A practical application and a sweet illustration of the progress made by the seeking lover of the Lord, the book of Song of Songs shows us how we can progressively experience Christ in our loving fellowship with Him until we become just like Him, matching Him as our Bridegroom.
Hudson Taylor called this book, A book of Union and Communion with Christ, and it truly is – stage by stage and step by step, the Lord as the Bridegroom draws us to Himself, transforms us, brings us higher, until we are His counterpart, fully matching Him in every possible way.
According to the spiritual significance of the book of Song of Songs, there are six major sections / steps in our pursuit of Christ:
- Drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction (1:2—2:7);
- Called to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (2:8—3:5);
- Called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection (3:6—5:1);
- Called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection (5:2—6:13);
- Sharing in the work of the Lord (7:1-13);
- Hoping to be raptured (8:1-14).
These steps correspond with our experience of Christ – we first are drawn to Him to pursue Him for our own satisfaction, and then the Lord calls us to be delivered from the self through the cross.
There is then a further calling to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection – transcending all things! We are then called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection and share in the work of the Lord.
As the consummation of the process we go through in lovingly pursuing the Lord, we simply hope and long to be raptured to be with Him!
Hallelujah for such a romance, a loving relationship, and a lifelong process of pursuing Christ to be transformed and glorified in His image to match Him as His counterpart!
Called to Live in Ascension as a New Creation in Resurrection
In the fourth stage of our experience of life, we are being called by the Lord as our Bridegroom to live in ascension as a new creation in resurrection (see Song of Songs 4:7-8). He is calling us to come out of our introspective and secluding self, which separates us from the Lord, to live in ascension as a new creation!
We shouldn’t look at ourselves to analyze and see where we are, what’s going on inside of us, etc – we simply need to go to the Lord on a high mountain – in ascension.
When we as the lover of Christ live in ascension, we and Him are living in one condition – the condition of ascension – to be one couple. Christ is divine and human, and we as His transformed lover are human and divine. We are the same in life and nature, perfectly matching one another (see Song of Songs 4:8, footnote 1 in the Recovery Version).
The victory has already been gained by Christ, but Satan and his evil forces still are here on earth, operating among men, and they are also in the heavenlies (see Eph. 3:10, note 1).
When we live in ascension, far above the evil powers, we fight with Satan and his power of darkness by being empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength, by putting on the whole armor of God, by standing against the stratagems of the devil, by receiving the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (the word of God), and by praying always in the spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ and the spreading of the gospel (see Eph. 6:12-20).
This is in practicality what it means to live in reality in the ascension of Christ, one with Him, as the lover of Christ in Song of Songs did.
As Beautiful as Tirzah, as Lovely as Jerusalem, as Beautiful as the Moon, as Clear as the Sun
In Song of Songs 6:4 we are likened to Tirzah and to Jerusalem – Tirzah was an ancient city where the palace of the king of Israel was located (see 1 Kings 14:17; 16:17-18), and Jerusalem is the place where God dwells with man (in the temple of God).
As we advance in our growth in life unto maturity, we are not merely a lily or a garden for our Beloved, but we become a city where our King dwells and a city where God dwells with man.
Furthermore, the Lord sees us as one who “looks forth like the dawn” (S.S. 6:10) – with us there’s no more night, we are in the morning, in ascension as the new creation! We are “as beautiful as the moon” and “as clear as the sun” – we become heavenly persons, in ascension, the same as Christ (who is the Sun of righteousness, see Mal. 4:2).
When we reach the highest experience of Christ in ascension, we become so much like Christ that we look like Him, shine like Him, and match Him (see Matt. 13:43).
The divine life in us has to increase, grow, and become bright as the morning, beautiful as the moon, and clear as the sun – and we will be manifested with Christ in His majesty as an army with banners – lovely and beautiful to the Lord, but terrible to the enemy!
Such a position and standing is not something to be claimed that we have – it comes as a result as the growth in life unto maturity and of standing in the position of ascension!
We need to go on with the Lord through all the necessary experiences, from the experience of the cross and resurrection to living in oneness with the Lord, living in ascension, having a deeper experience of the cross, and becoming mature and victorious to be able to work with the Lord.
When we arrive at this point in the experience of life, we yearn to be raptured by the Lord and be with Him!
Lord, take us on with You. We want to advance in our experience of life. Lord, take us through stage by stage, and may we be those who cooperate with You to experience You in a deeper way. Bring us all the way into ascension to be as clear as the sun, as beautiful as the moon, and as terrible as an army with banners! Lord, gain many of Your loving seekers to the extent that You obtain Your duplication, Your corporate reproduction in humanity, the ones who simply wait and yearn to be raptured to be with You in glory! Come, Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chan’s speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Song of Songs (msg. 5), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 6/ msg 6, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (5) – Full of the Stature of Christ.
- Further reading on this topic:
# Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 3 (pp. 543-553).
# Song of Songs 4:7-8 and 6:4 (with footnotes, see Holy Bible Recovery Version). - Hymns on this topic:
# She is as beautiful as Tirzah / As lovely as Jerusalem. / Through her living in Christ’s ascension / Her dear heart is now His home. / She’s become the sanctuary of God.
# Lord, grant me a heavenly, corporate view; / That all of my growth and prayers to You, / Little by little, day by day, / Would cause building up into You. / We would be corporately, growing up steadily / Till we reach the stature of Your fullness; / Transforming and conforming us, Your / Manifested people.
# “Thou art fair, my love, as Tirzah, / Comely as Jerusalem.“ / O Lord Jesus, Hallelujah, / Thou wilt do it all! Amen!
Tear down the walls of introspection that separate us from
You dear Lord so we can graduate from the country girl into Your New Jerusalem,
so we match You like the Sun(Malachi 4:2), be Your triumphant warrior bride who
terrifies Your enemy and becomes an eternal divine new dawn free from darkness!
Amen <3