Ⅳ
If we would experience Christ as stone, iron, and copper, we must have some degree of spiritual maturity; wherever there is a matured life in Christians, the building of God’s house will take place, and the battles of spiritual warfare will be fought—Heb. 5:14; 6:1; 1 Cor. 14:20; Eph. 4:13:
Ａ
Joshua 1:3 indicates that although God had given Israel the good land, Israel still needed to take the land; they needed to cooperate with God by rising up to fulfill God’s commission to possess the land.
Ｂ
If we would possess Christ as the good land, we still need to fight the spiritual warfare by faith in the Lord and in the principle of the Body; we also need to realize that we are not the ones fighting, for God goes with us and fights for us—Deut. 1:30; 3:22; 20:3-4; 32:30; Eph. 6:10-13.
Ｃ
Joshua led the children of Israel to enter the promised land and to take it, possess it, and enjoy it—Josh. 1:6:
１
Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and let the word occupy him—v. 8.
２
The response of Israel to Joshua implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God, as expressed by their blessing Joshua in the name of their God—vv. 16-18.
３
Israel had become a corporate Joshua, chosen, called, redeemed, saved, trained, prepared, and qualified by God, ready to go on with God as one to take the land of Canaan.
４
To gain the all-inclusive Christ, we need to be today’s Joshua, fighting the battle, taking the land, and enjoying Christ as our inheritance.
Ｄ
The children of Israel were buried in the death of Christ, and then they were resurrected in the resurrection of Christ—4:1-11; Rom. 6:3-6:
１
In their old man they could not gain the victory; their old man had to be buried so that they could become a new man—Josh. 4:9.
２
We need to realize that our old man, our natural man, is not qualified to fight the spiritual warfare for gaining the all-inclusive Christ—Rom. 6:6.
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 1:3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses.6 Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.
Among all the nations and peoples, God had separated Israel, His elect, for the carrying out of His economy. They had nothing to do with any idols or demons. On the contrary, they were occupied with the God of the heavens and the earth. After being formed, constituted, disciplined, trained, and qualified, God’s people had come to the plains of Moab where they were waiting to enter into the good land, to take it, and to possess it.
Joshua 1:3 indicates that even though God had given Israel the good land, Israel still needed to take the land. On the one hand, there was God’s giving of the good land; on the other hand, there was the cooperation of God’s people in rising up to fulfill God’s commission to possess the land. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 8, 10)
Today’s Reading
God’s encouragement to Joshua was in the term of Joshua’s walking in the word of God….The book of the law was not to depart from his mouth, but he was to muse upon it day and night so that he would be certain to do according to all that was written in it (Josh. 1:8a). Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and to let the word occupy him. By being occupied and filled with the word, he would have prosperity and success in taking the good land.The children of Israel agreed with Joshua in taking God’s commission [vv. 16-18]. Their response implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God as expressed by their blessing of Joshua in the name of their God. They were one with the Triune God in the great wheel of His economy for the purpose of gaining the good land.
The people of Israel were ready to enter into the good land and to take it as their possession. However, in their old man they could not gain the victory. Their old man had to be buried so that they could become a new man. This corresponds to the New Testament economy of God. The children of Israel were buried in the death of Christ, and then they were resurrected in the resurrection of Christ. This indicates that even in the Old Testament time the children of Israel were identified with Christ and were one with Him. Because they were one with Christ, passing through Christ’s experiences, His history became their history. In particular, they passed through Christ’s death to bury their old man and to become a new man in Christ for the fighting of the spiritual warfare.
We need to realize that our natural man, our old man, is altogether not qualified to fight the spiritual warfare for the gaining of Christ….Now because we are persons in Christ, we are no longer the old man but the new man.
Circumcision is a continuation of the burial in the death of Christ. By crossing the river Jordan, Israel’s old man was buried and they came out to become the new man. This was an objective work done by God. Israel still needed to apply it to their flesh. Therefore, they prepared knives of flint to cut off their foreskins [Josh. 5:3]. This cutting was their application of what God had done in the crossing of the river Jordan. By cutting off their flesh to roll away the reproach of Egypt, they were buried and resurrected, both actually and practically.
Romans 6:3-4 says that we have been baptized into the death of Christ and buried with Him, but Romans 8:13 and Galatians 5:24 tell us that we should apply the circumcision of the cross to our flesh by the Spirit. In fact, our flesh has already been crucified, but in practicality we need to crucify the flesh day by day. This is the reality and practicality of remaining in the death and burial of Christ, and this is the significance of circumcision. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 11-12, 19, 25)
Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msgs. 2, 4-5