SERIES TWO

Nature and Life

G B Woodcock

Now to Him who is able to do

far more abundantly beyond

all that we ask or think,

according to the power

that works within us,

to Him be the glory

in the church

and in Christ Jesus

to all generations

forever and ever.

English definitions of Greek and Hebrew words are taken from: - Online Bible Greek Lexicon © 2010 Online Bible North America. All rights reserved.

- Online Bible Hebrew Lexicon © 2010 Online Bible North America. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from: The New American Standard Bible ® (1995 Update) Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version, ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, © 1989 by the division of Christian Education of the National Council of the churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (Amplified Version) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

One with Christ | Series Two (Kindle Edition) - G B Woodcock

A Bible study series on experiencing love and unity with God Copyright © 2013 Geoff Woodcock. Freely receive, freely give. Permission is given to reproduce, distribute and share this material for non-commercial purposes.

Web | www.onewithchrist.com

Email | info@onewithchrist.com

ISBN: 978-0-9864695-9-6

Version: 2 (April 2013)

Published by Studyword Media

Contents

Introduction

1. Spiritual Truth

2. Types and Realities

3. Revelation

4. Revelation and Possession

5. Light

6. Unfolding the Word

7. The Passover

8. The Passover Elements

9. The Last Supper

10. The Blood of Christ

11. The Flesh of Christ

12. The Exchange

13. Eating and Drinking

14. The Tabernacle

15. The Holy Place

16. The Holy of Holies

Contact Us

Reference Notes

Introduction

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity…

Hebrews 6:1

Our call is to press on to greater experience and maturity in Christ. To this end, the One with Christ series is a collection of Bible studies that focus on growing in God and becoming one with Christ.

Series One provides the foundation for Series Two and so completing the first series is recommended before continuing on with the second. Before we get started, we will briefly review the overall message of Series One.

Truth and Reality

In Scripture, truth is reality. Jesus is the Truth and so He is the center of all reality.[1] Everything that is real has been created through Him and for Him.[2] He is the source and ultimate goal of all reality. Therefore, for us to live in the truth is to live in the reality of Jesus.

The word of God reveals the truth of Jesus. However, by itself, our intellectual understanding of a truth does not lead us to experience that truth. To enter into reality we need the Spirit of God to turn our theory into actual experience. Only He can take the word from our heads and establish it as a reality in our hearts. As such, we need to abide in both the word and the Spirit to experience more of Jesus.

When the Spirit breathes on the word, it becomes living and active. The living word of God is His rhema or the sound of His voice speaking to us.

God creates things through His spoken word. When God said “Let there be light”, there was light.[3] He spoke and it was done. So as God speaks to us, He releases the power of His Spirit to fulfill His word in us and make it a reality. In this way, the Spirit of God is the life and action of the word. He brings the word to life and then He performs that word in us. Our call is simply to offer our hearts as a canvas to our creator and let Him speak new things into being within us. Then when God speaks to us, we can be sure that because He has spoken, it will be done. He will be faithful and fulfill His word in us.

Inheritance of Life

Through the death of Jesus, God has given us an awesome spiritual inheritance.[4] This inheritance surpasses anything we could ask for or imagine.[5] It is not only the different blessings and relationships we can have with God, but it is Jesus Himself. The depths of Jesus’ love, nature, life and presence have been given to us. He is our inheritance.[6]

Having come to faith in God, we have been given the right to our inheritance in Christ.[7] However, having the right to an inheritance is not the same as living in it. Our inheritance reflects our potential life in Christ rather than our present reality. As such, for our inheritance in Christ to be of value in our lives, we need our potential to become reality. We need to enter into our inheritance, experience it and let it change us.

As we enter into our spiritual inheritance, we possess more of the life of Jesus. He lives within us and we start to become one with Christ. The more we are united with Him, the more we are transformed from glory to glory into our new self.[8] Our new self is who we truly are: people who are created in the image of God to live in love and unity with Christ.

To enter into our inheritance in Jesus is to possess His life within us and experience our true life in union with Him. Our inheritance is loving God with all our heart, soul and mind. It is the gift of becoming one with Christ. This can be our reality for He makes it all possible. He died that we may live in unity with Him. And He has the power, grace, love and will to make it happen. All we need is faith and desire.

Faith and Desire

A defining aspect of growth is change. So to grow spiritually, we need to want to experience real change. In this way, having a desire for change is a key to growing in God.

Real desire is of the heart rather than the mind. It is a desire that compels us to enter deeper into our inheritance in Jesus. This kind of desire is a gift that is formed in us by the Spirit of God. As such, if we want real desire, we simply need to open our hearts to God and ask Him to do His work in us.[9]

Every aspect of our inheritance is a gift of grace and faith alone accesses grace.[10] So as our desire for Jesus increases, we need to combine it with faith to grow more in God.

Like true desire, faith is of the heart more than the mind, for Scripture says: it is with the heart that we believe.[11] Faith is not a philosophy or intellectual belief. True faith is the deep confidence of the heart. It is the certainty that comes from hearing God speak, knowing in our hearts that He will bring His word to pass. This is the faith that accesses grace and leads us into the reality of our inheritance in Christ.

Jesus is the source, sustainer and finisher of our faith.[12] Real faith comes from Jesus and leads to Him. He is the beginning, middle and end of our faith. So like all the other aspects of our inheritance, faith is a gift that we receive from God.[13] We cannot earn or fabricate true faith; rather we can only ask God to speak and create the deep confidence of faith in our hearts.

The righteous one shall live by faith.[14] Our faith is to be a daily reality that flows from a living relationship with Jesus. God speaks, we hear, we believe, and we obey. Our faith then lives through our words and actions.[15] As we live and act in faith, we access the power of His Spirit to fulfill His word in us and draw us deeper into Jesus.

Where to from Here?

In Series One we laid a foundation of truth, life, faith, desire and reality. This series continues to build on that foundation, with the first few studies serving to reinforce and extend some of the key aspects of Series One. After those studies, we will focus on entering into our inheritance of being united with Jesus.

My prayer is that the Spirit of Jesus would fill your heart with love, faith and desire for Him. May Jesus be your all in all. May He overwhelm you with His life and love, and may you become more and more one with Him.

Author, One with Christ

Chapter 1

Spiritual Truth

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth…”

John 16:13a

As we saw in Series One, we need to abound in the Spirit and the word of God to experience reality. The word is truth and God gives us His Spirit to lead us into truth. When we unite the Spirit and the word, the Spirit breathes on the Scriptures and the written word comes alive with the revelation of Jesus.

Luke 24:44-45

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

John 5:39

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”

The Scriptures are full of Jesus. He is the heart and center of the word of God. So as the Spirit teaches us, we will begin to see Jesus more and more in the word. We will find that the whole of Scripture is a call to know and love Jesus.

Seeing the Spiritual

1 Corinthians 2:12-14

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

As we learn more of Jesus and our inheritance in Him, we will also learn more of the spiritual reality of Scripture. As this passage shows, the spiritual things of God are discerned spiritually.[16] Only the Spirit of God can reveal the spiritual depths of Scripture and show us how His word leads to Jesus.

Luke 24:45

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Like the disciples, we need Jesus to open our minds so that we can understand His word. Our natural minds can often miss the spiritual dimensions of Scripture and fail to see how the word connects with Jesus. So to understand the Scriptures, we need the Spirit of Jesus to open our minds and teach us.

Spiritual Depths

When Jesus opens our minds to understand His word, He will show us depths in the word that our natural minds may find foolish. Yet within these depths we can find keys to growing in God.

Examples of such depths can be found in the parables. A parable is a teaching that explains spiritual truth in a way that listeners can understand and relate to. Within the natural pictures of the parables are spiritual principles that help us to grow more in God.

What is the word like? The word is like seed that is sown in people’s hearts, therefore prepare your heart so the seed may bear fruit.[17] What is the Spirit like? He is like a spring of living water, so drink of Him and enjoy new life.[18] What is prayer like? Prayer can be like petitioning a ruler or knocking on the door of a friend, so you need to have patience and perseverance. The door will be opened, so have faith and do not give up.[19] What is the kingdom like? The kingdom is like a great wedding feast where everyone is invited, but not everyone accepts the invitation, so make Jesus your sole priority and respond to His call.[20] It is also like a rare treasure, so know for sure that the kingdom of God is worth giving up everything to possess.[21]

The natural images of the parables are only faint shadows of the realities they represent, but they offer us insight into these realities and give us keys to experiencing the truth of God in our lives.

Preparing the Way

In Scripture we find that spiritual principles are often expressed in natural pictures. This use of symbolism is not only found in the parables, but can be seen throughout the word of God.

Luke 3:3-6

And he [John] came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘make ready the way of the LORD, make His paths straight. Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh will see the Salvation of God.’”

In preparing the way for Jesus, John was the voice in the wilderness, calling the people to level mountains and fill in valleys. This call was not meant to be understood physically; no one had to level actual physical mountains to prepare the way for Jesus. Rather it is a spiritual call to prepare our hearts for Christ. We are to yield the mountains and valleys of our hearts to God and let Him level us out. We are to seek Him to make our crooked ways straight and to smooth out the roughness in our hearts. We are to let God reshape our hearts and minds that we may be open and ready for more of Jesus.

Through this example we see how the spiritual depths of Scripture lead us to Jesus and help us to grow in Him. We can answer the spiritual call of John the Baptist and repent and humble ourselves before God, yielding our hearts to His love. We can prepare the way for Jesus in us.

Fig Tree and the Temple

Like the call of John the Baptist to prepare our hearts by leveling mountains, so actions and events in Scripture can also use physical pictures to illustrate spiritual truths.

Matthew 11:12-22

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. When evening came, they would go out of the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.”

In this passage Jesus fails to find fruit on the fig tree and so curses it. He then cleans out the temple. Afterwards the disciples find the fig tree withered. But why? Why did Jesus curse the fig tree and then cleanse the temple? What is He teaching us through the fig tree?

Luke 13:6-7

And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’”

When Jesus came to purge the temple, He used the fig tree as a living parable of Israel’s religious system.[22] Like the fruitless fig tree, Jesus came to Israel and failed to find any fruit. Their religious system was corrupted and the temple was defiled. The season for fruit was over. So Jesus cursed the fig tree and purged the temple. The old system was finished and now a fundamental spiritual shift was taking place. In the place of the Law, Jesus would establish grace. Instead of religion, He would have relationship. He would remove the temple and its system of religious works, and it would never bear fruit again. It would die and in its place Jesus would establish His life and grace in His people. And they would be fruitful.

So knowing the symbolism of the passage, how does this help us to grow spiritually? How does it lead us to experience more of Jesus?

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Titus 2:13b-14

…our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Jesus has a passion for a pure temple and a fruitful people. In Christ, we are now the temple of God and as such the purging of the temple also speaks of our personal spiritual cleansing. Just as Jesus purged the temple, so He will also purify us. If we give our hearts to Him, He will wash away our corruption. He will free us from our dead works, striving and legalism, and lead us to live in grace and spiritual fruitfulness.[23]

Then, as our hearts are purified, in the same way that the presence of God filled the temple of Solomon, so Jesus will fill us with His presence. He will be the glory and life within us.[24]

Summary

The written word of God reveals the reality of Jesus and our inheritance in Him. As we combine the Spirit and the word, we will start to see the spiritual dimensions of Scripture and find keys to growing in Jesus.

To understand the spiritual meaning of Scripture, we need to seek Jesus to open our minds and give us spiritual wisdom, understanding and discernment.[25] We need to yield our minds to God, let Him change us, teach us and lead us into our new life in Christ.

Questions

- How can I be spiritually discerning in the word?

- Do I really need Jesus to open my mind?

- What are some of the mountains of my heart?

- What are some pictures in Scripture that have spoken to me in the past?

Chapter 2

Types and Realities

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

In Scripture, natural pictures can often express spiritual truth. As we discover the spiritual dimensions of the word of God, we find keys that help us to grow in Christ.

Like the fig tree that Jesus cursed, many of the real objects or events in Scripture are living parables or types.[26] Types are actual physical events that represent spiritual realities. In this study we will look at a few examples of types in Scripture.

Type: tupos

In a doctrinal sense: a person or thing prefiguring a future (Messianic) person or thing.

Romans 5:14

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam…who is a type of Him who was to come.

Colossians 2:16-17

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Adam and the festivals and sacred days of the Mosaic Law are examples of types. They are symbols or shadows of Jesus; He is the substance and reality. So we find that in the word of God, people, festivals, feasts, events, objects, names, animals, lands, places and more can be used as types.[27] They can all represent spiritual realities that are fulfilled in Jesus.

1 Corinthians 10:11

Now these things happened to them [Israel] as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The things that Israel experienced were written for our instruction.[28] Types are in Scripture for our benefit. As we see the spiritual truth within types, we gain insight into Jesus and our inheritance in Him.

A Type of Rock

Exodus 17:1-7

Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (emphasis added)

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

The rock that Israel drank from in the wilderness is more than just a physical rock. It is a type of Jesus.[29] He is the spiritual rock and is the source of our living water.[30] So if we want to live spiritually then we need to learn what it means to drink from Jesus.

The Bronze Serpent

Numbers 21:8-9

Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Having sinned against God, many of the Israelites were killed by snakes. To save His people, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Anyone who had been bitten could look to the bronze serpent and live.

