Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 16:18; Rev. 3:18; Psa. 51:1-19; Eph. 3:16-19
Ⅰ
We must buy the anointing Spirit as the eyesalve to anoint our eyes that we may see the central thought of God, the desire of God's heart, and the goal of God's economy, which are the meaning of the universe, the mean-ing of man, and the fulfillment of the aspiration, longing, and desire in man's heart for eternity—Rev. 3:18; Eccl. 3:11; Hag. 2:7; cf. Gen. 3:9:
A
We buy the Spirit as the eyesalve by being poor in spirit, which is to be willing to become nothing, to be nobody, realizing that we have nothing, know noth-ing, and are nothing, to be an empty vessel available to be filled with Christ for the building up of the church; this is the real denial of the self for the best enjoyment of Christ today and the highest enjoyment of Christ in His millen-nial reign—Matt. 5:3; 16:18, 24-26; 25:21, 23; 19:24; Phil. 2:5.
B
We buy the Spirit by buying the truth as the reality of the shining word of God, buying gold refined by fire as the riches of God, and buying white garments that we may be clothed with Christ as the weapons of light—Prov. 23:23; Rev. 3:18; Luke 12:21; Rom. 13:11-14.
Ⅱ
Second Samuel 7:12-14a reveals that the central thought of God, the desire of God's heart, the goal of God's economy, and the meaning of the uni-verse are God's building; God's building is a divine-human person; God's building is a God-man—Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Acts 9:4-5, 15; John 14:23:
A
God's building is God becoming man that man might become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead:
１
In His humanity Christ became a joining ladder, to join heaven (God) and earth (man) into one for the building of Bethel, the house of God—Gen. 28:12-17; Rom. 1:3-4.
２
God became man through incarnation (bringing heaven to earth), and man becomes God through transformation (joining earth to heaven)—John 1:1, 51; Rom. 1:3-4; 5:10; 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18.
B
God's building in the Gospels is the individual God-man, Jesus, who is the tabernacle of God and the temple of God—John 1:14; 2:19.
C
God's building in Acts and the Epistles is the corporate God-man, the new man, the church, as the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the house of the living God, and the masterpiece of the Triune God—Acts 9:4-5; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 2:10, 15, 21-22; Col. 2:19; 3:10-11.
D
God's building in Revelation is the ultimate, consummate, great corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem, the "bride-building," the eternal mutual abode of God being built into man as the tabernacle of God and of man being built into God as the temple of God—Rev. 21:2-3, 9-10, 22.
E
God is building Himself into man and building man into God for the building up of the church as the house of God for His expression and as the kingdom of God for His dominion to fulfill His original intention for man—Gen. 1:26; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; John 14:23; Luke 17:21; Dan. 2:35, 44.
Ⅲ
We are God's farm and Christ is the seed of life, the seed of David, planted into us, to grow in us so that we may be transformed, "sonized," into precious materials for God's building—1 Cor. 3:9-12; 2 Sam. 7:12-14a:
A
If a seed dies by being buried in the soil, it will eventually sprout, grow, and blossom in resurrection; in resurrection Christ "blossomed" to become the life-giving Spirit to sow Himself as the seed of life, the seed of David, into our being—John 12:23-24; 1 Cor. 15:31; Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 3:18; Mark 4:14, 26-27.
B
According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of Christ as the seed of life within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16.
C
The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit; now we, like the seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection, the process of breaking and building—Rom. 8:10; John 12:24-26:
１
David signifies a life of brokenness issuing in Solomon, a life of building:
ａ
If the church is to be built up today, we must live a life according to God's heart, a life willing to learn the lessons of the cross, a life fully exposed and humbled, a life which knows the mercy and grace of God and which has no trust, no boast, in its own human nature—Acts 13:22.
ｂ
David failed to the uttermost, and he repented, confessed his sin, and God forgave him; then he begot Solomon; hence, Solomon is the issue of man's transgression and repentance plus God's forgiveness—2 Sam. 12:1-13, 24; Psa. 51:1-19.
ｃ
If we are those who repent, confess our sins, and ask God for His purging (1 John 1:9), we will have the enjoyment of God in Christ in His house for the building of Zion, Christ's overcoming bride—Psa. 51:18.
２
David typifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion; Solomon typifies Christ from His resurrection to His enthronement and to His coming back; today Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwells our spirit as the real and greater Solomon, building Himself into us and speaking the word of wisdom to us and through us for the building up of the church as the real temple of God—Matt. 12:42; 1 Kings 10:23-24; 1 Cor. 12:8; 14:4b.
D
Ephesians 3:16-19 reveals that the Triune God has come into us to do a build-ing work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material; this is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:
１
The Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into men's hearts, the soil, that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them—v. 3.
２
The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; as a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil—v. 23.
３
We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us; God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients along with the human heart as the soil for the divine seed—cf. 1 Pet. 3:4.
４
The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow, and the more it will flourish—Matt. 5:3, 8; cf. Psa. 78:8:
ａ
If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed, but if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied, and Christ will make His home in our hearts—Eph. 3:16-19; Rom. 8:6; 1 Tim. 4:7; cf. Jude 19.
ｂ
If we are going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we must open to the Lord absolutely and cooperate with Him to deal thoroughly with our heart—Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23.
５
On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element, and on the other hand, we afford the nutrients; through these two, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being.