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In this lesson we will still continue to see the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Son, the believers' portion, in the grace of the Triune God.
In 1 Corinthians 11:3 the apostle Paul said, "I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man...and God is the head of Christ." Here the headship of Christ over every man pertains to individuals. In Ephesians 5:23 Paul also said that Christ is the Head of the church. Here the headship of Christ over His Body pertains to His Body. And in Ephesians 1:22-23 Paul said that Christ is the Head over all things. This pertains to all things. Therefore, Christ is the Head of every man, He is the corporate Head of the church, and He is the Head over all things that He may head up all things in Himself (Eph. 1:10).
Revelation 4 and 5 show us that Christ, the slain, resurrected, and ascended Lamb, is now in the heavens carrying out God's administration under God's headship. Satan takes the lead to rebel against God, and the whole earth is filled with rebellion. But in the midst of all this rebellion, Christ has gained a group of people who have been redeemed and baptized into the Triune God, and He has constituted them to be the Body of Christ. As the Body, they are freed from rebellion and are subjected under the headship of God. Just as Christ is in the heavens submitting to God's headship for the carrying out of the divine administration, so we the believers and the church, which is constituted with us, should also submit ourselves to Christ as the Head, honor Him as our Head, and express His submission to God's headship for the carrying out of the divine administration. When we thus take Christ as our Head and submit ourselves under His headship, we participate in and enjoy His headship.
As believers, we have Christ as our Lord. Romans 14:8 says, "For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's." All believers are the Lord's. All have been born of the same God, all belong to the Lord, and all have the same Lord regardless of how much they differ in doctrinal concepts or in religious practices. Since Christ is our Lord, we should not judge any brother in the Lord by ourselves; rather, we should receive one another, for we neither are qualified nor have the position to pass judgment on anyone. If we truly know Christ as our Lord and as the Lord of all the believers, we will fear Him, honor Him, and take Him as our unique Lord.
In Ephesians 1:17 Paul speaks of "our Lord Jesus Christ." This indicates that this Christ as the Lord belongs to us and is our portion. We should not only recognize Jesus Christ as the Lord; we should enjoy Him as our Lord, more personally and more intimately. To say that He is the Lord of all things and of all people is general; to say that He is our Lord is specific. We should experience and enjoy Him specifically as our Lord in our experience of salvation and our Christian life that we may experience all the benefits of His lordship over us.
In Ephesians 6:5-9 Paul's word concerning the relationship between slaves and masters reveals that Christ is the Master of the believers. Paul exhorted the slaves to obey their masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of their heart, as to Christ. Fear is the inward motive for service, and trembling is the outward attitude. To be single is to be pure in motive, without a mixed purpose. Slaves are to be single; they are not to have a double purpose. This means that slaves are not to serve their masters with the intention of receiving some gain for themselves. Here the relationship between slaves and masters is a type of our relationship with Christ, our Master. We should obey Him, the unique Master, as slaves in singleness of heart that we may enjoy Him as our Master in His caring for us in different ways.
Christ is also the Sovereign Master to the believers. Second Peter 2:1 says that Christ is the Master who bought us. This implies Christ's person as the Master and His redemption, by which He purchased the believers. Jude 4 also says, "Our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." The Greek word translated "Master" in this verse denotes one who is the absolute owner and who has unlimited power over another. By purchasing us back through His redemption, Christ becomes our Sovereign Master, having absolute sovereignty and unlimited power over us. His sovereignty and power also become a blessing to us.
The Lord's word in John 15:15 reveals that He is a Friend to the believers. The Lord said, "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all the things which I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." This verse was spoken by the Lord after He had spoken the word concerning the intimate relationship between the branches with the vine. This shows us that the relationship between the vine and the branches is not a relationship between a master and his slaves. Rather, it is a relationship between friends. The vine and the branches are an entity that bears fruit to glorify God. The branches are the friends of the Lord as the vine, and the Lord is a Friend to them. What the Lord has heard from the Father He has made known to His friends. They know that the Father's desire is for Him to be expressed, glorified, in a corporate Body. In such a friendship, spontaneously we have a taste of the Lord's affection toward us.
As believers, we also have Christ as our Brother. He is the elder Brother, and we are the many brothers. Romans 8:29 says, "Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers." This indicates that God's purpose is to prepare and produce many brothers for His firstborn Son that, on the one hand, they, together with God's firstborn Son, may be the many sons of God with the divine life and nature for the expression of God, and that, on the other hand, they may be the many members who constitute the Body of God's firstborn Son as the corporate expression of God in His firstborn Son, which is the fullness of the firstborn Son of God, that is, the fullness of God in His firstborn Son (Eph. 1:23; 3:19).
Christ was the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18), and up to the time He was sent by God into the world, He was still the only begotten Son of God (1 John 4:9; John 1:14; 3:16). After He passed through death and entered into resurrection, His humanity was uplifted into His divinity. Thus, He was begotten in resurrection as God's firstborn Son in His divinity with His humanity that had died and resurrected (Acts 13:33). At the same time, all His believers were raised together with Him in His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3) and were begotten together with Him as the many sons of God. Thus they became His many brothers to constitute His Body and be God's corporate expression in Him.
