Enjoying Christ as the Good Land in the Sphere of His Death and in His Resurrection

The borders of the good land as seen in Ezek. 47 are the Mediterranean Sea on the west, the Dead Sea and the Jordan river on the east, and Mount Hermon on the north.

The good land is surrounded by waters of death, signifying that, as we enjoy Christ as the good land and allow Christ to build up His church, there will be the gates of Hades which fight but will not prevail.

Furthermore, mount Hermon signifies the heavens, from where the dew of God’s grace descends on the local churches. On the one hand the church life is full of the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land, an elevated land, and on the other hand, there is the experience of the death of Christ, and death surrounds us.

We all need to enjoy the Lord more and more not only as our food, our drink, and our supply, but as the good land into which we have been rooted through regeneration. God doesn’t just give us bread, fruits, and water, but He gives us Christ, the all-inclusive One, to be our portion for our daily living.

Just as physically we live, move, have our being, and do everything in a certain piece or land, in a certain country, so spiritually we are in a good land flowing with milk and honey, and this land is Christ.

Many times in our experience, however, our enjoyment and experience of Christ as the good land is lost. We need to be recovered in our enjoyment of Christ’s riches. We need to grasp every opportunity to enjoy the Lord as the reality of all the positive things.

Our enjoyment and experience of Christ has to be elevated, uplifted, and increased until no matter what we do and where we are, we just enjoy the Lord as all the riches in the good land.

In this good land we have Christ’s redemption and His organic salvation. Here we enjoy Christ in His person and His processes, together with everything that He has done for us and what He is to us.

When we as God’s people partake of and enjoy the riches of Christ, we are constituted with these riches to be the church, through which God’s multifarious wisdom is made known to the entire universe.

It is by the enjoyment and experience of the riches of Christ in and as the good land that we are able to build up the church as the temple of God and the city of God.

May the enjoyment of the Lord as the good land be recovered in our being, and may we daily experience more of Christ in the good land, so that we may be built up together as the temple of God and the city of God for God’s corporate expression and manifestation.

The Enjoyment of Christ as the Good Land is in the Sphere of His Death

It is very significant that, after God revealed to Ezekiel the pattern and design of the house of God, He speaks of the good land where the temple is built, and in speaking of the good land, the borders of the good land are mentioned.

The good land is situated between the waters of the Mediterranean Sea on the west (Ezek. 47:15) and the waters of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River on the east (v. 18). The good land is surrounded by waters, and the sea especially signifies death.

On the one hand the good land is an elevated land (Ezek. 20:40-42; 34:13-14; 37:22; Deut. 32:13), and on the other hand, this good and elevated land is surrounded by death waters.

This shows us that the good land typifies the resurrected Christ, who was raised, elevated from the dead; this also indicates that the enjoyment of Christ is closely related to His death, and it must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death (cf. Phil. 3:7-11).

Yes, the all-inclusive Christ as our good land is rich, flowing with milk and honey, and very good, but it is also surrounded by death – there’s death all around. If we want to enjoy Christ as the good land we need to be ready to face death; death, however, only helps us to experience the resurrected Christ more!

The Christ we are enjoying as our all-inclusive land is the resurrected, elevated, and ascended Christ who rises above any death waters; when we encounter any situation of death, we are helped to simply turn to Him and enjoy Him.

In a sense, the enjoyment of Christ as the good land would not be that rich without the death waters. The altar and the cross are the center of the universe, and to meet God, we need to pass through the altar. Without experiencing Christ’s death we can have no life, no rich experience of Christ.

It is by this unique procedure, the cross, the center of God’s ways, that we arrive at the center of His purpose, Christ. The enjoyment of Christ must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death.

Paul testified of this when he said that he counts all things loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, on account of whom he has suffered the loss of all things and counts them as refuse, that he may gain Christ (see Phil. 3:7-11).

We need to be those who count all things loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and our desire should be to be found in Christ to know Christ, know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

The experience and enjoyment of Christ as the good land goes hand in hand with the experience of His death; death will always be there to encourage us and help us to experience the resurrected Christ.

