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In this lesson we will continue to see other aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Son in the grace of the Triune God.
As the portion of the saints, Christ is also the believers' spiritual food. First Corinthians 10:3 says that the children of Israel went out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and "all ate the same spiritual food" in the wilderness. The spiritual food here refers to manna (Exo. 16:14-18), which typifies Christ as the daily life supply (John 6:31-35) for the believers' journey. We believers should all eat the same spiritual food, not eating anything other than Christ.
The Christ who is our spiritual food is the Christ who becomes subjective to us. He is the processed Triune God indwelling our spirit subjectively as the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, He can be our daily spiritual food. Anything that is to be our food and life supply must be something that can enter into us and then be digested and assimilated by us to become the elements of our tissue and fiber. This is precisely what Christ is to us. When we eat Christ as our spiritual food, He enters into us and mingles with us as one.
In John 6:48 the Lord declared that He was the bread of life, indicating that He would be man's life supply in the form of food, like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9). He was God incarnated in order to be the bread of life for us to eat. He came down from heaven not only to be our Savior but also to be our food. In John 6 we see five characteristics of Christ as our food: the heavenly bread (vv. 41, 50, 51, 58), the bread of God (v. 33), the bread of life (v. 35), the living bread (v. 51), and the true bread (v. 32). As the bread that came down out of heaven, Christ is the heavenly bread. As the bread of God, He is of God, He was sent by God, and He had God with Him. As the bread of life, He is the bread with eternal life. As the living bread, He is living. As the true bread, He is the bread of truth, or reality; all other kinds of food are merely shadows of Him as the real food. The reality of the food we eat daily is Jesus Christ. He is the true bread of life sent by God to bring us eternal life. We all need to receive Him as the bread of life, the spiritual food, to us.
In 6:57 the Lord said, "He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me." To eat is to take food into us that it may be assimilated organically into our body. Hence, to eat Jesus is to receive Him into us that He may be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life. Then we live by the Lord whom we have received. This is the living that we should have according to God's ordination in His economy. For our spiritual living, Christ should be our unique food for us to be daily strengthened, sustained, and satisfied by Him.
Christ is not only our spiritual food to be our daily life supply; He is also the rock flowing with the spiritual drink to quench our thirst. First Corinthians 10:4 says that the children of Israel "all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ." The spiritual drink refers to the living water that flowed out of the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6), which typifies the Spirit who flowed out of the crucified and resurrected Christ as our all-inclusive drink (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13). We should all drink the same spiritual drink, not drinking anything other than the all-inclusive Spirit.
The rock that was smitten and cleft to flow out the living water for God's chosen people was a physical rock. Yet Paul called it a spiritual rock, because it typified Christ smitten and cleft by God to flow out the water of life to satisfy the thirst of the believers. Hence, the apostle said that the rock was Christ. Since it was a spiritual rock signifying Christ, it was able to follow the children of Israel. This indicates that Christ as the real rock is following His believers. Through incarnation He came to earth and was smitten on the cross by the law of God with its power and authority. His side was cleft (John 19:34) and water flowed forth. This water, which is the Spirit, the ultimate issue of the Triune God, quenches our thirst and fully satisfies our entire being.
We should not regard the eating and drinking of Christ as mere parables or metaphors. These are facts to us. Daily, even hourly, we should eat and drink the Lord Jesus. Although eating and drinking are very common in our daily life, in the Bible they are matters of crucial significance. As we eat and drink certain food, the elements contained in the food are taken into us, and when they have been digested and assimilated, they become one with us in substance and essence. Actually, they become the fibers and constituents within us. Similarly, as we eat and drink Christ, He works Himself into us to be our life element and becomes one with us organically.
To the believers Christ is also light. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Once we believe in the Lord Jesus and receive Him into us, we have the Son of God and we have life. This life in us becomes our light of life (8:12). Many times, when we have called on the name of the Lord Jesus to contact Him and receive Him, the divine light came into us to shine in us. That shining was the shining of Christ Himself as light. This light was not an objective light enlightening us from without; it was a subjective light shining within us. The shining of the light within us is a strong confirmation that we have been born of God, that we are God's children with God's life.
As believers we experience Christ's shining as light not only by the Lord's life but also through the Lord's word (Psa. 119:105, 130), because the words which the Lord speaks to us are life (John 6:63). When we hear the Lord's word and receive God's life, the life becomes the light shining within to enlighten us. Christ is the Word, which was from the beginning (John 1:1), as the definition, explanation, and expression of God by which we may know God. When we receive Him as the Word, the expression of God, we have the light of life that is in Him, and we live under His enlightening.
