«　WEEK 24　DAY 3　»

　　Gal. 3:14 In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

　　Matt. 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

　　The last Adam, who was Christ in the flesh, became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection [1 Cor. 15:45]. Since then, the Spirit of Jesus Christ has both the divine and human elements, including the reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. (Life-study of John, pp. 219-220)

　　The Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. However, this is not the Triune God apart from the process through which He has passed. The Spirit is the Triune God after He has passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Having passed through this process, the Triune God is now this consummate Spirit as the blessing of the New Testament. Thus, the Spirit is the blessing of God's New Testament economy. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 869-870)

　　The divine and mystical realm into which we may enter today is actually not simply the divine and mystical realm of the Triune God but the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit and the pneumatic Christ. The terms consummated Spirit and pneumatic Christ are very particular. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, "The Divine and Mystical Realm," p. 110)

　　Levitcus 26:2a says, "You shall keep My Sabbaths." Keeping God's Sabbath 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.

　　We need to learn to enjoy what God has achieved. This, however, is a hard lesson, for we have been taught to work and to do many things. This item teaches us not to work but to respect, enter into, and enjoy what God has done for us. Although Christ has accomplished everything for us, we may not be in the enjoyment of this achievement. Instead of enjoying what Christ has done, we may keep on laboring, setting Christ's achievement aside. This is offensive to the Lord. Therefore, we need to learn to receive, regard, respect, and enjoy what God has done and not try to do something for ourselves.

　　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. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 528-529, 536)

　　God has an economy. In His economy God makes Christ the centrality and universality. God wants us to learn one lesson—to stop our doing and to keep away from the taste of anything other than Christ. We should be replaced by Christ and enjoy God continually. This is the purpose for which Christ died for us and was resurrected for us. He is our Sabbath and our food. Now we can rest in Him, feed on Him, and have Him as our replacement in every way and in everything. (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 204)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 80-81