The Lamb as the Lamp Shining Forth the Glory of God
In Revelation 21:23 we read that the New Jerusalem “has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” God is the light, and He is embodied in and shining through the Lamb as the lamp. […]
Entering into the Good Land – Crossing the River Jordan
Previously, we saw that the purpose of God’s calling is to bring His chosen people into the good land (Exo. 3:8; link to post), which is a type of the all-inclusive Christ (link to post). God’s chosen people left Egypt by means of the passover and the crossing of the Red Sea. After journeying through […]
The Glory of God (3): Inclusion
According to Hebrews 1:3, Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of His substance. In other words, the glory of God is altogether embodied in Christ, who glorifies the Father with the glory which the Father gave Him (John 1:14; 2:11; 5:41; 8:50, 54; 17:4-5). During the first stage of Christ’s ministry, […]
The Altars in Genesis (2) — The Prerequisite to Building an Altar: God’s Appearing
In the previous post of this series, we saw that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars in order to consecrate themselves to God; that is, to give themselves and all that they had to Him. Since we too may desire to consecrate ourselves to God as these men did, we must see and experience […]
The Altars in Genesis (1) — The Significance of Building an Altar: Consecration
Genesis, the first book in the Bible, records the histories of four men – Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob –all of whom passed through distinct situations in the course of their lives. Noah built the ark, Abraham left his country for a promised land, Isaac inherited all the riches of his father and married Rebecca, […]
The Purpose of God’s Calling – To Bring God’s Chosen People into the Good Land
In a previous post we saw that the land God promised to Abraham in the book of Genesis (12:1, 7) is a type of the all-inclusive Christ (link to post). Before this promise was fulfilled, Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, were enslaved in Egypt under the rule of Pharaoh for four hundred years (15:13; […]
Dealing with the Self
In Matthew 16 we have the revelation of the Christ, the Son of the living God (v. 16). In the same chapter, we also have the revelation of the self, seen in the expression of Peter’s opinion (vv. 21-23). After the Lord told His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and die, he was […]
The Glory of God (2): Released through Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection
The incarnated Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God, concealed the divine glory within the shell of His humanity (John 12:24; Col. 2:9; Phil. 2:6-8; see Part 1 here). As a man in the flesh, Christ longed and prayed for the divine glory within Him to be released through His death and resurrection (Luke […]
The Purpose of the Life of God
Our God is a God of purpose, and His divine life which is indwelling us is therefore a purposeful life (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11, 3:11). The purpose of the divine life is not merely to make our lives better or happier, as some have supposed; rather it is much deeper, higher, and richer (John 10:10). […]