Genesis, Message 8: The Type of Eve as the Counterpart of Adam

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 8

The Type of Eve as the Counterpart of Adam

There are four items that appear both in the first 2 chapters (Genesis 1-2) and the last 2 chapters (Revelation 21-22) in the bible: the tree, the river, the precious materials, and the couples. We are going to explore the last item in this message.
It cannot be wrong to say that the bible is all about a love story. Genesis 2:18-25, which perhaps is the first obvious love story in the bible, tells us about the first couple in human history. Adam searched for his counterpart. He tried his best to find one, but none was appropriate for him. Finally, God gave him a perfect counterpart, Eve. His counterpart must be originated from Adam himself.
I'm sure that God did not inspire Moses to record this just for giving us the knowledge of how Eve was created from Adam. This short story comes with many spiritual implications. It gives us a big overview of what the rest of the bible is all about. It is about a Man searching for His counterpart. It is about Christ looking for His counterpart. But none was good enough to be His counterpart. None was compatible with Him, because His counterpart must be originated from Christ Himself. He therefore built His Bride with His own flesh and blood on the cross. He eventually found His perfectly matched counterpart, who was originated from Christ Himself!
Now let us go into more detail about the first couple as the type of Christ and the Church.

1. Eve is a type of the Church

In the New Testament, it is obvious that Adam is a type of Christ.

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned ---
¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (Romans 5:14 NKJV)

Through Adam, all are doomed to death. Through Christ, all are delivered form the eternal death, and predestined to the eternal life.
Even though Adam and Christ are much different, it is clear that Adam, particularly before the Fall, invariably is a type of Christ.
If Adam represents Christ, Eve therefore represents the Church. The relationship between Adam and Eve was linked to the relationship between Christ and the Church by Paul in the book of Ephesians. He taught about husband and wife with a quote from Genesis 2:24, and said it was a great mystery about Christ and the Church.

³¹ "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
³² This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32 NKJV)

Therefore, in the light of this concept, we can learn some spiritual implications about Christ and the Church from the story of Adam and Eve.

2. Eve is produced during Adam's deep sleep.

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. (Genesis 2:21 NKJV)

Genesis 2:21 tells us that to build a wife for Adam, the first thing He has to do is make Adam sleep. Only when Adam slept can God build Eve with his rib. Sleeping was crucial for the building process.
The word "sleep" is frequently used as a euphemism for "death." Jesus told His disciples when Lazarus was dead that "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." (John 11:11 NKJV) Paul also used this word for death when He gave a comforting word to Thessalonians about Christ coming, saying "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV) So could it be that Adam's sleep represents Christ's death?
Yes, in order to build the Church, the death of Christ was necessary. If there is no death, there is no resurrection and no life.

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. (John 12:24 NKJV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3 NKJV)

With love, Christ died on the cross for the redemption of our sins. But that was not all. His death also resulted in the other equally-great thing. It resulted in life!
The Gospel is not only about deliverance of sinners from the eternal death, but it is also about the precious promise that everyone who believes into Him has eternal life.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

And only by having this life can we be His counterpart!

3. Eve is built with Adam's rib

It is also interesting that Eve was built with Adam's rib. Why did God specifically choose this part of the body?
Some have impressively explained that God did not create Eve from skull, because He did not intend a wife to be the head or leader of her husband. And He did not create Eve from a foot bone, because He did not make wife inferior to her husband or under the control of him. Instead, He created Eve from a rib, so that a wife would be the partner of her husband who stays beside him, facing all the situations with him, either good or bad, all her life. I like this way of interpretation. It is so romantic, is it not?
However, there is one big similarity to consider about. God took one of Adam's rib, which is at the side of his body. And Christ was pierced at His side on the cross!

But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. (John 19:34 NKJV)

Could that be just a coincidence? I don't think so.
In order to build Eve, Adam's side had to be opened. In order to build the Church, Christ's side had to be pierced, flowing out blood and water. The blood represents redemption, and the water represent regeneration. We need both in order to have life. We need both to be united to Him. We need both to become His perfect counterpart!

4. Eve is Adam's bone of bones and flesh of fleshes

23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24 NKJV)

When Adam saw Eve, he gave a great speech that she was the bone of his bones and the flesh of his flesh. Eve was not created out of nothing. She was built with Adam's bone and flesh. Eve came out from Adam, and she ultimately would join to Adam again. Even though they were 2 persons, they should not be two. The should become one flesh.
In parallel, the Church is not created from nothing, but built with Christ. We are the bone of His bones, and the flesh of His flesh. We are taken out of Him. And we are joining to Him again. Christ and the Church shall become one!
In Revelation, we our destiny is revealed. Like how most, if not all, fairly tales end, the bible as a love story has an extremely happy ending. Christ and us, the Church, will be together, living happily ever after in the New Jerusalem. What an amazing promise it is!

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 8.

• Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 34: The Glorious Church, chapter 2.
  (Available online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=2F2D99)

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 7: The River of Water of Life

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 7

The River of Water of Life

There are 4 items that appear in both Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22. They consist of the tree of life, the river of life, the precious materials and a couple. In the last message, we learned about the tree of life, which represents Christ as the only source of life. Here we are going to explore a little about the river of life with some spiritual implications which may benefit our spiritual walk.

¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
¹² And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush.
¹⁴ The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14 NKJV)

This 4-verse passage contains many specific names that tempt us to just read through it very quickly or just skip over it. It is reasonable, as the names sound strange and we cannot see any benefit from reading through them. Some of them do not exist anymore on Google Maps. Don't worry. I'm not going to talk about geography here. I'm really bad at it. But I think I have learned something about life from this passage.
Given that God's re-creation in Genesis 1-2 is all about life, this river is also about life making. Throughout the bible, we see that river is closely connected to life. Without river, the trees cannot grow and living creatures therefore cannot survive. We can live for many days or even weeks without food. But we will die much sooner without water. And of course, our spiritual life will immediately die without life supply from the river of the water of life.

1. God is the only source of life.

The bible indicates that there is only one river coming out of Eden to water the garden. There is no any other river from there. This indicates that there is only one source of life supply. Other parts of the bible indicate that this river closely associates with our Triune God. God the Father is the fountain. God the Son is the spring. And God the Spirit is the flow.

