THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The All-inclusive Christ
Message Four—Christ Typified in the Old Testament (1)
Scriptures Reading: Psa. 36:9b; Gen. 1:26; John 1:29; 1 Pet. 3:21; Heb. 7:3; Gen. 21; Gal. 4:24; Gen. 22:13; 24:2-4; 28:10-12; 37; 49:9; Exo. 3:15, 10; 12; 13:21-22; 15:22-26; 17:8; 18:5; 40:4; 30:22-25
I. Among the types in the divine revelation in the Bible, the first are the light and the tree of life, which typify Christ as light and life—Psa. 36:9b; John 1:4; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 7:17; Heb. 2:14: (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 1)
A. The light typifies Christ as the light of the universe, the source of all lights, the light of the world, and the light of life— Psa. 36:9b; Mal. 4:2; Matt. 4:16; Eph. 5:14; John 11:9; John 8:12; 1:4. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 1)
B. The tree of life typifies Christ as the embodiment of God, who is the source of life; Christ is the life; He is also the true vine in the universe; these two combined equal the tree of life—Psa. 36:9; John 1:4; 10:10b; 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:4. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 1)
C. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil typifies Satan as the source of sin and evil; knowledge, good, and evil of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are in contrast to the life of the tree of life; moreover, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings in death, signifying that death is of Satan—Rom. 5:12; Rom. 7:17; Heb. 2:14. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 1)
II. Among the types in the Old Testament concerning Christ and the church, after the light and the tree of life, there are Adam and Eve; Christ is light and life in order that those who are enlightened by Him and who receive Him as life may become His church as His counterpart—Rom. 5:14; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 2:14a; 1 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 2:21, 23; Rev. 21:2. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 2)
A. Adam typifies Christ, as the center of God’s creation, as the Head of all God’s creation, as the One Who bears God’s image and likeness, as God’s representative, as the Head of all men, as God becoming the unique male in the universe, as the One Whom none among God’s creation can match as a counterpart, as the One Who slept in death and Whose side was opened, and as the One Who flowed out the water of life to produce the church as His counterpart—Rom. 5:14; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 2:14a; 1 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 2:22, 24. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 2)
B. Eve typifying the church, which came out of Christ, which has the same character, life, and nature as Christ, which is joined to Christ to become one with Christ, and which becomes the body of Christ to be His counterpart as His reproduction, as His multiplication, as His increase, as His fullness, and as His expression—Gen. 2:21, 23; Rev. 21:2; 2 Pet. 3:8. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 2)
III. In the Bible, God used the skins of the sacrifices with which He made coats for the fallen Adam and Eve to put on, the sheep with their fat which Abel offered to God, the burnt offerings which Noah offered to God, and the seed of the woman who would bruise the head of the serpent, as the primitive types concerning Christ’s redemption and His salvation—Gen. 2:25; John 1:29; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 8:3; Gen. 4:4; Heb. 9:28; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23: (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 3)
A. God’s clothing Adam and Eve with coats made of the skins of sacrifices typifies that God caused Christ to be sacrificed for sinners as the substituting Lamb, and that God made Christ the righteousness of the sinners who believe in Him that they may be justified and live before God—Gen. 2:25; John 1:29; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 5:12; 8:3. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 3)
B. Abel was accepted by God and lived before God by offering the firstlings of the sheep and the fat of the sheep, which were types of Christ, according to God’s way of redemption—Gen. 4:4; Heb. 9:28. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 3)
C. After Noah was saved by God from the old age of corruption into the new age of restoration, he built an altar to offer sacrifices as burnt offerings to be a sweet-smelling savor to God. By doing this, he satisfied God’s heart that the earth might remain before God—Heb. 11:7; Gen. 8:20-22. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 3)
D. In the fall of Adam and Eve there are not only the initial types of Christ’s redemption but also the types of Christ’s salvation. God promised them that the seed of the woman would come to save man from the corruption and bondage of the serpent. This seed of the woman is a type of Christ, who was born of a virgin, as the Savior of fallen men—Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Gal. 4:4. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 3)
IV. The ark, which God prepared through Noah for His elect, and the good land, the land of Canaan, into which God led His elect, are intimately related to the security and enjoyment of God’s elect; both are types of Christ—1 Pet. 3:21; Gen. 12:1, 5-8. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 4)
V. Melchisedec’s status typifying what Christ is; without father, without mother, without genealogy, and having neither beginning of days nor end of life, Melchisedec typifies Christ, the Son of God, who is the eternal One, having neither beginning nor end; what Melchisedec was to Abraham typifying what Christ is to the believers; Christ brings His life and all god’s blessings with Him to His table to minister to us—Heb. 7:3; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1; Matt. 26:26-28. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 5)
VI. Abraham’s wife Sarah and his concubine Hagar typify the two covenants which God made with His chosen people concerning their inheriting of the good land. Sarah symbolizes the covenant of God’s promise, and Hagar, the covenant of law—Gal. 4:22, 24025; Gen 14:18; Matt. 26:26-28. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 6)
