THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Complete Salvation
Message Four—The Full Salvation of the Triune God in Three Stages
Scripture Reading: Exo. 12:7-8; 16:31-32; 17:6; Deut. 8:7-10; Rom. 3:22-25; Gal.1:4, 6:14; Rom. 6:19, 22; 12:2; 8:10; 2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 25
I. According to the whole revelation of the Bible, God’s salvation is of three stages; it is a matter of a gradual process; the salvation which God intended for the children of Israel to partake of was related to three places: Egypt, from which they were delivered; the wilderness, in which they wandered; and Canaan, into which they entered; their history in these three places signifies the three stages of their participation in God’s full salvation—Exo. 12:7-8; 16:31-32; 17:6; Deut. 8:7-10: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
A. In Egypt, the Israelites participated in the first stage of God’s salvation—Exo. 12:7-8: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
1. At the time of the Passover, they experienced the redeeming blood of the lamb and the nourishing meat of the lamb and were saved from God’s righteous judgment—Exo. 12:7-8. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
2. They had been saved from God’s judgment and from Egyptian bondage, tyranny, and slavery; however, they had only shared in one-third of God’s full salvation; with the children of Israel at that time, there was not yet the divine expression nor the divine dominion; the tabernacle had not yet been erected, and God’s divine government had not been established on earth. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
3. Although the children of Israel had been saved from Egypt, they had to experience two further stages of God’s salvation for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
B. After the Israelites were saved from Egypt where they ate the Passover lamb and the unleavened bread, they experienced salvation through the wilderness—16:31-32; 17:6: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
1. Although they had had a sweet enjoyment of Christ, typified by the lamb in Egypt, that was merely the initial stage, the beginning; they had to enjoy, partake of, and experience Christ more, as typified by the manna and the rock flowing with living water. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
2. After the exodus from Egypt, God brought wilderness; in the wilderness they enjoyed the feeding manna and the quenching water—16:31-32; 17:6. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
C. After wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered into the good land of Canaan, the third stage of their salvation—Deut. 8:7-10: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
1. Here, in the third stage, in the good land, they enjoyed something more than the lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the water—they enjoyed the rich produce of the land of Canaan. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
2. The Passover lamb, the heavenly manna, the living water, and the produce of the good land of Canaan are all types of the different aspects of the riches of Christ. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
D. All the rich enjoyment of Christ in the three stages of salvation is for the securing of the good land and the building up of the temple that there might be the expression of God and the divine government of God among men on earth; The full salvation of God with the rich enjoyment of Christ is for God’s expression and kingdom—Deut. 12:5. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
E. According to what has been depicted of the children of Israel, not all believers who have been redeemed through Christ will partake of Christ as a prize to them as their rest, their satisfaction, both in the church age and in the coming kingdom; Only those who, after being redeemed, seek Christ diligently will do so—1 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 3:7-19; Num. 14:27-30. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
II. According to the type of the salvation of the children of Israel, the salvation of the New Testament believers is also in three stages—Rom. 3:22-25; Gal. 1:4; 6:14; Rom. 6:19, 22; 12:2; 8:10; 2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 25: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
A. Firstly, we experience salvation from the world; we are justified through the blood of Jesus and separated from the world—Gal. 1:4; 6:14; Rom. 3:22-25: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
1. If anyone has not made his exodus from the world, he has not completed the first stage of his salvation. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
2. Today there are millions of real Christians who have been justified by faith through the blood of Christ but who are still in the world; they need an exodus. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
3. We praise the Lord that we are out of the world, which includes religion; we are out of Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
B. The second stage of our salvation is salvation through the soul, which includes being sanctified and being transformed—Rom. 6:19, 22; 12:2: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
1. Our soul, that is, our being, must be sanctified and transformed, saturated with all that Christ is; the very essence, element, and substance of Christ in our spirit must spread into our soul. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
2. Transformation is not a moral correction nor a change of ethical behavior; transformation means that our humanity is firstly cleansed by the Lord’s redeeming blood and then mingled with the anointing oil—the Holy Spirit—until we are sanctified, made holy, both positionally and dispositionally. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
3. In this stage, the second stage of our salvation, we enjoy Christ as the heavenly manna and as the living water, as the life-giving Spirit which comes out of the cleft rock which is Christ Himself; in this stage of transformation, we enjoy Christ in a richer and more subjective way. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
C. The third stage of our salvation is salvation into our spirit; we must all leave the wilderness and cross the river into our spirit, where we enjoy Christ as our life and where we should live and walk—Rom.8:10; 2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 25. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
III. Since the tabernacle and the temple are of three sections, the three stages of God’s salvation correspond to the experiences in the tabernacle and the temple—Lev. 4:7; Exo. 30:18-21; 25:30, 37; 30:7; 25:22: (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
A. Firstly, we have the experiences in the outer court, where we are redeemed at the altar and washed at the laver .The washing at the laver is the real crossing of the river. This corresponds to our salvation from the world—Lev. 4:7; Exo. 30:18-21. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
B. Secondly, we have the experiences in the Holy Place, where we are fed with the showbread, enlightened by the lampstand, and accepted through the incense altar; this corresponds to the transformation in our soul—Exo. 25:30, 37; 30:7. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
C. Thirdly, we have the experiences in the Holy of Holies, where we enjoy God’s presence and share God’s shekinah glory; here, in the Holy of Holies, we are in God’s habitation; here we are in the Sabbath rest; this corresponds to the salvation into our spirit—25:22. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)
IV. The writer of this book advised the Hebrew believers not to stagger in the wandering of their soul, which soul they must deny, but to press on into their spirit to partake of and enjoy the heavenly Christ that they may participate in the kingdom rest of Christ’s reign in the millennium; if they staggered in the wandering of their soul, they would have missed God’s goal and suffered the loss of the full enjoyment of Christ and the kingdom rest—Heb. 4:11; 10:19-20. (Life-Study of Hebrew, msg. 26)