Scripture Reading: Isa. 22:19-25; Rom. 6:6; 11:17; John 15:5; Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:16-17
Ⅰ
Isaiah 13—23 covers the judgment of Jehovah upon the nations, including Jerusalem, and its issue, revealing that in the entire universe everyone and everything in God's hous e and outside of God's house should be "fired" and replaced with Christ as Immanuel:
A
All of God's chastising and judging is a firing; in His judgment God discharged, or "fired," everyone and everything, including the kings of the nations, Shebna the steward, and the vessels in God's house, and replaced them all with Christ.
B
The nations are used by God's enemy to disturb God's chosen people and to frustrate God from carrying out His economy; thus, God is compelled to judge them, and all His judgments issue in the ushering in of Christ:
１
In the midst of war, famine, and death, man's need is the good news, which is Christ Himself as the jubilee of grace—Rev. 6:1-8; Luke 4:18-19.
２
The only way to solve the problems in today's world is for Christ to come; all things are working together to bring our thought, our concept, and our understanding concerning human life and the human race to a deep aspiration for Christ to return—2 Thes. 2:7-8; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rev. 22:17, 20-21; 1 Cor. 16:22.
３
Isaiah reveals the issue of Jehovah's judgment upon the nations:
ａ
Jehovah's judgment unveils Satan's kingdom of darkness behind the nations and his oneness with the powers of the nations—Isa. 14:4, 12-15; Eph. 6:12b; cf. Dan. 10:13, 20.
ｂ
Jehovah's judgment upon the nations shows His sovereign and just rule over the nations—Isa. 13:17; 14:22, 24-25; 19:1; Rev. 1:5.
ｃ
Jehovah's judgment upon the nations issues in the restoring and establishing of His beloved Israel—Isa. 14:1-3, 32b; 16:1-4; 17:7, 10; 18:1, 7; 19:19-25.
ｄ
The ultimate issue of Jehovah's judgment upon the nations is to provide the all-inclusive Christ as the Savior to meet the need of the beloved Israel and the judged nations—16:5; 19:20b; 22:20-25.
C
God fired Shebna, a steward in the house of the king (22:15-19), and replaced him with Eliakim, a type of Christ (vv. 20-24; Rev. 3:7); God also fired all the vessels within His house to replace them with Christ (Isa. 22:25):
１
God discharged everyone on the cross, and He is replacing everyone with Christ:
ａ
When God created us, He hired us, and when He put us on the cross, crucifying us with Christ, He fired us—Gal. 2:20.
ｂ
Whatever or whoever is not Christ God fires; God has replaced everything in His Old Testament economy with Christ—Mark 1:1-8; Matt. 17:3-5; Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 10:5-10; 11:5-6.
ｃ
The real church life is a life in which all the saints are fired and replaced with Christ, making Christ everything in the church—Col. 3:10-11.
２
In the New Testament, Christ's replacing us is altogether a matter of a grafted life— Rom. 11:17:
ａ
We are united with Christ, and in this union Christ replaces us; replacing demands union, whereas exchanging annuls union with Christ—John 15:4-5.
ｂ
Because Christ joined Himself to us, uniting Himself with us, when He died on the cross, we died with Him and were terminated—Rom. 6:6.
ｃ
Now in our organic union with Christ, He replaces us by living in us, with us, by us, and through us—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a.
ｄ
We live, yet not we, but Christ lives in us, and we live by the faith of the Son of God; this indicates a union with Christ—Gal. 2:20.
Ⅱ
There is a struggle between man and God concerning replacement:
A
Satan was the first one to attempt to replace God, to expel God, and to take God's place in attempting to dethrone God—Ezek. 28:15-18; 1 John 3:4:
１
In his arrogance Satan declared five times, "I will," indicating that his intention in his rebellion was to overthrow God's authority and to exalt himself to be equal with God—Isa. 14:12-14.
２
Satan's ambition for position became the motivation of all the rebellions recorded in the Scriptures—cf. Gen. 11:4; Num. 12:1-2; 16:1-10; 2 Sam. 15:10-12.
B
Now Satan is behind man, trying to do away with God and expel God; even when man wants to do something for God, he does it by putting God aside—Matt. 4:1-11; 16:22-24; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; Num. 18:1.
C
Because of man's reaction, God, who had hired everyone, eventually fired everyone that He might replace everyone with Christ for Christ to become everything.
D
On the one hand, we are fired, and on the other hand, we are not expelled; for Christ comes to live in us, with us, by us, and through us.
E
Thus, the all-inclusive Christ as Immanuel (Isa. 7:14) replaces everything and becomes everything in God's economy (Col. 3:10-11).