Ⅲ
The proclamation of the jubilee in Luke 4 governs the central thought of the whole Gospel of Luke, and the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is an excellent illustration of the jubilee (vv. 11-32):
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The prodigal son left his father's house, selling his possession and himself:
１
The content of a vessel is its possession, and man is a vessel of God; hence, if man does not have God as his possession and enjoyment, he is empty and poor (Rom. 9:21-23; Eph. 2:12; Psa. 16:5; Rev. 3:17-18).
２
Adam lost his portion of the enjoyment of God when he did not take the tree of life; all the unbelieving people of the world have lost God as their possession and enjoyment and have sold their members to sin in order to become slaves of sin (Eph. 2:12; Rom. 7:14; 6:19).
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Human life is nothing but labor and sorrow and will soon be gone; the true condition of human life is vanity of vanities, emptiness of emptinesses—a chasing after wind (Psa. 90:10; 73:14, 16-17, 25; Eccl. 1:2-11, 14).
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Fallen people have no real dwelling place; they are drifting about and wandering without a home, because God is man's real dwelling place (Psa. 90:1; Gen. 28:17-19; John 15:4; Matt. 11:28).
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One day the prodigal son returned to his possession and his father's house; that was a jubilee, a liberation, and everything became pleasant and satisfying (Luke 15:20, 24; cf. Lev. 25:11-12):
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In redemption God is our possession for our enjoyment; to be saved is to return to our inheritance, to return to God, to come back to God and enjoy Him anew as our possession (Eph. 1:13-14).
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To be saved is to gain God; when we have God, we have everything; without God, we have nothing (Col. 1:12; Hymns, 1080).
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God has become our blessed portion in Christ, but many Christians are unhappy and are like lights that do not shine, because they do not "turn on the switch" by taking God as their portion (Eph. 4:18; Phil. 2:12-16).
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The father's acceptance of the son and the son's returning to his father and his father's house were the year of jubilee to the son, the year of grace (Luke 15:20):
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God in Christ has become the fattened calf for the enjoyment of the repentant and returned prodigal sons (v. 23).
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This corresponds to Leviticus 25:11-12, which says that the people were neither to sow nor reap in the year of the jubilee but only to eat and enjoy; once we repent and return to God by receiving the Lord Jesus, we obtain God within, and this is the beginning of our jubilee.
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We are not the Father's hired servants but His enjoying sons, and we can continually enjoy God as our possession from now unto eternity.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.Psa. 16:5 Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You maintain my lot.
We must now consider what man's possession is....An inheritance is a possession. The land is not our real possession; rather, God is our possession [Psa. 16:5]. The land is merely a type, a symbol, and a figure....From Genesis 1:26 and
Romans 9:21-23 we can see clearly that man was created by God to be His vessel. A vessel as a container is empty by itself; hence, it needs content. The content of a vessel is its possession. An empty cup is a destitute cup....Man is a vessel of
God; hence, if man does not have God, he is empty and poor. The first chorus of Hymns, 1080 says, "Vanity! Vanity! / Vanity! Vanity! / 'Tis chasing the wind, / It's all vanity!" The last chorus says, "Christ without, all is vain! / Christ within, all is gain! / All things are vain, / Christ only is gain!" Man without Christ is vain. Hence, man's real possession is not land or a house, and neither is it a wife or children; man's possession is God. God created man as His vessel to contain Him. If we as a vessel do not have God as our content, we are empty and poor. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," pp. 16-17)
Today's Reading
After God created Adam, He put Adam in front of the tree of life, indicating that He wanted Adam to receive the tree of life; besides this, He indicated little else to Adam. What is the tree of life? The tree of life is God. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst" (John 6:35). Psalm 36:9 also says, "With You is the fountain of life." The Lord is the tree of life and the river of life; he who believes into Him eats and drinks Him and is satisfied. To be sure, God is our possession. Furthermore, according to Psalm 16:5, God is not only our inheritance but also the portion of our cup. In this verse, inheritance is a general expression, whereas cup is a more personal expression. God is not only our inheritance but also the portion of our cup for our enjoyment. God is not only our possession but also our real enjoyment. Moreover, God maintains our allotted portion.God presented the tree of life to Adam, but Adam did not take it; hence, he lost his portion of the enjoyment of God. Adam fell from God's presence, and as a result, all the people of the world lost God. Therefore, Ephesians 2:12 says that people living in the world today have no hope and are without God. The prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 is a portrait of all mankind. From kings and presidents to street sweepers and beggars, everyone is a prodigal son who has become penniless and who lives with "hogs." The fall of man is a fall from God, a fall from man's possession. Man has lost God as his possession and enjoyment. This is the first step of man's loss.
The second step is that in the fall, man sold himself to sin. Paul says in Romans
7:14, "I am fleshy, sold under sin." As fallen sinners, we have lost God, and we are without God. Not only so, we have sold our members to sin to become slaves of sin (6:19). Sin dominates man. Today people in the world, no matter who they are, are under the domination of sin. Some people have a higher degree of intellect and thus are controlled by their reason. For the sake of society, their relatives, and their friends, they are not reckless outwardly, but they are still reckless in their mind. Who is not sold to sin in his heart? We have all sold ourselves to sin.
Today all men have lost God as their possession, and they have no real dwelling place. Fallen people are all drifting about and wandering without a home. Although they may live in high-rise buildings or large mansions, within them there is no rest, no dwelling place. Man is wandering because he has lost God. God is man's real dwelling place and real possession. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," pp. 17-18)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," ch. 2