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The purpose of God’s calling is to bring God’s chosen people into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, typified by the good land flowing with milk and honey—Exo. 3:8; cf. 1 Cor. 1:9:
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Milk and honey, which are the mingling of both the animal life and the vegetable life, are two aspects of the life of Christ—the redeeming aspect and the generating aspect—Deut. 8:8; 26:9; cf. John 1:29; 12:24:
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The redeeming aspect of Christ’s life is for our judicial redemption, and the generating aspect of Christ’s life is for our organic salvation—1:29; 12:24; Rev. 2:7; Rom. 5:10.
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The symbols of the Lord’s table signify the redeeming and generating aspects of Christ’s life for God’s complete salvation; thus, the good land has become a table, a feast for our enjoyment—Matt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 10:17.
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We must be “in the light” in order to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the good land in His redeeming and generating aspects—Col. 1:12; 1 Pet. 2:9; Isa. 2:5:
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God is light—1 John 1:5.
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The word of God is light—Psa. 119:105, 130.
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Christ is light—John 8:12; 9:5.
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The life of Christ is light—1:4.
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The believers are light—Matt. 5:14; Phil. 2:15.
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The church is a lampstand shining with light—Rev. 1:20; Psa. 73:16-17.
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 3:8 And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey...Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.
Both milk and honey are products of the combination of two kinds of lives—the animal life and the vegetable life. Milk is produced by cattle that feed on grass, and honey is made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Milk and honey signify the riches of Christ, which come from the two aspects of His life—His redeeming life, typified by the animal life (John 1:29), and His generating life, typified by the vegetable life (John 12:24). (Exo. 3:8, footnote 2)
Whenever we come to the Lord’s table to enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive One, in our experience we are in the good land enjoying the riches of the land. This means that the good land has become a table, a feast, for our enjoyment. At this table, this feast, we are satisfied, and God is satisfied also. If we see this, we shall realize that to enter into the good land is to come to the Lord’s table. The table is a feast for our enjoyment.... It is crucial for us to understand that to come to the table is to enjoy Christ as the good land. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 448-449)
Today’s Reading
Many may read Colossians 1:12 without paying attention to the phrase in the light. Christ, our portion, is to be enjoyed by us in the light.In John 8:12 the Lord Jesus said that He is the light of the world and that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. However, if we do not follow Him as the light, we shall be in darkness.
First John 1:5 says that God is light. He alone is the source of light. The Word of God, Christ, the life of Christ, the believers, and the church can all be light because they have God as their source.
Psalm 119:105 says that the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and 119:130 says that the opening of God’s words gives light. The Word of God is light because it contains God....The source of the Bible is God, and God is light. Therefore, the words of the Bible are the shining of light.
In John 9:5 the Lord Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” God and Christ are one. Since God is light, Christ also is light. Christ is the light of the world in a very definite way....Christ is the light not just in a general way, but in a definite way as the light of society, of mankind.
The life of Christ is also light. John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” When we receive Christ as life, this life becomes light in us, shining upon us and enlightening us from within.
Those who believe in Christ are also the light. Speaking of the believers, the Lord Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). In Philippians 2:15 Paul says that the believers “shine as lights in the world” (KJV). The Greek for lights is better rendered luminaries. A luminary does not have light in itself; it reflects light that comes from another source. The believers are luminaries. In ourselves we have no light. The light comes from the oil, the Spirit, burning within us. The source of our light is not ourselves, but Christ as the Spirit.
In Revelation 1:20 we see that the church is a lampstand, a stand that holds and supports a burning lamp. The lamp is Christ with God in Him as light (Rev. 21:23). In the universe there is one light, God Himself. The Triune God is the unique light. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 55-57)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 50; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 7