John 3:14-15

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

Like the bronze serpent, Jesus was lifted up and crucified to save us from our sin. So like Israel, as we realize our infection with sin, we can repent, look to Jesus and find healing and new life. In this way, the bronze serpent is a type of Jesus. It is a shadow of salvation. Jesus is the reality.

Wisdom of God

Proverbs 4:7a (NKJV)

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:23-24, 30-31

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.”

Jesus is the wisdom of God. As such, the wisdom that speaks in Proverbs is fulfilled in Jesus. He is the principal thing: Jesus is to be our focus and goal.

Proverbs 8:12

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles, all who judge rightly. I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.”

This passage reveals some of the promises that are found in Jesus as the wisdom of God. If we diligently seek Him, we will find Him. If we love and abide in Christ, we will bear fruit that far surpasses any natural wealth. He will endow us with true treasure, filling our hearts with His love and presence.

Open Hearts and Minds

When Jesus taught in parables, many people struggled to see the truth contained within the teachings and so failed to come to know Jesus. But why?

Matthew 13:10-16

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them… “I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’”[31]

Those listeners who heard Jesus but did not receive the truth fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah. They heard with their minds, but they did not understand with their hearts. Their hearts were too dull to receive the truth that Jesus shared.

Thus true understanding is of the heart and is given to those who have prepared their hearts. As such, we need to work with the Spirit to prepare our hearts. As He changes us and helps us to understand with our hearts, we will start to see Jesus not just as the ultimate fulfillment of the Scriptures, but as the One who fulfils the Scriptures of God in us.

For example: we know that Jesus is the fulfillment of the bronze snake and the source of salvation and life. However, if we let Jesus fulfill the bronze snake in us, we can be changed forever. From that point on He is not just the savior of the world; He is our personal salvation and life. In the same way, Jesus can be our rock in the wilderness, refreshing us with the waters of His Spirit and word. He can be the treasure of our hearts and our surpassing spiritual wealth. We simply need to open our hearts to His truth and let Him fulfill His word in us.

Summary

1 John 5:20a

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true…

The true understanding of the heart comes from Jesus and leads us to know Him. In order to receive this understanding we need Jesus to open our minds and change our hearts. We need to seek God to cleanse our hearts and give us a pure childlike faith and love for Him. Then, with humble hearts and open minds, we will begin to see more of the spiritual truth of God’s word. We will know that Jesus is the reality of the word and that He wants to fulfill His word in us. He wants to lead us to experience the truth and live in His reality.

To enter into the true understanding of the heart, we need to really want it and then diligently seek God for it. When we sincerely look for Jesus, He will keep His promise: we will find Him. He will become our treasure and fill us with the riches of His life, presence, joy and grace.

Questions

- What does my heart truly treasure?

- What does it mean to drink from Jesus?

- Why was a bronze snake used to represent Jesus?

- What is true wisdom?

Chapter 3

Revelation

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Ephesians 1:17

In our journey towards maturity in Christ, our desire is to know Him. Our goal is not just to learn about Jesus but to know Him intimately through personal experience. So how do we come to know God? How does God make Himself known?

Revelation Knowledge

1 Samuel 3:1-7

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know [yada] the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him.

Know: yada (Hebrew)

To know or cause to know, to be made known or revealed, declare, to know by experience.

As a boy, Samuel was raised in the temple, learning of God and ministering to Him. Yet in verse seven we find that Samuel did not yet know God, nor had the word of God been revealed to him. Although Samuel had learned about God, he was yet to encounter or know Him.

1 Samuel 3:21

And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

In the beginning of the chapter, Samuel did not know God because God had not yet revealed Himself. However, by the end of the chapter we find that God had revealed Himself to Samuel by His word. Through revelation God made Himself known to Samuel.

Revelation Uncovered

Like Samuel, in order to know God we need revelation. So what is revelation and how do we receive it?

Reveal: alah (Hebrew)

To uncover, remove, make known, show, reveal.

Reveal: apokalupto (Greek)

To uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up; to make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown.

For something to be revealed means that it is made known. In other words, that which was previously hidden or obscured is uncovered and exposed. So in simple terms, for God to reveal Himself means that aspects of God which were previously unknown to us are now made known.

As we saw in Series One, it is possible to know something on an intellectual level without having the actual experience. We can understand the theory in our mind, but we may not always know the reality in our heart.

Through revelation, God makes known that which was not known. So the things that we are yet to know in our hearts, we can know through revelation. In this way, revelation is a key to moving from theory to reality. Through revelation, we receive the true knowledge of the heart. God’s truth becomes real for us. His truth becomes our truth.

Because revelation affects our hearts, it causes a change in us that theory and doctrine cannot forge. For example, we know that God is love. We have the theory set firmly in our minds: God is love. However, when we receive the revelation of God as Love, we are changed. In our hearts we truly know that God is love and this knowledge completely changes how we feel, think and act. We move from being people who believe in the doctrine of love to being people who live in the revelation and reality of God’s love. Through revelation, His love changes us, shapes us and starts to define us.

Thus revelation brings the true knowledge of reality and helps us to live in a genuine awareness of the truth. When we receive a revelation from God, our eyes are opened—we see a measure of the reality of God and we are changed.

The Spirit gives us revelation not only to show us the reality of God, but also the reality of life around us. Through revelation the Spirit may open our eyes to see how the world really is; the true nature of sin; the beauty in love and kindness; the vanity of earthly pursuits; the joy of humility; the power of words; or the value of sacrifice. In this way, revelation allows us to see the true nature and value of things.

Revelation can also give us insight into our own lives. It can dispel our false thoughts or fears of our spiritual state and establish the truth of God in our hearts. Like the Laodiceans, through revelation we can discover the reality of our current spiritual condition and learn the truth of who we can become in Christ.

Revelation 2:14-19

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’”

In this passage, Jesus showed the Laodiceans who they had become. They believed they were rich and wealthy, and so Jesus revealed their true spiritual state: wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Through revelation the Laodiceans learned the reality of who they were. However, by the same revelation they also discovered who they could be in Christ. They could be spiritually healed, rich and clothed. They could become overcomers, seated on the throne of Christ. They could turn to Jesus and He would give them everything they needed to move from their state of spiritual poverty into their calling of true spiritual wealth in Christ.

In the same way, if we seek Jesus, He will reveal to us our current spiritual condition and show us how to repent, change and grow. As with the Laodiceans, Jesus will also confirm the promise of who we can become in Him. He will reveal to us the awesome nature of our inheritance in Christ. And this revelation will forever change us. Rather than just knowing the theory of our call to be one with Him, it will be real to us. We will know in our hearts that this is God’s desire for us and He can make it happen. By His grace, we can know the reality of becoming one with Christ.

Receiving Revelation

Matthew 11:25-27

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Jesus is the source of revelation. He is the only one who can lead us to know the Father and Jesus does this by revealing Him to us. Revelation therefore comes from God and draws us back to Him. When Jesus gives us revelation, it is not just an intellectual insight, but an intimate and real knowledge of God that we receive in our hearts.

So how can we grow in revelation? In this passage we see that God does not respond to our natural intelligence or wisdom. On the contrary, He hides Himself from our attempts to know Him intellectually. The only way we can grow in revelation and the knowledge of God is to become like little children and surrender our worldliness, pride, motives and agendas so that we may seek Him in simplicity and natural dependence. As His little children, we need to come to God with hearts that simply want to know and love Him.

Summary

Ephesians 1:15-17

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

May God give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Revelation is a gift of grace that comes from God and leads us to know Him.

In order to receive the gift of revelation we need to become like little children: simple, sincere, trusting and full of faith. We need to come to Him with a thirst for reality, no longer content to have doctrine without experience. We need to long to really know God.

Those who hunger and thirst for Jesus will be satisfied.[32] God is faithful. He wants to be known. So when we diligently seek Him, He will give us the gift of revelation and the heart-based knowledge it brings. Then, as we receive His revelation, the things that were previously unknown in our hearts will become known. The theory will become reality. God will reveal Himself to us, change us, and lead us to experience more of our inheritance in Christ.

Questions

- How has God revealed things to me in the past?

- Why does God give revelation?

- Do I really want to know my current spiritual condition?

- How can I prepare my heart for more revelation?

Chapter 4

Revelation and Possession

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”

Matthew 11:25

As we become like little children, God reveals Himself to us. Through revelation the various aspects of our inheritance are made known and attainable. In this way, receiving revelation is a key to growing in God and experiencing more of Him.

Our Inheritance

1 Corinthians 2:9-13

…but just as it is written, “things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

No eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him. God has prepared an inheritance for us that is beyond our imagination. So how can we enter into something that we cannot comprehend?

God has given us His Spirit to take us into our inheritance. The Spirit knows the thoughts of God and He has been given to us so that we may know the inheritance that God has freely given to us.

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit. To lead us into the reality of our inheritance, the Spirit searches the depths of God and reveals these depths to us. Our spiritual journey in God is revealed to us step by step, depth by depth. Through revelation the Spirit allows us to comprehend and experience more of what God has prepared for us. In this way, receiving revelation is a key to possessing each aspect of our inheritance in Christ.

Possessing our Inheritance

Deuteronomy 29:29

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

The secret things belong to God, but what He reveals to us is ours. Revelation leads to experience and possession. As such, God reveals to us each aspect of our inheritance so that we would enter into that aspect, own it, live in it, and make it our possession.

For example, if the Spirit of God reveals Jesus to us as the Teacher, we are led into the experience of learning from Him. He instructs us and disciplines us, and we can truly say that Jesus is our Teacher.

Revelation and Faith

In Series One we learned that we enter reality through faith. So if revelation also leads to reality, then how is it connected to faith?

Romans 10:17

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of Christ.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema of God. Rhema means a spoken word from a living voice. God speaks and creates faith in our hearts as we hear His voice.

1 Samuel 3:21

And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word [dabar] of the LORD.

Word: dabar

Speech, word, speaking, thing.

The Hebrew word dabar has the same meaning as the Greek word rhema. Both words mean a spoken word. Thus the spoken or living word of God brings both revelation and faith.

In the Faith study in Series One we learned that true faith is the confidence of the heart. It is the deep certainty within us that comes from God. Similar to faith, revelation is the clear understanding of the heart. It is the inward knowledge of the truth that far surpasses the theory of our minds. It is real knowledge. This knowledge forms the basis for our faith, for as God reveals His truth to us, we can have confidence in that truth. Our confidence then leads us to experience the reality.

So we find that revelation and faith are closely related. Together they form the knowledge and confidence of the heart that together lead to reality.

Revelation, Faith and Reality

When God speaks to us, He gives us a revelation of Himself. It may be a quiet knowledge of His will, a clearer vision of our inheritance, a greater understanding of a truth, or a life-changing revelation of His love. In whatever form the revelation takes, when we receive the real knowledge of the heart, the Spirit can take that knowledge and create new faith within us.

Revelation becomes faith as we choose to believe it, stand on it, and call on God for confidence in the knowledge that He has placed in our hearts. When we receive His confidence, our faith then accesses the grace and power of God to lead us into the personal experience of that word. In this way, the Spirit and word of God work together to bring us revelation, faith and reality.

For example: to lead us into joy, God may breathe life into Scriptures of joy and start revealing to us the joy that is in the nature of Jesus. While this revelation may not add anything new to our intellectual understanding of joy, it creates in our hearts a deep knowledge of God’s joy. The truth of the joy of the Lord becomes our personal truth. We know beyond any doubt that Jesus is the source of all joy and that He is now becoming the source of joy in us.

When we receive this knowledge, we can ask God to create true faith in us and resolve to place our confidence in the revelation of joy. Then as He gives us faith, we experience His joy. God speaks and it happens. So while previously we may have learned of joy, the true joy of Jesus only becomes a reality in our hearts as God speaks it into being within us. Then we possess joy. We have the word, the knowledge, the confidence and the experience.

The Voice of God

So how does God speak and give us revelation?

The Spirit of God can give us revelation in many different ways. In Scripture people received revelation through God’s spoken and written word, through visions, dreams, thoughts, promptings, signs, prophecies, lots, circumstances and more. God is unlimited in the ways He can reveal Himself to us. However, it is possible to mishear or misunderstand God, so it is important to remember that when the Spirit speaks to us His words will always be consistent with Scripture and every rhema we hear will be confirmed by two or three witnesses.[33] Scripture is the standard of truth, so we need to be wise and discerning, checking that every revelation we receive aligns with the overall truth of the word of God.

It is the Spirit of God that brings revelation and so it is only as we combine the Spirit and the word that we find the revelation of God in the Scriptures. Without the Spirit of Jesus we can forever read the words of Scripture but miss the reality that the Scripture speaks of. Like the Pharisees we can search for eternal life in the Scriptures, yet fail to discover Jesus as Life.[34] So to receive revelation we need the Spirit of God to open our hearts to see His truth and to breathe life into His word. As we experience revelation, we move from simply reading and believing that God is good to knowing in our hearts the reality of God’s goodness. Revelation makes it real.