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13 NKJV)
Jesus answered and said to her, "...but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14 NKJV)
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38 NKJV)

All we need to do is come to the Father, the only source of life, and receive God the Son by joyfully drinking Him. At first, we are just the drinker or receiver of the water of life. But as soon as we drink it, the water of life will become the fountain within us. Not only does this fountain bring us into eternal life, out of our innermost being will flow out the rivers of living water. We are going to be the vessel though which the rivers of living water flow to others. We are going to be the dispenser or minister of life, bringing life to others and bringing them to the very source of life.

2. The river becomes four riverheads.

Even though there is only one river come out of Eden, it divides into four riverheads, which go forth to 4 lands. This means that it is the desire of God's heart to reach man in every direction. Only one is not enough. God needs to surround and cover every area of our life and every corner of our heart. God needs our whole being to be filled with His life!
Is there any area in your life that you keep from God's loving care? Be open to Him and allow Him to take care of your whole life. God comes to us in every direction to provide us the abundant life supply that we can never resist.

3. The river issues precious materials.

Genesis 2:11-12 says that wherever the river goes, there will be the issue of precious materials, consisting of the gold, the bdellium and the onyx. This implies that whenever the river flows into our life, God is gradually transforming us to become like Him, represented by the precious stones. We are becoming the precious building blocks of God's precious building, the Church, which will be consummated in the New Jerusalem.

4. All the rivers flow to the same place.

One river comes out of Eden and divides into 4 riverheads. Just as all the rivers from different places run into the same pool of water, the sea or the ocean, all the 4 rivers are also flowing to the same place, the New Jerusalem, in which Christ and all believers dwell together forever.
There are many ministries and many Christian groups all around the world. But if they are really in the flow of God, they are included in the same ministry, the ministry of life. They are moving in the same direction towards the same goal - to build up the Body of Christ by ministering life to people.

5. The meanings of the four rivers tell us some characteristics of the water of life.

I'm sure that the names of the rivers are not just indicated for historical or geographical study. Like many other names in the Old Testament, their meanings are likely to teach us something.
The first river's name is Pishon, meaning "increase" or "full flowing." It teaches us that God does not supply us only a few drops of the water, or only fill us until we are nearly full. He is flowing into us with Himself until we are completely full of His life. The life that He gives is so abundant.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 NKJV)

The second river's name is Gihon, meaning "bursting forth" or "gushing." God does not stop filling us when we are full. He continues to infuse us with Himself until the water is springing us up to the eternal life and overflowing us.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38 NKJV)

The third river's name is Hiddekel, meaning "swift" or "darting." Like a dart that is thrown towards a particular target, this water of life is flowing us to a particular goal. Our life will be precisely determined. The water of life will transform us be the man God created us to be. We are determined to be the man who glorifies Him and enjoys Him forever.
The last river's name is Euphrates, meaning "sweet" or "fruitful." This water is so sweet that we will not want to stop drinking it. It also nourishes us and makes our life more fruitful. The more we drink of this water, the more we will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which consists of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), and the more we will glorify Him.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 7.

• http://www.tonycooke.org/free_resources/articles-tony-cooke/rivers-of-eden.html

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 6: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 6

The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

One of my favourite activities is eating. I really love eating. I eat when I feel stressed, frustrated or tired, and I will feel better after I'm fed. And I'm sure many of you have had the same experience.
Today, we are going to learn about the delightful commandment of God to the first couple, which is about "EATING!" Do you believe me? And this will also lead to some implications from the things He commanded them to eat and not to eat.

The tree of life typifying Christ

God commanded man to eat the tree of life.

When it comes to talking about God's commandments in the Old Testament, most people think about the Ten Commandments, which appear in Exodus 20, and some may regard them as the most important commandments from God. Even most non-believers believe they are good for society. A Gallop poll showed that as high as 85% of Americans believed the Ten Commandments are still binding today, even though only 15% of them could name up to 5 of the Commandments. Shockingly, less than 50% of the churchgoing people could name up to 4 of the Commandments. (See more at: http://claimthevictory.org/sermons/2013/01/20/god-speaks-his-will-is-made-known/#sthash.6QZe6UPB.dpuf)
However, Ten Commandments were given to men after the Fall. They were not based on the original purpose of God for man when He first created him. What then is the commandment that God gave to man before the Fall?
After He created the first man from the dust of the ground, He put him in the garden of Eden, in which He had already planted the trees. All the trees were pleasant to the sight and good for food. In the midst of the garden, there were 2 most important trees created: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God then gave man the very first verbal commandment to man.

¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV)

God did not say directly that man should eat from the tree of life. However, with love, He kindly warned him that he should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Given that the tree of life was the only other tree that had been given a name, the commandment implied that man should eat from the tree of life. Man needed to be careful with eating, and the best food for him was from the tree of life, which typified Christ, the only true source of life.

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. (John 15:1 NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 NKJV)
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53 NKJV)

The means whereby man nourished the life he received from God was to come to the tree of life and eat from it daily. Likewise, the only means whereby we nourish our spiritual (zoe) life, which we received from God, is to come to Christ and eat Him daily!
To have a healthy physical life, we are to carefully select what to eat. If we eat healthy food, we will get healthy life. This is general principle about eating. Likewise, to have a healthy spiritual life, we are to carefully select which tree we are eating from. And this is God's amazing grace. He has provided Christ as the best and only food for us.
Brothers and sisters, do not look for any other sources of life. Nothing else can ever satisfy our soul. The best One has already been given to us. It is always available to us. We can eat Him as much and as frequently as we want. Whether we eat it or not absolutely is our choice. Let's come to Him and eat Him today!

Additionally, we can see that the very first commandment was not about working at all. God had already planted all the trees for them. It was about eating. All they needed to do was come to eat! It was about coming to Christ, and enjoying Him forever!
Our life in this world is so hard. We face so many troubles each day. But whenever we are troubled, don't forget that we can always enjoy Him. Instead of cooking and eating some food, let's come to Christ, and enjoy eating Him!

We are called to eat Christ MORE each day.

Overnutrition is a major problem affecting millions of people around the world and contributing to many major cardiovascular diseases. Most people are likely to eat too much. Therefore we should control ourselves not to eat too much.
However, concerning the spiritual food, we can never eat too much. There is no spiritual overnutrition. Therefore we do not have to worry that we are going to eat Christ too much. We are to feel hungry all the time, so that we will come to Him and eat Him all the time. And the more we eat, the more blessed and satisfied we will be.

