In the Church we should Enjoy the Riches of Christ and Engage in Spiritual Warfare

In the church, we should enjoy the riches of Christ and engage in spiritual warfare.

On the positive side, the good land signifies the all-inclusive Christ with His unsearchable riches for our enjoyment; on the negative side, it signifies the aerial part, the heavenly part, of the dark kingdom of Satan, who is doing his utmost to hinder God’s people from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.

We have focused very much on the matter of Christ being all-inclusive and extensive, and Him being the reality of the good land, and this is true and correct.

However, there is another aspect of the good land of Canaan, as seen in the book of Joshua – it signifies the heavenly part of the dark kingdom of Satan.

It is not a mistake to emphasize that the good land signifies the all-inclusive Christ with all His riches, but we should not forget about the negative aspect of this land.

If we don’t know the negative side, if we don’t know this side in a way that is real to us, we will not have full enjoyment of the riches of Christ. I

t’s almost as if, if we want to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive One, we need to fight the spiritual warfare, for the enemy is doing his utmost to distract us and take us away from the enjoyment of Christ.

The enemy doesn’t want us to experience and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, because he knows that, once we do this, we become building members of the Body of Christ.

Once we enjoy and experience the all-inclusive Christ, the reality of the Body of Christ will emerge, the Body of Christ will be built up, the new man will be full-grown and manifested, and the bride will make herself ready.

So he works in our environment and even in our being to rise up all kinds of resistance, for he has subtle plans to hinder us, to discourage us, and to prevent us from enjoying and experiencing Christ.

We need to realize two things: on one hand, God has given us the all-inclusive Christ to be the good land for us to enjoy, possess, and partake of; on the other hand, there is an enemy, and he doesn’t want us to enjoy the good land.

There’s the necessity for war, for the enemy won’t back down, and we won’t give up enjoying the Lord.

The Lord on His side is preparing us, training us, and equipping us to make us ready to take over the good land so that we may become His corporate expression and representation.

On our side, we need to realize that the enemy is doing his utmost to distract us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ, and we need to be ready for warfare, for it is only by standing in the victory of Christ that we can defeat the enemy and enter into the possession, enjoyment, and experience of the all-inclusive Christ.

Seeing that Satan, God’s Enemy, has been doing his utmost to Hinder God’s People from Enjoying the All-inclusive Christ

The good land is a type of the all-inclusive Christ (on the positive side) and the enemy’s kingdom which frustrates us from entering into the enjoyment of Christ (on the negative side).

On the negative side, Canaan signifies the aerial part, the heavenly part, of the dark kingdom of Satan, the heavenlies that are full of Satan’s forces (Eph. 2:2; 6:12).

It is a twofold typology of the all-inclusive Christ, yet it is a typology on a certain level in the heavenlies where the enemy is ruling from.

The enemy still is here, both on earth and in the aerial part of his kingdom, in the air, and he will rule there until the man-child is raptured (see Rev. 12).

We want to be the firstfruits that join the man-child to be raptured, because they will immediately be war in heaven, the angels of God fighting against Satan and his angels, and the devil will be cast down to the earth.

Today Satan has his authority and his angels, who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world; he has his kingdom, which is called the authority of darkness (see Acts 26:18; Matt. 12:26; 25:41; Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:13).

Satan has his kingdom with the main purpose of damaging God’s purpose and frustrating Him from fulfilling His economy.

As the enemy of God, Satan has been doing his utmost to hinder us, the people of God, from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.

Actually, even to this day, evil forces are veiling the all-inclusiveness of Christ from God’s people (Col. 2:8, 18; 2 Cor. 4:3-4).

And Satan is so subtle and deceiving – he sometimes uses people, situations, matters, things, and even ourselves to defraud us from the enjoyment of Christ.

Sometimes we ourselves cooperate with Satan to rob ourselves of so much enjoyment of Christ.

We need to see that the enemy of God is doing his utmost to hinder us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ, and we need to fight the spiritual warfare by standing in the victory of Christ and exercising to enjoy our allotted portion with the saints in the light (Col. 1:12-13).

May we be unveiled to see the all-inclusive Christ, and may we give ourselves to the Lord to just enjoy Him.

And may we be aware that, as soon as we try to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, Satan will rise up and do his utmost to frustrate us from enjoying Christ.

If we are passive and lukewarm, things around us may be quite pleasant and peaceful; once we rise up and start enjoying the Lord, however, many things and persons in our environment will rise up to frustrate us.

We do not fight against flesh and blood – we don’t fight in prayer for the Lord to put down this person or that situation, nor do we want to change this person or that situation; we fight by standing in the victory of Christ.

Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12).

When we see this, when we realize that the enemy is working tirelessly both to wear us out and to frustrate us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ, we will be joined to the Lord (who gives us the land) and to the saints (our co-partakers of the land) to fight the spiritual warfare and enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.

Lord Jesus, cause us to see that Satan is doing his utmost to hinder us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ as the good land. May we realize that, on the positive side, God is pleased to give us this all-inclusive Christ with His unsearchable riches for our enjoyment, and on the negative side, Satan is doing his utmost to frustrate us from enjoying Christ. Amen, Lord, we join ourselves to You and Your desire: we want to enter into the enjoyment of the good land. Strengthen us into our inner man and build us up with the saints in the church so that together, as the church, we would be a corporate warrior standing in the victory of Christ and entering into our allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ! Amen, Lord, we fight for ourselves and for all the saints to enter into their portion of the good land!