The Rock of Revelation

Matthew 16:15-18

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

This passage gives us more insight into revelation. Here Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and is blessed because this was a revelation that was given to him by the Father. Jesus then says “you are Peter and upon this rock I will build My church”. When we read this passage in context we receive a deeper insight into the rock. The main subject of this passage is the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. As such, the solid foundation on which God is building His church is not Peter, but the revelation of Jesus as the Son of the living God. This is the rock that endures and that the gates of hell cannot overcome. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Thus God is building His church on the revelation of Jesus. This is the revelation that leads to experience and possession by faith.

Summary

Revelation brings faith and faith leads to experience. So as we journey deeper into our inheritance in Jesus, God will give us a revelation of what He has for us. He will show us the next step. As we receive His revelation, He will create faith within us and draw us into the reality of that next step.

Revelation is a gift of God that provides a foundation for faith. It makes the truth our possession and reality. So when God reveals to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, we can know deep in our hearts with total certainty that Jesus is the One. Revelation makes it real.

Questions

- How have I heard God speak lately?

- Did His voice bring faith? Did faith bring experience?

- What is something I’d love to really know in my heart?

- What would life be like if I had that revelation?

Chapter 5

Light

While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.

John 12:36

Light is an important aspect of our journey towards maturity in God. Jesus is the Light and we are called to believe in Him so that we may become sons of Light. But what is light? What does it mean to be a son of Light?

Light of God

John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 1:1-9

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

Jesus is the source of all creation and the center of life. He is the Light of the world and the Light of our life. To understand what it means for Jesus to be the Light, we need to discover what light represents in Scripture.

Daniel 2:20-22

Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.”

Job 12:22

“He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep darkness into light.”

Mark 4:22

“For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.”

Revealed: phaneroo

To make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way.

Light: phaneros

Apparent, manifest, evident, known.

In Scripture, light is connected with revelation. In Mark 4:22 we find that the word revealed and the word light both come from the Greek word phaino, meaning: to bring forth into the light, to shed light, or to cause to shine. So we find that in spiritual terms, light is often used as a symbol of revelation. In this sense, revelation is the process by which something that was hidden is exposed and brought into the light.

Light of Revelation

Luke 2:29-32

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light of Revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

Jesus is the Light of Revelation. He is the true Light and so our journey into revelation starts with Jesus. Just as Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, so He is the beginning and end of our revelation.[35] He is our light.

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.[36] The light of God is found in the life of Christ. So when we seek God for revelation, He will answer us with Jesus. He will establish more of the nature and life of Christ in our hearts, and we will experience more of the light that flows from His presence within us.

Living in the Light

Psalm 90:8

You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

By its nature, light exposes darkness. So as we receive the light of Christ’s presence within us, it will naturally uncover the hidden sin and darkness in our hearts.

1 John 1:6-7

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

When Jesus reveals sin in our hearts, it is not to condemn us but to lead us into the reality of repentance, forgiveness and spiritual cleansing. For as our sin is brought into the light, the blood of Jesus washes it all away. It is exposed and destroyed. Having been made clean, we are set free to experience more of our inheritance in Christ. In this way, receiving revelation is a key to maturing in Jesus. We need revelation to live and grow.

Revealing God

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Matthew 11:27b

No one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

No one can know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the son wills to reveal Him. Jesus is the Light of the world for He brings the revelation of the Father to the world. God, who was unknown to us, is made known through Jesus. Thus it is only through Christ that we can know the Father.

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

We are the light of the world and are called to let our light shine. Jesus was the Light of the world because He was the revelation of the Father. In the same way, we become the light of the world as we bring the revelation of Jesus to others.

Galatians 1:15-16a

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me...

Just as God was pleased to reveal Jesus in Paul, so He is pleased to reveal His Son in us. He wants to live in and through us. It pleases Him. God calls us to become the light of the world and He can make it happen. We simply need to have faith and desire, and call on Him to lead us into the reality of becoming a light of Christ.

Light and Unity

John 14:10-11

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”

Jesus and the Father lived in each other. Jesus could only reveal the Father because the Father was alive in Christ and working through Him. The nature and life of the Father which were present in Jesus were revealed through His words and actions.

John 20:21

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus was sent by the Father to be the living revelation of God. And now, just as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. We are sent into the world to be a living revelation of Christ.

Jesus could only reveal the Father because He was living in spiritual unity with the Father. In the same way, before we can reveal Jesus, we must become one with Christ. We need to possess His nature and life within us, and let His presence radiate through us. As we possess Jesus, He will begin to reveal Himself through us. His life and presence within us will start to flow naturally through our words and actions. Only then will we truly know what it means to be a son of Light. We will live in Jesus and He in us, and we will be one with the Light.[37]

Summary

Light is revelation. Jesus is the true Light and His life is the source of our light. As the Spirit starts to establish His life within us and give us revelation, we will begin to know God more. The Spirit will show us who we can become in Christ and reveal to us every barrier that would keep us from living in the reality of our calling. The light of His presence will expose our sin that we may repent and be cleansed and set free to become a son of Light.

To be sons of Light, we need to become one with the Light. Jesus was the Light because He was one with the Father. The Father lived in Jesus and shone through Him. In the same way, as we become one with Christ, He will live within us and shine through us. We will become people who reveal Jesus to the world. And it will please God.

All of this is possible because Jesus is the Light and He has called us to be one with Him. He wants to fill us with His radiant life, nature and presence, and He can make it happen. Jesus died that we may live in unity with Him and experience His light shining in and through us. This is our inheritance and it can be our reality. By God’s grace we can possess the Light of God.

Questions

- What light has God given me recently?

- Does God want to give me more light? Why?

- How is Jesus revealed in us?

- Does Jesus really want to live in me? What does that mean?

Chapter 6

Unfolding the Word

The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119:130

Revelation is a key aspect of our growth in Christ. Revelation brings life and light and the true knowledge of the heart. Through revelation we receive faith, which accesses grace and draws us into reality. In this way, revelation leads us into a greater experience of God.

Knowing that revelation is a gift from God, how can we enter into more revelation?

Light of the Word

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

In this passage we find that God’s word is a light to our path. Scriptures are a deep source of revelation and life. As we saw in Series One, the Spirit will often breathe on the word of God making it living and active. Through the Spirit, the word comes to life and it becomes the voice of God, bringing us the revelation of God through His word.

Psalm 119:130

The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Unfolding: pethach

Opening, unfolding, entrance, doorway.

The unfolding of God’s words gives light. Scripture is a doorway that allows light to enter into our spirit. When we open God’s word, the Spirit of Jesus can give us a revelation, shining His light into our hearts and minds. As we continue to explore the word of God, we can often find more revelation in connected passages of Scripture. In this way, learning how to unfold the word of God can help us to discover more light in the word.

Searching out Scripture

John 5:39

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

Jesus is the heart and focus of Scripture, and as such the whole word of God can help us to grow in Christ. So when the Spirit brings a passage of the word to life, we can often find more life and insight in related parts of Scripture.

To see if this is the case, we can try doing a study on a particular passage or verse that the Spirit has brought to life for us. As we search out the Scriptures, we need to pay close attention to the sense of spiritual life in the word. While we continue to sense life, we can continue studying deeper. The key is to stay in step with the Spirit.

Psalm 119:160

The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

The sum of God’s word is truth and so the more we read Scriptures that relate to a certain truth, the clearer that truth becomes. To study a certain Scripture, we can start by looking at the surrounding context, comparing different translations, studying the underlying language, and searching out related Scriptures through cross-references and word searches. As we study the word of God, the Spirit can often open our eyes and give us more revelation, insight and life.

Unfolding the Word

The following aspects of study can be useful in searching out the Scriptures.

Thinking

Often spending time thinking deeply or pondering on a Scripture can give us extra insight into the passage. Asking simple questions can help us to gain a deeper understanding of a truth. Why? Who? What? Why? When? Where? Why?

Context

The context of a passage often contains keys to understanding its meaning. As well as considering the surrounding text, it is also helpful to identify the overall message and theme of the book containing the passage.[38]

Translations

Looking at different translations of a passage can also help us to gain more insight into the Scripture.[39]

Word Emphasis

When we speak or write, we naturally communicate meaning through emphasis. The same is true for the Scriptures. The Greek and Hebrew languages used in the Bible both convey emphasis in their writing. This emphasis reveals the focus of the text, which helps us to understand the text as a whole.[40]

A helpful resource for discovering emphasis in Scripture is The Discovery Bible.[41] The Discovery Bible is an enhanced NAS Bible translation and software tool that underlines the text that is emphasized in the original languages of Scripture. This allows anyone to read the Bible with emphasis without having to learn Greek or Hebrew.

Verb Tenses

The tense of a verb expresses the verb’s nature regarding time. However, the Greek and Hebrew languages both contain verb tenses that communicate more meaning than is available in English tenses. For example, in Greek the present imperative tense is used to give a command that requires continual or ongoing obedience. So when Scripture calls us to pursue love, it uses the present imperative tense to call us to continually and habitually pursue love.[42]

Because many of the tenses used in Scripture have no truly equivalent tense in English, a degree of the meaning that is inherent within those tenses is lost in translation.[43] To restore this meaning we can use a translation such as the Discovery Bible. The Discovery Bible overlays the translated Bible text with symbols that represent the original verb tenses and explains how each tense affects the sense of the verb. This allows us to naturally take in the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew tenses as we read the Scriptures.

Cross-References

Cross-references are lists of verses related to other parts of Scripture. It can be useful to explore these references and see if they shed any more light on or add life to the current passage.

Underlying Language

To study the original language we will need a lexicon. A lexicon is a dictionary for the original Hebrew and Greek words in Scripture. The words in our translation are linked to their original Hebrew or Greek words through a numbering system called Strong’s numbers.

Like many languages, a single Greek or Hebrew word may have multiple meanings or contain a meaning that is not adequately conveyed in a single foreign word.[44] A lexicon can help by giving us a more complete definition of the word. It also lists the different ways the word is translated, which lets us see how a word’s meaning changes in different contexts.

Word Searches

If there are words that stand out in a passage, we can search the Scriptures for those words to find related passages. We can also use the word index numbers to search for passages that use the same underlying Hebrew or Greek words.[45]

Types and Symbols

It can be useful to identify any types or symbols used in the passage we are studying. As can be seen in the parables, types and symbols carry spiritual meaning which contributes to the overall meaning of a passage. Types are found throughout the Scripture and can often be identified through cross-references and simple word searches.[46]

Tools

There are many computer programs available that support all these aspects of study. It is therefore a good idea to try a few and see which are best suited to you.[47]

An Example

In this quick example we will take a single verse and briefly see where it may lead by searching out the Scriptures.

Deuteronomy 25:4

“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”

Before reading on, take a few minutes to think about the message of the verse and what it may mean in a spiritual context. Ask questions. What does the ox represent? What is threshing? What does the muzzle do? Why should an ox be free to eat while he is threshing? What spiritual principles may be here? Then go on to try the other ways of unfolding the word using cross-references, word searches, and so on. See what light the Spirit gives to you regarding the verse.

Cross References

1 Corinthians 9:9-11

For it is written in the Law of Moses, “you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

Proverbs 12:10

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

1 Timothy 5:17-18

The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

The Mosaic Law is an expression of the nature of God. So although the original verse may seem irrelevant to our natural mind, the application becomes clear as we see the spiritual meaning. This verse is a reflection of God’s promise that He will provide for those who work for Him. God regards us and will look after us. As such, the original command is a call for God’s people to express His nature in providing for others.

So in terms of our spiritual growth, God may be calling us through this verse to provide for those who labor in God for our growth and benefit. Or He may be giving us the promise that as we labor in Christ, He will provide for us.

As we continue to study, we may find that the Spirit leads us into other areas. When oxen worked in the fields, teams were yoked together to share the load. By searching out yoke, we may find the following passage:

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Here we are called to take Jesus’ yoke upon us. In this verse God is calling us to be connected with Christ, to lay down our work and start laboring with Jesus in His work. As we are yoked with Jesus, we will find rest for our souls. His yoke will be easy because He is the One who will carry the burden. We will know rest, because it will be in His power and grace that we labor with Him. In this way God’s yoke is a gift, keeping us in step with Him and helping us to live in His grace.

Through this brief example, we find that as we search out the Scriptures we gain a broader understanding of God’s promise and provision for our work in Him. If we are yoked with Him and labor in His work, we will experience His provision, peace and rest. And as Jesus leads us, we can also provide for and bless those who spiritually labor for our benefit.

There is still much more to consider here in terms of the wheat or grain, the harvest, farmers, laboring in the field and so on, however the key is to stay in step with the Spirit of God. As such, we only need to keep searching out the Scriptures while we have a sense of life in them.

Summary

Truth is found in the whole of Scripture. So as we search out the word of God and unfold the Scriptures, we get a clearer picture of the truth.

It is the Spirit of God that opens our hearts to understand the word. Only He can give us revelation and so we need to seek Him to unfold His word to us. And He will, for as Scripture says: they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.[48] Revelation is a good thing; therefore if we ask the Spirit to open up the Scriptures, He will be faithful to unfold His word and give us more light. Then, as we receive His revelation, we will enter into and possess more of our inheritance in Jesus.

Questions

Take a Scripture that has brought you life lately and search it out a little. See what extra light the Spirit may bring.

Chapter 7

The Passover

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.

Luke 22:1

Eat and Drink

John 6:53-54

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

If we want to live, we need to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood. As such, eating and drinking of Christ is fundamental for the Christian life; it is a starting place for all who believe. But what does it mean to eat and drink of Jesus?