For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalm 107:9 NKJV)

This is the key to receive more blessings from God. We must be hungry!
I was not sure what the sound of British cows' cry was. I searched for the answer, and it was likely that they cried "Moo." Thai cows cry a bit differently. They cry "MORE." Let's be like Thai cows! Let's cry "MORE" to the Lord. More Christ. More life. More joy. More blessings. (I got this idea from Reverend Kajorn, a Thai preacher who came to preach at the camp of the Network of Thai Christians in UK in the year 2013. The idea is applied here without permission.)
It is noteworthy that being dissatisfied and being hungry are not the same. The former does not always cause people to come to God, while the latter always motivates them to come to Him and be filled with His goodness.
Brother Watchman Nee writes about Miss Barber, his spiritual mentor, as a good example.

Miss Barber [this writer's spiritual mentor] used to tell others that from her youth through her old age she had an eternal hunger for God. She told others that whenever her eyes were not set on the Lord, she would not feel hungry. But whenever her eyes were set on the Lord, she would be continually hungry before the Lord. She was hungry continually, and the Lord filled her continually.

Let's be like Miss Barber who continually hungered before the Lord, and continually filled by Him!

Principle of life

The two trees in the garden of Eden also tell us how to live. God commanded the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he did so, he would die. Did God not want man to have knowledge? Was the knowledge of good and evil not good? By no means! Knowledge is good. But life is the best! And God does not want us to choose the good thing. He wants us to get the best one!
The two trees suggest the 2 principles of Christian living: principle of life, and principle of knowledge of right and wrong.
Many Christians are living according to the principle of knowledge of right and wrong. They classify things as either right or wrong. They judge everything according to the law. They try to be good Christians by doing only the good things and avoiding doing the bad things. Is this a good way to live? Of course, it is not bad. It makes people become good, according to the world's standard. But is it the way God wants us to live? No!
Christianity is not a religion. It is not about what to do and what not to do. The bible does not mainly teach us whether something is right or wrong. On the contrary, Christianity is all about our relationship with God, the only source of life. It is all about life! It is about our inward life, which has been given by God. God's sanctifying works in us are from the inside out, not the outside in!
What is the difference between the two principles?
To walk according to the principle of the knowledge of right and wrong, we exercise our soul, which consists of mind, will and emotion. We use our brain to judge everything. It can never give us true peace and joy. Outwardly, we may be happy that we are doing the right thing. But inwardly, we may sense that something is wrong.
In contrast, to walk according to the principle of life, we exercise our spirit, the organ we use to contact God. This makes us different from those who do not know God. When it comes to making a decision what to do, the question is no more whether the thing is right or wrong based on human criticism and opinion. The only question we are going to ask is whether this decision comes from our inward life or from our rationalisation!
Of course, we should not do bad things, should we? It is not difficult to discern between the good and the bad. But it is often hard to discern between the good and the best. Not all good things are the things God wants us to do. God wants us to do only the best things. And we can know what the best is only by having an intimate relationship with God, by which our inner life will be strengthened.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 6.

• Emanna for 09/27/2013: http://steward.emanna.com/todaysemanna.cfm?readingdate=09/27/2013.

• Basic Elements of the Christian Life volume 3, Witness Lee & Watchman Nee, chapter 1: "Two Principles of Living - The Principle of Life or The Principle of Right and Wrong".

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 5: Dominion—Subduing the Enemy, Recovering the Earth, and Exercising God’s Authority over the Earth

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 5

Dominion—Subduing the Enemy, Recovering the Earth,
and Exercising God’s Authority over the Earth

In the last message, we learned about the first half of God's purpose in creating man. God created man in His image, according to His likeness, so that he would have capability to receive His life and express Him in all His attributes. That is not all. According to Genesis 1:26, God also created man to be his representative who exercised His dominion over all the creation. And we are going to explore the latter in this message.

Man is created to exercise His dominion.

Genesis 1:1 informs us that our perfect God created the heavens and the earth, which originally had a perfect condition.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NKJV)

Due to the divine judgment on the rebellion of Satan, Genesis 1:2 tells us that the earth became formless, void, dark and deep. While the heavens remained perfect, the earth became a ruin and a residence of Satan and his fallen angels.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:2 NKJV)

During the re-creation, God decided to create someone through whom He could express Himself to all the creation and exercised His dominion over all the earth. And He eventually created man and gave him authority over all things on earth, including Satan, which represented by the creeping thing.

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26 NKJV)
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28 NKJV)

Having been given the dominion over all the creation, man was ordained to do a threefold job: to subdue Satan, God's enemy; to recover the earth, by taking it back from the hand of Satan; and to bring in God's kingdom, so that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
Actually God can accomplish all these things within a millisecond, but He did not do them in that way. God required man, His representative, to do these tasks for Him. He wanted man to be the one who subdued God's enemy with His power. He wanted man to regain the earth, which had been usurped by Satan, for Him. And He wanted man to bring the kingdom of heavens to the earth, so that His glory, which had been set above the heavens (Psalm 8:1), would be manifested on the earth forever.

God's purpose on man remains the same even after the Fall.

However, the Fall of man resulted in loss of his dominion over all the earth. According to the curses on the serpent, it was going to eat the dust of the ground, out of which man was created. Instead of being transcendent over the creation, man became under the authority of Satan. Satan's ruler regrettably became Satan's food!

So the LORD God said to the serpent: " Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14 NKJV)

Even though man failed to do what God created him to do, God never gave up on him. His purpose on man remained the same even after the Fall. God always wants man to be the ruler. It is evidenced by what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 8.

⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, (Psalm 8:4-6 NKJV)

This psalm was written after man failed to exercise God's dominion. It clearly indicates that man have been created to have dominion over the works of God's hand. It was what man was created for. It still is and will always be the purpose of man's life.
But how could we have that dominion again when we have already lost it ? Hebrews 2 has the answer for us.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Hebrews 2:9-11)

Throughout history, no any man has ever accomplished the purpose of life, save the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was God,  He humbly became a Man, who was a little lower than the angels, His servants. And He was the only Man who perfectly fulfilled all the purposes man was created for. He fully expressed God, and fully exercised His dominion over all the creation. He came to defeat Satan, recover the earth and bring in God's kingdom. He did these things perfectly.
Furthermore, by God's grace, He tasted death for us. He did this so that through His resurrection, the only begotten Son would not be the only Son anymore. He became the firstborn among many brethrens, who, by believing into Christ and receiving Him as their Lord, have become the children (sons) of God. Instead of giving up on us because of our failure to exercise His authority on earth, He is bringing us, God's many sons, to glory again.
Verse 11 is so precious. We, who are being sanctified, and Christ, who sanctifies, will be one. Christ and we are now begotten of the same Father and have the same life. Becoming one with Him is the means whereby we regain our dominion over all the creation, and obtain the capability to deal with Satan, to restore the earth, and to bring in the kingdom of heavens.

God can rest when man rules.

In Genesis 1, we see that God created many things from the first day to the sixth day, and rested on the seventh day. Why did He rest? Because He had finished all the creation, and He was really satisfied with everything He made. He had already accomplished the desires of His heart. Everything that He made was very good!

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31 NKJV)

What was the desire of His heart in His creation? It was man! Man was the last thing He created within the 6 days. Only after the creation of man could God rest from His work. This implies that man was the one that satisfied and pleased Him. All the things created before man were just what God prepared for man. But God's purpose and expectation were fulfilled when He gained man. When He had man who would rule, He could stop and rest.
Brothers and sisters, may the Sabbath reminds us about God's desire and demand that need to be fulfilled by us. He needs a group of people who care about the desire of His heart and rule over the earth for Him. He wants His many sons to subdue Satan, recover the earth, and bring in His kingdom. Would you like to exercise His dominion over all the earth and accomplish these tasks for Him?
Let's pray the Lord's prayer together.

¹¹ Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:11-13)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 5.

• Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 34: The Glorious Church, chapter 1 (God's Plan and God's Rest).
  (Available online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=2F2D99)

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 4: God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 4

God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression

Genesis 1 is so precious. It beautifully portrays the experience of Christ as our life. Near the end of the chapter, we see God's creation of various kinds of animals, which illustrates different levels of life to us, with human as the highest form of life. In this article, we are going to focus on verses 26 and 27 that describe the creation of man.

God's purpose of creating man

²⁶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV)

These 2 verses clearly indicate God's purpose in creating man. He created man to express Him and exercise the dominion over His creation for Him. The duties of mankind are twofold: being a priest who expresses God, and being a king who has dominion over the creation.
Parenthetically, God did not create us to be a good man. He created us to be Godlike man. Inwardly, He created us in His image, so that we can express Him in His attributes, including love, light, righteousness and holiness. Outwardly, He created us according to His likeness, so that we look like Him. Therefore, to be more precise, He actually created us to be a God-man. It is hard to believe, but it is what the holy Scripture teaches us. Being a good man is not one of the desires of His heart. God wants us to be a God-man.
Purposes of God's creation of man in His image and according to His likeness are also twofold: to receive Him as life, and to express Him in all His attributes, including live, light, righteousness and holiness. To enable man to accomplish these purposes, He provided the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9), typifying Christ as the source of life, so that man could have His life within him and become the visible expression of the invisible God.
One of the most commonly asked questions about life is, What am I created for? Westminster catechism answers the question about man's chief end like this: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. This statement comes from different parts of the bible and is absolutely true. And God has already provided us what we need to reach this twofold chief end. When we have Him as our life, we are able to express Him and enjoy Him forever.

Man's fall and God's solution

Sadly, because of the disobedience of the first couple, man has fallen short of the glory of God. Man has lost both His image and His dominion. More importantly, he has lost his life, since his connection with God, the only source of life, was cut by sin. Man has lost his capability to accomplish God's purpose for Him.
What God can do to solve the problem of mankind? What He could do was righteously annihilate the mankind, and create a new one. That would be so easy, because it was just like formatting a computer infected with ineradicable viruses. But He could not do like that. He could not destroy His beloved children.
This is what God did. Out of His perfect love, the Son of God came into this fallen world, becoming the only perfect God-man who ever lived in the history of mankind since God's creation. God did not create a new man, but instead He Himself became the last Adam, who gave up Himself and died on the cross to put an end to the race of Adam, which is doomed to eternal death. Moreover, He resurrected again and became the second Man, to start a new race which consists of God's many sons whose destiny is eternity with Him. God became God-man so that men could become God-men again. He became God man-ised, so that men would become man God-ised.
All we need to do to be included in the race of the second Man is believe into the Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving Him and being united with Him as one, both in His death and His resurrection. This is the means whereby we can have Him as our life again.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:5-6 NKJV)

When we have Him as our life, we are predestined to go through the process of transformation, which ultimately leads to the conformation to the image of His Son. This process gradually enables us to express Him again, and will be fully accomplished at our transfiguration when Christ returns. We will then be man completely God-ised. At that time, not only will we perfectly express Him, but we will also exercise His authority over the creation, and we will reign with Him forever.
May I sum up this message with a quotation from one of the books written by brother Witness Lee, A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing: "He is God 'man-ized,' and we are man 'God-ized.' In the end, the two become one, both being God-men. This is the divine revelation of the Bible."

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 4.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 3: The Experience of Christ as Life Portrayed in Genesis 1

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 3

 The Experience of Christ as Life Portrayed in Genesis 1

The story in Genesis 1, which is about God's creation, has long been debated among both believers and non-believers. It has been used by those who claimed themselves as scientists to attack the creationists, by proposing some unprovable theories against it, including big bang theory and evolution. At the same time, many believers, particularly the so-called Christian apologists, have tried their best to make arguments with the anti-creationists, many of which are quite thought-provoking.
However, I am not trying to make any argument here. I, as a novice biologist, do believe in the inerrancy of the Holy Word, as it clearly is God's revelation. To my knowledge, no any single point in the bible contradicts the proper science. We only need to have correct comprehensive understanding of both the bible and science with an open unbiased heart, which is lacked by most people who have been involved in the arguments.
To spiritually benefit from the study of Genesis 1, we need to know exactly what God intends to teach. It matters very little to us how God created the physical things. The knowledge of this is not quite helpful for our spiritual growth. It may satisfy our intellectual hunger, but not our spiritual hunger. God's intention to reveal Genesis 1 to us is to teach us about the experience of life. It is all about generation and growth of life, not creation of physical things. In the light of this way of interpretation, we will learn a lot about the experience of Christ as life that is beautifully portrayed in Genesis 1.

