Last night in our home meeting we were enjoying the fact that the Apostle Paul saw Christ everywhere in the Old Testament. Even in Deut. 30:12 where there was the re-speaking of the law and the question, “Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?” came up – even here, Paul saw Christ as the living Word of God!
This is what it means to read the Bible with the glasses of God’s economy on and to be on the central line of the Bible! Here is what Paul says in Rom. 10:6-8,
6. But the righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down;
7. Or, “Who will descend into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.
8. But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim.
Today this is even the more so, since through incarnation Christ descended from the heavens and through resurrection He ascended from the abyss. In His incarnation, Christ as the Word brought the infinite God into the finite man – He mingled the Triune God with the tripartite man, divinity with humanity, God with man (Matt. 1:20).
He became such a mingling of God and man so that He may accomplish an all-inclusive redemption on the cross and bring us back to God (1 Pet. 3:18). Then, He descended into death, into the abyss, Hades, and after three days, in His resurrection, He ascended into the heavens again!
Now all those who receive Him by believing into Him are justified by God and have the divine life! There is no point in asking – Who will ascend to the heavens? OR, Who will descend into the abyss? – since Christ, through His process of incarnation, human living, resurrection, and ascension – He descended, then He ascended, and now He is the life-giving Spirit!
He accomplished everything that is required by God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory – now we can come to Him to partake of Him! He is now the Spirit – even the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) – ready and available for every human being to receive!
This Christ is now everywhere on earth as the Spirit, available to be received! Whoever receives Him by believing into Him is justified by God and receives His life!
Even more – Christ now is the living Word of God coming to us in the Spirit and as the Spirit. This is indicated that this Christ – whom no one needs to either bring down from the heavens or to resurrect from the abyss – is “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”!
Hallelujah, Christ in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit is the living Word of God! In resurrection, Christ is both the Word and the Spirit – He is the Spirit for us to touch and experience, and He is the Word for us to understand and enjoy!
He is so near to us – even in our mouth and in our heart! We can call on the name of the Lord with our mouth – and we receive His life! We can believe into the Lord with our heart – and we are justified! How amazing – God in Christ as the Spirit has accomplished everything and has done everything that is needed for Him to be available, at hand, and ready for man to receive and enjoy!
The Triune God became the Spirit – the air that we breathe – and the Word – which we speak! This Word is not just the written word – it is the spoken living word, that is, the living person of Christ Himself!
This is why we need to read the Word, enjoy the Word, be in the Word, be immersed into the Word, and be saturated with the Word, so that we may cooperate with the Lord to speak the Word! Praise the Lord – when we call on Him, we are saved; when we believe into Him, we are justified; and when we speak His Word, we are saved much more in His life!
[enjoyment from, the Conclusion of the New Testament, as quoted on, the Central Line of the Bible (HWMR); intro via, Christ the Living Word is in Our Mouth]
Thank You Lord for Your availability! We can take You in as the Spirit – You are the spiritual air for us to breathe in! We don’t need to DO something to improve or get to a certain performance… we can just Call On Your Name! We can just Say Amen to Your Word! We can pray over Your Word and take Your Word in – and we are saved! Lord, the word is in our mouth and in our heart! This is the Word of the faith – which we proclaim and believe!
amen!
haleluia.amen