VII. The ram that replaced Isaac on the altar was provided by Jehovah God; this typifies that Christ replaces God’s chosen people, as the burnt offering to satisfy God’s desire—1 Pet. 3:7; Lev. 1:10; 2 Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5-8. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 7)
VIII. Isaac and Rebekah are a type of Christ and the church; Christ’s receiving all that was given to Him by the Father and inheriting all that the Father has, and also of His obtaining the church, which is of the same blood and flesh as He is, to be His beloved counterpart for the satisfaction of His heart’s intent—Gen. 24:2-4, 14, 36, 67b. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
IX. The ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven in Jacob’s dream and Bethel as the house of God on the earth are types of Christ and the church; The ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven typifies Christ as the way for the communication between God’s elect on the earth and their God in heaven; that place was also the gate of heaven, signifying that the church, which is composed of the transformed saints, is not only the house of God but also the entrance leading to heaven that the earth and heaven may be in union and communication with one another—Gen. 28:10-12, 16-17a; Rev. 22:1-3. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 9)
X. The life of Joseph signifies how Christ was exalted by God and made the Ruler and the Savior—Gen. 37:3-5, 8, 18-28; 41:40-44. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 10)
XI. The lion of Judah and Shiloh typify Christ’s victory and peace; Christ as the ultimate Overcomer, who has accomplished everything God required of Him: He took away sin, solved the problem of the world, defeated Satan, abolished death, and eliminated every negative thing; in His victorious resurrection Christ received all authority in heaven and on earth, and after His ascension He also received the kingdom—Gen. 49:9; Matt. 28:18. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 11)
XII. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph as the last four main persons in Genesis constitute a complete type portraying the different stages and aspects of the experiences of a complete person chosen, called, redeemed, and transformed by the Triune God—Exo. 3:15; Gen. 25:21-26; 22:1-2. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 12)
XIII. Moses typifies Christ as the Apostle, sent by God, bringing God to His chosen people and bringing God’s chosen people into the rich supply of God’s full salvation; Moses typifies Christ as the Prophet of God, speaking for God, speaking forth God, and revealing God to His elect—Exo. 3:10; Acts 3:22-23. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 13)
XIV. The Passover typifying Christ as the believers’ redemption and supply; Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea is a type of the New Testament believers’ baptism; Israel’s exodus from Egypt typifies the believers’ breaking away from the world—Exo. 3:10; 4:12; 1 Cor. 5:7; Exo. 14:22-28; 3:8. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 14)
XV. God led the children of Israel in their crossing of the Red Sea and their journeying in the wilderness with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire as the guidance; the pillar of cloud typifies the Spirit, and the pillar of fire typifies the Word—Exo. 13:21-22; Rom. 8:14; Heb. 12:1; 2 Pet. 1:19; Exo. 40:34-35. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 15)
XVI. The supplies they received consisted of six items, every item of which is a type of Christ as the supply that we need for us to take the journey of God after we have been saved: the tree that made the bitter waters sweet, twelve springs of water, seventy palm trees, the manna, the rock, and the living water—Exo. 15:22-26, 27; 16:13-14; 17:6. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 16)
XVII. Moses interceded on the mountaintop typifying Christ interceding in ascension; Joshua fought at the mountain foot typifying the indwelling Christ fighting against the flesh—Gen. 36:12; Exo. 17:16, 8-9; 17:10, 13. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 17)
XVIII. The tabernacle typifies the incarnated Christ as God’s concrete expression, God’s dwelling place in humanity, and the means by which man contacts God and thereby receives and enjoys God—Exo. 25:40; 20:1-21; 25:8-9. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 18)
XIX. The furnishings inside and outside the tabernacle are types of the contents of the New Testament; the bronze laver typifies the Holy Spirit given based on the judgment at the cross, the bronze altar typifies the cross of Christ; the table of the bread of the Presence, signifying the riches of Christ’s life as the bread of life for the supply of God’s people that they may live and serve in God’s dwelling place; the golden lampstand signifies that Christ in His divinity is the light of life that shines over God’s redeemed people; the golden incense altar which signifies Christ as the means by which God’s redeemed are accepted by God; the ark in the Holy of Holies, signifying Christ in His redemption as the place where God meets with man and speaks to man; within the ark there were also the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the two tablets of the covenant, all of which signify our deeper and more inward experiences of Christ—Titus 3:5; Exo. 30:19-20; Heb. 10:12; Exo. 40:5; 25:22. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 19)
XX. The holy anointing oil typifies the compound Spirit, consummated by the Triune God passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, that is, the pneumatic Christ, who is God incarnated and who went through human living, died, and resurrected to anoint the persons and things that belong to God; the holy incense typifies Christ, who was incarnated, died and resurrected, becoming the divine incense so that all the persons and things that have been anointed by the holy anointing oil and belong to God may be acceptable to God—Exo. 30:22-25, 29-30, 34-38. (Truth Lessons, Level 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 20)