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In the last message we covered six points, including three comings and three separations. The Spirit came, the Word of God came, and the light came. As a result of this, there were three separations: light was separated from darkness; the waters above were separated from the waters below; and the dry land was separated from the death waters. By these three separations the dry land emerged out of the waters of death on the third day, the day of resurrection. The Lord Jesus is the dry land Who came out of the death water. He was resurrected that He might regenerate us.
In the Old Testament, the land typifies Christ as the generating source. This land was buried beneath the waters of death and appeared again on the third day. As the record of the Old Testament reveals, every kind of life was produced out of this land: the plant life, the animal life, and even the human life came out of the earth. Man was made from the dust of the earth. This typifies that every kind of life comes out of Christ.
After the fall of humanity and during the time of Noah, the land was once again covered by the waters of death (Gen. 7:17-24), signifying that man was severed from Christ. Humanity was severed from the enjoyment of the good land. After this, the land was recovered again (Gen. 8:13-17, 22). The land was recovered until the day of Babel when man fell even further and the whole human race rose up in rebellion against God (Gen. 11:1-9). Thus, God called out a race with Abraham as the father to enter into the high land, the good land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1, 5, 7). This good land also signifies Christ. Abraham was called out of Babel into the good land. We have been called out of rebellion into Christ, our good land (1 Cor. 1:9). Now this good land is ours, ready to produce life.
The plant life on the land was generated. The lowest life, a life without consciousness, came into existence (Gen. 1:11-13; cf. Mark 4:8; Hosea 14:5-7). This is the generating of life and happened on the third day, after the land emerged out of the death water. At that time, there was no growth of life, only the lowest form of life, a life without any consciousness. If we talk to the grass or to the trees, the grass cannot understand and the trees will not react because they have no feeling, no consciousness. They have no emotion, thought, or will because they are lives without any consciousness. This is the lowest life.
When we received Christ into us, Christ appeared out of the death water within us. Christ appeared and now we have life, the generating of life. We are saved and we have life. At the time we were saved, we received life, but the life within us was very low. This is signified in the record of Genesis by the life of the grass, the life of the herbs, and the life of the fruit trees.
Even with the plant life there are three levels: grass, the lowest plant life; the herbs which yield seeds, a higher level; and the fruit trees, an even higher level. If we read Genesis 1:29-30, we will see that God gave the herbs and the fruit trees to man for his food. Then, God gave the grass to the beasts and to the cattle for their food.
When you became a Christian, you received life, but that life in you was very low. Perhaps the life within you is similar to grass: it is life and it grows; yet it is the lowest life. Even when compared with the other plant life, grass is quite low. Although last week you might have been like the grass, today you have grown a little higher and you have become the herb yielding the seed. I hope after two months, you will be a tree bringing forth fruit. How would you liken yourself — to the grass, the herb, or the trees? Suppose the Lord Himself would ask you, "How about you? Are you like the grass or the herb or the tree?" Today you may be an herb, but after a certain period of time perhaps you will be likened to a fruit-bearing tree. But when you become a tree, don't become satisfied. This is not the last verse of chapter 1; it is something which happened on the third day.
On the fourth day, there was no growth of life, but the appearance of the stronger, more solid lights (Gen. 1:14-17). Although light came in on the first day, it was not that solid, not that strong. On the fourth day, not only the lights came, but also the light bearers — the sun, the moon, and the stars. These are lights which are stronger, more solid, and more available. This is the first requirement for the growth of life.
Suppose that you are not only the grass or the herb, but also the tree. By this time you will receive more light. Although you have the light of the first day, you need something to happen on the fourth day. You need to receive some higher lights, some fuller lights, some richer, stronger, and more available lights. First John 1:5-7 tells us that after we are saved we need more light, that we need to walk in the light.