Three basic instruments for generating life

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV)

I used to think that Genesis 1 is all about God's first creation of the heavens, the earth and all things therein. Now I'm convinced by the biblical evidences that it is mainly about God's re-creation.
As we can see that there are 4 negative words in verse 2. The earth was formless, void, dark, and deep. These can never be the characteristics of the things created by our perfect God.

For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other." (Isaiah 45:18 NKJV)

Other parts of the bible also suggest that these are the features of God's judgment (Jeremiah 4:23-27; Isaiah 24:1). Therefore there likely is a big gap between verses 1 and 2. There must be something happened between verses 1 and 2. It probably is the divine judgment on the rebellion of Satan, resulting in the destruction of God's original creation. Additionally, the word "hayah," which was translated as "was" (the earth "was" without form) can also be rendered as "became." The perfect creation in verse 1 became a ruin.
Taking all these things into account, the passage from verse 2 onward is obviously about God's second creation of the things on earth. And the highest and most important thing that He created is "life," particularly "human life."
We can see 3 crucial instruments used by God to generate life in Genesis 1:2-3. They consist of the Spirit, the word and the light of God, which represent the reality, the speaking and the shining of God, respectively.
If we link these 3 items to the New Testament, we will see that we can find all the 3 things in Christ. Christ is the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45), the Word (John 1:1), and the light (John 8:12). Christ Himself actually is life (John 11:25). All we need to have life generated in us is Christ. Praise the Lord that we have Him today, thereby being able to experience this wonderful abundant life He has given to us.

Three separations for generating life

Genesis 1 further indicates 3 further separating steps required for life generation, consisting of separation of the light from the darkness, separation of the water above from the water below, and separation of the land from the sea. These separations were accomplished by the light, the word and the Spirit of God, respectively.

1. Separation of light from darkness

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:4-5 NKJV)

The first step that God works within us to generate life is to separate the light from the darkness. Man has fallen into sin, and has become darkness. Praise the Lord that as soon as we receive Christ as our Saviour, we are turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ. (Acts 26:18). Therefore we are no longer living in the darkness, but walking as the children of light.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) (Ephesians 5:8-9 NKJV)

2. Separation of water above from water below

6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (Genesis 1:6-8 NKJV)

Next, He separated the water above and the water below with the firmament. The waters represent the heavenly things and the earthly things, respectively.
The earthly things are not necessarily bad things. But doing good things is not good enough. We need to be assured that the things we do are spiritual things originated from the Holy Spirit in our spirit, not natural or earthly things originated from our soul or self. We need the power of His holy word to discern between the two, as the word of God is the two-edged sword capable of dividing between the spirit and the soul.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)

3. Separation of land from sea

⁹ Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.
¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:9-13 NKJV)

The sea in the bible generally represents death. The new heavens and new earth will have no sea. And here we can see that life started to be generated since the appearance of the dry land.
Interestingly, the dry land appeared on the third day, just as our Lord Jesus resurrected on the third day. This teaches us that our regenerated life results from Christ's resurrection, when He became the life-giving Spirit. Our natural life was crucified with Him on the cross, and on the third day, we also resurrected with Him, having His life as ours. This is the truth that we need to know and reckon in order to live a healthy Christian life.

Appearing of light bearers for generating life

¹⁶ Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:16-19 NKJV)

Malachi 4:2 says that Christ is the sun of righteousness. He is the source of true light in this world. And the Church, represented by the moon, is to reflect the light in this dark world. The church stands out when the world declines, as we can see today. We are to shine to this world, leading it to the only source of light, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sadly, the Church in general seems to decline and fails to shine nowadays. In this kind of situation, God needs to use something else to shine His light. Therefore He raises up the shining stars, which represent the overcomers. Would you like God to transform you to be a shining star that brightly shines in this dark age for Him today?

Illustrations of different levels of life

²⁰ Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens."
²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20-21 NKJV)
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. (Genesis 1:24 NKJV)
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26 NKJV)

God created fish in the seas and birds in the sky on the fifth day, and the living creatures on the earth on the sixth day. He eventually created man, which is the highest created life. Of course, we are not talking about evolution here. So what do these created things teach us about life? 
Among these living things, the fish in the seas seems to be the lowest form of life. But there is some amazing truth about it. It can live in salt water without becoming salty. It can survive because of its special gill that can take in water and eliminate salt. Given that the sea represents this dark dying world, we are to be like the fish. We are to live in this world, without being conformed to this world. We are to survive without becoming dead like the world. This is the life that is generated in us. But this is not enough.
The birds are a higher form of life. It can soar over the seas. Like them, we need to grow in life to the extent that we transcend the world. Not only are we to survive in this world, we have to overcome it. When we face any temptation or trouble, we will gain strength from God and be able to soar above it with absolute victory. Praise the Lord for this higher form of life that demonstrates the higher grown life to us. Yet this is not enough.

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

The beasts and cattle are considered the higher forms of life, because they have more consciousness. They can do something that fish and birds cannot. They are used by man to accomplish some works. For example, the cattle can be used to plough the land, even though it is now not common anymore. As we are more grown in life, we will be more useful to God. We will be equipped and used by Him to carry out His marvelous plan on this earth. But this is still not enough.
He eventually created man. He did not create him in any other animal's kind. He created man in His own kind. He created him in His own image, according to His likeness. And man has something that all other animals do not. Man has God's image and likeness, as well as authority over all the creation. We can express Him and exercise His dominion over His creation to accomplish His economy on earth. We will discuss more about this in the next chapter.

Lord Jesus, thank You very much for your revelation about life in Genesis 1. We are so thankful that in You, we can find everything we need to have life generated in us, as You are the life-giving Spirit, the Word, and the light. May You transform us to be the overcomers who brightly shine in this dark world. By abiding in You, may we grow in life, so that not only will we survive in this dark world without being conformed to it, but we will also soar over all the problems, do the services for You, and express You.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 3.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 4

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 4

The Spirit with Our Spirit

We have already explored the 3 main points of Paul's completing ministry, consisting of God as our content, Christ as God's mystery and the Church as Christ's mystery. Moreover, we have also learned a little bit about the amazing mystery of Christ dwelling in us, our the hope of glory. In this message, we are going to learn another bible-based truth regarding God's Spirit and our spirits, which were joined together at our regeneration.

