Message 60
(2)
Scripture Reading: Lev. 26:1-20
In the next message we shall cover the second part of the word of warning in Leviticus 26. In this message I would like to give a further word on what was covered in the previous message.
In 26:1-20 we are given a basis for our obedience, and this basis includes three matters. First, we should not have idols (v. 1). This signifies that besides God we should have no other goals that we are seeking after, so that we may not lose the position to enjoy our divine possession. Second, we should keep God’s sabbaths (v. 2a). This signifies that we should know that the work of God was done entirely by Himself that we might enjoy it, and that there is no need for us to do any work. Third, we need to reverence God’s sanctuary (v. 2b). This signifies that we should regard with reverence all that God is and has accomplished in Christ as God’s dwelling, embodiment, and expression (John 1:14; Col. 2:9), and in the church as the enlargement of Christ for God’s dwelling and eternal manifestation (Eph. 2:22; Rev. 21:10). We need not only to understand these points in letter but also to see their intrinsic significance.
God Himself must be our unique goal. As His creatures and especially as His children, we should not seek anything other than Him. He should be the unique goal after which we are seeking.
Our God today is the processed Triune God. As such, He is not the same as He was in Genesis 1. God has been processed. This means that He has passed through many processes. He has passed through incarnation, through human living, through an all-inclusive death, and through a wonderful resurrection. Furthermore, He has entered into ascension. He has also descended to gain us and to enable us to gain Him, making Himself one with us and making us one with Him and constituting us with Him. This is a matter of the mingling of the processed Triune God with us. Today this processed Triune God should be our unique goal.
The second item in the basis of our obedience is realizing what God has done. This means that we should take God’s work and rest because of it. However, most people neglect God’s work and, instead, try to do something for themselves and by themselves. This is the situation among believers as well as unbelievers. Many believers ignore what God’s work has accomplished for them and work by themselves to accomplish something for themselves. But it is an insult to God to ignore what He has done for us that we may rest in Him and in His work. To rest in God and in His work is to keep His sabbath.
We may ignore God’s work and seek to do something for ourselves and by ourselves under the cloak of doing something for God. Such a thing may have a good appearance, but it is actually an insult to God, for it ignores what He has done for us that we may rest in Him and enjoy what He has done for us. Instead of ignoring what God has done, we should deny what we can do or want to do. We need to deny our work but honor God’s work and rest in Him.
The basis for our obedience is first God Himself and then God’s work. Now we come to the third item in the basis for our obedience, and this is the result of God’s work. What is the result, the issue, of God’s work? In brief, it is the church as the enlargement of the consummated Christ to be God’s dwelling, God’s embodiment, God’s expression, and God’s eternal manifestation. This is the church, and such a church is the result, the issue, the produce, of God’s work.
These three matters — God, God’s work, and the result of God’s work — are covered fully in the sixty-six books of the Bible. In the Old Testament we see the types, and in the New Testament we see the fulfillment. The entire Bible is thus an unveiling of these three things. First we have the processed Triune God and His work for our rest, and then, as the result of His work, we have the church as the expression and the enlargement of the consummated Christ. We need to see this. Seeing these three things will give us a strong basis for obeying, going along with, God.
We may talk about obeying God without knowing what it really means to obey God. To obey God is to honor Him as the processed Triune God. In eternity God was perfect, but He still needed to pass through a process in order to be consummated. Some think that if we speak this way about God, we do not reverence Him. Actually, it is to honor Him. In eternity past God was perfect, but He was not complete. Before His incarnation, God had divinity, but He did not have humanity. But after He became a man, He had humanity as well as divinity. Today our God is not merely God with divinity; He is the God-man with both divinity and humanity. He is Jesus and Emmanuel. In the name Jesus we can see the holy name Jehovah, for the name Jesus means “Jehovah the Savior.” Jesus is also Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” Hence, in the name Emmanuel we can see both God and man. From this we see that our God today is the God-man; He is of both divinity and humanity. He is divinely human and humanly divine.
When God became a man. He did not set His Godhead aside. No, Jesus lived by God and with God; He lived in oneness with God. As He said, He was never alone because the Father was always with Him (John 16:32; 8:29).