The keys to eating and drinking of Christ are revealed in the Last Supper. The Last Supper took place during the festival of the Passover and was the last time that Jesus shared with His disciples before being sacrificed in fulfillment of the Passover.[49] As such, before we look at the Last Supper, we need to learn about the Passover. What is the Passover? What did Jesus fulfill? And how is this related to eating and drinking of Christ?

Passover Background

Abraham was the father of Isaac who in turn was the father of Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel and he had twelve sons. The families of these sons formed the nation of Israel. After being sold as a slave, Jacob’s son Joseph rose to power in Egypt. The whole family later joined him in Egypt to escape a famine in Canaan. They settled in Egypt, had more children and became numerous. Joseph and the good Pharaoh died and an evil king came to power. The new king enslaved the Hebrews who then spent centuries in slavery.

After a time, God heard their cry and sent Moses to deliver them. God performed many miraculous signs through Moses, but the one that brought deliverance was the plague of death to the firstborn. It was on this night that God instituted the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was more than a celebration of deliverance; it was a powerful act of faith in God and the blood of the Lamb to deliver from death.[50]

The Passover

The Passover feast was celebrated every year in the Hebrew month of Abib, which became the first month of the year.

Exodus 12:1-27

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the LORD’s Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. When you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.

In this passage, God institutes the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Here we find the elements of the Passover which include the lamb, the unleavened bread, the people, the sacrifice, the blood and the judgment upon the firstborn. The Passover was designed for a purpose and every aspect and requirement of the Passover has meaning and relevance to our spiritual life. So what is the spiritual meaning of the Passover?

Summary

We are called to eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood. It is a fundamental aspect of growing in God. It is not merely a philosophy or spiritual ideal, but a reality we can experience through faith and grace. However, to enter into this reality we need to learn what it means to eat and drink of Jesus. Only when we discover the keys contained in the Last Supper can we have the faith we need to partake of Christ.

Questions

Using some of the techniques discussed in the Unfolding the Word study, spend some time seeking the Spirit and searching the word to answer the following questions:

- What are the elements of the Passover?

- What do these elements represent?

- How is the Passover relevant to our spiritual lives?

- What does it mean to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood?

Chapter 8

The Passover Elements

Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

Luke 22:7

The Passover contains spiritual meaning that can help us discover what it means to eat and drink of Christ. In this study we will look at some of the key elements of the Passover, namely Egypt, the lamb, the blood, hyssop, and the unleavened bread.

Egypt

Exodus 13:3

Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.”

Romans 6:15-20

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Egypt was the place of slavery for the Hebrews. Joseph was sent in slavery to Egypt and all Israel became enslaved there.[51]

In spiritual terms, Egypt represents our slavery to sin before we are saved by Christ. Just as the Hebrews were delivered out of Egypt by the judgment of death upon the firstborn, so Christ delivered us out of our slavery to sin. He took the judgment of God and died that we may be forgiven and set free to live in Him.[52]

The Lamb

John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

1 Corinthians 5:6-7 (emphasis added)

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

The Passover lamb is a type of Christ. The Passover lamb was to be without any blemish, which speaks of Jesus’ spotless perfection. The lamb was then sacrificed as a type of Christ’s death on the cross.

The Blood

1 Peter 1:17-19

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

In Egypt, the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the blood of the lamb was applied to the doorposts of the house. By doing this, the household was saved from the Angel of death. In spiritual terms, the blood of the Passover lamb foreshadows the blood of Jesus. Just as the Hebrews were saved from death and delivered out of Egypt through the lamb’s blood, so we are saved from spiritual death and delivered out of our slavery to sin through the blood of Jesus.

Hyssop

Exodus 12:22

“You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.”

At the first Passover, the Israelites applied the blood of the Passover lamb to their doorposts using hyssop. They dipped the hyssop into the blood and then sprinkled the blood onto the doorposts.

Hebrews 11:28

By faith he [Moses] kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

By faith he kept the sprinkling of the blood. The sprinkling of the lamb’s blood on the doorposts represents the reality of applying the blood of Christ to our lives by faith. Like hyssop, faith is the means by which we experience the power of Jesus’ blood to save us. In this way, hyssop is a symbol of faith.

The Unleavened Bread

Matthew 26:26

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

John 6:35

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

Jesus is the bread of life. He is the source of our spiritual food and the sustainer of our lives. As the living bread, Jesus is the fulfillment of the unleavened bread of the Passover.

Yeast

Exodus 12:15

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel”.

If anyone took leaven (yeast) with them or ate leavened bread, they were to be cut off from Israel. This verse highlights the importance of the bread and the people being completely free from yeast. But why is this so important? What is the spiritual significance of yeast?

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Matthew 16:5-6, 12

And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”…Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Galatians 5:1, 9

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery…A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

In these passages, yeast is equated with wickedness and malice, the old fallen life, legalism, false doctrine, and slavery. Spiritually speaking, yeast is the presence of sin that spreads and corrupts the whole person, leading to enslavement.

The unleavened bread is a type of Jesus. The bread had to be completely free of yeast because Jesus is completely free of sin, wickedness and corruption. He is the perfect fulfillment of the pure unleavened bread.

The Passover bread was made without yeast because the Hebrews had to leave Egypt in haste.[53] The significance of this is that God was calling His people to leave their lives of slavery to sin with all speed. The Hebrews got rid of the yeast because they were leaving Egypt; they were being freed from their slavery and entering into new life with God. In this way, to eat anything containing yeast would be to take sin and slavery into themselves and fail to truly leave Egypt behind. Thus anyone who ate yeast was cut off from Israel. God’s command was clear: His people were to completely separate themselves from their lives of slavery in Egypt. This command was given not just for their sake but for ours also. It is a firm call for us to be set free from our slavery and to totally leave our sin behind us, lest it spread and enslave us once again.

Summary

1 Corinthians 10:11

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The things that Israel experienced were written for our instruction. In this way, the Feast of Passover gives us insight into our growth and life in Christ. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He has given His life for us, taking away the judgment and death that our sin demands. By His sacrifice, we are forgiven and redeemed if we apply His blood to our lives by faith. Jesus is also our unleavened bread. He is the pure supply of God, given that we may have life in Him.

In spiritual terms, the Passover represents the beginning of our new life in Christ. Having experienced the redeeming power of Jesus’ blood, we can leave our old life of spiritual slavery in Egypt and start the journey towards our Promised Land.

Questions

- What does the Passover bread represent?

- Have I truly left Egypt, my life of sin?

- How can we have the faith to experience the blood of Christ?

- How is the Passover fulfilled in me spiritually?

Chapter 9

The Last Supper

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

John 13:1

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover. He is the Lamb of God, sacrificed to save us from sin and spiritual slavery. He gave His life that we may live in Him.

Eat and Drink of Christ

John 6:51-56

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

Jesus is the Bread of heaven. If we eat and drink of Jesus, we will have life. We will abide in Him and He in us. To abide in Jesus means that our life will be found in Him and His life and presence will be established in us. In this way, eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood are essential steps to becoming one with Christ.

The Last Supper

The keys to eating and drinking of Jesus are revealed at the Last Supper. There, at the time of the Passover, Jesus ate and drank with His disciples, knowing that He was about to become the spiritual fulfillment of the Passover.[54] He was to be sacrificed as God’s Passover Lamb. He was to take the judgment of the firstborn and die. His blood was to be poured out. He was to be tortured, shamed, exposed, humiliated, and crucified. And knowing all this was upon Him, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Before He died, Jesus shared the bread and the wine with His disciples. As He communed with them, He gave them insight into the reality of eating and drinking of Him.

Luke 22:14-23

When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Within the bread and the wine we find the elements of new covenant life. Physically speaking, the bread represents Jesus’ body and the wine represents His blood. Yet our communion with Jesus is spiritual rather than physical. As such, we need to discover the spiritual reality of eating and drinking of Jesus. What do the bread and wine represent spiritually?

The Bread

Exodus 16:4-7

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”

In their journey through the wilderness, the Israelites became hungry. So God supplied bread called manna to His people, so that each person would have enough to eat and live.

John 6:32-35, 47-51

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst…

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

Jesus is the Bread of Life. In this passage, Jesus refers to the manna that the Israelites ate in the desert. In essence Jesus is saying “I am the true bread from heaven, the fulfillment of all that the manna represents.” The manna is the shadow and type; Jesus is the substance and reality.

So what light does the Old Testament passage about manna shed on Christ as our bread from heaven? He is a gift of God’s grace and is the source of our supply. As such, we need Jesus for our very survival: if we want to live spiritually, we must have Jesus. He is our bread. Like the manna, Jesus is God’s glory revealed.[55] And just as fresh manna came every day, we too need Christ every day. A one-time experience of Jesus is not sufficient for life; we need to have a real relationship with Him that is a daily reality.

So how do we eat the Bread of Heaven and enter into new life in Jesus? To have eternal life we are told to eat Christ’s flesh. Just as Israel was commanded to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb, so we are called to eat the flesh of Jesus, our Passover Lamb. Knowing that we cannot eat Jesus’ physical flesh, we need to pursue the spiritual reality of eating of Christ. But what is the spiritual flesh of Christ?

The Wine

Mark 14:23-24

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

The wine of the Last Supper represents the spiritual reality of Christ’s blood.

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

Jesus is the true vine. He is the source of our spiritual wine. Spiritually drinking the wine of His blood is like becoming a branch that is connected to the vine of Jesus. As we are united with Jesus and abide in Him, His blood flows through us and we bear much fruit. But how do we connect with Jesus and drink His blood? What is the spiritual blood of Christ?

Summary

Jesus is our Bread from heaven and the one true Vine. The bread Jesus gives us is His flesh and the wine of the covenant is His blood. The flesh of Jesus is real food and the blood of Jesus is real drink. They are spiritual realities that we can experience by His grace.

Just as we cannot physically live without food or drink, so we cannot live spiritually without the flesh and blood of Jesus. He is our sustainer and our life.

In eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Christ we find unity and true communion with God. This is our spiritual inheritance, which is sealed in His blood. It is our call, goal and life. Jesus has the power and desire to make us one with Him and He has made it attainable for each one of us. By His grace, it is possible. Our part is to give ourselves to His desire, to eat and drink of Him, and to become one with Christ.

Questions

- What do the bread and wine of the new covenant mean to me?

- What is communion?

- What is the flesh and blood of Jesus?

- How can I eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood?

Chapter 10

The Blood of Christ

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Luke 22:20

The wine of the Last Supper represents the blood of Jesus. If we want to live and abide in Christ then we need to drink His blood.[56] However, before we can have the faith to drink of Jesus, we firstly need to know what the word declares about His blood. What is our inheritance in the blood of Christ?

Reconciles and Makes Peace

Colossians 1:19-20a

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross…

Reconcile: apokatallasso

To reconcile completely, to reconcile back again, bring back a former state of harmony.

To reconcile is to restore a broken relationship. Through the blood of the cross, our sin is atoned for and our relationship with God is restored. By Christ’s sacrifice, the fullness of relationship with God is now available as part of our inheritance in Christ. Through the blood of Jesus we can know God.

Forgives

Matthew 26:27-28

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”[57]

Forgive: aphesis

A dismissal, release, to send away (used of the remission of sins).

To be forgiven is to be no longer held to account for our sin. This means that we are released from the punishment that sin incurs. We do not have to bear God’s judgment upon our sin for Christ has already suffered our judgment at the cross. Through His blood we are forgiven.

Cleanses

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Cleanse: katharizo

To make clean, to cleanse from defilement.

To be forgiven is to be no longer held to account for sin. As such, one can be forgiven and free from the punishment upon sin, but not free from sin itself. Though forgiven, sin still lives within the person. In contrast, to be spiritually cleansed is to be washed clean from sin by its removal. So not only are we forgiven through His blood, but the blood of Jesus also washes away sin from our hearts, removing the defilement and stain of sin, making us truly clean.

Redeems

Ephesians 1:7-8a

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.

Redeem: apolutrosis

A release on payment of a ransom, deliverance.

We are redeemed from our slavery to sin by the blood of Jesus. Like slaves whose freedom has been purchased, so our ransom has been paid by Jesus’ blood. This means that sin no longer has the power to dominate and control us. Instead, in Christ we are set free to become slaves to righteousness, no longer controlled by sin, but compelled by love.[58]

Propitiates

Romans 3:23-26 (emphasis added)

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Propitiation: hilasterion

An appeasing, placating or expiating force. Used of the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual Day of Atonement.

To expiate means to atone or pay the penalty for something. The blood of Jesus is the only atonement for sin. It appeased the wrath of God, satisfying the judgment and death that our sin demands. In this sense, the debt of our sin was not merely removed, but paid in full by His blood. Therefore the only way to deal with sin is through the blood of Christ.

Justifies and Makes Righteous

Romans 5:9

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Justify / make righteous: dikaioo / dikaios [59]

To deem or show to be right, to be declared or pronounced righteous (by implication innocent).

Hebrews 10:16-17 [60]

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put my laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

The blood of Jesus makes us innocent before God because it completely washes away our sin. Jesus takes our sin into His death and it is gone forever. God then permanently erases the memory of our sin. With all spiritual evidence of sin removed by the blood of Christ, we are innocent in the eyes, mind and heart of God.[61] Through the blood we are deemed justified and righteous before God.