We were united with the Lord through believing into Him.

Originally, God created us to have 3 main portions of life: the spirit, the soul and the body. Sadly, after the Fall of man in Genesis 3, our spirit, the organ for contacting God, became deadened in trespasses and sins. The disobedience of Adam and Eve resulted in spiritual death, which is separation from God. Man could not have fellowship with God anymore, as God is spirit and we need our spirits to contact Him.

Nevertheless, through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus at the Cross, our spirit was quickened and made alive again at our new birth when we received the Lord as our Saviour. The fellowship with God was made possible again.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV)

Not only was this crucial God-contacting organ made alive, the Triune God Himself as the Spirit came into it and mingled with it. God's Spirit and our spirit became one spirit. We were organically united with the Lord.

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Brother Witness Lee specifically uses the word "mingling" to describe this phenomenon. God's Spirit and our spirit mingled into one spirit. They were mixed together with neither change in the substance and nature of the two nor generation of a new being. His Spirit still is divine Spirit, and our spirit remains human's spirit. And this mingling process does not annul the divinity of His Spirit or the humanity of our spirit. It truly is mystery, is it not? How could God's Spirit and our spirit mingle with each other without diminishing the divinity of His Spirit and humanity of our spirits?

Even though we cannot fully comprehend this, all of this has already happened at our regeneration when we subjectively believed into (or in) our Lord Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in [or into] Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

Please note that this regeneration and organic union with the Lord result form believing into Him, not believing Him. They sound quite similar, but they are absolutely different. Believing into Him is a subjective experience of receiving Him as life and the life supply, and being united with Him as one. On the contrary, believing Him is merely to acknowledge that He is true and real as a fact. Even evil spirits believe Him, acknowledging that He is the Son of God, but they never believe into Him (Matthew 8:29).

Brothers and sisters, what kind of experience do you have: believing into Him, by receiving Him as your life and your life supply, or just believing Him intellectually? They lead to totally opposite directions. The former results in eternal life with endless hope, while the other results in nothing better than eternal death with hopeless end. If you have not had experience of believing into Him, please respond to His calling and do it today! This is the only means whereby His Spirit and your spirit become one and God can express Himself through you, fulfilling His purpose for your life.

This is the start point of our Christian spiritual journey. This process is considered very important as mingled spirit is the focal point of God's economy. It is in this mingled spirit that we can experience Christ and receive Him as our life, our life supply and our everything. It is the basis that our spiritual life is based upon. In the next section, we are going to learn some points about how to practice this union in our life.

We need to practise the oneness with the Lord.

In our Christian spiritual journey towards Christ-likeness, we need to practise the oneness with the Lord. Let's learn about this practice in Romans 8:3-6.

³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:3-6 NKJV)

Since our regeneration, our spirit has been made alive and united with the Spirit of the Lord. God's Spirit and our spirit are one spirit. We are now walking according to a different principle, and there are at least 2 things that we need to practise.

Firstly, we should no longer have our mind set on flesh, but on the Spirit. Our spirit now is one with the Lord's Spirit. If our mind is set on the flesh, there is going to be a discrepancy between our inner man (the mingled spirit) and our outer man (our flesh). This inevitably results in our separation from the enjoyment of God. Ultimately we will experience internal conflict and death (separation). In contrast, if our mind set is set on the Spirit, it will be perfectly in agreement with the mingled spirit, resulting in full enjoyment of the Lord. We will inevitably experience full life and peace.

Secondly, we would no longer walk and live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. It is not by our own effort to keep the law, because it is impossible for us to flawlessly obey the law through our outward endeavouring. We may be able to do it for a short while, but we will ultimately be exhausted and failure is inevitable. But the genuine spiritual walking and living are accomplished by the inward working of the Spirit of life. Our life will be automatically and spontaneously changed without any effort, as we walk and live according to the mingled spirit within us. The things you need to do are to admit that you are too weak to fulfil the righteous requirement of the law, ask God for help, and yield yourself to the Spirit within you.



O Lord Jesus, thank you that you have drawn us to Yourself, and through believing into You, we always have You as our life, our life supply and our everything. May You help us that we would always have our mind set on the Spirit and experience life and peace. By the power of the Spirit within us, may we live and walk according to the Spirit.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Completing Ministry of Paul, week 4.

• The Mending Ministry of John, Chapter 8, Section 2, by Witness Lee (http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?xid=6V0JYFQ24C9WH)

• The Holy Bible Recovery Version, Footnotes of

  • John 3:16.

  • Romans 8:4, 6.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 3

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 3

The Indwelling Christ

In the message 2, we saw the big picture of what Paul's completing ministry is, along with all the 3 mysteries unravelled through this ministry. Now we are going a little bit deeper into the first mystery, God as our content, with the main focus on the indwelling Christ.

Christ is both in heaven and in us

Christ, as the mystery of God, really is mysterious. He is 100% God and also 100% man. It is impossible to fully comprehend this. And another mysterious truth about Him is that now He is at the right hand of God, and, at the same time, within us. How can that be? It is so mysterious, is it not?
As most Christians know very well, Christ ascended to heaven after His resurrection. And one day, which is very soon, He will come back again. The apostles' creed summarises this very well. I'm sure many saints can quote it by heart. The part of the belief in God the Son (Anglican version) reads like this:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

It is a nice bible-based simplified list of our belief concerning our Lord Jesus. And it also is a useful tool to check whether one's faith is well aligned with God's word or not. However, these 10 lines can never cover all the mysteries of God in Christ, can they?
According to the creed, Christ now is in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. That absolutely is biblical. Moreover, the Scripture tells us that He is ministering us through prayer. He is interceding for us! What a wonderful Christ we have!

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34 NKJV)

And what about the Scripture saying that Christ is within us, being our hope of glory? The bible also is very clear about this.

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NKJV)

This truly is a mystery, is it not? Christ is there in the heaven at the right hand of God, interceding for His beloved children. And at the same time, He is here within us, being our life-giving Spirit and our Comforter.

We are God's many abodes.