In the Church, we should Enjoy the Riches of Christ and Engage in Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians speaks of the spiritual reality of the two aspects of the good land. Joshua ch. 1 is the type, Ephesians 1 is the fulfilment.

In Joshua 1 we see that everything was ready: Israel was prepared to enter the good land, for they were dealt with by God in the four hundred years in Egypt and forty years in the wilderness.

In Eph. 1 we see that we have been chosen by God to partake of His holy nature and we have been predestinated by Him to have His life in order to become His sons (Eph. 1:4-5).

Christ’s redemption has brought us into Christ to be the realm in which and the element by which we can be made God’s inheritance (vv. 7, 11).

In Christ, we are redeemed and regenerated, and as we enjoy Him and partake of Him, we are daily being reconstituted and transformed by this element to be a treasure for God’s inheritance.

We enjoy Christ and take Him as our inheritance, and He is making us God’s inheritance.

In addition, in Eph. 1 we have the sealing and the pledging of the Spirit (vv. 13-14); the Spirit seals us by saturating us and soaking us to transform us, and the Spirit is the pledge, the guarantee, that God is our inheritance.

This corresponds to the positive side of the significance of the good land.

The book of Ephesians indicates that in the heavenlies there are different layers (Eph. 1:3; 2:2; 6:12).

Christ is in the highest layer, the third heaven, and He is to be our everything as our good land.

However, the enemy is there, in a lower layer, with his rulers and authorities, frustrating the people on earth from contacting God and from receiving Christ.

The enemy is blinding the minds of the unbelievers and causing them not to see the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Eph. 2 speaks of the fact that we were once dead in sins and offenses (vv. 1, 5), but God chose us and made us the enjoyers of Christ.

He raised us up together with Christ and seated us with Christ in the heavenlies; now we are in Christ, enjoying Him as the reality of the good land, and He is our everything.

We need to be in ascension experientially to enjoy Christ as our good land; we need to live in ascension, having the ruling authority, knowing the Body, and realizing there’s spiritual warfare.

As we enjoy the Lord, we are aware of the enemy in the air, and we fight – not just for ourselves, but also for all the children of God, that we all may enter into the possession, enjoyment, and experience of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.

And we are fighting because we want God’s will to be done on earth so that His heart’s desire may be satisfied, His will be accomplished, and His purpose would be carried out. Amen!

There is a lower layer of the heavenlies – the air, the aerial realm, where Satan as the ruler of the authority of the air is frustrating the people on earth from contacting God and receiving Christ (Eph. 2:2).

This layer is typified by the Canaanites, who were frustrating Israel from entering into the good land.

The Canaanites typify the fallen angels, the rebellious angels who follow Satan, who have become the powers, rulers, and authorities in Satan’s kingdom, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies (Rev. 12:4, 7; Eph. 6:12).

These two aspects of the typology of the good land are inseparable: on one hand, we want to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, and on the other hand, Satan is doing his utmost to frustrate us from enjoying Him, so there’s spiritual warfare.

As soon as the children of Israel entered Canaan, they enjoyed the riches of Christ and engaged in warfare (Josh. 5:12; 6:1-21).

On one hand, we enjoy the riches of Christ, and on the other, we engage in spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 3:8 speaks of the riches of Christ, and 1:3; 2:6; and 6:12 speak of the heavenlies; this indicates that in the church we should enjoy the riches of Christ and engage in spiritual warfare.

This is our experience today – on one hand, we enjoy the riches of Christ, and on the other, we engage in spiritual warfare.

Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy the riches of Christ and engage in spiritual warfare so that we may possess the good land and defeat the enemy. Amen, Lord, cause us to realize that Satan and his spiritual forces of evil are working tirelessly to frustrate us and distract us from the enjoyment of Christ. May we realize the need for spiritual warfare so that we may enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ. Hallelujah, we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies – we are in ascension with Him, and He is in the third heaven. We stand in Christ, one with Christ, and one with the saints, to fight the spiritual warfare in the victory of Christ and enter into the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Amen, Lord, may our experience in the church life be one of enjoying the riches of Christ and engaging in spiritual warfare as the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Life-study of Joshua (msg. 3), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 2, Possessing the Land of Canaan by Defeating the Satanic Forces.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – God has cleared the way before us / Through the victory of His Son; / Raised the Victor’s banner o’er us, / All the battles He has won. / All that’s left for us to do / Is by faith to follow through. / It’s a land of hills and valleys, / Brooks of water flowing free; / Fountains rich with living water, / Streams that flow abundantly. / Brothers, joyfully we stand / In His promise, Christ the land. (Hymns #1166)
  – ’Tis the Church on Christ established / Satan shall not overpow’r; / ’Tis the Body built together / Which resists the evil pow’r. / In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. (Hymns #885)
  – Christ is a land of iron stones, / Whence comes authority. / We must dig out this solid Christ / To bind His enemy. / Then we must through the sufferings pass / To be refined as burnished brass. / With iron bind, as brass refined, / Is our need. (Hymns #1164)