After seeing the extraordinary scene of Christ’s ascension as unfolded to us by the Spirit of revelation, we need to further see something and enter into the experience of Christ’s ascension as unveiled to us in the Song of Songs. Christ’s ascension is not a mere idea, concept, doctrine, or even an objective truth but an actual experience in which we need to enter and possess.
The question is, Do we know ascension according to the experience of life? If we were in the Lord’s presence right now, as people of genuineness and sincerity being in the light and seeking to know our real situation so that we may advance with the Lord, can we say that we know ascension according to the experience of life?
We may love the Lord so much, we may be ready to pray with others and enjoy the Lord with the saints, and we may seek Him fervently daily; but do we know ascension according to the experience of life? This is not an exposing or condemning question but something to be brought up in our time with the Lord so that, in His time and in His way, He may bring us on with Him and we may enter into the experience of ascension.
May we be encouraged, supplied, and drawn to the Lord and by the Lord to go on as never before in the experience of the divine life, and may we be those called by Him to enter into ascension and be there with Him, looking down over the enemies as they are defeated and seeing God’s economy being accomplished.
May we realize that there’s something on the heart of the ascended Christ concerning which He is shepherding, caring, administrating, and desiring to impart into us so that what is in His heart would also be in our heart so that the Spirit of life would have to work this matter deep into our being for God’s corporate expression.
May we realize that, as those who love the Lord and seek Him, we are eventually called by our Beloved to live with Him in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection, and may we enter into resurrection to be in ascension one with Him today.
Being Called by our Beloved to Live with Him in His Ascension as a New Creation in Resurrection
In Song of songs we see a sweet romantic relationship between the Christ (typified by Solomon, the king) and us (typified by the country girl who eventually becomes the Shulammite). The country girl goes through a long process until she becomes Solomon’s counterpart, matching him in every possible way for their marriage life; this is a type of the Lord courting us and taking us through a long process until we match Him in every possible way to be His bride, His wife for eternity.
The country girl starts by saying, Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth… (S. S. 1) – as immature and childish as this sounds, the Lord loves us to say this to Him, and He takes us from stage to stage, letting us know how we progress and what we are to Him. We may be “like a mare pulling Pharaoh’s chariots” – strong in our natural man, but still loving the Lord; then, we become like a lily, not trusting in ourselves too much, having dove eyes, being in the clefts of the rock.
The Lord take us on stage by stage in our experience of life until we are brought out of our introspection and into the experience of the cross, and our countenance is lovely to Him. We then become a “pillar of smoke”, with all kinds of perfumes expressing the Lord; we are then a bed (a palanquin) guarded by mighty men of war….and after all this, He tells the seeker, You are altogether beautiful, my love, and there’s no blemish in you (Song of Songs 4:7). The day is coming – and it may not be far from now – when your Beloved will tell you,
Your are altogether beautiful, my love; I have beautified you with Myself, and you have opened your being to Me and you allowed Me to saturate you, permeate you, and reproduce Myself in you – therefore you are beautiful! There’s no blemish in you – I have removed any blemish by the washing of the water in the word.
Our dear Lord is not always pointing out things that we need to confess or fix; He shines on us in a pleasant light so that we may know the reality of our situation, and then His blood washes us, His love covers us, and His life grows in us.
The Lord then called the seeker to come with Him in ascension from Lebanon, and look down from the top of Amana, from the lion’s den and the leopard’s mountains (4:8). The Lord Himself initiates the call to be with Him in ascension; He knows when it’s time, when we’re ready, and once the call comes, it will remain until we respond.
How did the seeker respond? She didn’t utter a word, but her response was through her eyes, so much so that the Beloved said, You have ravished My heart, My sister, My love… – When the Lord sees that we’re ready to enter into the experience of ascension to be with Him, He will call us; our response will not be something outward, but we will inwardly look at Him with much love so much so that He will admit He’s been ravished by us, He’s enraptured and swept away with love….this is too deep for us to say anything to Him – we just glance at Him, and the eyes say everything.
This is the tone and the atmosphere of being called to be with Christ in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection. First, He expresses His appreciation of us, His lover, to prepare us to receive His call to live with Him in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection.
The Lord is wise: when it’s time to take a major turn, He prepares us; He increases the flow of life and supplies us abundantly with grace much more than we have asked, and then something significant happens. The Lord doesn’t just “let things happen” in the life of His beloved; He prepares us in a sweet way, so that we may be in resurrection and in ascension with Him.
