered us from all the negative things in the universe and dispenses into us the Triune God Himself. These are the four most crucial things revealed to us in the Bible. When we see, believe, and receive the truth concerning God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the cross of Christ, we are set free to enjoy Him. How wonderful!
