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The way to enjoy the unsearchably rich Christ is to take Him as our real Sabbath rest, stopping ourselves with our living, doing, and activity, and receive Him as our life, person, and replacement; then we will experience Christ as the power of resurrection to be transformed and to soar in the heavens far above every earthly frustration (Matt. 11:28-30; Isa. 40:28-31).
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We need to know what the Triune God has done for us and highly regard the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14):
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The work of the Father includes:
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Choosing the believers before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).
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Predestinating the believers unto sonship (v. 5).
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Sending His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3).
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Coming in the Son and working within the Son (John 5:17, 24, 30).
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Passing through death in the Son (Heb. 9:12; Acts 20:28; 1 John 1:7).
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Raising up Christ from the dead (Acts 2:24).
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Seating Christ in the heavenlies, subjecting all things under His feet, and giving Him to be Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:20-23).
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Calling, forgiving, justifying, reconciling, receiving, regenerating, washing, sanctifying, and glorifying the believers (Rom. 8:30, 33; 5:10; 14:3; 1 Thes. 2:12; 5:23; Heb. 8:12; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 1:9).
Ⅰ
Sending forth the Spirit of His Son into the believers' hearts (Gal. 4:6).
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Causing all things to work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
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Crushing Satan under the believers' feet (16:20).
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Bringing many believers into glory (Heb. 2:10).
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The work of Christ includes:
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Bringing God into man and making God one with man (John 1:1, 14).
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Serving people (Matt. 20:28).
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Sowing the seed of the kingdom (13:19, 24, 37).
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Undoing the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
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As the Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
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Destroying the devil, who has the might of death (Heb. 2:14).
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Rebuilding God's temple, making it a corporate one (John 2:19-22).
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Becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b).
Ⅰ
As the Lord, exercising His sovereignty over all for the accomplishment of the divine economy (Acts 2:36).
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Building the church (Matt. 16:18).
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As our High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, interceding for us (Heb. 5:10; 7:24-26).
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As the Ruler of the kings of the earth, ruling the whole world that the gospel may spread and the church may be produced (Rev. 1:5).
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.Heb. 2:14 Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil.
According to Isaiah 40:29-31, those who have received the word and have been regenerated are now waiting for Jehovah. For us to wait on God means that we "fire" ourselves, that is, that we stop ourselves with our living, doing, and activity and receive Christ as our replacement. Verse 31 says that such a waiting one will mount up with wings like eagles, signifying the resurrection power of Christ. He will not only walk and run—he will also soar in the heavens, far above every earthly frustration. This is a transformed person. (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 138)
Today's Reading
We shall begin to consider God's work as revealed in the New Testament. Our God is a working God. The Lord's word in John 5:17 indicates this: "My Father is working until now." In the New Testament we see God's work in eternity past, in His old dispensation, in His new dispensation, and in eternity future, with many aspects.After God made His eternal plan, He chose the believers [Eph. 1:4]....God's choosing is His selection. From among numberless people He selected us, and this He did in Christ before the foundation of the world.
God's work in eternity past also included His predestinating—marking out— the believers before the foundation of the world [v. 5].
God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin that He might redeem those under law so that we might receive the sonship [Rom. 8:3].
When God the Father sent the Son, He came with Him and worked within Him....The Father, who is the source and the Initiator, sent the Son (John 5:24, 30, 36-38; 13:20; 14:24).
God's work in the new dispensation includes His passing through death in the Son. The phrase "the blood of Jesus His Son" in 1 John 1:7 indicates this. The blood shed on the cross for our redemption was not only the blood of Jesus, but also the blood of the Son of God. This implies that while Jesus was dying on the cross, God went through death in Him.
In His work God also raised up Christ from the dead. Acts 2:24 says, "Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it." Here and in verse 32 Peter says that God raised up the Lord Jesus.
We shall go on to consider Christ's work....Through His work in incarnation
Christ did something marvelous—He brought God into man (John 1:1, 14). If we study the Gospel of Luke thoroughly and deeply, we shall see that the incarnation of Christ was not only for the producing of the Savior. Actually, the incarnation of Christ brought divinity into humanity.
Through Christ's work in His incarnation not only was God brought into man, but God was also made one with man. Christ has accomplished the great work of making God one with man, of making the two—God and man—one person with two natures, divinity and humanity.
Matthew 13 reveals that in His ministry Christ sowed the seed of the kingdom.
In Revelation, Christ, as the Lord in the heavens, is revealed as the Administrator in the divine government in the universe, carrying out God's governmental activities over all things on this earth, with the view that all the situations on the earth may serve the purpose for the fulfilling of God's plan and His promises that the divine economy might be accomplished. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 141-142, 167, 170, 175, 184, 675, 677, 679, 707, 815)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 14-20, 63-78