Lord Jesus, we love You. We want to pursue You in love, seeking to be one with You and be with You all the time. Lord, take us on step by step and stage by stage in our experience of life until You can call us to come be with You in Your ascension in our experience. Lord, You are our Beloved, and we treasure our sweet relationship and experience with You. We are drawn by You. We love to be in the cleft of the rock, having eyes only for You, being saturated, permeated, and filled with Yourself. In Your time and in Your way, call us to live with You in ascension as a new creation in resurrection.
Becoming an Enclosed Garden in Ascension for Christ’s Enjoyment and Satisfaction
In His time and in His way the Lord calls His beloved to live with Him in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection. The new creation is only that which is in ascension and resurrection; the old creation became old because God’s element is not in it, but anyone who is in Christ and in His resurrection is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
The matters of resurrection and the new creation are closely related to Christ’s ascension: Christ’s resurrection and ascension are one (Eph. 2:5-6), and if we are in His resurrection, we are also in His ascension. All of our experience that is genuine is an entering into Christ Himself so that His history becomes our experience and His experience becomes our history. We shouldn’t pray to experience ascension or resurrection apart from Christ; we need to see that we’re in Christ, and we are in His resurrection and ascension.
In ascension, Christ asks His lover as His bride to look down with Him from His ascension (typified by Lebanon), the highest place of the truth (Amana), and of Christ’s victory in His fighting (Senir and Hermon), and from the heavenly places of His enemies (the lion’s dens and the leopards’ mountains) (see S.S. 4:8). It is here, in His ascension, that the lover of Christ becomes a garden to satisfy Christ (see S.S. 4:12-15).
Through her living in Christ’s ascension as the new creation in resurrection for her growth in life and transformation by life, Christ’s transformed bride becomes mature in the riches of the life of Christ so that she becomes four things: a garden to satisfy Christ (S.S. 4:12—5:1; 6:2-3), God’s dwelling place with its protection (6:4a), the heavenly bodies as the universal light (6:10a), and a terrible army, which is the corporate overcomer—the Shulammite (6:4b, 10b, 13, and footnotes). In 4:12 the garden is enclosed, and there is a spring shut up, a fountain sealed, for Christ’s private enjoyment, indicating that in experiencing Christ we, the seeking believers, must have something private, hidden, shut up, and sealed that is for Christ alone. The spring is the Spirit of life and is seen in Revelation 22:1 as the river of water of life. The fountain is the source of the spring, which is God’s throne. (S.S. 4:12, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible)
As ones living in ascension as a new creation in resurrection, we should not focus on “working for the Lord” but rather BE a garden for Him, an enclosed garden full of beautiful trees and plants and flowers with various fragrances and fruits, fountains and wells and springs of living water – a place where Christ can be satisfied and delighted. Here He can come to eat His honeycomb with milk, enjoying what we are in Him and what we have produced for Him at a high cost.
If we lose this element, we have lost our first love, and we are finished! In our experience of Christ we must have something private, something hidden, something sealed up for Christ alone. We may not even know this is in us, but as we experience Christ and enjoy Him day by day, something is being constituted into us that will come out for Him to enjoy in a personal way as we live with Him in His ascension.
Lord Jesus, thank You that we’re in You as a new creation in resurrection. Dear Lord, we love You, and we gladly break our flask of alabaster in love for You, just to anoint Your head and pour out the best on You. Lord Jesus, loving You we are deeply satisfied. May something be constituted in us day by day as we enjoy and experience You – something that is for Your personal enjoyment and private satisfaction in love as we live with You in Your ascension. Dear Lord Jesus, You are our focus, we are here for Your delight, and we love You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Song of Songs, msgs. 4, 10 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Resurrection and Ascension, week 5 / msg 5, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Ascension (3) Living with Christ in His Ascension as a New Creation in Resurrection to Engage in Spiritual Warfare for the Kingdom of God (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM and here via Amazon).
- All verses are taken from, Recovery Version Bible.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Christ will make His seeking lover / Pillar, couch, and palanquin, / E’en a crown, His boast and glory; / He will do it all! Amen! / His beloved—how He loves her, / So attractive, His delight. / He is captivated wholly; / She is comely in His sight. (Hymns #1161)
# Lovers of Christ in His ascension— / Enjoy the riches of His life. / She becomes His private garden / With its fountain, fruit, and spice. / Christ is hers and she is Christ’s dear love. (Song on Song of Songs 4)
# Precious Lord, my flask of alabaster / Gladly now I break in love for Thee; / I anoint Thy head, Beloved Master; / Lord, behold, I’ve saved the best for Thee. / Dearest Lord, I waste myself upon Thee; / Loving Thee, I’m deeply satisfied. / Love outpoured from hidden depths within me, / Costly oil, dear Lord, I would provide. (Hymns #1159)
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