Sanctifies

Hebrews 13:12

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

Sanctify: hagiazo

To be set apart, to be made holy.

To be sanctified is to be set apart and made holy. Through the blood of Jesus we are devoted to God and set apart from the world, sin and our fallen self. This setting apart is an inner, spiritual separation in which our hearts are disconnected from sin and connected to Jesus.

The word hagiazo comes from the word hagios, meaning different.[62] As the blood of Jesus makes us holy, our hearts are changed and we become inherently different from the world and from our former lives. Jesus' blood reshapes the way we think, feel, act, desire and live. In this way, the sanctifying power of blood of Christ leads to true transformation.

Lifeblood

So why is the blood of Jesus so powerful? Why is it the blood that justifies, sanctifies, cleanses and makes us holy?

Leviticus 17:11, 14

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement…

For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’”

Genesis 9:4

“Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”

God commanded His people not to drink any physical blood because the life of a creature is in its blood. Blood represents life. Thus the blood of Christ is the actual life of Jesus. When we speak of Jesus’ blood, we are speaking of His present life.

The new covenant was sealed in Jesus’ blood. To enter into this covenant with God we need to drink Jesus’ blood, taking His life and all its qualities and power into our being. We need His blood to flow through our hearts and bring life to every part of our lives.

In the Old Testament, people were ‘under the blood’ as the blood of the lamb was sprinkled upon them and their houses. Yet in Christ, it is not so much the blood upon, but the blood within. As we drink Christ’s blood, the power of His life is not only released over us, but released into us.

Jesus’ life contains the fullness of His power. So when we drink His blood by faith, we enter the reality of being justified, sanctified and cleansed because the life of Christ infuses us. Our sinful life fades and His pure life forms. We are made righteous because the life of the Righteous One is in us. We are made holy as He is holy, because the life of the Holy One of God is in us. We are justified, because the life of He who did not sin is present in us. In and of ourselves we have and are nothing, yet as we drink His blood, we enter into the awesome reality of possessing the life of Jesus within us. In this way, the work of the blood in us did not end when we first came to faith in God. Rather it just began.

Summary

Jesus poured out His blood in death that He might give us an inheritance in His life. This inheritance is sealed and secured in His blood. It is ours and nothing can take it away. The awesome indwelling life of Jesus is available to us now by drinking His blood.

The blood of Christ is powerful beyond imagination. Through His blood we are forgiven, redeemed, and no longer subject to God’s judgment on sin. His blood releases us from our bondage to sin and sets us free to live in unity with Jesus. Jesus’ blood washes away our sin, making us spiritually clean, holy, innocent and justified. The blood of Christ separates us from the world and devotes us to God. His blood fills us with the life of Jesus and all its qualities, that we may truly live and abide in Him.

John 7:37

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

To drink the blood of Christ, we simply need to come to Jesus. Jesus died that we might drink of Him. He has made it all possible. The power of the blood of Christ has been released once and for all, and is now eternally available. So if we thirst for His life, we can come to Jesus now, drink of His blood, and know the reality of His life and presence within us.

Questions

- In what ways have I experienced the power of the blood of Christ in my life?

- Are there areas where I need to apply the blood of Christ?

- Which aspect of the blood would I like to experience more?

- How do I drink His blood?

Chapter 11

The Flesh of Christ

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 6:35

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover bread. He is the Bread of Life. So if we are to live spiritually then we need to eat the bread of Jesus. But what is the bread of Jesus? And how can we eat of His bread?

The Flesh of Christ

John 6:51-58 (original Greek emphasis)

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

The bread that Jesus gives for the life of the world is His flesh. If we want to live, then we need to eat the flesh of Christ.

The call to eat Jesus’ flesh has no physical aspect to it. Just as we cannot drink Christ’s physical blood, so we cannot eat His physical body. God is spirit and so we are called to eat and drink of Jesus in the spirit.[63]

As we learned, the blood of Jesus is the life and essence of Jesus. Jesus is eternal and the power of His blood is eternal and available; it is a spiritual reality that we can experience now. In the same way, the flesh of Christ is also a spiritual reality that is available now. We can eat of His flesh now by faith. But what exactly is the spiritual flesh of Christ? What does it mean to eat His flesh?

Spiritual Flesh

Romans 8:5-8

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Ephesians 2:3

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Galatians 5:24 (AMP)

And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.

Scripture uses the word flesh in many different ways, but in a spiritual sense the word flesh is used to describe the human nature, most often in terms of our corrupt and sinful nature.[64] For example, Scripture says that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Flesh here does not mean the physical body, but refers to the corrupted nature of people, which compels us to sin through its passions and desires.

Thus in Scripture, the word flesh is used as a metaphor for the sinful and corrupt nature within people. Yet Jesus’ flesh, was not corrupt. His nature was sinless. Like the Passover lamb, Jesus was a sacrificial offering that was without any blemish. Like the unleavened bread, His flesh was without the yeast of sin and corruption. So when Scripture speaks of the flesh of Christ, it is speaking of His perfect, pure, righteous, holy and uncorrupted nature.

The Divine Nature

To eat Jesus’ flesh is to consume His nature. As we eat of Jesus we surrender our sinful nature to God and have the awesome nature of Christ formed within us.

2 Peter 1:2-4 (emphasis added)

…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

To eat the flesh of Christ is to partake of the divine nature of Jesus. God wants us to form His nature in us and by His grace He makes it possible. God has given us His precious and magnificent promises so that we might escape sin and enter into our inheritance as partakers of the nature of Christ.

Our human nature is the substance within us that shapes our character, thoughts, motives and actions. Our nature is our identity; it is who we are.[65] In the same way, Jesus’ nature is who He is. His nature is the inner character of His heart. So what is the nature of Jesus like? Who is Jesus?

1 John 4:16

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The nature of God is revealed in Scripture. God is love. He is not a quiet or timid love, but an awesome consuming fire of love. From His nature of awesome love flow all the qualities and dimensions of the character of God. His holiness, power, grace and wisdom are all expressions of His nature of love.

So as we partake of Jesus and have His nature established within us, we will start to experience the different aspects of who He is. As we eat more of His flesh, we possess more of His character—more of His love, peace, joy, humility, light, goodness, strength, delight, passion, patience, faithfulness, purity, holiness, kindness, wisdom, and so on. In this sense we are what we eat. As we eat of Jesus, we become united with Him in nature and heart, and our identity is restored to our true selves. We are changed by God in our very core into people who live in love and unity with Him.

Compelled by Love

2 Corinthians 5:14

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died.

Our nature is expressed in our actions. When we eat of Christ, we take His nature into us. Our heart of stone is replaced with a heart of His flesh.[66] Jesus’ love fills our hearts and begins to shape our character and compel our behavior. Then, instead of our sinful nature leading us to sin, His loving nature within us will compel our actions, leading us to speak and act in love.

In this way, eating Jesus’ flesh changes us from the inside out. His nature transforms our heart, changing the way we feel and think and renewing our minds. His character within us then starts to flow through our actions and behavior. We express His love outwardly in our words and works, and in doing so we become people who reveal Jesus to the world.

This is My Body

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

John 17:22-23a

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity…”

Knowing that the bread of life is Jesus’ flesh, we can then understand what it means to be a part of His corporate body. The body of Christ can have only one nature within: His nature.

In this way, it is only as we eat of His flesh and have His nature formed in us that we truly enter into what it is to be a part of the corporate body of Christ. His flesh and blood connect us together. When we eat and drink of Him we are united with Jesus and each other because we all partake of the one nature and life. As we do this, we begin to live in the reality of Christ’s prayer that we would become one in Him.

Summary

Jesus is the bread of Heaven. He is the gift of God who is given so that we may live. The bread which Jesus gives us is His flesh: His perfect nature. As we eat the flesh of Jesus, we have His nature formed in us and we become one with Christ.

Like the manna in the desert, we need to eat Jesus’ flesh every day. Eating His flesh is to be a daily reality, for the more we eat of Him, the more His character is formed in us. Every day we can partake of Jesus’ nature and experience His love reshaping our character, thoughts, actions and desires. Each day gives us the opportunity to enter deeper into the limitless depths of His nature within us.

Questions

- How can I eat of Christ every day?

- What price was paid so that I may eat of Him?

- How can I yield my sinful nature to Christ?

- Can I really have the nature of Jesus formed within me?

Chapter 12

The Exchange

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

The cross was the place of the ultimate exchange. There the innocent and perfect Lamb of God was sacrificed in the place of a guilty and fallen world. The sinless was offered for the sinful, the pure for the unholy. His life was given in exchange for ours.

The Last Supper

Matthew 26:26-29

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

The Last Supper provides some insight into the exchange of the cross. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the unleavened bread of the Passover and said “Take, eat, this is my body” and then He broke the bread. The bread was broken and the wine was poured out. When Jesus poured out the wine, it represented the shedding of His blood and the pouring out of His life. But what did Jesus mean by breaking the bread?[67] Jesus said that the bread was His body, yet Scripture tells us that not one of Jesus’ bones was broken, just as no bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken.[68] The physical body of Christ was not broken in death. So what did Jesus mean? What was broken?

Breaking the Flesh

Romans 8:1-4 (emphasis added)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

When Jesus broke the unleavened bread, He was symbolizing the breaking of His flesh. Christ’s perfect human nature was broken when He took our sin. There at the cross, Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. Jesus was perfect, having no sin of His own, yet out of His love for us He took on the nature of sin and died.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (emphasis added)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

To overcome sin, God made Jesus sin for us. Jesus became sin. When He was made sin, Christ’s perfect flesh, the bread of life, was broken. The extent of Christ’s sacrifice was such that even the serpent, which typically represents evil, became a picture of Jesus at His death on the cross.[69]

These verses show the totality of God in dealing with sin. Nothing of Christ was held back—His whole being was given as an atonement for our sin. At the cross Jesus took our sinful nature so that it would die with Him under the judgment of God. His flesh was broken so that our sinful nature would be condemned, conquered, and utterly overcome.

Having defeated sin through death, Christ was raised in perfection, His flesh again whole and pure and perfect. Thus it is through the power of His death and resurrection that we can eat His flesh. Through Jesus’ death we can surrender our sinful nature to Him in repentance and obedience. Through His resurrection we can partake of His pure nature of love. In this way, the exchange of the cross is our flesh for His flesh; our nature for His nature.

The Sour Wine

John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

To fulfill Scripture, Jesus said “I thirst”. Then they put a sponge full of sour wine on some hyssop and brought it to Christ’s mouth.[70] Jesus received the sour wine and then declared that “It is finished.” Having taken the sour wine, His work was complete. And so He gave up His life. But why did Jesus have to drink the sour wine in order to complete the work of the cross? What was so important about the sour wine?

The wine of the Passover represents the life of Christ. His perfect life is the pure wine of the new covenant. It was poured out for us at the cross so that we might drink of His life. In the same way, our old life is like wine—sour wine. Our old life is ruined by sin; it is polluted, corrupt and sour.

So when Jesus drank the sour wine, He took our sinful life into Him so that it would die with Him. Then, in exchange for our sour life, He gave us His pure life. He drank of our life that we might drink of His. In this way, the work of the cross was not complete until Jesus had received the sour wine. The exchange had to take place. He had to drink in our sinful life in order to exchange it for His pure life. Having received our fallen life, He exchanged our curse for His blessing, our sin for His righteousness, and our corruption for His perfection.

So how do we enter into the reality of this exchange? How do we give our life to Christ and receive His life in return?

Hyssop and Faith

Exodus 12:21-22

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.”

Romans 3:22-25 (NRSV, emphasis added)

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.

Applying the blood of the lamb was an act of faith which represents the reality of drinking the blood of Christ. The Hebrews were not saved simply by the sacrifice of the lamb. Deliverance only came as they applied the blood with hyssop.

Thus hyssop is like faith, for it is only by faith that we can experience the power of Jesus’ blood. So although the work of Jesus’ blood is complete and finished, we cannot personally receive His life until we have faith. We drink by faith.

John 19:29

A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

At the cross, the sour wine was given to Christ upon hyssop, which represents faith. So this verse shows that not only do we receive Christ’s life by faith, but we yield our broken and sinful life to Jesus by faith. Faith is the key to repentance and the exchange of the cross. We give up our nature and life, and receive His in return, all through faith.

Faith is the deep, abiding confidence of the heart that comes from God. He is the source of our faith. So if we lack the faith to exchange our life and nature for His, we simply need to ask Him to create that faith within us.

Jesus thirsted for the sour wine. He wants the exchange. God wants to give us the gift of true repentance and the faith we need to yield ourselves to the cross and be united with Christ.[71] Jesus died to make it possible so He will answer us when we call on Him. When we ask Him for faith, He will create the confidence in us to begin exchanging our nature and life for His. Then as we commune more and more with Jesus, He will form more of His awesome nature and life within us.

Summary

At the cross, Jesus exchanged His pure nature and life for our sin and corruption. Now He calls us to come to the cross and give Him our fallen nature and old life that He may impart His nature and life to us. The work of the cross is finished. He has made it all possible and now He offers us the faith we need to experience the reality. We can enter into the exchange of the cross by faith and grace.