Ephesians 5:14 also indicates that Christ is the light to the believers. There it says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." The sleeping one, who is also the dead one, one who has lost his consciousness in the spirit, needs the reproving spoken of in the preceding verses. When his works of darkness are reproved or exposed (vv. 11, 13), he will receive Christ's shining. This verse also shows us the way to receive the shining. The light is already there; we simply need to receive it. Whenever we fall into a dark and dead situation, we simply need to return to the spirit and turn to the indwelling Christ; then He will shine on us that we may live in the light.
Christ is also the believers' way to the Father. In John 14:6 the Lord said, "I am the way...; no one comes to the Father except through Me." This clearly indicates that Christ is the way for man to enter into God. Since the way is the Lord, a living person, the place to which the Lord brings man must also be a person, God the Father Himself. The Lord Himself is the living way by which man is brought into God the Father, the living person.
To have Christ as our way to the Father means that when we take Christ, we get the Father. When we walk in Christ as the way, we arrive at the destination, which is the Father. Hence, we take Christ as the way and we enter into the Father. Christ is the living way for us to get into God the Father, the living person. The Father is holy and dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). We are sinful and are also involved with the world, Satan, and other negative things. Sin, the world, and Satan are three great obstacles that make it impossible for us to come to the Father. However, through His death on the cross Christ dealt with sin, the world, and Satan and cleared away all the negative things and obstacles between us and God. Thus He became our way into the Father. When we enter into Christ as the way, we arrive at the Father, because the Son is one with the Father. Therefore, to be in the Son is also to be in the Father. Once we are in Christ Jesus, there is no longer any distance between us and God. This is not a mere doctrine but a spiritual fact. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we are immediately in the Triune God in an experiential way and enjoy the riches of the Triune God through the divine dispensing.
In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus also said that He is the reality. Without Christ, the entire universe is empty, having no reality. Christ is the incarnated God, and in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9) that He may become the reality of God and man (John 1:18, 51; 1 Tim. 2:5) and the reality of all the divine and spiritual things, such as the divine life and resurrection (John 11:25; 14:6), the divine light (8:12; 9:5), the divine way (14:6), wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30), for our possession and enjoyment.
In Colossians 1:27 Paul speaks of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ not only dwells within us; He dwells within us as our hope of glory. Christ can be our hope of glory because He dwells in our spirit to be our life and our person. Colossians 3:4 says that when Christ is manifested, we also will be manifested with Him in glory. This indicates that the indwelling Christ will saturate our entire being and cause our body to be transfigured and conformed to the body of His glory (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21). At that time Christ will be glorified in us. This is Christ in us as the hope of glory.
Glory is the expression of God. God has ordained that we should be brought into this glory (1 Cor. 2:7), and, as believers, we have been called into this glory (1 Thes. 2:12; 1 Pet. 5:10). When we were regenerated, Christ as the life of glory came into us as the divine seed that eventually will blossom into the full expression of God. Just as we hope for the blossoming of a seed that has been sown, so we hope for the full expression of the life of glory that is in us. Our hope of such a glory is the indwelling Christ Himself.
In Ephesians 1:18 Paul speaks of the hope of God's calling, which is related to Christ as the hope of glory. Before we were saved, we were "apart from Christ...having no hope and without God in the world" (2:12). But now that we are saved, we are no longer without hope; instead, we are full of hope. The hope of God's calling includes: (1) Christ Himself and the salvation He will bring to us when He comes back (Col. 1:27; 1 Pet. 1:5, 9); (2) the rapturous transfer from the earthly and physical realm to the heavenly and spiritual sphere, plus glorification (Rom. 8:23-25, 30; Phil. 3:21); (3) the kingly enjoyment with Christ in the millennium (Rev. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:18); and (4) the consummate enjoyment of Christ in the New Jerusalem, with the universal and eternal blessings in the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1-7; 22:1-5). These are the portions which Christ as the hope of glory will bring to us.
Christ is also our peace. Ephesians 2:14 says, "He [Christ] Himself is our peace." Our refers to both the Jewish and the Gentile believers. The peace spoken of here is not the peace between God and man but the peace between one man and another. Through the blood of Christ we have been brought near not only to God but also to one another. Christ, who has accomplished full redemption for both the Jewish and the Gentile believers, is Himself our peace. Due to man's fall and God's selection and calling, there was a separation between Israel, God's chosen people, and the Gentiles. Through Christ's redemption this separation has been removed. Now the two are one in the redeeming Christ, who is the bond of oneness.
Christ is also the peace within us. In John 14:27 the Lord said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The peace the Lord gives overcomes all troubles and fears, especially those caused by the persecution of religion. At that time, when the disciples heard that the Lord was going to leave them, their hearts were troubled (v. 1), and they were afraid because they were under the fear of the Jewish religion that was opposing and persecuting them. The Lord told them that He left His peace with them, a peace that was actually the Lord Himself. No matter what opposition and persecution we may face, the Lord within us is our peace, and we may experience and enjoy Him and thereby enjoy peace.