When the Lord Jesus spoke of building the church He said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).

As Christ builds His church, there is the working of the gates of Hades, which shall not prevail!

If we want the church to be built, we need to expect the gates of hades to be there; death, however, only gives the Lord an opportunity to manifest His resurrection life! No death can quench life, and no death can defeat the church, which is in Christ and is one with Christ!

Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy You as the all-inclusive good land even in the midst of the death waters that surround us. Enrich, uplift, and increase our enjoyment and experience of Christ as the good land day by day for the building up of the church. Lord, we look to You and not to any death in our situation or in our being – You are building up Your church, and the gates of Hades shall NOT prevail against it! Our desire is to be one with You to experience You in Your death and resurrection for the building up of the church!

Enjoying the Resurrected Christ as the Good Land under God’s Blessing

The borders of the good land include Mount Hermon to the north; this is a high mountain, which signifies the heavens, from which the dew of God’s grace descends on the mountains of Zion – typifying the local churches (see Psa. 133).

On the east and the west the borders of the good land are bodies of water, signifying death, but on the north there’s a high mountain, signifying the heavens, the resurrected Christ.

On the one hand the church is subject to the attack of death – but death cannot prevail; on the other hand, the church is connected to the resurrected Christ and is under the blessing of God, with the dew descended from the ascended Christ.

The good land rises from the dead waters. The Christ we enjoy is not only the crucified Christ but even more the resurrected and ascended Christ, the One who has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and who now is rich and all-inclusive for our enjoyment as the Spirit.

The heavenly Christ has entered into us in His resurrection (John 20:22) and is rich to us in His ascension (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-4). Our all-inclusive land, Christ, is not a low land but a high land; the death waters are low, but Christ is in resurrection, and as such a One is rich to us for our enjoyment.

Even more, the grace of life comes from the heavens and descends upon all the local churches, filling the churches with God’s blessing upon the oneness of the saints.

Hallelujah, our Christ has already passed through death and is now in resurrection and ascension, and in the church life we can enjoy Him as the resurrected and ascended Christ, the good land, under God’s blessing!

Recently a brother had a car accident and was seriously injured; as he was on the hospital bed waiting to go and have a major surgery, his testimony to a fellow brother was that of resurrection. Whether we are in the hospital bed or at home, our inner man has to be strengthened, and the resurrected Christ has to be our experience.

Death cannot hold the resurrection life, but rather it gives it more opportunity to break forth. We need to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the elevated good land, and death helps us experience Christ in His resurrection.

Every day as we are surrounded by death, we can look away and set our mind on the things above; we need to consider the things which are above, realizing that the church is heavenly, resurrectionly, and Christly.

It is only when we experience the all-inclusive Christ as typified by the good land that we are qualified to build His church, so that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it.

Lord Jesus, our life here on earth is for You, for Your testimony, and for Your interest. Whether we live or we die, whether we are at home or in the hospital, we want to enjoy and experience You, the resurrected Christ, as our all-inclusive good land. Keep us in the church life, under Your commanded blessing, enjoying the grace of life descending from the heavens. Keep us touching You, enjoying You, and having a daily living in the elevated good land, the all-inclusive Christ. Lord, be our experience and enjoyment daily as the good land for the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 27 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 11 (week 23 in the HWMR), The Holy Temple and the Holy City in the Holy Land.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / Though all its force against it may combine; / Death only gives it opportunity / To show the boundless pow’r of life divine. (Hymns #639)
  # The gates of hell cannot prevail / Against the builded Church! / The hours are few, the builders too— / Lord, build, O build in us! (Hymns #1248)
  # Lord, how we bless Thee for this land, / The all-inclusive Christ! / We’ve eaten Him, we’re filled with Him, / O how He has sufficed! / Teach us to labor constantly / Upon this vast reality; / This is our joy, this our employ— / Christ our land! (Hymns #1164)