Scripture Reading: Psa. 22:22; 118:22; Isa. 22:22; 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11; Heb. 2:12; Rev. 3:7
XXII
The resurrected Christ is the cornerstone and the stone of foundation— Isa. 28:16; Psa. 118:22; 1 Cor. 3:11:
A
"The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner"— Psa. 118:22:
１
On the day of His resurrection the Lord Jesus was made the cornerstone by God for the building up of the church—v. 24; Eph. 2:20:
ａ
Christ was chosen by God in eternity past to be the cornerstone for God's spiritual building, but the builders rejected Him to the extent that they put Him on the cross—1 Pet. 1:20; 2:4.
ｂ
God chose Christ as the cornerstone a second time in Christ's resurrection, thereby confirming His initial choosing of Christ in eternity past—Acts 4:10-12.
２
As the cornerstone Christ is all-inclusive; everything He is, everything He has done, and everything He is doing is due to the fact that He is the cornerstone— Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; 1 Pet. 2:6-7.
B
"Another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ"—1 Cor. 3:11:
１
As the Christ and the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus is the unique foundation laid by God for the building of the church—Matt. 16:18.
２
While Christ as the living foundation holds and supports the entire church, He is dispensing His divine element of life into all the members; this dispensing of Himself as the element of life into our being will transform us into precious materials for the divine building—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2.
XXIII
Christ is the One who in His reproducing resurrection declared the Father's name to the brothers and praised Him in the midst of the church—Psa. 22:22; Heb. 2:12:
A
Psalm 22:22 prophesied that in His resurrection Christ would declare the Father's name to the brothers—Heb. 2:12:
１
The brothers mentioned in Psalm 22:22 are Christ's many brothers brought forth through His resurrection; therefore, this verse prophesied that in resurrection Christ would declare the Father's name, the Father's person, to the Lord's brothers—John 20:17.
２
Christ's resurrection was a corporate birth—the birth of the firstborn Son and His many brothers—Acts 13:33; John 20:17.
３
Because the Father is the source of life and nature, to declare the name of the Father is to show the brothers the source of life and nature; on the day of His resurrection the Lord came to declare the Father in order to make them know the Father as the source of life—Heb. 2:12; John 20:17.
４
This declaration was not simply a matter of mentioning the name; rather, it was an impartation of all that the Father is—His life, nature, and being— into the disciples so that the Father's life, nature, and being would thereby become theirs—1:12-13; 3:15-16; 2 Pet. 1:4.
B
Psalm 22:22 prophesied also that the resurrected Christ would praise the Father in the midst of the assembly, the church:
１
After declaring the Father's name, the Son sings hymns of praise to the Father in the midst of the church—Heb. 2:12.
２
Here we have the firstborn Son's praising of the Father from within the Father's many sons in the church meetings—Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10-12.
３
When we, the many sons of God, meet as the church, the firstborn Son sings hymns of praise to the Father in our singing—v. 12; John 4:23-24.
C
The church meetings are to make God's economy in His fatherhood known to the believers for the praise of the Father—Eph. 1:3-6, 17; 2:18; 3:14-16; 4:6:
１
The term fatherhood denotes the being of the Father with all His intentions, desires, purposes, and wishes—1:3-6, 9, 11; 2:18; 3:9-11.
２
In our meeting we are the divine sons to express the Father, the begetting source, to manifest Him, to magnify Him, which is a divine praise rendered to Him—1:6, 12, 14; 3:14, 21.
３
We meet in this fatherhood and in the Son's name to declare the Father's name; whatever we do and say in the meetings should declare the Father so that the Father may be praised—Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17.
XXIV
The resurrected Christ holds the key of David—Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7:
A
Christ is the One upon whose shoulder the key of (the treasury of—Isa. 39:2 and footnote) the house of God (typified by the house of David for the building up of the kingdom of God—2 Sam. 7:16) is set—Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7:
１
This is the key for the keeping of all the treasures of the house of God, which are all the riches of Christ for our enjoyment—Eph. 3:8.
２
Christ is the One who can open and shut the door to the treasury of God's riches, which are embodied in Him—Col. 2:9.
B
The key of David opens the whole universe for God—Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7:
１
As the greater David, Christ has built up the house of God, the real temple, and He has set up the kingdom of God, the dominion in which He exercises full authority to represent God; therefore, He holds the key of David.
２
The fact that Christ has the key of David signifies that He is the center of God's economy; He is the One who expresses God and represents Him, the One who holds the key to open everything in God's dominion—Col. 1:15, 18.