This week we’re getting into the topic, Building Up Christ in our Experience to Work out Our Own Salvation (in the series, The need for a Fresh Vision of the Lord’s Recovery).
In the Old Testament, God told Noah (one who not only walked with God but also worked together with God for His interest) to build an ark which will save him and his whole house from that crooked and perverted generation. I love the footnote for that verse (Gen. 6:14, note 1), which says,
The ark is a type of Christ (1 Pet. 3:20-21), not only the individual Christ but also the corporate Christ, the church, which is the Body of Christ and the new man (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 3:10-11). The building of the ark typifies the building of the corporate Christ, with the element of Christ’s riches as the building material, by those who work together with God (1 Cor. 3:9-12a; 2 Cor. 6:1; Eph. 3:8-10; 4:12). By building the ark and entering into it, Noah was not only saved from God’s judgement on the evil generation through the flood, but was also separated from that generation and ushered into a new age (see 1 Pet. 3:20 and footnote 3). Likewise, by building the church and entering into the church life, we will be saved from God’s judgement on today’s evil generation through the great tribulation (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27; 1 Thes. 5:3) and will be separated from that generation(Luke 21:36; Rev. 3:10) and ushered into a new age, the age of the millenium.
At the time of Noah, God found a man who inherited all the spiritual benefits, experiences, and habits of his forefathers (he was fallend and redeemed, he was brought back to God, he called on God’s name, lived by God and walked with God) and he went even further – Noah worked together with God according to God’s salvation.
He was one in the same interest as God. God wanted to build an ark to save Noah and his family (since Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah), but God didn’t do it by Himself – He asked Noah, His co-worker, to do it according to His instructions. It is the same today with us – in view of the Lord’s return and His desire to change this age, even to end this crooked and perverted age/generation, we are learning to be those who work together with God.
What God is interested in, so are we – He wants to build up the church life, the ark, in order to save us from this age and separate us from this crooked generation! God wants to build up the ark for His testimony, but He will not do it by Himself directly – He wants us to be His co-workers.
The Lord is waiting for some people who would rise up to cooperate with Him to build up the practical and present Christ to be a salvation not just for themselves but also to the others. The Lord said in Luke 17:26-27,
And even as it happened in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man: They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day in which Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Destruction is coming swiftly once the Lord obtains a built up practical church life – the Lord wants, on the one hand, to build up a strong testimony of Himself being expressed in a group of people who work together with Him, and on the other hand, He wants to put an end to this age, bring in judgement, and bring in another age – the kingdom age.
We today in the local churches can cooperate with God by building up a practical and present Christ to be our salvation and the salvation of those around us.
Eventually, Noah entered into the ark with his whole family – he not just built the ark as his salvation, he entered into it. We not only work with God but we also enter into what we have worked with God and for God, that we may enjoy the practical and present Christ and be kept away from the judgement of death.
May we be those who give ourselves to the Lord to have the same interest as He does – not just call on His name, not just even walk with Him, but to be those who build up the ark, the practical and present Christ in the church life, to be saved from this age and from the judgement to come.
[enjoyment from the book, The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, by bro. Lee]
Lord, make us those like Noah, who walk with You and also work with You for Your interest! O, Lord, save us from going on as the world does – save us from being drugged and taken away by the current of this age! Lord, may we cooperate with You by building up this Christ that is so practical and so present – in the church life! Gain a built-up church life, Lord! Gain Your strong testimonies, shining everywhere on the earth! We want to work together with You and enter into our salvation into the church life, to be presently and practically saved in Christ!
