Scripture Reading: Isa. 55:1-4; 52:13; Psa. 110:4; Acts 13:33-35; Eph. 1:19-23; Heb. 5:6-10
XIX
Christ is "the holy things of David, the faithful things"—"the sure mercies shown to David" as blessings to us—Acts 13:33-35; Isa. 55:3-4:
A
In Acts 13:34 Paul interprets God's sure mercies (Heb. chesed) in Isaiah 55:3 as "the holy things of David, the faithful things," and in Acts 13:33 and 35 he indicates that these things are the resurrected Christ Himself as the firstborn Son of God and as the Holy One.
B
This is also confirmed by Isaiah 55:4, which reveals that the sure mercies are Christ Himself as the Witness, Leader, and Commander to the peoples.
C
When Christ as the seed of David became the firstborn Son of God as the lifegiving Spirit in resurrection, He became God's sure mercies as the reality of God's eternal covenant so that we may live and serve in the reality of His kingdom and reign in life over Satan, sin, and death—42:6; 55:3; Rom. 1:3-4; 14:17-18; 5:17, 21; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
D
The holy things of David, the faithful things, are all the aspects of what Christ is to us; whatever Christ is to us is a mercy of God as a great gift to us—Lam. 3:22-25, 55; 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 24, 30; 5:7-8; 10:3-4; 11:3; 12:12; 15:45b; Col. 1:12; 2:6-7:
１
Both forgiveness and justification are mercies from God to us, and these mercies are aspects of the resurrected Christ—Acts 13:38-39.
２
The Savior, the Son of God, the holy and faithful things, the grace of God, and the eternal life are compounded in the one, all-inclusive, life-giving Holy Spirit—vv. 23, 32-39, 43, 48, 52.
３
Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit is now like an all-inclusive "sandwich," of which we partake for our experience and enjoyment by eating, digesting, and assimilating Him—John 6:57, 63; 3:34.
４
To digest and assimilate the unsearchably rich Christ, we must allow Him to have a thoroughfare in our being by keeping ourselves open to Him and by going along with and responding to the inner sense of the spirit.
E
In Psalm 51:1 David prayed, "Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness [Heb. chesed]; / According to the greatness of Your compassions blot out my transgressions"—cf. vv. 2, 6-12, 17-18:
１
To enjoy Christ as God's sure mercies is to enjoy Him as the fountain of blood for sin and for impurity and as the fountain of living waters for our deification—Zech. 13:1; Isa. 55:1, 7; Jer. 2:13.
２
We can enjoy Christ as God's sure mercies by hiding in Him as the crucified Christ, typified by the burnt offering altar (the absolute Christ as our refuge), and by resting in Him as the resurrected and ascended Christ, typified by the incense altar (the praying Christ as our home), for the interests of God's economy to usher us into the Holy of Holies for us to become the holy city—Psa. 84:3; 43:4a.
F
The "waters" in Isaiah 55:1 are the life-giving Spirit as the eternal covenant and the sure mercies shown to David; "waters" reveals that God can be enjoyed not just in one aspect but in many aspects through our continual drinking of Him—1 Cor. 12:13; John 7:38; Isa. 12:2-3; Jer. 2:13; cf. Isa. 57:20:
１
Christ as the new covenant is our portion, our cup of salvation and our cup of blessing; we can drink Him as our salvation and blessing by calling upon His precious name—Luke 22:20; Psa. 16:5; 23:5; 116:13; 1 Cor. 10:16a.
２
Although we "have no money," we can come to the Lord as the waters to "buy" Him as wine and milk and to enjoy all that He is—Isa. 55:1:
ａ
The price for enjoying the Lord is not what we have but what we are; we have to give ourselves to the Lord and call upon His name—vv. 3, 6.
ｂ
When we realize that we are bankrupt in every way, that we are nothing, have nothing, can do nothing, and are worse than nothing, then we will return to our God for His abundant compassion and pardon and give ourselves to Him, seeking Him and calling upon Him, in order to drink of Him as the living waters, the new wine, and the spiritual milk, to eat of Him as our spiritual bread, and to enjoy His word as the heavenly rain and snow—vv. 1-11.
XX
Christ is the One exalted, lifted up, and made very high and the One under whose feet God has put all things (the ascended One who is Head over all things to the church)—52:13; Psa. 8:6; Eph. 1:19-23:
A
There is a transmission from the ascended and transcending Christ to the church (vv. 19-23; 3:20); His transcending transmission includes all the rich dispensing of the Triune God (1:3-14):
１
Such an all-inclusive transmission brings us into union not only with the incarnated, crucified Christ but also with the resurrected, transcending Christ; in union with this transcending Christ, we have surpassed all the negative things and transcended above them all—vv. 21-23.
２
The transmitting of the transcending Christ is to transfuse into the church, the Body of Christ, what the Triune God has accomplished, attained, and obtained for the heading up of all things in Christ—vv. 10, 19, 22-23.
B
The transcending Christ's transmission also brings us into Christ's heavenly ministry in His twelve statuses, which He has attained and obtained in His ascension, as the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ—Phil. 1:19:
１
The Lord of all—Acts 2:36a.
２
The Christ of God—v. 36b.
３
The Leader of all the rulers—5:31a.
４
The Savior—v. 31b.
５
The High Priest—Heb. 4:15; 7:26.
６
The Advocate—1 John 2:1b.
７
The Intercessor—Heb. 7:25.
８
The Mediator of the new covenant—8:6.
９
The surety of the new testament—7:22.
10
The Life-giver—John 10:10b.
11
The Comforter—14:16-17.
12
The Lamb-God—Rev. 22:1b.
XXI
Christ is a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, the One who can minister to us whatever we need and save us to the uttermost— Psa. 110:4; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6-10; 7:25-26; 8:1-2; cf. Acts 6:4:
A
As our great High Priest, Christ is cherishing and nourishing the churches:
１
He takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity as "the Son of Man" to cherish them by trimming the wicks and adding more oil— Rev. 1:13; Exo. 30:7; cf. Zech. 4:12-14.
２
He takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His divinity with His divine love, signified by the golden girdle on His breasts, to nourish the churches with His divine and mystical ministry of three stages—incarnation, inclusion, and intensification—Rev. 1:13; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 4:5; 5:6.
B
Just as the high priest in the Old Testament bore the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on his shoulders and on his heart, Christ as our High Priest is bearing us on His shoulders (His strength) and holding us on His heart (His love)—Exo. 28:9-10, 12, 21, 29:
１
He is "a merciful and faithful High Priest in the things pertaining to God" (Heb. 2:17), a High Priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses (4:15).
２
Although Christ as the High Priest is taking care of us, we all have our own thought and feeling as to how He should care for us; many times we do not know what is best for us or what the reason is for certain things; only the Lord as the High Priest knows the reason, and His care for us is always positive—Rom. 8:28-29.
C
Ultimately, Christ as the High Priest is caring for God's need and interests:
１
God will listen to our prayer when our prayer to God is toward Christ, the kingdom of God, and the house of God as the goal in God's economy— 1 Kings 8:48; Dan. 6:10.
２
No matter for whom we are praying, our prayers should be aimed at the interests of God, that is, at Christ and the church as God's interests on earth, for the fulfilling of God's economy—Eph. 5:32; 6:17-18.
３
We should not usurp God for our personal prosperity, but we should pray, live, and be persons according to God's heart and for His economy.