Questions

- What must it have been like for Jesus to have His flesh broken?

- What would it be like to receive His nature?

- What would it be like to drink in Jesus’ life?

- Am I ready to yield my nature and life to the cross?

Chapter 13

Eating and Drinking

"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:54

The exchange of the cross is our nature for Christ’s nature, our life for His life. To make this exchange we need to learn how to yield ourselves to God and eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood.

When we eat and drink in the natural, we take something external and make it internal, so that it becomes a part of us. The same is true spiritually. When we eat and drink of Jesus, we take His nature and life into us and we are united with Christ. Thus the exchange of the cross is the way to unity and transformation. The more we commune with Jesus and share in His nature and life, the more our hearts are changed. So how can we eat and drink more of Jesus by faith?

Flesh of Christ

The nature of Jesus is a spiritual reality. To eat the bread of Jesus’ flesh is to have the nature, character and heart of Christ formed in us. It is to offer up our sinful nature to the cross in exchange for His nature of love.

Our nature is what compels us to speak and act. By having Jesus’ nature formed in us, we will naturally live according to His character. His nature within us will compel us to speak and act in obedience to His love. But how can we partake of more of His nature?

2 Corinthians 3:17

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

When we behold the glory of God, we are transformed into His image. The Spirit of God changes our inner nature from one degree of glory to another as we become one with Christ.

In Series One we learned that the mirror is a symbol of the word of God.[72] Scripture is an expression of Jesus’ nature and so it gives us a way of beholding His glory and eating His flesh.[73] As we receive the living word, we partake of Jesus’ nature. He reveals His glory to us and forms His character in us. His word becomes our flesh. Then we discover that we do not live by natural food alone, but we find true life in the living word of God.[74]

Blood of Christ

The life of Jesus is a spiritual reality. To drink the wine of Christ’s blood is to have the life of Christ formed in our spirit. It is to covenant with Jesus. It is to yield our sinful life to God through faith and repentance, and receive His pure life and presence within us.

John 6:63

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of life.[75] All life flows from Him. So by connecting more with the Spirit, we can drink in more of Jesus’ life. We will explore some of the ways we can experience the Spirit in Series Three, but for now we can start by naturally increasing our time in prayer, worship, waiting, and watching.

By drinking the life of Christ through faith, the power of Jesus’ blood is released into our lives. So as we drink His blood, we are forgiven, purified, washed and cleansed. We are made inherently different from the world and set apart to God. We become righteous and innocent in His sight, and we are redeemed from our slavery to sin into freedom and life in Christ. We can only experience these realities as we receive Jesus’ life by faith. So the more we drink of His blood, the more we will enter into and possess our inheritance in the life of Christ.

Essential Hunger

Two of our basic needs in life are food and water. Without these we simply cannot live. The same is true in the spiritual realm. Without spiritual food or drink, we cannot live. Thus the food and drink of Christ are essential to our spiritual life. Just as our physical bodies constantly need food and water, so in our spirit we continually need Jesus’ flesh and blood to live.

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

John 7:37

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

True righteousness flows from the nature of Christ.[76] So if we truly hunger for Jesus' flesh, we are blessed for God will satisfy our hunger. In the same way, if we thirst for Jesus, we will be blessed as we come to Him and drink of His life.

Having a spiritual hunger and thirst for Jesus is essential if we are to know the reality of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. But what if we have no hunger or thirst? What if we already feel satisfied with what we have?

In the physical realm, if we had no capacity for hunger and thirst, we would soon die. The same is true spiritually. If we are unaware of our vital need for Christ, His bread and wine, His flesh and blood, His word and Spirit, His nature and life, we will also die spiritually. As such, knowing our continual need of Jesus is essential to our spiritual life. So how do we come to truly see our need for God? How do we get hungry and thirsty for Jesus?

Philippians 2:13

…for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Jesus wants us to hunger and thirst for Him, and if we are willing, He will make it happen. He will fulfill His word and work in us to genuinely desire and hunger for Him.[77]

In doing His work, the Spirit of God will reveal to us our current spiritual condition and expose the depth of our need for Jesus.[78] As we recognize our lack, the Spirit will form in our hearts a real passion for Christ. Then, when we truly hunger for Jesus, we can come to Him and He will satisfy our need. Jesus will invite us to commune with Him and will fill us with the bread of His flesh and the wine of His blood.

Communion with God

John 6:56

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

Communion is a spiritual union. This union is based on the flesh and blood of Jesus—we abide in Christ and He in us as we eat and drink of His nature and life. Through communion, our hunger for Jesus is satisfied as His flesh is formed within us and our sinful nature gives way to His pure nature. When we drink of Christ, our thirst is quenched as His life is released into us and our sinful life is washed away by His blood.[79] Through spiritual communion, our soul is satisfied as we abide in Christ and become one with Him.

Shadows and Substance

So what about physical communion? Is communion simply eating a portion of bread and drinking a sip of wine every once in a while? Do we even need physical bread and wine to commune with God?

The bread and wine are symbols of the nature and life of Christ. Jesus is the Reality. As such, eating in fellowship or taking communion is simply a means of drawing us into spiritual communion. It is the spiritual that matters.

In this way, the physical elements of bread and wine are not necessary to commune with Christ in the spirit. For as Jesus said, His flesh is real food and His blood is real drink.[80] The spiritual food and drink of Christ are more real than the physical can ever be. As such, the act of communion is only helpful so long as it leads us deeper into the spiritual reality of union with God.

As with all physical acts, if we lose our focus on the spiritual reality behind the type then we risk falling into legalism and missing the experience of spiritual communion. The type is only of value when it points to the substance. Therefore when we come together and share communion our focus needs to be firmly set on the spiritual reality of eating and drinking of Jesus.

Summary

Luke 11:3

Give us each day our daily bread.

The manna in the desert was to be eaten daily.[81] Jesus is our daily bread from Heaven and so to have life we need to eat His flesh and drink His blood every day by faith. Faith is the key to experiencing the power of His nature and life in us. This faith is the deep confidence of the heart in the work of the cross. It is the faith that leads to true communion with Jesus.

Eating and drinking Jesus’ flesh and blood is the basis for becoming one with Christ and abiding in Him. As we eat His flesh by faith, we exchange our nature for His nature. As we drink His blood by faith, we exchange our life for His life. In this way, through spiritual communion, the life and nature of Christ combine within us in awesome grace. We are united with Jesus through His indwelling life, nature, character and presence. We live in Him and He lives in us. As we commune with God, we are transformed into the people we were always designed to be: people who are created in the image of God, to live in love and unity with Him.

However, it is only those who hunger and thirst for the reality of God who will be filled. So we need to be desperate for Christ, longing to know His nature and life within us. This passion for Jesus only comes from the Spirit, so we start by seeking Him to give us the hunger and faith we need. Having received faith and a real desire for Jesus, we can continually eat and drink of Him, becoming ever more one with Christ.

Questions

- Am I really hungry and thirsty for Jesus?

- Do I want a greater hunger and thirst for Jesus? How can I get it?

- Have I yielded my nature and life to Christ today?

- Have I eaten His flesh and drunk His blood today?

- Can the exchange of the cross become a daily reality for me?

Spend some time eating and drinking of Jesus.

Chapter 14

The Tabernacle

"Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them."

Exodus 25:8

Over the next few studies we will look at the tabernacle as an overall summary of Series One and Series Two of the One with Christ studies.

Having been freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were led through the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan. In the wilderness, God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle or dwelling place. The tabernacle provided a way for people to offer sacrifices for their sin and was a place where God would meet and dwell with His people. As the priests followed the pattern of sacrifice and worship, the people were forgiven and made clean, and the presence and glory of God would fill the tabernacle.

The Design

Exodus 25:9

“According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.”

The tabernacle was specific in design. The tabernacle itself was a tent divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Outside the tabernacle was the outer court, bordered by a linen fence. The outer court contained the bronze altar and the bronze laver (or washing basin).[82]

Within the tabernacle, the Holy Place contained the golden lampstand, the showbread (or bread of the Presence), and the golden altar of incense. Beyond the inner veil in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant which contained a jar of manna, Aaron’s rod and the Ten Commandments.

All about Jesus

John 1:14 (AMP)

And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.

The tabernacle is a symbol or type that is fulfilled in Jesus. Every element in the tabernacle finds its completion in Christ. The entire system of atonement is a picture of Christ who was the perfect and final atonement for sin.[83] The divine presence and glory is fulfilled in Jesus, for He is the glory of God who dwells with His people.[84]

In a spiritual way, the tabernacle provides us with a pattern that we can follow to possess our inheritance in Christ. As we enter into God’s spiritual design for us, we have the promise that He will come and fill us with His presence and glory.

With this in mind, the One with Christ studies thus far have been focused on establishing the spiritual reality represented by each element of the tabernacle. The goal is that as we build the tabernacle in our hearts we would experience Jesus’ life, presence and glory within us and be united with Him in love.

The Entrance

Anyone in Israel was allowed to enter into the outer court through the entrance way. In spiritual terms, this is a picture of moving from our worldly life into a spiritual relationship with God. As we enter into the outer court, we enter into spiritual reality.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Matthew 7:14-15

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

John 10:9

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

We enter into reality through Jesus. He is our new and living way. He is our truth and our life. He is our door to reality. In Series One of the One with Christ studies, we looked at entering into spiritual reality through faith in Jesus.

Brazen Altar

The first element in the outer court was the bronze altar. At the bronze altar, various animals were sacrificed as offerings to God.

Leviticus 17:11

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”

Leviticus 1:1-3

Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.’”

Sin leads to death and separation from God. In order to atone for their sin and be restored to God, the Israelites would bring an animal to be sacrificed on the bronze altar. They would lay their hands on the head of the animal, signifying the transfer of sin from the person to the animal.[85] The animal was then killed and its blood was poured out as an atonement for sin.

John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

1 Peter 1:17-19

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The bronze altar is a picture of the cross and the sacrifices that were made on the altar are types of Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His death was the ultimate and final sacrifice, bringing a complete fulfillment and end to the offerings of the Old Covenant. His blood was poured out once and for all so that we would be restored to God, no longer separated by sin. Now we can come to the cross and be forgiven of our sin and set free to commune with God. In Series Two we looked at the blood of Jesus and the exchange of the cross.

Bronze Laver

Exodus 30:18

“You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.”

The bronze laver was located in the Outer Court and allowed the priests to wash before entering into the Holy Place.

Exodus 38:8

Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

As we saw in the Living Word study of Series One, the mirror is a type of the word of God. In the mirror of the word we can see our natural face and discover who we truly are in Christ. In this way, the bronze laver represents the word of God.

Ephesians 5:25-26

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word…

John 15:3

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

Titus 3:5-6

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior…

As these passages show, we are washed by the Spirit and the word of God. Just as the laver needs water, so we need both the word and the Spirit to be clean. When the Spirit breathes life into the word it becomes living, cleansing water.

In this way, the bronze laver is a type of the living word of God. It is His rhema—the voice of God speaking through His word with life and power. In Series One we looked at uniting the word of God with the Holy Spirit and experiencing the power of the living word.

Blood and Water

The brazen altar was the place of sacrifice and blood. Beyond the altar, the bronze laver contained water for cleansing. In this way, the outer court was defined by blood and water.

John 19:33-34

…but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

John 5:6-8

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Jesus completely fulfilled the elements of the outer court. He came by water and by blood. His blood is our atonement. The water of His living word makes us clean. Jesus is our altar and laver. Through His sacrifice and grace we are forgiven, cleansed and invited in to the Holy Place to commune with God.

Summary

The tabernacle is a picture of our relationship with God. When we come to faith in Jesus we pass through the gate and enter into the spiritual reality of the outer courts. At the altar of the cross we find forgiveness and the power of Jesus’ blood to redeem us and atone for our sin. We are then invited to experience the laver of the word. Here we combine the word and the Spirit and discover the living waters of Christ. His living word creates faith in us and makes us clean. As we are washed and renewed by the Spirit and the word, we prepare to move deeper into our inheritance in God, past the veil, and into the Holy Place.

Questions

- In what ways have I experienced reality through Jesus?

- How have I experienced the blood of Jesus?

- In what ways has the Spirit brought the word to life for me?

- Do I want more? More of His blood, more of His life, more of God?

Chapter 15

The Holy Place

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way…

Hebrews 10:19-20a

The Holy Place was where the priests would minister before God. It was the place of the golden lampstand, the bread of the Presence and the altar of incense.

The Golden Lampstand

Leviticus 24:1-4

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.”

John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

The golden lamp is a symbol of light and revelation. It is a type of Jesus who is the Light of the world. He is the living revelation of God.

The Oil

The lamp was made from pure gold and filled with pure olive oil.

1 Samuel 16:13

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.

Luke 4:18

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD.”

In Scripture, oil is often used to represent the Spirit. When people were anointed with oil, the Spirit of God came upon them. The oil was a physical symbol of a spiritual reality. The Spirit of Jesus is the pure and clear oil of the lamp.

The Lamp

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Matthew 5:14-15

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”

The word of God is a lamp. Just as the laver needs water, so the lamp needs oil. As the word is filled with the oil of the Spirit, God brings forth light and revelation. In this way, Jesus is our personal fulfillment of the golden lamp. He gives us His word and Spirit to bring us revelation. Then, as we live in His light and receive His life, we become the light of the world. We become people who reveal the life and nature of Jesus.

