We Believers in Christ have the Privilege and Right to Enjoy Christ and Partake of Him

According to God’s ordination, we who have believed into Christ have been qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ, and the all-inclusive Christ is our portion for us to enjoy in a rich way. Hallelujah!

The Bible is truly an amazing book, presenting to us both the black background in the book of Judges, and the aromatic and sweet story of Ruth in the book of Ruth.

Even though the people in Israel did what is right in their own eyes, for they didn’t take Jehovah as their King, Husband, Lord, and Head, here we see Boaz and Ruth, an Israelite and a Moabitess, who loved God and kept His word.

Boaz was the son of Rahab, the harlot in the city of Jericho who stood with God’s people and chose to be with them, and therefore was saved, she and her whole household.

Ruth was one who saw something of the God of Israel and the preciousness of the birthright in the land of Israel, so she chose to stay with Naomi, to whom she was related by marriage to her son. Rahab was a Canaanite, but she turned to the God of Israel and showed signs of her faith by hiding the Jewish spies and by hanging a scarlet thread in her window.

Ruth, on her side, did not leave Naomi but told her that wherever she goes, Ruth will go, Naomi’s God will be her God, and Naomi’s people will be her people.

Ruth chose to be with God’s people, and God honored that. Actually, God gave Ruth to Naomi for the accomplishing of His economy concerning Christ.

Ruth became a notable forefather of King David and of the Lord Jesus, simply because she chose to be with God’s people and exercised her right to participate in God’s economy.

Elimelech swerved from the rest in God’s economy, the good land, but Naomi returned to the rest in God’s economy from Moab; she returned from Moab – the country of idolatry – to Judah, the land of Immanuel.

May we learn from this story to be those who do not swerve from the rest in God’s economy, no matter what kind of “drought” or “famine” there is in the land, but may we return to the rest in God’s economy and exercise our right to enjoy Christ!

May we not swerve from bringing Christ back; may we experience Christ in the way that Naomi and Ruth did, so that we may be the Ruths of today through whom Christ can be brought forth again, a second time.

If we are the proper persons in God’s economy, those qualified and positions to claim our right to enjoy Christ, we will be part of the people who bring forth Christ.

Christ wants to return, but there’s the need for a people to bring Him back; may we be the Ruths of today who are part of the people who bring the Lord back!

We Believers in Christ are Qualified and Positioned to claim our Right to Enjoy Christ

The book of Ruth portrays the way, the position, the qualification, and the right of sinners (typified by Ruth) to participate in Christ and to enjoy Christ.

We were born in sin and offenses, alienated from the life of God and from the commonwealth of Israel, but the Lord had mercy on us and the gospel reached us.

Through faith in Christ, we have been qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ (Col. 1:12; Rev. 2:7; 22:14).

Every believer in Christ has the position and qualification to enjoy Christ; even when our robes are stained by sin or the acts done in the flesh or the self, we can repent, wash our robes, and have the right to the tree of life.

The Father has qualified us for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; we have a lot, which is a portion of Christ as the all-inclusive One, for us to enjoy.

We believers in Christ are qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ.

No matter what happened in the past, we can repent, confess, and go on with the Lord; we can even stretch forward to the Christ who is before, to enjoy Him, partake of Him, and gain Him in a fresh and new way.

There’s a vast, unexplored territory of Christ lying ahead of us, and we are qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ.

We should not listen to the enemy’s lie, for he is accusing us and condemning us non-stop; we should simply exercise to claim our right to enjoy Christ.

Like Paul in Phil. 3, we have not yet fully grasped or seized Christ; He has seized us, He grasped us, but we are still seizing Him, still grasping Him, still enjoying and experiencing Him.

He seized us so that we could take possession of Him.

For this to happen, first we need to realize that we are qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ, and second, we need to pursue toward the goal.

The goal is simply the fullest enjoyment of Christ, the fullest gaining of Christ. We pursue toward the goal for the prize, which is the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom.

May we not be content with what we know, what we have, and what we have enjoyed and experienced of Christ so far; may we stretch forward to enjoy Him, exercising our right to enjoy Christ at all times.

When we sin, we can confess our sins, and He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from any unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

As we confess our sins and repent again and again to the Lord under His shining, we wash our robes, and we have the right to eat Christ as the tree of life.

What a blessing it is to wash our robes and eat the tree of life!

God wants us to be happy; He wants to make us happy, and we are truly happy when we enjoy the Lord when we partake of our portion of the all-inclusive Christ as our lot of the good land.

We have the right to enjoy Christ; we should exercise that right every day, taking Him in as the tree of life, the rich produce of the land, the living water, and everything that we need.

As we enjoy the Lord in this way, exercising our right to enjoy Christ, we are mingled with the Lord, and we enter through Christ into the city; this means that we become part of the kingdom of God, the expression of God and the kingdom of God.

As we exercise our right to eat Christ and enjoy Christ as the tree of life, we enter into the reality of being united, mingled, and incorporated with the processed and consummated Triune God.

Blessed are we when we wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb so that we may have the right to enjoy Christ and enter by the gates into the city!