When I read about the dilemma, I recalled the thing that one of my beloved brother in Christ once shared with me. It was about "mansions" that Christ said He would prepare for us.

¹ Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
² In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3 NKJV)

According to this bible passage, Christ told His disciples that the Father had got many mansions and Christ was going to prepare one place for them. And one day, He would take us to that place, where He and them were going to be together.
The common interpretation of this passage says that the mansions are our places in the heaven, given that God is in heaven, and thereby His house should also be in heaven. And our Lord Jesus has gone there at His ascension, and has been preparing the places for us. The places are so sure that we need not to be worried about where we are going to stay in heaven. We will by no means homeless there. And one day, Christ is coming back to take us to that place. He and us will be together forever. This is so encouraging, is it not?
This way of interpretation sounds very logical and relevant to other parts of the bible, does it not? And it nicely fits with the fact that Jesus now is in the heaven at the right hand of God. While interceding for us, He may also preparing the places for us. However, some questions may be raised according to this interpretation. Am I going to stay in an apartment in the heaven? Is He building huge buildings so that there will be enough rooms for us all? Can He not build it within in few milliseconds just by speaking a word? Why has He spent thousands of years building it?
Let's have a look at the passage again in the context. In the previous 2 chapters (John 12-13), Jesus directly told His disciples about His death, Judas' betrayal, and Peter's denial. And here in John chapter 14, Jesus was consoling them with His revelation about the coming of the Holy Spirit as the Helper or Comforter (John 14:16). This was accomplished after His resurrection and His ascension, when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). The other comforting truth is that both God the Father and Christ Himself would come to them, and make Their home with them (John 14:23).
Furthermore, the context is not associated with the heaven at all. Jesus was not talking about where the disciples were going to stay after Christ's second coming. Even when Thomas asked where He was going and how he and all the other disciples could know the way, the Lord's answer was not that He was going to the heaven and He was the way to the place. Christ answered He was the way, the truth and the life to the Father, not to the heaven!

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6 NKJV)

So His focus was not at His second coming. His focus was at His resurrection, when He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45).
Now let's put all the jigsaw puzzles together. God's house here refers to His temple (John 2:16,21), and we together, as the Church or Christ's body, are His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). The many mansions, which can be literally translated as dwelling places or abodes, actually are all the members of the Church. We are the dwelling places of God.
Applying this to the context, Christ was going to prepare a place for us, so that each of us would be a part of His Body, becoming His temple, his habitation, His house. Christ has been building us up to Himself, and we will eventually see the New Jerusalem as the finished building.
Christ had to go to the Cross, so that He would come back again at His resurrection. We know from the bible that the Comforter who once was with His disciples came back to them again. But this time, He came to them not as the Comforter with them anymore. Instead, He became the Comforter within them!
Brothers and sisters, Christ now is not only our Immanuel, meaning God with us, but He also is God in us, the hope of glory! His going to the cross brought about His coming to us and His indwelling within us, so that He and us may be together forever (John 14:3).

Paul's prayer that Christ may dwell in our hearts.

We now know that Christ has made us God's abodes and has indwelt within our spirit. And what is next? Let's learn from one of the prison prayers of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 3.

¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height ---
¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NKJV)

Briefly, at our regeneration when we received the Lord to be our Saviour, our spirits were made alive, and the Triune God came into our spirits. God's Spirit and our spirits became one. That was only the beginning of our spiritual journey. The next step is that we are to gradually allow Him to dwell in the other part of our body - our hearts (3 parts of our souls - mind, will and emotion - plus conscience). This is a life-long process, generally called sanctification, leading towards Christ-likeness. Ultimately, at Christ's second coming, our whole beings will absolutely be like Him. This is called glorification.
As the centres of our beings are our hearts, we need to deal with them by allowing Christ to make His home in them. The apostle Paul prays that our spirits (inner man) may be strengthened with might through His spirit, because this is the means whereby Christ spreads within us from our spirits to our hearts and makes home in them. This is the crucial step whereby Christ becomes our persons.
Jesus says that if we abide in Him and He in us, we will bear much fruit (John 15:4). What is the fruit that He is talking about? It is the spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23, consisting of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All the 9 items are clearly seen in the life of Christ. They are His characteristics. And they will also be ours, if His home is made in our hearts and He thereby becomes our persons.
Ephesians 3:18-19 further tells us that the more our hearts are occupied with Christ, the more we will be able to comprehend His love, and the more we will be filled with all the fullness of God! We are going to be the corporate expression of the Triune God! Is this not what God's economy is - that God becomes one with us, and expresses Himself through us to this world?
Lord Jesus, may You strengthen us through Your Spirit within our spirits, and may You make Your home in our hearts. May You reveal your love, which passes our knowledge, to us, and may You fill us with all the fullness of Yourself.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Completing Ministry of Paul, week 3.

• The Holy Bible Recovery Version, Footnotes of John 14:1-3.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 2

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Completing Ministry of Paul, Message 2

The Central Vision

Completing ministry of Paul

In the last message, we learned about who Jesus is and what He would have us do from the story of the apostle Paul's calling. Now we are going to see what exactly the main ministry of the apostle Paul is. As the name of the name of this book may have already implied, the ministry to which God called him to minister is the "completing ministry." But what would God like him to complete? The answer appears in Colossians 1:24-26. God called him to complete the word of God!

²⁴ I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
²⁵ of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill [complete] the word of God,
²⁶ the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (Colossians 1:24-26 NKJV)

Most translations render the word "complete" as "fulfill." Only few translations, such as the literally-translated Recovery Version, New English Translation, Darby Bible Translation, render this phrase as "complete the word of God." This word comes from the original Greek word "pleroo." According to Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries, it means "to fully, completely fill; to fully supply, finish (a period or task)." As also suggested by Pulpit Commentary, "to fulfill the word of God" is likely to be "to complete, to give full development and extension to the gospel message," because it suits best to the context, and it is also used elsewhere in this sense by the apostle Paul.

Why did the word of God need to be finished by the apostle Paul? Were the Old Testament, the Gospel, the book of Acts, the other epistles and Revelation not adequate? Of course, the way to salvation was already revealed in these books. One definitely could be saved by God's inspired words in them. Nevertheless, there were some mysteries that had not been unravelled yet, and the apostle Paul was commissioned to complete it, in order to give full development and extension to the Gospel message!