The light of the golden lamp was to burn continually before the Lord. So we too must continually seek the Spirit to bring life and light to the word of God. We need to live in the light of the revelation of God. As God establishes the light of Christ within us, we also need to be constantly available for Jesus to reveal Himself through us, shining His light into others. In Series Two we looked at receiving light and revelation.

The Bread of the Presence

Leviticus 24:5-9

“Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. You shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD. You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the LORD. Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the LORD’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

Exodus 25:30

“You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.”

John 6:51

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

The bread of the Presence is a picture of Jesus. He is the Bread of Heaven. He is our provision from God, given that we may live. As we learned in the Flesh of Christ study, the bread that Jesus gives us is His flesh. It is the spiritual food of His nature, character, heart and love.

The priests of the tabernacle were told to eat the bread. In the same way, we are told to eat Jesus’ bread. We are called to the table of communion to eat His flesh and have the nature of Christ formed within us.

The Altar of Incense

Exodus 30:1-8

“Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.”

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

The golden altar was used to burn incense in worship to God. Coals from the bronze altar were taken into the golden altar and spices were burnt on the coals, producing a fragrant aroma. In this way, the golden altar of incense is a symbol of worship. It was fulfilled in Jesus at the cross, with His sacrifice being the ultimate act of worship, producing an eternally pleasing aroma to God.

Romans 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

In Christ, we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices in worship to God. By God’s grace we can come to the cross and completely devote our lives to God and live only for Him. We can then come to the golden altar and let Jesus transform us into true worshippers of God.

In the Worship in Truth study of Series One we learned how we can enter into real worship. Like Mary, we can break open the alabaster jar of our heart and pour out our love on Jesus.[86] Like the wine and grain offerings, we can lay down our life and nature for His glory.[87] Like the sacrifice burned on the altar, so we can be consumed in the fire of His loving judgment. His love makes our worship possible.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.

Through Christ we can become a sweet aroma of Jesus in every place. As living sacrifices, God can manifest His love and life through us, spreading the aroma of the knowledge of Christ to others around us. By His grace, we can live a life of perpetual devotion, worship and love.

Summary

The Holy Place is a picture of our inheritance in Christ. Here we can experience Jesus as the golden lamp. He gives us His word and Spirit to bring revelation and light. Jesus is also the bread of the Presence, calling us to eat His flesh that we may receive His nature. Jesus is our golden altar. Through Him we can offer ourselves as living sacrifices: holy, devoted and pleasing to God. In Christ, we can enter into the reality of each element of the Holy Place through faith, desire and grace. He has made it all possible.

Questions

- How can I truly worship God?

- What are my main obstacles to entering into the Holy Place?

- What do I desire in my heart?

- What does God desire for me?

Chapter 16

The Holy of Holies

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil…

Hebrews 6:19

The Holy of Holies was the most sacred area of the tabernacle. It contained the Ark of the Covenant and was the place where God would manifest His presence and meet with His people. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement.[88] On this day, the high priest would perform a cleansing ritual and make sacrifices to atone for the sin of all Israel.

The Holy of Holies was separated from the Holy Place by a veil.[89] The veil was a division, protecting a sinful people from the holy presence and power of God. It was this division that Jesus came to take away.

The Veil

Hebrews 9:3

Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies.

Matthew 27:50-51

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.

Hebrews 10:19-20

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh…

At the cross, Jesus’ perfect flesh was broken as He took our sinful nature into judgment and death. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn in two, signifying that through Christ, people could now dwell in the actual presence of God.

We can live in God’s presence, not because God can now abide sin, but because we can be made clean and holy through the blood of Jesus. Through the cross, we can exchange our nature and life with Jesus and enter into the presence of God in the holiness of Christ. By His flesh and blood, Jesus is our new and living way. His pure nature and life within us enable us to live in the awesome presence of God.

The Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25:10-11

“They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it.”

Hebrews 9:3-5a (NKJV)

And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.[90]

The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest overlaid in gold, which contained a golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, and the Ten Commandments.[91] The lid of the box was shaped into a throne (or mercy seat) set between two cherubim. It was from above the mercy seat that God would manifest His presence.

The Ark of the Covenant is fulfilled in Jesus. The ark, the mercy seat, the Ten Commandments, the manna, and Aaron’s rod are all shadows of Jesus. He is the reality.

The Mercy Seat

Exodus 25:21-22

“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

Romans 3:24b-25a (AMP)

Christ Jesus, whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith.

Jesus is the spiritual fulfillment of the mercy seat.[92] His blood was shed for our atonement and life. Through His sacrifice, we are forgiven and redeemed from our sin.

In the same way that God would manifest His presence over the ark, so now it is only through Jesus that we can know God and enter into His presence.[93] Jesus is God revealed.[94] He is the power of God and the radiance of God’s glory.[95] Jesus is the Ark of the New Covenant.

Aaron’s Rod

When people challenged Aaron’s leadership, God confirmed Aaron as His priest by making his staff bud, blossom and bear ripe almonds.[96]

Hebrews 5:5-6

So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Jesus is the true high priest and the fulfillment of Aaron’s rod. Just as God confirmed Aaron as His priest in the natural realm, so the Father has confirmed Jesus as His eternal high priest. He lives forever as our priest, interceding for us and drawing us to God.[97]

1 Peter 2:5

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the true High Priest and He calls us to be priests in Him.[98] Through Jesus, we can offer up spiritual sacrifices of worship, intercede for others, and draw people closer to God.

The Golden Pot of Manna

John 6:31, 35

“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”…Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

Jesus is the bread of life and the fulfillment of the golden pot of manna. He is the true manna from heaven and the glory of God. He is the divine gift, given for our spiritual survival. If we eat of Christ and continue to partake of His nature, we will find new life and our spiritual hunger will be satisfied.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments were the core of the Mosaic Law and God’s standard of righteousness. They were the written expression of God’s nature, calling His people to live in love and righteousness before God.

Matthew 5:17

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus possesses the nature of love that the Law expresses in its rules and commands. The Law defines righteousness yet Jesus is righteousness.[99] In this way, by His very nature, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law and the Ten Commandments.[100]

Romans 13:10

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

Righteousness is faith and love in action.[101] When we partake of the nature of Christ, we are united with Jesus and His love is formed in us. As we live according to His nature of love in us, we live in righteousness and so fulfill the Law.[102]

Ark of Gold

The Ark of the Covenant was made from acacia wood that was overlaid inside and out in pure gold.[103] In Scripture, gold is the most precious metal and is often associated with the wealth and power of kings. Unlike bronze, gold is a pure metal without any alloy. Thus gold speaks of wealth, power, value and purity.

Revelation 3:18a

“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich…”

In the spirit, Jesus is source of true gold. Physical gold is only a type of true spiritual gold, which is found in the divine nature of Christ. Gold is the shadow, Jesus is the substance. As we come to Jesus and buy His gold, we partake of His nature and become one with Him. Through His indwelling life and nature, we possess the ultimate treasure of true gold and we become an ark of God's presence with Jesus.

We are a Temple

2 Corinthians 6:16

…For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

We are a temple and dwelling place of the living God. All the elements of the tabernacle were fulfilled in Jesus and now He wants to fulfill them in us. He wants to lead us to know Him as our atonement, our living word, our revelation, our nature and life, our worship, and as our divine presence and glory.

If we share God’s desire and let the Spirit of Jesus lead us, He will fulfill the spiritual reality of each aspect of the tabernacle in our hearts. He will establish His design for us and we will truly become a tabernacle for God.

Our Outer Courts

When we enter into relationship with God, we take our first steps into reality and pass through the gate into the outer court. There at the altar, we meet Jesus as our savior, the Lamb of God sacrificed for our sin. Through His death our sin is forgiven and we receive a blessing beyond imagination: our awesome inheritance of God in Christ Jesus. The Father has given us an inheritance of surpassing love, power and life. It is ours, but we have to personally experience our inheritance to make it our possession and reality.

As we start to enter into our inheritance, we learn to unite the Spirit and the word. The Spirit brings life to the word, gives us faith, and then performs His word in us. In this way, the laver of the living word makes us clean and prepares our hearts for more of God.

Our Holy Place

Hebrews 10:19-22

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Having been made clean by Christ, we can draw closer to God. With sincere hearts, we can have confidence to pass through the first veil and enter into the Holy Place.

As with every step of our journey, we enter into the reality of the Holy Place by faith. As we learn to abide in the word and the Spirit, we receive revelation from God. The Light of God flows into us and is established in our hearts. We then become people of light who reveal Christ to others.

In the Holy Place we learn real worship as we yield our entire lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Through His grace we are devoted to God in love.

As we grow in Christ we commune more with Jesus. We eat His flesh and drink His blood and know more of the exchange of the cross. We yield our nature and life to Him and have His nature and life formed in us by faith. By God’s grace, we become people who abide in Jesus and in His love.

Into our Holy of Holies

Hebrews 6:19

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil…

As we enter into the spiritual realities of the tabernacle, we will find that the way to the Holy of Holies is open. The last veil was removed in Christ; now we can enter into the Holy of Holies of God by faith.

In the Holy of Holies we can become one with Jesus. Just as the acacia wood was covered with gold to form the Ark of the Covenant, so we can be covered by the pure gold of Christ's nature. We can possess the hidden manna of God within us and have the Law of Love written on our hearts.[104] We can become as royal priests, ministering to God and calling people into His grace. As we give ourselves to God's love and answer His call, we can be united with Christ and become vessels of the awesome presence of God.[105]

Living Glory

Exodus 40:33-34

He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

When Moses had built the tabernacle according to God’s design, the glory of God filled the tabernacle. In the same way, if we work with the Spirit of God to establish His design in us, God will fill us with His glory. He will make us His dwelling place and fill our hearts with His presence and love.

Just as He called Moses, so the Spirit of God is calling us to make our hearts a tabernacle for God. Jesus died that we may live in His presence and glory. He is calling us into our spiritual inheritance and He can make it happen. God is able. All we have to do is share His desire and let Him lead us into the reality of becoming a dwelling place for the Living God.

Questions

- Where am I now in my inheritance in God?

- Where am I heading to? What is the next step?

- Do I want to be wholly devoted to Christ?

- Is all of this really possible? Is God able to do this in me?

A Little More

We will look more at experiencing the presence and glory of God in Series Three. For now, there are many levels and depths to the tabernacle and temple that remain to be discovered. All are fulfilled in Christ who wants to fulfill them in us.

Many books have been written on the subject, but if you sense life in learning more about the tabernacle, you can start by seeking the Spirit to bring revelation through His word. Some possible areas to discover include: - The significance of the different sacrifices - The dynamics and significance of the Day of Atonement - The use of blood, water and oil in the tabernacle - The spiritual meaning of the different feasts - The meaning of the materials and colors in the tabernacle - The use of the bronze, silver and gold in the tabernacle - The significance of the anointing oil and its ingredients - The role of the cherubim

- The reality of the heavenly tabernacle It is important to remember not to seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Curiosity, if not from God, will only feed the mind rather than minister to the heart. If the Spirit does not bring the word alive, then it will not bring life or draw us closer to God. Instead we need to seek Jesus to purify and prepare our hearts that we may search out His word with our only purpose being to know and experience more of God.

Contact Us

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

If you would like to make contact with us, please visit our website or email us. On our website you will be able to find links to Series Three of the One with Christ series as well as other resources.

Website: www.onewithchrist.com

Email: info@onewithchrist.com

Please feel free to send through any feedback you may have on the studies. We would love to hear from you.

Reference Notes

1) John 14:6

2) Colossians 1:16

3) Genesis 1:3

4) Acts 20:32, Acts 26:18, Ephesians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:12

5) 1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 3:20-21

6) Psalm 16:5

7) John 1:12

8) 2 Corinthians 3:18

9) Philippians 2:13

10) Romans 5:1-2

11) Romans 10:10

12) Hebrews 12:2

13) Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:22

14) Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:7, Galatians 3:11

15) 2 Corinthians 4:13, James 2:17

16) The word translated as appraised in this passage is the Greek word anakrino, meaning to investigate, examine, study, evaluate, and judge. So if we want to learn more of the spiritual dimensions in the word of God, we need to learn to study and examine Scripture with spiritual wisdom, discernment and insight.

17) Matthew 13:1-23

18) John 7:37-39

19) Luke 18:1-8, Luke 11:5-10

20) Matthew 22:1-14

21) Matthew 13:44-46

22) See Isaiah 5:7: The vineyard and fig tree are pictures of God’s people. Because the Jewish temple was the primary place of sacrifice and worship according to the Mosaic Law, it represented the whole system of religious works. Jesus came to take away the law of works and instead establish the law of faith and grace (see Romans 3:27-28, Galatians 2:15-16, Hebrews 10:1-9, John 1:17).

23) Hebrews 6:1, Hebrews 9:14, John 15: 1-8

24) Zechariah 2:5

25) Colossians 1:9

26) For the cursed fig tree, see Study 1 and Matthew 11:12-22, Luke 13:6-7, Isaiah 5:7

27) The following list provides just a few examples of types in Scripture:

People: Melchizedek is a type of Christ. (Genesis 14:18-20, Hebrews 7:1-10). Adam is also a type of Jesus (Romans 5:14). Sarah is a type of the new covenant of faith and Hagar is a type of the Law (Galatians 4:21-31).

