God’s move on the earth today is in the church and through the church, and the church has Christ as its center.
Psa. 68 is a typological exposition of Num. 10:35-36, and it reveals Christ as the center of God’s move on the earth; today God is moving in man, and His move is to deify man to obtain the church, His dwelling place.
In these verses in Numbers we see that Moses, when the ark would set out, said, Rise up, O Jehovah, and let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You. And when the ark would come to rest, he said, Return, o Jehovah, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.
In other words, the Ark that led the children of Israel according to God’s leading was not just something outward, something that depended on man or man’s preference and opinion, but it was a living Ark, even the embodiment of God among man.
Moses spent many days on the mountain of God in His presence to receive the law and the pattern of the tabernacle, and his realisation was that this tabernacle was God’s building on earth, His dwelling place.
God desires not only to rescue His people from the slavery of Egypt and the usurpation of Pharaoh but to bring them all the way to a place and a situation where He can dwell among them, He can be expressed among them, and He can have a people on earth.
So when the tabernacle was built, that was the time, the place, and the situation in which God was among His people, for He could dwell among them in the Ark.
God led His people by means of the Ark in a specific way, so that He may give them rest and satisfaction; when His people followed the leading of the Ark, they were at peace, enjoying rest, and being satisfied.
The Ark is a type of Christ; Christ is the embodiment of God, and when He came, God tabernacled among men. Paul applied the type in Psa. 68 to Christ; the rising up of Jehovah in these verses refers to Christ’s rising up to the heavens in His ascension, and His return refers to the Lord’s second coming.
These verses in Num. 10:35-36 portray a full view of God’s economy from Christ’s incarnation to be the Ark – the embodiment of the Triune God – through His ascension to His second coming. God’s move is in Christ; Christ is the center of God’s move on earth, and today God’s move is in man and through man.
For God to move in man and among man, however, man must become the same as Christ in life and nature – which very thing God does by means of His organic salvation. Hallelujah!
From His Incarnation to His Ascension, Christ is the Center of God’s Move on the Earth
Psa. 68 is an exposition of Num. 10:35-36, and both of these portions reveal Christ as the center of God’s move on the earth. What we see in Psa. 68, which is considered as the highest among all the psalms, is the move of God on the earth.
This psalm has two sections, vv. 1-18 speaking of Christ as the center of God’s move on the earth from His incarnation through His ascension for the building up of God’s dwelling place, and vv. 19-35 speaking of the enjoyment of God in His house.
Once God gains a dwelling place on earth, His people can simply enjoy Him in His house. God’s move began after the rearing up of the tabernacle with the Ark, signifying Christ incarnated to be the dwelling place of God on the earth with Himself as the center for God’s move in His economy.
In John 1:14 we see that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. As the tabernacle, Christ brought God to man; He made God contactable, touchable, receivable, experientiable, entrable, and enjoyable.
When Christ came, God came; God moved in and through Christ on the earth. Go’s move in the tabernacle with the Ark from Mount Sinai (Psa. 68:8b, 17b) through the wilderness (vv. 4b, 7b) to Mount Zion (v. 16) is a type of His move in Christ from the incarnation to the ascension (John 1:17; Eph. 4:8-10).
The law was given through Moses, but grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.
On Mount Sinai the law was given, and so was the pattern of the tabernacle; the law was given through Moses, but praise the Lord, God’s grace and reality were embodied and expressed in the tabernacle, which is Christ as the embodiment of God.
Jesus Christ, the real tabernacle of God among men, came to bring God to man, and this tabernacle began a journey all the way to Mount Zion in His ascension.
From His incarnation to His ascension, Christ is the center of God’s move on the earth. Without Christ, God can’t move on earth; when Christ came, the Triune God made a long “tour” which lasted thirty-three and a half years, and this tour ended with Christ’s ascension to the third heaven.
Psa. 68 is about God’s move within the tabernacle (which typifies Christ) as His dwelling place with the Ark (which typifies Christ) as the center.
The tabernacle with the Ark traveled among the children of Israel for forty years until it arrived to Zion; Christ as the tabernacle of God travelled for thirty-three and a half years until He was ascended to the third heaven.
God can move on earth only after He had established a way – the tabernacle with the Ark in the Old Testament, and Christ as the tabernacle with the Ark in the New Testament – in which He could be with His people and in which they could contact Him and be with Him.
Hallelujah, today Christ is the center of God’s move on the earth – He is the tabernacle of God with man!
Hallelujah, Christ is the center of God’s move on the earth! Thank You Lord Jesus for coming to bring God to man – You made God contactable, touchable, receivable, experientiable, entrable, and enjoyable! Amen, let God arise, let all His enemies be scattered, and let all those who hate Him flee before Him! We praise You Lord Jesus as the embodiment of God, the tabernacle of God with man, the God-man who came to came bring the move of God on the earth among man! Hallelujah for our Christ, the One who is the center of God’s move on the earth!