Gen. 1:14-19 does not speak about lights in a loose way, but in a very definite way — the sun, the moon, and the stars. In typology, the sun typifies Christ. Christ is our sun. Mal. 4:2 tells us that Christ is the Sun of Righteousness and that there is healing in His wings. His shining forth is the wings, and with this shining forth there is healing. The second half of this verse tells us that we all will grow up under the shining of Christ. Also, Luke 1:78-79 tells us that Christ is our dayspring, the sunrise in the early morning. Hallelujah! Jesus the Lord is our sun. He is the "great light" which has sprung up over darkness and the shadow of death (Matt. 4:16).
The overcoming saints are also likened by the Lord Jesus to the sun (Matt. 13:43). They are so one with the Lord that one day they will shine as the sun, even as He does.
Who, then, is the moon? The moon is the church. Although it is difficult for us to find a verse in the Bible indicating that the moon is the church, there is, nevertheless, a basis for saying that the church is the moon. Remember Joseph's dream about the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars (Gen. 37:9-11). The sun was his father, the moon his mother, and the stars his brothers. Based upon this fact, we may say that the church as the wife, the bride of Christ, may be typified by the moon. The church today is the moon. What is the moon? The moon is an object that has no light in itself, but has the ability to reflect light. By itself, the church has no light. But hallelujah! The church was made in a way to reflect the light of Christ. Furthermore, the moon is able to reflect light only in the night time. Today, during the church age, it is the night time. Look at the world. How dark it is! Although the church is really in a dark night (the local churches are lampstands shining in this dark night, Rev. 1:20), she can reflect the light of Christ. However, frequently the church (like the moon) is not very stable, coming up and going down. The church may be the full moon, the half moon, or the new moon. And, when there is no moon, the stars shine. Hallelujah!
We not only have the sun, the moon, but also the stars: not only Christ, the church, but also all the overcoming saints. Daniel 12:3 says that those who turn many to righteousness shine like the stars. If we are going to help people to be saved, if we are going to turn people from darkness to light, if we are going to recover all the backsliders, we must be the shining stars. Revelation 1:20 tells us that the churches are the lampstands shining in the darkness and that the angels (the living ones in the churches) are the shining stars. The Lord said that the saints are "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14), and Paul said that the saints shine "as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15).
After we have grown in life from the grass to the tree, we should not be satisfied, for that was only the third day, not the end. We must go on to the fourth day to enjoy Christ as the sunrise, to enjoy the church as the bright moon, and to enjoy so many good saints as the shining stars, that we may grow in life.
If the moon doesn't shine, don't say that the moon is not there. The moon is still there. Likewise don't say that there is no church; the church is still there. The problem is that the church is somewhat covered, and is not so right with the sun. Thus, it doesn't reflect any light. Although there may be a problem with the church, the church is still there.
When there is a problem with the church, that is the time for the stars to shine. Many of us have to be the shining stars. We need to contact Christ, we need to contact the church, and we also need to contact the shining saints. We must contact so many good saints. When you come to a living brother or a living sister, don't you sense an amount of light, that when you enter their presence you are under a certain kind of shining? This is light. This light will help us to grow in life.
The lights God made on the fourth day were established "to rule over the day and over the night" by their shining (Gen. 1:18a). The light not only shines, but also rules by its shining. Where there is shining, there is ruling. Darkness brings in confusion, but light regulates. For the growth of life, we need the ruling and the regulating of the fourth-day lights.
The lights on the fourth day also "divide the light from the darkness" (Gen. 1:18b). The separation of the light from the darkness, as we have seen in message three, had happened already (Gen. 1:4). Now, the ruling of the fourth-day lights' shining strengthens this separation. For the growth of life, we need the ruling of the lights and also the strengthening of the separation. This is the second requirement for the growth of life.
On the fifth day, the lower life with the lowest consciousness came into being (Gen. 1:20-22). Although every form of animal life has some level of consciousness, some lives are higher and others are lower. First, the fish are mentioned, the animal life with the lowest consciousness. We have all had some experience of this. Suppose there are some goldfish swimming in the water and we come near them. They will be frightened away. However, if we scatter some food into the water and keep away, all the fish will return. This life is higher than the tree life, higher than the plant life (Ezek. 47:7, 9). Although it is not very high, it is higher. This is the first step of the growth of life.