Because Jesus was a man with God in Him and one with Him, He was a mystery, even to His disciples. They knew He was human, for they had seen Him eat and also weep. But although He was a man, He did marvelous things, things which no man was able to do. Hence, the disciples must have wondered about Him, asking themselves who He was. One day He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). As the One with divinity and humanity, He is a wonderful person; He is altogether a mystery. Our God today is such a God.
When Moses received from God the word of warning that was to be given to the children of Israel, he did not know God as the One who had been processed. At that time God was only the perfect God; He had not yet been completed. But the God we know today is different from the God Moses knew. This certainly does not mean that there are two Gods. No, there is one God, but He is in two stages. Moses knew God at the stage when He was only God without being a man. However, we worship God not only as God but also as the God-man. There is a Man in heaven, and this Man is the very God. This is our God, the God of the Christians.
Some Christians may not realize that their God is the God-man who has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. After He became incarnate, He lived on earth as the God-man, as God in a man, for thirty-three and a half years. He lived in a carpenter’s home in the despised town of Nazareth. He worked as a carpenter Himself, and in history some have even referred to Him as the Carpenter of Nazareth. He was a carpenter, but He was also the very God. It is almost unimaginable that God was in a man doing the work of carpentry.
For thirty-three and a half years the Lord Jesus lived on earth as a wonderful man who was the expression of God. Having passed through the process of human living, He passed through the process of death. He was buried in the tomb, and He entered into Hades, where He remained for a period of time. All this was part of the process of death.
After passing through the process of death, the Lord Jesus entered into resurrection where He was released not only in His divinity but also with His humanity. Therefore, in His resurrected being there is not only divinity but also humanity. Everything of the natural state was brought into resurrection. Although no one can understand this fully or explain it adequately, it is clearly revealed in the Bible.
As the resurrected One, the Lord Jesus ascended into the heavens, to the highest peak in the universe, and He is there today as a person who is God with humanity (Acts 7:55).
As such a God with humanity, He is “condensed” as the all-inclusive, compound, indwelling, life-giving, consummated Spirit. This Spirit is the consummated, processed Triune God. Because He is condensed, it is easy for Him to impart Himself into our spirit. Now He is one with us, and we are one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). Who, then, are we? We are the enlargement of the wonderful Christ who is the embodiment of God. This enlargement is God’s dwelling, God’s expression, and God’s eternal manifestation.
We need to take the processed Triune God, His work, and the result of His work as the basis for our obedience. With these three things as our basis, we shall obey God. We shall listen to Him, receive His word, go along with Him, and desire to be one with Him.
Seeing the vision of the processed Triune God with His work and the result of His work will constitute us into obedient ones. We will say, “Amen, Lord. I love You, I love Your work, and I love the result of Your work. In this result I am one with You, and You are one with me. You are working Yourself into me, and I am being constituted with You. Lord, obeying You is not hard or harsh but sweet and enjoyable. I like to enjoy all that You are, to enjoy Your work, and to enjoy the result of Your work. Lord, here I am in the enjoyment of Yourself, of Your work, and of the church life!” Surely, if we see such a vision and have such an enjoyment, we shall be fully satisfied, and it will be easy for us to give up the world and obey God.
If we obey God, we shall receive His blessing. According to Leviticus 26:3-13, this blessing has six issues. The first of these issues is the rain, which signifies the Spirit. The second issue is the food of the land for our satisfaction, which signifies dwelling in Christ as our good land and enjoying the riches of Christ for our satisfaction and security. The third issue is the peace given in the land, which signifies a peaceful life in the church. The fourth issue is chasing the enemies, with five chasing a hundred and a hundred chasing ten thousand, which signifies the church chasing the enemies in the coordination of the Body. Once we were individuals, but now we are a corporate Body. The fifth issue is fruitfulness in multiplication, which signifies the church being fruitful and multiplying. The sixth issue is God’s dwelling place being among the people, which signifies that God’s dwelling place will be built up in the church for God’s delight that He may dwell among His people. To be God’s dwelling place is a great blessing, even the consummate blessing. If we obey God, we shall enjoy His blessing with these six issues.