God’s Move on the Earth today is in and through the Church with Christ as the Center
The move of God on the earth was not just with the Lord Jesus two thousand years ago; rather, today God is still moving on this earth in and through the church, and He is moving with Christ as the center of the church (John 5:17; Acts 28:31; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Psa. 68:4, 7).
The church was produced in the resurrection of Christ, for when He was resurrected, Christ was expounded, enlarged, and duplicated in many believers in Christ who compose the church, the Body of Christ.
Christ as the center of God’s move on earth today continues to move in and through the church, and the center of the church is Christ.
The church is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth; the church is the great mystery of godliness, for in the church God is manifested in the flesh, in the church Christ is preached among the nations, and in the church Christ is glorified and expressed.
Hallelujah, God is moving on the earth, His move is in and with the tabernacle, and He is moving with Christ as the center of the church!
God’s move in the church is actually in and through man; God moves in man to deify man, that is, to make man the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead.
God moves in Christ and in those who become the same as Christ in every possible way. Athanasius, one of the early church fathers, said concerning the Lord Jesus that He was made man that we might be made God, for the Word was made flesh that we, partaking of His Spirit, might be deified.
What we speak of here is not man becoming God in the sense of being worshipped or being almighty; rather, we are emphasizing some very crucial verses in the New Testament that show us how we human beings are being made God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
Actually, this is the principle of God’s move in man; God’s move today is in man and through man, and His move is to deify man, making man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
In Rom. 8 we see some very clear verses that show us how our entire tripartite being are not just filled with God’s life but become life; in God’s organic salvation, our spirit, soul, and body become the divine eternal life of God for us to be made God in life and nature.
In Rom. 8:10 we see that, since Christ is in us, our spirit is life because of righteousness. When Christ came into us, He came into our spirit; He is not only our life, but He made our spirit life.
Our spirit is life, and this life is the zoe life, the divine, eternal, uncreated, indissoluble, indestructible, wonderful life of the Triune God. No matter how we feel right now, our spirit is zoe – our spirit is life!
Then in Rom. 8:6 we see that whenever we set our mind on our spirit, our mind becomes life; our mind is not just filled with life but becomes life. Wow, in His organic salvation God is making our troublesome mind LIFE, the divine life!
Furthermore, in Rom. 8:11 we see that the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and He gives life to our mortal body through His Spirit who indwells us. 2 Cor. 5:4 confirms this, that is, at the Lord’s return our mortal bodies will be swallowed up by life.
When we open to the Lord and allow the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead to indwell us, He gives life to our mortal body through His Spirit who indwells us!
This is our experience many times when we come to the meeting: when we arrive at the meeting we feel as if we dragged our bones to that chair…but as we enjoy the Lord’s dispensing, our whole being is filled with the divine life! Hallelujah for God’s move on the earth today!
Praise You Lord, You are a moving Triune God, and You are still moving on this earth today in and through the church with Christ as the center of the church! Lord, we take You as our center, our reality, and our everything; we give You the first place in all things in our being. We open to You, Lord, so that You may move in us and make our spirit, soul, and body life – the divine, eternal, uncreated life of God. Hallelujah, our spirit is life, our mind is becoming life when we set our mind on the spirit, and our body is saturated with God’s life as we enjoy God’s indwelling! Amen, Lord, we are one with You for Your move on the earth today, Your move in and through man to deify man and have Christ as the center of Your move!
Read this article / blog post in Romanian – puteți citi acest articol și în limba română la următorul link – Mișcarea lui Dumnezeu pe pământ astăzi este în și prin biserică cu Cristos ca centru.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 317, 319-321 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 12, Christ as the Center of God’s Move on the Earth from His Incarnation through His Ascension to His Second Coming.
- Hymns on this topic:
# He is riding through the deserts, / Bringing in His saints in need. / He’s a Father to the orphans / And a refuge tried indeed / In His holy habitation— / What a wonderful salvation! / Hallelujah, hallelujah, / Hallelujah, Amen! (Hymns #1100)
# On Christ we here would focus, / No other center make; / With Christ in sweet communion / His riches to partake. / He is our Head and content, / His Body we express; / Whate’er we do while meeting / Himself must manifest. (Hymns #867)
# All our spirit, soul and body / Unto Christ conformed must be; / This will be accomplished fully / When our glorious Lord we see. / By our body’s full redemption / Shall adoption be complete; / By the final transformation / All God’s purpose we shall meet. / By that final transformation, / We’ll be fully sanctified; / God will bring us into glory, / With His Son identified. (Hymns #741)
About aGodMan
