THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Building
Message Five
Knowing and Experiencing the Intrinsic Constitution of the Building of God
Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9-12; Psa. 51:1-19; Eph. 3:16-19
I. Second Samuel 7:12-14a reveals that the central thought of God, the desire of God’s heart, the goal of God’s economy, and the meaning of the universe are God’s building; God’s building is a divine-human person; God’s building is a God-man—Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Acts 9:4-5, 15; John 14:23: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
A. God’s building is God becoming man that man might become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Rom. 8:2, 10,16; 1 Pet. 1:4: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
1. In His humanity Christ became a joining ladder, to join heaven (God) and earth (man) into one for the building of Bethel, the house of God—Gen. 28:12-17; Rom. 1:3-4. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
2. God became man through incarnation (bringing heaven to earth), and man becomes God through transformation (joining earth to heaven)—John 1:1, 51; Rom. 1:3-4; 5:10; 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
B. God’s building in the Gospels is the individual God-man, Jesus, who is the tabernacle of God and the temple of God—John 1:14; 2:19. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
C. God’s building in Acts and the Epistles is the corporate God-man, the new man, the church, as the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the house of the living God, and the masterpiece of the Triune God—Acts 9:4-5; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 2:10, 15, 21-22; Col. 2:19; 3:10-11. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
D. God’s building in Revelation is the ultimate, consummate, great corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem, the “bride-building,” the eternal mutual abode of God being built into man as the tabernacle of God and of man being built into God as the temple of God—Rev. 21:2-3, 9-10, 22. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
E. God is building Himself into man and building man into God for the building up of the church as the house of God for His expression and as the kingdom of God for His dominion to fulfill His original intention for man—Gen. 1:26; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; John 14:23; Luke 17:21; Dan. 2:35, 44. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
II. Christ as the seed of David refers to the resurrected Christ, who carries out God’s New Testament economy for the dispensing of the processed Triune God into the members of His Body—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 22:42-45; Rom. 1:3; Rev. 22:16; Acts 2:30-32; Matt. 16:16-18: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 6)
A. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us as God’s sure mercies, His eternal covenant, for our enjoyment—Isa. 55:1-3, 6-11; Acts 13:33-35. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 6)
B. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us for us to share His kingship in His resurrection in the eternal kingdom of God—2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 6)
C. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, the seed of the kingdom, dispensed into us to make us the sons of the kingdom, reigning in life to live in the reality of the kingdom so that we may be translated by Him and return with Him in the manifestation of the kingdom as the corporate smiting stone to annihilate the kingdoms of this world and become a great mountain, the kingdom of God, that fills the whole earth—Mark 4:26; Matt. 13:18-23, 38; Heb. 11:5-6; Gen. 5:21-24; Dan. 2:34-35. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 6)
III. We are God’s farm and Christ is the seed of life, the seed of David, planted into us, to grow in us so that we may be transformed, “sonized,” into precious materials for God’s building—1 Cor. 3:9-12; 2 Sam. 7:12-14a: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
A. If a seed dies by being buried in the soil, it will eventually sprout, grow, and blossom in resurrection; in resurrection Christ “blossomed” to become the life-giving Spirit to sow Himself as the seed of life, the seed of David, into our being—John 12:23-24; 1 Cor. 15:31; Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 3:18; Mark 4:14, 26-27. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
B. According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of Christ as the seed of life within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
C. The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit; now we, like the seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection, the process of breaking and building—Rom. 8:10; John 12:24-26: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
1. David signifies a life of brokenness issuing in Solomon, a life of building: hence, Solomon is the issue of man’s transgression and repentance plus God’s forgiveness—2 Sam. 12:1-13, 24; Psa. 51:1-19. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
2. David typifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion; Solomon typifies Christ from His resurrection to His enthronement and to His coming back; today Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwells our spirit as the real and greater Solomon, building Himself into us and speaking the word of wisdom to us and through us for the building up of the church as the real temple of God—Matt. 12:42; 1 Kings 10:23-24; 1 Cor. 12:8; 14:4b. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
D. Ephesians 3:16-19 reveals that the Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material; this is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
1. The Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into men’s hearts, the soil, that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them—v. 3. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
2. The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; as a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil—v. 23. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
3. We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us; God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients along with the human heart as the soil for the divine seed—cf. 1 Pet. 3:4. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
4. The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow, and the more it will flourish—Matt. 5:3, 8; cf. Psa. 78:8: (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
a. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed, but if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied, and Christ will make His home in our hearts—Eph. 3:16-19; Rom. 8:6; 1 Tim. 4:7; cf. Jude 19. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
b. If we are going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we must open to the Lord absolutely and cooperate with Him to deal thoroughly with our heart—Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)
IV. On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element, and on the other hand, we afford the nutrients; through these two, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being. (2006 FTTA-Spring, msg. 2)