Praise the Lord that the apostle Paul faithfully completed the word of God by unveiling many mysteries that had been hidden from the ages and the generations, but had been revealed to us through his writings. God has extensively worked through His inspired words written by him throughout the church history. Because of his completing ministry, we can grasp spiritual meanings of the Old Testament, and we can understand the Gospel message in depth. God's word can never be completed without Paul's ministry.

I really like one of St Augustine well-known quotes referring to the bible, saying that "The New [Testament] is in the Old [Testament] concealed. The Old [Testament] is in the New [Testament] revealed." This is so true. The mysteries in the New Testament, particularly concerning Christ and the Church, appear everywhere in the Old Testament, but they are concealed and we can never understand them unless we have the revelation in the New Testament. The book of Genesis may only be a collection of stories without any meaning to us, unless we have the divine revelation in the New Testament linking the history to its actual spiritual implications. In the light of the New Testament, we can see Christ everywhere in the Old Testament, as He is the centre of God's economy.

And how can this completing ministry be associated with us today? Of course, the word of God has already been completed by the prophets and the apostles. It does not need to be added anymore. Actually we are not allowed to add anything to or subtract anything from the word of God (Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:6, Galatians 3:15, and Rev. 22:18-19). So how can we join this ministry then?

Everyone can join this ministry of completing the word of God. Paul's completing ministry is to reveal the mysteries concerning Christ and His Body through his writings. Our completing ministry simply is to reveal the same mysteries by using our lives as open books where others can see those mysteries. To complete the word of God, we need to experience Christ subjectively in our daily lives, and gain more life from the life-giving Spirit. Consequently, we together as His Church will be the living expression of the Triune God. May this be our burden, our ministry and our warfare!

Central vision of Paul's completing ministry

The word "mystery" or "mysteries" appears in the New Testament for 28 times,  20 of which are in Paul's writings. Obviously, the completing ministry of Paul aims to reveal the mysteries.

Generally, the word "mystery" refers to something difficult to understand or to explain. However, according to Scofield Reference Note, a "mystery" in the Scripture is "a previously hidden truth, now divinely revealed; but in which a supernatural element still remains despite the revelation." It is a truth that we can never understand without divine revelation. It is beyond our brain capability to grasp the truth. And despite the divine revelation, we still cannot fully and comprehensively understand it, but we will see it clearly when the Lord comes back again.

What are the main points of Paul's completing ministry? There are 3 main points emphasised in his writings: God as our content, Christ as the mystery of God, and the Church as the mystery of Christ. May I briefly explain each point here.

1. God as our content

Having been prepared beforehand for God's glory, we all are created to be the vessels of mercy. What are these vessels designed to contain? They are created to contain the Triune God!

²³ and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
²⁴ even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:23-24)

This truly is mystery. We often hear the people say that we are in God. That is not quite complicated, is it? God is great, and we are small. It is not difficult to understand. At other times, we learn that God is with us. This is more difficult. How can the holy God come to associate with sinful man? However, in the light of God's grace, we can understand it. But what about God in us? How can that be? Our God is so big. How can the uncontainable God be contained in our spirit? This is mystery. This is God's economy that His Spirit and our spirit become one, so that we will be His living expression. I admit that I cannot fully understand it. But because the word of God says so, I choose to embrace that truth as it is.

The bible clearly says that all the 3 Persons within the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - dwell within us. Do you believe me? Let's see together.

... one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:6 NKJV)
²⁶ the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
²⁷ To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27 NKJV)
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11 NKJV)

Praise the Lord that this mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations have already been revealed to us, the Gentiles. The mystery is that "Christ is us, the hope of glory." May we realise all the time that Christ is always in us. May Christ be the ground of our hope, and may we experience the true fellowship with Him as a foretaste of our future heavenly glory!

2. Christ as the mystery of God

that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, (Colossians 2:2 NASB)

This is Paul's desire to see us have the true knowledge of God's mystery, that is Christ Himself! This is the most precious thing. It should also be the aim of our life.

Christ is so mysterious in everyway. We cannot thoroughly understand how God became a man, so that men could eventually become the sons of God. We cannot completely understand how He could be fully God and fully Man at the same time. This is mystery.

Christ is the great mystery of godliness, as explained in 1 Timothy 3:16.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16 NKJV)

Paul quotes a hymn that was widely known at that time. Christ was God manifested in the flesh through His incarnation and His living. He was justified, or vindicated, in the Spirit, both at His transfiguration and His resurrection. The bible tells us that the angels saw Him at His incarnation, living and ascension. We can see that the Gospel of Christ has been widely preached among the Gentiles, and many have received Him. Ultimately, when He will come back again, both Christ, the Head, and His Church, the Body will be taken up in glory together. What a wonderful mystery it is!

May we know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God! (Ephesians 3:19)

3. Church as the mystery of Christ

... by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel (Ephesians 3:4-6 NKJV)

The Church is also mysterious in many ways. It is the mystery of Christ.

May I list some of them here, by quoting the outlines of this week's messages.

1. The church was mysteriously chosen and predestinated in Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:3-5)
2. The church was mysteriously redeemed in the Beloved after the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:6-12)
3. The church was mysteriously sealed with the Holy Spirit and received the Holy Spirit as the pledge at thetime of its redemption. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
4. The church mysteriously participates in the resurrection power of Christ and in everything that He has attained and obtained in ascension, thereby becoming the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
5. The church mysteriously becomes the universal new man, as God’s kingdom and God’s house, and is being built up as the habitation of God. (Ephesians 2:15,19-22)
6. The church is mysteriously enjoying the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:2, 7-11)
7. The church is strengthened into the inner man with power by God through His Spirit, that Christ may mysteriously make home in the believers’ hearts, that the church may be filled with the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth of what Christ is, to become all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:15-19)
8. The mysterious life union of Christ and the church is the great mystery in the universe. (Ephesians 5:32)
9. The church, which is joined to and mingled mysteriously with the Triune God today, is a miniature of the New Jerusalem and needs to take the holy city as its highest standard and matchless hope in everything. (Revelation 21:2)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Completing Ministry of Paul, week 2.

• Pulpit Commentary, Colossians 1:25 (http://biblehub.com/colossians/1-25.htm).

• Scofield Reference Note, Matthew 13:11 (Mystery).

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)