Lord Jesus, we praise You for qualifying us and positioning us to claim our right to enjoy Christ! Hallelujah, all believers in Christ have the right to enjoy Christ. Amen, Lord, we exercise our right to enjoy You right now. We wash our robes and come to You to enjoy You as the tree of life, the rich produce of the good land, the living water, and everything that we need to live a life for the fulfilment of God’s purpose. Hallelujah, we can exercise our right to enjoy Christ as the tree of life so that we can enter into the reality of being united, mingled, and incorporated with the processed and consummated Triune God to become His corporate expression and representation on earth!

As Children of God, we have the Privilege of Partaking of Christ for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose

The book of Ruth is so lovely, touching, convincing, and subduing; it is a lovely narration, and in particular, in the story in chapter two, there are four types implied.

First, we see Boaz, who was rich in wealth (v. 1), typifying Christ, who is rich in the divine grace (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

Boaz is a type of Christ, who is rich, kind, generous, and willing to help and even redeem the right of God’s chosen people.

Second, we see the field of the God-promised land (Ruth 2:2-3), typifying the all-inclusive Christ, who is the source of all the spiritual and divine products for the life supply of God’s elect (Phil. 1:19-21).

The all-inclusive Christ is the reality of the God-promised land; He is the source of all that we need for our life supply so that we may live a life for the fulfilment of God’s purpose.

Third, barley and wheat (Ruth 2:23) typify Christ as the material for making food for both God and His people (Lev. 2; John 6:9, 33, 35).

Christ is the reality of the barley – He is the resurrected One and even resurrection itself; Christ is the reality of the wheat – He is the grain of wheat who fell into the ground to die and bring forth many grains.

As such a One, Christ is the food of God’s people.

Fourth, Ruth – a Moabitess, a heathen sinner alienated from God’s promises (Deut. 23:3; cf. Eph. 2:12) – being given the right to partake of the gleanings of the harvest of God’s elect typifies the Gentile “dogs” who are privileged to partake of Christ as the crumbs under the table of the portion of God’s elect children (see Matt. 15:21-28 and footnote 1 on v. 27).

Ruth typifies us, the Gentiles, who, even though we’re sinners, even Gentile “dogs”, are qualified and have the right to enjoy Christ, even as the crumbs under the table.

In Matt. 15 we see a Gentile woman who called on the Lord, imploring Him to heal her daughter; when the Lord told her that it’s not right to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs, she said, Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.

Christ is so rich, so all-inclusive, and so all-extensive, that even the crumbs are enough to feed us and cause us to live a life for the fulfilment of God’s purpose.

He has been rejected by the children on the table, that is, He was rejected by the Jewish people and crucified, but the “crumbs” of Christ reach us, the Gentile “dogs”, and we can eat Christ as the crumbs. Wow!

We may think that the Lord can do this or that miracle for us, cure us of this and heal us of that, but what He wants to do is feed us with Himself.

And the Father qualifies us to partake of Christ, so we can eat Him as the crumbs under the table. We just need to eat the Lord; whatever need we have, we just need to eat Jesus.

We may think we need to be healed of this disease or that the Lord should change our situation or a particular person in our environment; however, all we need to do is eat the Lord!

Regardless of what’s happening around us, we should just eat the Lord! Our family life has problems because we don’t eat Jesus.

When the husband eats Jesus, he changes for the better; when the wife eats Jesus, the wife changes for the better.

When the parents eat Jesus, the children are no longer a problem but rather, they have a turn.

We are qualified and positioned by God – we have the right to enjoy Christ, and the Lord is so available for us to eat and enjoy.

What a privilege we have to eat Jesus and take Him in as our food, so that we may live a life for the fulfilment of God’s purpose!

Lord Jesus, we just come to You to eat You! Hallelujah, we have the privilege of eating Christ and partaking of Christ! How we thank You, Lord, for qualifying us, those who were dead in sins and offenses, to partake of Christ – even to eat the “crumbs under the table”! Thank You Lord for being processed and consummated to become the bread of God’s children. Save us from trying to improve ourselves – simply keep us enjoying You, eating You, and partaking of You so that we may live a life for the fulfillment of Your purpose! Hallelujah, what a privilege we have to partake of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ruth, pp. 14-15, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 10, Ruth’s Choosing for Her Goal, Exercising Her Right, Seeking for Her Rest, and Receiving a Reward for God’s Economy.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – We are washing all our robes the tree of life to eat; / “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!”—Jesus is so sweet! / We our spirits exercise, and thus experience Christ. / What a Christ have we! (Hymns #1151)
  – What He is: He’s the vine tree. / He’s the branch, the root of Jesse. / He’s the tree of life: we have the right / To eat of Him and have His life. / He’s the vine tree! Wonderful! (Hymns #1103)
  – Just to enjoy Thy word, / For Thou Thyself didst say, / Man shall not live by bread alone, / But by Thy word each day. / Just to enjoy Thy word, / Coming as crumbs, so small, / Reaching me in my lowest state, / To be my all in all. (Song on, Just to enjoy Thy word)