Feasts: The Feast of the Passover is a type of Jesus at the cross (see Exodus 12:1-28, 1 Corinthians 5:7 and Studies 7-13).

Objects: The ark is a type of water baptism (1 Peter 3:18-22). The tabernacle and all its elements are types that are fulfilled in Jesus (see Studies 14-16).

Names: God is known as God Almighty because He is supreme in power. His name expresses reality of His nature. The names of people can also represent spiritual truth as seen in Matthew 1:21 and 1 Samuel 25:25.

Animals: Scripture also uses animals as types, such as the Passover lamb (1 Peter 1:17-19) and the lion (Revelation 5:4-5).

Places: In Scripture, Egypt represents our spiritual slavery to sin (see Study 8: The Passover Elements).

Land: As we saw in Series One, the Promised Land is also a type of Christ. As we enter into our inheritance in Christ we come into the spiritual reality of Jesus as our promised land.

28) See also Romans 15:4

29) The Hebrew word used for ‘strike’ is nakah which means to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, or kill. It is the same word used in Isaiah 53:4: Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

In the process of His crucifixion, Jesus was struck, hit, beaten, smitten and killed. Thus in the same way that Moses struck the rock and water flowed out, so when Jesus was struck at the cross, the living waters of His Spirit were also released. In this way, the striking of rock in the wilderness is a type of Jesus at the cross.

30) John 3:13-14, John 7:37-38

31) Isaiah 6:9-10

32) Matthew 5:6

33) 2 Corinthians 13:1. See also The Spoken Word study in Series One.

34) John 5:39

35) Hebrews 12:2

36) John 1:4

37) John 14:18-21, John 17:20-21

38) Commentaries can be useful when researching the wider context of a passage. Commentaries can bring out insights in language, culture and history that come with in-depth research. These insights can help us to gain a better understanding of a passage’s meaning. However, rather than basing our study on commentaries (or Study Bible notes), in Unfolding the Word we are primarily seeking the Spirit of God to reveal to us the truth of Scripture by searching out His word. So instead of starting with commentaries, it is beneficial to personally go through all the other aspects of study, and after we have thoroughly searched out Scripture for ourselves, we can then turn to commentaries for additional insight.

It is also important to recognize that commentaries usually contain a theological bias. Commentaries are simply the thoughts of people and are often influenced by their own theological, historical and cultural context. As such, commentaries should be used wisely and with discernment, and should always be weighed against Scripture and the witness of the Spirit.

39) An internet search will provide a number of websites that offer parallel Bible translations for a given passage or verse. For a list of online study resources offering parallel translations visit www.onewithchrist.com.

40) For example, when we read John 6 we tend to focus on the flesh and blood of Christ. We remember the Mosaic law which commands people not to drink blood and so we naturally assume that the Jews took issue with Jesus’ call to drink His blood. Yet when we discover the emphasis of the Greek text, we find that the focus of the passage is less on the flesh and blood of Christ and more on Jesus Himself.

John 6:52-56

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

When we learn the emphasis of the Jews’ question we see the question in a new light. How can this man give us His flesh to eat? The emphasis here reveals an underlying pride that could not accept that Jesus was anything more than a mere man.

Jesus responds by using emphasis to challenge their pride and confirm His position both as the Son of Man and as God. It is His flesh that we are called to eat. It is Jesus (as God) that will raise us up on the last day. Jesus is more than a man. He is God; the One in whom we can abide and who can abide in us.

In this way, we see how the emphasis of the text brings out the subtle beauty in Scripture. Through the study of emphasis we can discover new realms of understanding as the Scriptures take on a greater sense of color, depth and meaning.

41) See www.thediscoverybible.com for more information on The Discovery Bible software and links to the print version. Please note that the author has been involved in the design of The Discovery Bible software and its mission to make the keys features of Scriptural emphasis, verb tenses and lexical meaning as accessible as possible to all people.

42) 1 Corinthians 14:1

43) While the meaning of the original Greek or Hebrew verb tense can be conveyed by adding additional words to the text, often translators will choose not to add new words but will instead use the English tense that they feel is the closest match to the original verb tense. This keeps the translated text readable in English without becoming overly verbose. Unfortunately however, this approach sacrifices a degree of meaning that is present in the original tenses of Scriptures and so creates a need for a translation such as the Discovery Bible or the Amplified Bible. Unlike the Discovery Bible, the Amplified Bible adds extra words to the Bible text in order to convey more of the meaning that is evident in the original texts.

44) The word chesed is a good example of this. In passages such as Hosea 2:19 or Psalm 23:6 chesed is often translated as loving-kindness or unfailing love. Chesed is a covenant love. It is the love that flows from God’s commitment to us and His unfailing loyalty to His covenant. It is a love that is faithful, unbreakable, constant and unwavering. It is a love that is evident in God’s kindness, mercy and grace. It is a love that demands the best from us and forgives us the worst. It is a love that leads us from our sin into the righteousness and peace of covenant relationship with God. It is God’s awesome, eternal, unfailing love.

So we find that in English there is no one word that adequately conveys all that chesed means. In this, and many other cases, a lexicon is useful for discovering more of the meaning and truth in God’s word.

45) For example, if the word salvation stands out, we can search the word for Scriptures that mention salvation. In addition, we can also search for Scriptures that contain the Greek word soteria (translated as salvation) by searching for Strong’s #4991. This helps us to find related passages, even if in those passages the word soteria has been translated as something other than salvation. We can then search for connected Greek words such as #4990 soter (savior) or #4982 sozo (to save, heal or make whole). When we combine all these different types of searches, we come to a more complete picture of salvation.

46) For example, in the parables of Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 13:6-9 the symbol of the vineyard is used. When we search the Scriptures we find that “the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel” (Isaiah 5:7). Knowing the meaning of the symbol helps us to understand the passage.

To discover the spiritual meaning of a symbol or type we can do a simple word search and study all the passages that use that particular symbol. What is common to these Scriptures? Is there a spiritual reality that unites the passages? Does Scripture attribute a clear meaning to the symbol? At times we may find that a symbol has multiple meanings. For example, the serpent is used to symbolize Satan (Genesis 3:1, Revelation 12:9), but it is also used to symbolize Jesus at His death (John 3:14-15). In such cases we need to be clear about how the context affects the symbol’s meaning.

If there is no obvious spiritual meaning then we need to be faithful and not imagine or invent any meaning that is not clearly present. In the case where no meaning is obvious, we simply leave the symbolism aspect of the current passage and focus on other aspects of study.

Lastly, it is important to note that types and symbols rarely offer any insight that is not already clear in Scripture. Thus the meaning of a type should be supported by the clearly expressed truth of the word.

47) The main program used for these studies is the Online Bible, available from www.onlinebible.net, with the NASX cross references and Strong's Hebrew and Greek lexicons added in. Similar tools are freely available online. See www.onewithchrist.com for a list of online study resources.

48) Psalm 34:10

49) 1 Corinthians 5:7

50) Hebrews 11:28-29

51) Genesis 37:28, 36, Psalm 105:17

52) Hebrews 2:14-15

53) Exodus 12:11

54) John 13:1-4

55) Hebrews 1:3, 2 Corinthians 4:6

56) John 6:53-56

57) Hebrews 9:22

58) 2 Corinthians 5:14, Romans 6:5-19, Revelation 1:5, John 8:31-36

59) Justify (dikaioo) is derived from the word dikaios, meaning righteous.

60) See Hebrews 8:6-12, Jeremiah 31:31-34

61) As we confess our sin, the blood of Jesus washes away our sin and we are made entirely innocent before God (1 John 1:9). In the Spirit, we are clean and pure. It really is as if we never sinned. Being forgiven and washed clean does not always mean that we will avoid the natural consequences of sin. People may still be hurt and restoration may still be required. However, being cleansed by the blood does mean that we are set free from the spiritual consequences of sin. Our sin is washed away and the separation and spiritual death that our sin creates are gone forever. God no longer remembers the sin and neither should we. Like Paul, we should forget what is behind us and focus on our future in Christ (Philippians 3:13, Luke 9:62).

62) Note the close relationship between the Greek words sanctify (hagiazo) and purify (hagnizo), both of which share the root word hagios, meaning holy. This word is defined by HELPS Word-studies as follows:

hágios: properly, different (unlike), other (“otherness”), holy; for the believer, hágios means “likeness of nature with the Lord” because “different from the world.” The fundamental (core) meaning of hágios is “different” – thus a temple in the 1st century was hagios (“holy”) because different from other buildings (Wm. Barclay). In the NT, hágios (“holy”) has the “technical” meaning “different from the world” because “like the Lord.” (© 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.)

Thus being made holy through sanctification produces a tangible change in our hearts and minds. We become different from the world and different from our former life. We are different because we are united with Jesus in the likeness of His nature and love.

63) John 4:24

64) The use of the word flesh to refer to the sin nature within people can be seen in Romans 8:5-8, 12-13; 13:14, Galatians 5:24 and also in Ephesians 2:3 (which explicitly links 'flesh' and'nature'.

65) Note that there are two natures at work within a person, the sinful nature and the Spirit nature (Romans 8:1-8). The Spirit nature is sourced in the Spirit of Jesus within us, while the sin nature is sourced in the sin within our hearts. Our call is to live according to the nature of Christ within us and yield our nature of sin to the cross. We will look more at this in a future study.

66) Ezekiel 36:22-28

67) The act of breaking the bread was spiritually significant. This can be seen in 1 Corinthians 11:24 where the NKJV reads “This is my body broken for you". Jesus was breaking the bread as a symbol or living parable.

68) Psalm 34:20, John 19:36, Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12

69) John 3:13-15, Numbers 21:4-9

70) In some translations the Greek word oxos is translated as vinegar rather than sour wine. Vinegar essentially is sour wine. It may be of interest to note that the English word vinegar comes from the French vin aigre meaning sour or tart wine.

71) 2 Timothy 2:25: True repentance is a gift of God.

72) See the Living Word study in Series One.

73) God expresses Himself in many different ways and has sewn His nature into the fabric of creation. As such, we can behold His nature in many different ways, including through the word of God. As we learn to behold His glory, we will be transformed into people who carry the nature and image of Christ.

74) Deuteronomy 8:3. As Scripture says, we live by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

75) Romans 8:2, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 6:8

76) 1 Corinthians 1:30

77) See the Desire study in Series One. The phrase ‘to will’ comes from the Greek word thelo which means: To will, have in mind, intend, to be resolved or determined, to purpose, to desire, to wish, to love, to like to do a thing, be fond of doing, to take delight in, have pleasure. Thus God will work in us to create a hunger, delight, love, pleasure and determined resolve for Jesus.

78) See the Revelation study.

79) 1 John 1:7

80) John 6:55

81) Exodus 16:2-7

82) An internet search can be useful in providing images showing the layout of the tabernacle of Moses and the items it contained.

83) Hebrews 7:26-27, 9:11-12, 10:10

84) Hebrews 1:3

85) Leviticus 1:4

86) Mark 14:3

87) Exodus 29:38-46

88) Leviticus 16:1-34, Exodus 30:1-10

89) Exodus 26:31-33

90) Note that the golden censer is also mentioned here as being in the Holy of Holies. This golden censer was used to take coals from the altar and burn incense in the Holy of Holies, once a year, on the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16:12-13).

91) Hebrews 9:3-5 lists the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded as being present in the Ark in addition to the Ten Commandments. God commanded that a portion of manna and Aaron’s rod were to be kept before Him as a witness throughout the generations (see Exodus 16:31-34, Numbers 17:8-11).

92) The word translated as ‘mercy seat’ (hilasterion) in Hebrews 9:5 is also used in Romans 3:25 when Paul writes of Jesus being a propitiation (hilasterion). Jesus is our mercy seat.

93) John 14:6

94) John 14:1-11, 2 Corinthians 4:6

95) 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, Hebrews 1:3, John 10:30

96) Numbers 17:1-11

97) Hebrews 7:25

98) 1 Peter 2:9

99) 1 Corinthians 1:30

100) Hebrews 7:11-17, Romans 10:4

101) Ephesians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:8

102) Romans 8: 1-4

103) See Exodus 25:10-11, 37:1-2. God could have designed the ark to be made of entirely of gold if He so desired. By making the ark of wood overlaid in gold, God is revealing His desire to overlay our human nature with the divine nature of Christ. He wants to unite us with the pure and precious nature of Jesus so that we can become an ark for His presence.

104) Revelation 2:17, Hebrews 8:6-13, Jeremiah 31:31-34

105) 2 Corinthians 4:7

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Spiritual Truth

Chapter 2: Types and Realities

Chapter 3: Revelation

Chapter 4: Revelation and Possession

Chapter 5: Light

Chapter 6: Unfolding the Word

Chapter 7: The Passover

Chapter 8: The Passover Elements

Chapter 9: The Last Supper

Chapter 10: The Blood of Christ

Chapter 11: The Flesh of Christ

Chapter 12: The Exchange

Chapter 13: Eating and Drinking

Chapter 14: The Tabernacle

Chapter 15: The Holy Place

Chapter 16: The Holy of Holies

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Reference Notes