The fish in the sea live in salt water. As a rule, salt water doesn't grow anything; it kills, allowing nearly no plants to grow. Salt water kills life. Fish, however, can live in salt water. The water may be salty, but the fish will never be salty, unless they are dead. This is quite meaningful.
All of humanity, the entire human society, is like a great salt sea. Yet, we Christians are so living. We can be alive and live in such a society and not be salted by it. But once we are dead, we will become salty. The Chinese people used to eat a great deal of salted fish. First, they killed the living fish and then put them into salt until all the fish became salty. When the fish were living, salt could do nothing to them; they could live in the salt water. This is wonderful. We Christians who have the life of Christ can live in this dark, evil society. However, if we become dead, we will be salted. Today, if you are so living and one of your schoolmates tempts you to go to a movie or to take some drugs, you will say, "No." Nothing can influence you. But, if you are dead, you will first be brought to the movie theater like a sheep to the slaughter. Once you have been slaughtered, you will be dead, take drugs, even heroin. You will be salted. But hallelujah! We can never be salted because we have life. Life repels every kind of salt from the dead sea. This life can survive in any death situation. In the midst of an environment of death, this life can still survive. This is good; yet there is more.
After the fish, the birds, the fowl in the air, were created on the fifth day (Gen. 1:20-23). This is the higher life with the lower consciousness. The bird life is higher than the fish life. Fish can live in the death waters, but birds can transcend them. After you become a fish, you must grow until you are a bird. When your classmates come to you and say, "Let us go to the movies," you will soar. No one can touch you — you will be transcendent. You will not only repel the salt, but you will transcend it.
Every item mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis has a Bible verse signifying that it is a type. For instance, the Lord Jesus told Peter that he would be a fisher of men (Matt. 4:19). By this word, the Lord Jesus likened all people to fish in the sea. Also, we have Isaiah 40:31 which says that they who wait on the Lord shall be as the eagles, soaring and transcending. This is a higher life. Many can testify that often they were soaring. We can live in any kind of situation, but with a little more growth we not only survive in evil circumstances, we also transcend them. We fly away and nothing can touch us. Hallelujah! A number of times I thought to myself that I would like to be a bird. Then, one day I discovered that I really was a bird. I was an eagle with two big wings. Hallelujah! An eagle can mount up and transcend the frustrations of this earth. This is wonderful. I am not speaking something I don't know or something that is not found in the Bible. Read Isa. 40:31. We can be the eagle. This is the second step of the growth of life. This is wonderful, but there is still more.
On the sixth day the higher life with the higher consciousness came into existence (Gen. 1:24-25). This higher life can accomplish something on the earth. Gen. 49:9 speaks about the lion, likening Judah to a lion which can do many things. 1 Sam. 6:7, 12a tells about two kine which were used to carry the cart with the ark. These verses show that both the beasts and the cattle can accomplish something on this earth. Their consciousness is higher than the fish, even higher than the bird, and they can do something on this earth. This is the third step of the growth of life.
We have Christ within us as our life. Starting from the level of the grass, this life will grow from the grass to the herb, from the herb to the tree. Then, we will be on another plane, the plane of the animal life. On this level, we will first be a fish, gradually grow to be a bird, and eventually grow even further to be one of the cattle with a life that is higher, stronger, and more meaningful.
We must recognize the need of light. On the first day, we had the light from the Spirit and from the Word. As we go on, we need the lights of the fourth day. On the fourth day, the lights come from Christ, from the church, and from the shining saints. Since we are under the enlightening of Christ, the church, and the shining saints, we no longer have only the generating of life but the growth of life. The light on the first day is for the generating of life; the lights on the fourth day are for the growth of life. The lights on the fourth day mainly come from Christ directly, also from the church and the shining saints. If we are to grow in life after we have received the eternal life, we must firstly contact Christ, secondly contact the church, and thirdly contact the living saints. While we are under such a shining, we are in the process of growth.