On the day of His resurrection the Lord Jesus said to Mary, "Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God" (John 20:17). Before His resurrection the Lord never called His disciples brothers. But after His resurrection He began to call them brothers. Through His death and resurrection He released the divine life and imparted it into His disciples. Thus, they were regenerated to become the many sons of God as the many brothers of Christ. By making His Father theirs, He brought them into His position—the position of the Son—before the Father. Thus, in life and nature inwardly and in position outwardly they are one with Him.
Hebrews 2:11 says, "Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers." He who sanctifies is Christ as the firstborn Son of God, and those who are being sanctified are the believers of Christ as the many sons of God. Both the firstborn Son of God and the many sons of God are born of the same Father God in resurrection and have the same divine life and nature. Hence, He is not ashamed to call them brothers. Furthermore, because He is our elder Brother, He is our leading One. He takes the lead in everything that pertains to God the Father that we as the many brothers may enjoy Him as the elder Brother in His leading.
Christ is also our Partner. Hebrews 1:9 says, "God...has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners." In God's economy Christ is the One appointed by God to accomplish God's plan, and we are Christ's partners in the divine interest. He was anointed by God, and we share with Him in this anointing for the fulfillment of God's purpose.
Hebrews 3:14 says, "We have become partners of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of the assurance firm to the end." The context of this verse concerns the wandering of the children of Israel in the wilderness. After they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, God caused Joshua to bring them into the good land. When Joshua entered into the good land, Caleb was his companion, his partner, in entering into and possessing the good land (Num. 14:30). Today Christ is the real Joshua, and we are His Calebs, His partners, sharing with Him the rest of the good land. Therefore, in God's economy we are partners of Christ, sharing with Him the spiritual anointing and the rest of the good land.
The Lord is also the Physician to us. In Matthew 9:12 the Lord said, "Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill." This indicates that in calling people to follow Him, He ministered as a physician, not as a judge. A judge's judgment is according to righteousness, whereas a physician's healing is according to mercy and grace. If the Lord had visited us, the pitiful people, as a judge, we all would have been condemned and rejected, and none of us would have been qualified, selected, and called to be His followers. However, He came to minister as a physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save us that we may have the life of God and be constituted the members of the Body of Christ.
As our Physician, the Lord heals us mainly in our spirit and our soul, and sometimes in our body. Those who were ill, whom the Lord mentioned, refer to the tax collectors and sinners who were feasting with Him. They were not physically sick; they were spiritually sick. Because of the healing by the Lord as the heavenly Physician, their life was recovered. Likewise, although the Lord may or may not heal us in our body, He is always ready to heal us in every part of our spirit and soul. Christ is our Physician, the Healer of our spirit, our soul, and, at times, our body. When we experience and enjoy Him as our portion, we receive His healing of life to take away our sickness.
The Lord is also a Helper to us, the believers. Hebrews 13:5 says that we should let our way of life be without the love of money, being satisfied with the things which are at hand, for the Lord will by no means give us up, neither by any means will He abandon us. Therefore, being of good courage, we say, "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear" (v. 6). This chapter is concerned with the virtues for the church life. Surely money lovers cannot enter into the reality of the church life. We should always be satisfied with what we have so that we cannot be distracted from the church life by mammon. Since we have the Lord as our Helper, we should be content and at peace. Since the Lord knows our needs, He will take care of the needs in our living. Our life is in Him, and our living is in His hands. Therefore, we need not fear; we need only to trust in Him as our Helper that we may be kept fully in the enjoyment of the church life.
To us, the believers, the Lord is also an Overseer. First Peter 2:25 says, "You were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the...Overseer of your souls." The Greek word for overseer is composed of "over" and "seer"; hence, overseer. This word seems to indicate someone above us who takes oversight concerning us and watches over us. However, the Lord as our Overseer does not mainly watch over us or rule over us. Rather, He shepherds us and takes care of us. This is like a mother caring for her child, taking care of every need of her child in a complete and gentle way. The same is true of Christ as the Overseer of our souls. Our soul is our inner being, our real person. Christ as the Overseer of our souls cares for the welfare of our inner being and exercises His oversight over the condition of our real person, and according to the need of our real person He shepherds us that we may be under His regular care and protection all the time and in everything.
As our portion, Christ is our Head. He is the Head of every man, the corporate Head of the church, and the Head over all things. He is also the Lord to us, the believers. All believers are the Lord's. Therefore, we should not judge any brother in the Lord; rather, we should receive one another. We should not only recognize Jesus Christ as the Lord; we should enjoy Him as our Lord, more personally and more intimately. He is also our Master. We should obey Him, the unique Master, as slaves in singleness of heart that we may enjoy Him as our Master, who cares for us in different ways. He is also our Sovereign Master. Therefore, He has absolute sovereignty and unlimited power over us. He is also our Friend, and He makes known to us the Father's desire. He is also our Brother. In life and nature inwardly and in position outwardly we are one with Him. He is also our Partner in the divine interest. He was anointed by God, and we share with Him in this anointing for the fulfillment of God's purpose. He is also our Physician. He heals, recovers, enlivens, and saves us so that we may have the life of God and be constituted the members of the Body of Christ. He is also our Helper. He knows all our needs and will take care of the needs in our living. He is also the Overseer of our souls. By caring for the welfare of our inner being and exercising His oversight over the condition of our real person, He shepherds us that we may be under His care and protection.
