Scripture Reading: Isa. 22:15, 19-24; Rev. 3:7
Ⅰ
Christ is the Steward in God's house, the divine household—Isa. 22:15, 20-21a; Eph. 2:19, 22; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 3:15; Eph. 3:9, 2:
A
Christ as the Spirit is the Steward in God's house who dispenses the unsearchable riches of His wealth into us for our beautification; then all the wealth returns to Him with us for His glorification—vv. 8, 16-21; 5:25-27; Gen. 24:2, 47, 53, 61-67.
B
Christ as the Steward in God's house is the life-dispensing Spirit as the la w of life, dispensing the riches of Himself as life into our spirit, soul, and body to make us life for the building up of the Body of Christ—Rom. 8:2, 10, 6, 11; 2 Cor. 3:6.
C
Christ as the Spirit is the Steward in God's house who dispenses Himself as multiplied grace into His chosen and redeemed people, who take Him as their humility to be their moment-by-moment supply and constant enjoyment—John 1:16-17; James 4:5-6; 2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Pet. 1:2; 5:5; 4:10; Eph. 3:2.
D
As the Steward in God's house, Christ has the administrative authority; the more we stay in touch with the Lord to enjoy Him, the more we are governed by Him, restricted and limited in the spirit and in the divine life—Col. 1:12-13; Heb. 4:16; Rev. 4:2; 2 Cor. 2:10b, 13a.
Ⅱ
Christ is the Father—the Source and Supplier to the people of God—Isa. 22:21b; 9:6; John 14:9-11:
A
We owe our whole existence to Christ (1:1-3); as the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9), He is our Source as our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Regenerator (cf. Rev. 22:1).
B
He supplies us with all the riches of His divinity for us to participate in God's life, nature, mind, and image—Col. 3:4; 2 Pet. 1:4; Phil. 2:5; 2 Cor. 3:18.
Ⅲ
Christ is the One upon whose shoulder the key of (the treasury of) the house of God (typified by the house of David for the building up of the kingdom of God) is set—Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7:
A
To the recovered church, Christ is the One who has the key of David, the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and to shut; the Lord has given the recovered church an opened door which no one can shut—v. 8.
B
The key of David opens the door for us to be transformed into a white stone and built into the house of God as a pillar with the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of the Lord—2:17; 3:12; cf. 21:22:
１
For us to be built into God, become a constituent of the New Jerusalem, and become a part of the new Christ is humanly impossible, but the law of the Spirit of life within us contains an element that deals with impossibility—Rom. 8:2; Luke 18:27; cf. Gen. 28:12-19; John 1:51.
２
Christ has the key to control the door of God's treasury, in which are the riches of God in Christ for our enjoyment; we have experienced both His opening and His shutting up of these riches to us—Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 5:19; 1 John 1:7, 9; cf. Ezek. 1:22; Deut. 28:23:
ａ
In order to enjoy His riches as the treasure, we need to remain in the touch with the Lord, staying in contact with the Lord according to the sense of life, to be poor in spirit and pure in heart—2 Cor. 2:10; Rom. 8:6; 10:12-13; Col. 3:16; Matt. 5:3, 8.
ｂ
In order to enjoy His riches as the treasure, we need to learn to exercise the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life; all of us are "Shebnas," who should be removed and replaced by Christ for Him to be everything in us and to us and do everything through us and for us—Isa. 22:15-19; Matt. 16:24-25.
Ⅳ
Christ is the One whom God drives as a peg, or nail, into a sure place (the heavens into which Christ was exalted)—Isa. 22:23a; Ezra 9:8; cf. 2 Cor. 12:2b; Matt. 6:9:
A
Actually, the sure place is God Himself; Christ today is in the heavens as a peg driven into God—cf. v. 9; John 3:27; 14:20.
B
He is the peg upon which all of us hang; the best hanger is Christ who has been driven into God in the heavenlies—cf. Col. 1:17b, 18b; 1 Thes. 5:17.
Ⅴ
Christ is a throne of glory for His Father's house—Isa. 22:23b:
A
Christ in His administrative authority is the throne of glory governing everything within the house of God—cf. Psa. 24:9-10.
B
Christ as the throne of glory rules as the life-giving Spirit within us in the reality of His kingdom for us to deny our self in order to be saved from self-likeness into the expression of God—Rom. 5:10; John 17:22-23.
Ⅵ
Christ is the One upon whom hangs all the glory of His Father's house—the Father's offspring and issue (descendants), like all the vessels, from the bowls to all the jars —Isa. 22:24:
A
The bowls (or cups), contain water, typifying the Spirit of Christ (John 7:37-39), and the jars (or large, bulging bottles and pitchers) contain wine, typifying the divine, exciting life of Christ (Matt. 9:17).
B
In the house of God, all of His children are vessels to contain His Spirit as water to quench people's thirst and His life as wine to cheer people unto rejoicing—Rom. 9:21-23; John 4:10, 14; Judg. 9:13.
C
We need to be filled with Christ as the divine water and the divine wine to minister Him into others for the building up of His Body—2 Cor. 3:6.