When we exercise our spirit to seek the Lord and see a vision of the spiritual scene behind the world situation, the first thing we see is a Christ as the preeminent One; we see a vision of the excellent Christ!
It is so easy to look at the things we see today in the world and pick a side that matches our natural preference; it is easy to see the social injustice, the racial injustice, and the differences and hatred among peoples, social groups, and different entities.
And especially today as we look at the world situation and see the coronavirus pandemic ravaging throughout the world and in all the nations, humbling great and high presidents and levelling everyone in front of it, we may think we understand what’s going on, or we may just give up trying to figure things out.
It may not be for us to try to understand what’s going on, but as believers in Christ we need to exercise our spirit to see the spiritual scene behind the world situation, realizing that there is something going on behind the scene, and we as believers can cooperate with God to accomplish His will.
Apparently the world is in chaos and it is a mess; actually, when we exercise our spirit and have an open heavens, we realize there’s a throne set up in heavens, and on the throne there is One sitting.
The heavens rule; though outwardly things may seem not toward God or according to His purpose, yet God behind the scenes rules over all things, and He can move and do things as His people cooperate with Him in prayer.
It is not the presidents, kings, prime-ministers, or other heads of state that decide things; rather, God operates behind the scenes, He rules and reigns, and He wants that His Christ be preeminent to His people and then through His people His Christ would be preeminent in the whole universe.
God has appointed seasons and has set boundaries for all the nations; He cause kings to rise and to fall, and He gives the kingdom and authority to whomever He wants.
When we touch the throne of God, when we realize that God is on the throne ruling and reigning to accomplish His purpose on earth, we will acknowledge and appreciate His sovereignty, realizing that He is in control and His plan will be carried out.
May we be one with the Lord in seeing the vision of the spiritual scene behind the world situation, and may we see a vision of the excellent Christ, Christ as the preeminent One in God’s economy.
Seeing a vision of the Spiritual Scene Behind the World Situation – Christ is the Preeminent One!
Chapter 10 of Daniel presents a vision of the spiritual scene behind the world situation. Daniel set his heart and being to seek from the Lord what is the future of Israel, and he understood it was a distressful situation.
He sought the Lord for three weeks, twenty-one days, and he fasted, prayed, and mourned before God, praying with supplications to see what will happen.
At the end of that period, an angelic messenger came to him and brought him to see something in the spiritual scene behind the apparent world situation.
Before God revealed to Daniel what the spiritual scene behind the world situation is, He showed him Christ as the preeminent One, even a vision of the excellent Christ.
The angelic messenger came to visit Daniel, and Daniel was brought to see a vision; the first thing he saw was not the warfare or the fighting but a Man, who was Christ, the preeminent One.
As we seek the Lord concerning the world situation and the spiritual scene behind what’s going on, we may be conscious of such things as demons operating, demon possession, the spiritual battle between good and evil, and spiritual warfare.
But what God wants us to see first and foremost is not this; He wants us to focus on Christ, the excellent Christ, the preeminent One.
Seeing other things first can distract us from Christ as the preeminent One; God wants to reveal Christ to us – He is the focus of God’s vision, and He needs to be revealed to us.
Our focus is not the spiritual warfare or the spiritual forces in the air that fight against the church; our focus is Christ, the precious One, the eternal and all-inclusive One, even the most precious One.
We may see the evil spiritual forces operating, we may realize there’s a spiritual warfare going on, and we may want to stand on the Lord’s side in this warfare, but the first thing we need to see is Christ as the preeminent One.
We need to see a vision of the excellent Christ, the centrality and universality of God’s move on earth. Such a vision of Christ will cause us to appreciate Him, and it will encourage, stabilise, and console us in our daily Christian walk.
We may be in great distress over the situation in the world today and we may mourn and weep over the current world situation, but when we turn to the Lord, exercise our spirit, and see the spiritual scene behind the world situation, we will see a vision of the excellent Christ as the preeminent One to God.
Hallelujah, what an excellent Christ we have!
He is our focus and our everything. He is the all-inclusive One and the all-extensive One, and He is the centrality of universality of God’s move on earth.
We should focus on Him; we should see Him, appreciate Him, and enjoy Him, and this vision will console us, encourage us, and stabilise us.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to see something of the spiritual scene behind the world situation. Amen, Lord, may we be one with You to see things the same way You see them and to realize what’s really going on according to Your view. May we see a vision of the wonderful, excellent Christ, the One who is preeminent to God! Amen, Lord Jesus, grant us a vision of the excellent Christ as the centrality and universality of God’s move on the earth. May we see this Christ, appreciate Him, and be encouraged, stabilised, and consoled by this One!