Regarding this process of growth, I am not speaking about something theoretical. I know what I am talking about because I myself have passed through all of these stages. Forty-nine years ago I was a little blade of grass. Then, I grew from the grass to the herb. Later, I became a tree. After a certain time, I was a fish, able to live in any of the evil situations. Then, I reached a stage in which it was so easy for me to soar in the heavens. When there was any trouble or persecution, any hardship or affliction from mother, from brothers in the flesh, from wife or children, even from brothers in the spirit, I simply transcended them all. This is real.
Many times your dear wife gives you a hard time. Before you become a bird, you will stay there to argue, to exchange words. Once you become an eagle and the dear wife gives you trouble, the eagle-husband will fly away. This eagle-husband will remain soaring in the air and watching, watching until the wife says, "Praise the Lord." Then, the eagle-husband will return. By your experience you can tell when you were the fish and when you were the eagle. If you haven't had this kind of experience, I can assure you that someday you will be an eagle. The eagle has no struggle. When any difficulty comes, he soars in the air. It is really hard to catch him. When there is affliction, hardship, or trouble, the eagle takes to the air. That is a real victory, a transcending victory. Don't you want to be such an eagle?
Sometimes, however, when I was an eagle, finding it easy to fly away, the Lord said to me, "Don't fly away. Stay to be one of the cattle. You need to be a cow. Either produce milk to feed others or bear them as a burden. When your wife gives you a hard time, don't fly away — give her some milk. Feed her and bear her as a burden."
Perhaps your husband or your wife is the death water to you, killing and salty. If you are a tree or an herb, you will certainly be killed, but if you have grown from a plant to a fish, you will live. In the past, I saw many young ones who were so good before they were married. Once they married, however, they were killed. The young husbands were killed by the young wives and the young wives were killed by the young husbands. But, I also saw some dear saints who had grown up to be a living fish. The wives didn't care how salty their husbands were and the husbands didn't care how salty their wives were. They continued to live. After a certain time, they grew from the fish stage to the eagle stage. Whenever they had some hardship, they simply transcended it. Gradually, after more growth in life, they realized that flying away was not the higher life. They realized that they needed to stay on earth to produce some milk for their folks and to bear their dear folks as a burden. When you reach this stage and your dear wife gives you a difficult time, you don't say anything. You simply put her upon your shoulders and bear her as a burden. While your wife is arguing with you, you put her upon your shoulders and tell her, "I am going to bear you to the heavens."
In 1 Sam. 6 there is a cart with the Lord's ark. You are needed to carry part of the weight of the ark. You need to do something, to have some activity upon this earth. Don't fly away. The so-called heavenly life is not the highest life. When you become so heavenly, you must return to the earth. Do not simply grow higher and higher, but grow in order to come down.
The Lord Jesus was God, but for the fulfillment of God's purpose He came to the earth to be a cow. He came to be sacrificed and He came to bear all of our burdens. Whenever someone persecuted Him, He put that persecutor on His shoulders and said, "I will carry you to the heavens." What kind of life is this? This is wonderful.
Now we can see that every point in the first chapter of Genesis is related to life. I ask you to bring all of these verses and all the points included in this message to the Lord in prayer. "Lord, I have the life. But Lord, You know that I need the lights of the fourth day. I have the light from the first day already, but I need the lights of the fourth day. Lord Jesus, I need You as the sun. I need to contact You directly. I want to be in Your presence day by day. I want to be under Your shining. I also need the church, the moon. And I need the stars. I need the overcoming saints, the ones who are shining, who turn many to righteousness. I need those who can turn people from darkness to light." If you will contact the Lord as the sun, the church as the moon, and some good saints as the shining stars, you will have the lights of the fourth day. It is by these lights that you will grow. The plane of life within you will change from the plant life to the animal life. You will grow day by day. Then you will be able to withstand any death situation and be able to transcend every opposition, distraction, or temptation. Eventually, you will return to earth purposely to do God's will. This is wonderful!
However, this is not the life with the highest consciousness, but the higher life with the higher consciousness. We need to go on to the last part of the sixth day. As we will see in a later message, at the last part of the sixth day comes the life with the highest consciousness, the human life, a life which expresses the image of God and has dominion over all things for God.