In 16:33 the Lord also said, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but take courage; I have overcome the world." This indicates that the believers have peace in the overcoming Christ. Although the Lord Jesus died, has been resurrected, and has ascended to heaven, we remain in the world where there is no peace, and we are often troubled by the world. But the Lord promised that He will be our peace and that we may have peace in Him. No matter how much the world persecutes us and troubles us, Christ is our peace and He has overcome the world.
Christ is also joy to the believers. In John 15:11 the Lord said, "These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full." The context of this verse is the Lord's word concerning the vine and the branches being an organism to glorify the Father by expressing the riches of the divine life (vv. 1-11). For us to be branches of the divine vine and to bear fruit to express the divine life is a matter of joy—a joyful life. If we abide in the Lord and keep abiding in Him by abiding in His love so that we may bear much fruit to express the riches of His life for the glorification of the Father, we will be filled with joy. Our joy always comes from our abiding in the Lord, from our abiding in His love, and from our fruit-bearing in His rich life for the glorification of the Father. It is in this kind of life that we are full of joy. Actually, this joy is Christ Himself. When He abides in us, His joy abides in us to be the source of our joy that our joy may abound and become full.
In Philippians, a book written by Paul concerning the experience of Christ, we are repeatedly told that we should rejoice in the Lord. In 3:1 Paul said, "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, for me it is not irksome, but for you it is safe." Here Paul charged the Philippian believers, who were troubled by the Judaizers, to rejoice in the Lord. This indicates that to rejoice in the Lord is a safeguard, a security, that shields the believers from all troubles. Furthermore, 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Rejoicing is a sign of the believers, it is a portion measured by God to us, and it should be our living and condition. This joy enables us to live our days with joy in any kind of situation day by day, to endure and suffer long with joy (Col. 1:11), and even to have abundance of joy in much proving of affliction (2 Cor. 8:2).
Christ is not only the believers' peace and joy but also their rest. In Matthew 11:28 the Lord Jesus called people, saying, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest." The toil spoken of in this verse refers not only to the toil of striving to keep the commandments of the law and religious regulations but also to the toil of struggling to be successful in any work. Whoever toils thus is always heavily burdened. The Lord called such toiling ones to come to Him for rest. Rest refers not only to being set free from the toil and burden under the law and religion or under any work or responsibility, but also to perfect peace and full satisfaction.
Then the Lord showed us the way to rest. He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (v. 29). To take the Lord's yoke is to take the will of the Father. It is not to be regulated or controlled by any obligation of the law or religion or to be enslaved by any work, but to be constrained by the will of the Father. The Lord lived such a life, caring for nothing but the will of His Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). He submitted Himself fully to the Father's will (Matt. 26:39, 42). Therefore, He asks us to learn from Him, the One who is meek and lowly in heart. He did not resist any opposition, nor did He esteem Himself highly. In all the opposition He was meek, and in all the rejection He was lowly. He submitted Himself fully to the will of His Father, not wanting to do anything for Himself or expecting to gain something for Himself. Hence, no matter what the situation was, He had rest in His heart. He was fully satisfied with His Father's will.
If we take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls. This is an inward rest. If we are opposed as we minister, and we resist, we will not have peace. But if instead of resisting we learn from the Lord and submit to the will of the Father, we will have rest in our souls; that is, we will enjoy the indwelling Christ as the rest in our deepest part.
As the portion of the saints, Christ is our spiritual food, the true bread of life sent by God as our daily life supply for our journey. He is also the rock flowing with the spiritual drink. He was smitten and cleft for us on the cross to flow out the water of life; now He is always following us to quench our thirst. He is also the light. By His being our life and by His speaking to us, He shines within us that we may live in the light. He is also the way, the living way for us to enter into God the Father, the living person; through Him we are able to get into the Father. He is also the reality. He is God coming to be our reality and the reality of all the divine and spiritual things for our possession and enjoyment. He is also the hope of glory. He dwells in our spirit to be our life and person; eventually, He will saturate our entire being and cause our body to be transfigured unto the full expression of God. He is also the peace. Through His accomplished redemption, He removed the separation between the believers that they may be one with one another. Furthermore, He is in us to be our peace that we may overcome all troubles, fears, and persecutions. He is also our joy. When He abides in us, His joy abides in us to be the source of our joy that our joy may abound and become full and that we may live our days with joy. He is also the rest. He enables all those who toil and are burdened to be set free and to enjoy perfect peace and satisfaction; if we take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls.
