Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:2-8, 25
Ⅰ
As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being—1 Pet. 2:25:
A
Christ's organic shepherding primarily takes care of our soul—Psa. 23:3.
B
He shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our soul and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our inner being—cf. Heb. 13:17.
C
This kind of shepherding is an inward, intrinsic, organic comforting—2 Cor. 1:3-4.
Ⅱ
Because our soul is very complicated, we need Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, to shepherd us in our soul, to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and of our problems, needs, and wounds—John 14:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17:
A
As our pneumatic Shepherd, Christ takes care of us from within our spirit:
１
His shepherding begins from our spirit and spreads to every part of our soul.
２
From our spirit Christ reaches all the parts of our soul and takes care of us in a tender, organic, all-inclusive way—Eph. 3:17a; 4:23.
B
This is the inward shepherding of the processed and consummated Triune God united, mingled, and incorporated with His regenerated believers—John 14:20.
Ⅲ
As the Shepherd of our souls, Christ restores our soul—Psa. 23:3:
A
For our soul to be restored means that we are revived.
B
Restoring our soul also includes renewing and transforming—Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18.
C
As the Shepherd of our souls—the pneumatic Shepherd—restores our souls, He guides us on the paths of righteousness for His name's sake—Psa. 23:3:
１
The paths of righteousness indicates our walk, and for His name's sake means for the sake of His living person as the pneumatic Christ.
２
Christ restores us in our soul so that we may take His way and walk on the paths of righteousness:
ａ
If we are not proper and balanced in our mind, emotion, and will, we cannot be righteous.
ｂ
Under the shepherding of the pneumatic Christ, we are balanced, corrected, and adjusted.
ｃ
In all that we do, we need to be under Christ's shepherding, taking Him as both our paths and our righteousness.
Ⅳ
As the Shepherd of our souls, the Lord gives rest to our soul—Matt. 11:28-30:
A
The Lord calls those who are striving to keep the law or struggling to be successful in any work to come to Him for rest—v. 28.
B
This rest refers not only to being set free from the toil and burden under the law or religion or under any work or responsibility but also to perfect peace and full satisfaction.
C
To take the Lord's yoke is to take the will of the Father—12:50.
D
The Lord lived such a life, constrained by and caring for the will of His Father—John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38.
E
He was fully satisfied with the Father's will and had rest in His heart.
F
The rest that we find by taking the Lord's yoke and learning from Him is an inward rest, a rest for our souls—Matt. 11:29-30.
Ⅴ
As the Lord shepherds our soul and restores our soul, we not only experience Christ but also enjoy Him—Phil. 2:2; 3:1a:
A
The experience of Christ is a matter primarily in our spirit, but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul—1:27; 2:2.
B
If there is a problem with our soul, we may have the experience of Christ without the enjoyment of Christ—4:2.
C
Regarding Christ, our taste is mainly with our soul; this is the reason that in order to have the enjoyment of Christ, we need the Lord to shepherd us in every part of our soul, especially our mind—Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23.
D
In order to have the full enjoyment of Christ, we need to be one not only in our spirit but also in our soul—Phil. 1:27; 2:2.
Ⅵ
Through the shepherding of Christ as the Shepherd of our souls, we are nourished through the word so that we may grow in life for the building up of God's spiritual house—1 Pet. 2:2-8:
A
By being nourished with spiritual milk, we can grow in life "unto salvation"—v. 2:
１
We received the divine life through regeneration, and we need to grow in this life and with this life by being nourished with the milk conveyed in the word of God.
２
Growth in life results not in initial salvation but in God's full and complete salvation.
B
As we grow in the divine life, we experience Christ as the stone living in us—v. 4:
１
A living stone is one that not only possesses life but also grows in life; this is Christ for God's building.
２
Christ is making us living stones, transformed with His stone nature, so that we may be built together with others as a spiritual house upon Him as the foundation and the cornerstone—Isa. 28:16.
３
We, the believers in Christ, become living stones through regeneration and transformation— 1 Pet. 2:5.
C
God's goal in the believers is to have a spiritual house built up with living stones—not separated and scattered stones, nor even stones merely gathered together and piled up together, but stones built up with one another—v. 5:
１
The nourishing milk of the word makes us spiritual, suitable for being built up as a spiritual house of God—vv. 2-3.
２
Feeding on Christ by the nourishing milk in the word of God is not only for growing in life but also for building up; growth in life is for building in life—Eph. 2:21-22; 4:15-16.
D
Through His shepherding, the Lord feeds us with Himself so that we may grow and be transformed for the building of God—1 Pet. 2:25, 2-8.