Seeing a Vision of the Excellent Christ as the Priest and the King for our Encouragement
The Christ whom Daniel saw was not God but a man; in our viewpoint incarnation took place at a definite point in time, but with God there’s no time element.
It is a fact in this universe that the Triune God became a man; Matthew and Luke reveal this.
But even before the time of the incarnation of Christ, He came as a Man in the Old Testament to Abraham (see Gen. 18) and to Daniel (see Daniel 10); this is mind blowing for us, but to God this is not a problem.
In Daniel 10 Christ appeared to Daniel with many wonderful characteristics.
The excellent Christ appeared to Daniel as a man, clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz; His body was like beryl, His face like the appearance of lightning, His eyes were torches of fire, His arms and His feet were like a gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of His words like the sound of a multitude (Dan. 10:5-6). Wow, what a Christ!
This excellent Christ, who is the centrality and universality of God’s move, appeared to Daniel as a man for his appreciation, consolation, encouragement, expectation, and stabilisation.
The excellent Christ is not merely God but man; He is a man like us, a man of blood and flesh.
If Christ was just God, He would be powerful, omniscient, and omnipresent; but in these last days, the final days to work out God’s economy, in the world situation full of sufferings and afflictions, the One who appears to us is the most excellent One!
The first thing we see about Christ is that He is a man who went through sufferings as a man; He knows what we are going through.
The Christ whom we see as the excellent One is precious, valuable, complete, and perfect. As Jehovah becoming a man, Christ is the centrality and universality of God’s move to carry out His economy. As a Priest, He is taking care of us and ruling over us.
The Man who appeared to Daniel was clothed in fine linen, signifying that He is a priest in His humanity, ministering to care for us.
Christ doesn’t appear to us first as a warrior dressed in armor; this would scare us away. He appears to us dressed in a linen robe, in His humanity to be the priest that takes care of us.
The fact that He was girded with gold from Uphaz signifies His divinity; He is presented here as a king in His divinity to rule over us.
A girdle is for strengthening; Christ’s kingship is signified by the gold. His kingship is divine and His priesthood is human.
In His humanity Christ is the priest to care for us, and in His divinity He is the king to rule over us.
May we see the excellent Christ in His preciousness and dignity, in His brightness for shining over the people, and in His enlightening sight for judging and searching.
He has a body like beryl, having the color of blueish green and yellow; this signifies the heavenliness (blue), kingliness (yellow), and life-liness – full of life (green).
The excellent Christ is precious and dignified, so bring to shine over us!
His face is like lightning, full of shining over us, and His eyes are like torches of fire to search and judge.
Christ appeared in the gleam of His work and move and in His strong speaking for judging people.
His arms and feet are like a gleam of polished bronze; bronze signifies judgement.
Christ’s life and work have all been judged by God, and He did nothing by Himself or for Himself; as such a One, He shines and He can judge others today. May we see such a Christ as Daniel did. May we realize how precious, how valuable, how complete, and how perfect He is.
Lord Jesus, grant us to see a vision of the excellent Christ the One who is precious, valuable, complete, and perfect! May we see that He as a man is the very centrality and universality of God’s move to carry out His economy. May we realize that Christ in His humanity is our priest to take care of us and minister to our needs. May we see Christ in His divinity as the King ruling over us, and may we realize His preciousness and brightness, and receive His enlightening. Hallelujah, Christ as the Priest takes care of us and as the King is ruling over us! What a wonderful Christ we have!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Daniel, msgs. 13, 15 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, A Timely Word Concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Recovery (2020 Memorial Day Conference), week 2, Seeing a Vision of the Throne of God, the Spiritual Scene behind the World Situation, and Christ as the Center of God’s Administration.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Oh how sweet it is just to know my Christ! / Knowing Him’s the goal of my whole life. / Gaining Him supplies me day by day, / He’s rich and excellent in every way! (Song on, Oh how sweet it is just to know my Christ)
– Lord of glory, we adore Thee! / Christ of God, ascended high! / Heart and soul we bow before Thee, / Glorious now beyond the sky: / Thee we worship, Thee we praise— / Excellent in all Thy ways. (Hymns #144)
– Fill all my vision, let naught of sin / Shadow the brightness shining within. / Let me see only Thy blessed face, / Feasting my soul on Thy infinite grace. (Hymns #381)
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