Noah, Daniel, and Job—Patterns of Living an Overcoming Life On the Line of Life to Fulfill the Economy of God
Message Five
God’s Intention with Job—That a Good Man Become a God-man
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Job 42:5 I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You;
Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.
I. In the divine revelation there are two trees, two sources, two ways, two principles, and two ultimate consummations—Gen. 2:9, 17; Rev. 22:1-2, 14: (Monday)
A. The tree of life signifies The Triune God as life to man in man’s relationship with God; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, the Devil, the evil one, as death to man in his fall before God—Gen. 2:9, 17.
————————————————————————
B. The first way is the way of life, the narrow way, for man to seek God, gain God, and enjoy God as his supply in God’s eternal life; the second way is the way of death and of good and evil, the broad way, for man to follow Satan and be his children—Matt. 7:13-14. (Tuesday)
————————————————————————
II. God’s purpose was not to have a Job on the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but to have a Job on the line of the tree of life—Job 1:1; 2:3; 42:1-6: (Wednesday)
A. The logic of Job and his friends followed the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Job and his friends were in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God wanted to save them out of that realm and put them into the realm of the tree of life—Job 2:11; 1:1; 2:3.
B. God’s purpose in dealing with Job was to turn him from the way of good and evil to the way of life so that he might gain God in the fullest way—Job 42:1-6.
————————————————————————
III. We need to have a vision of the tree of life, that is, a vision of God in Christ as our food—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:1-2, 14: (Thursday)
A. The tree of life signifies The Triune God in Christ dispensing Himself in the form of food as life into His chosen people; according to God’s purpose, the entire universe is centered on the tree of life, and nothing is more central and crucial to God or to man than the tree of life—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:14.
————————————————————————
B. The New Testament reveals that Christ is the fulfillment of the type of the tree of life; enjoying the tree of life will be the eternal portion of all those redeemed by God, and the fruit of the tree of life will be the food of God’s redeemed people for eternity; the fruit will always be fresh, being produced every month—John 1:4; 15:1, 5; Rev. 22:1-2, 14. (Friday)
————————————————————————
IV. When we were regenerated, Christ planted Himself as the tree of life into us—John 1:12-13; 3:3, 5-6; 15:1, 5: (Saturday)
A. In our practical life we may be on the line not of the tree of life but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in our daily life we should not be in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but in the realm of the life-giving Spirit—Prov. 16:25; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:2.
B. God’s purpose is to tear us down and to rebuild us with Himself as our life and nature so that we may be a person who is fully one with Him—2 Cor. 1:9; 4:14.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
… Have you considered My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil…and he still holds fast his integrity—Job 2:3.
I [Job] had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye has seen You; therefore I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.—Job 42:5-6.
That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work—2 Tim. 3:17.
Word of Appetizer
What was God’s intention concerning Job?
God’s intention was for Job to become a God-man to express God in His attributes.
God’s intention concerning Job was to consume him and to strip him of his perfection and uprightness, which he had attained and achieved in the highest standard of morality; God’s intention was to tear down the natural Job in his own perfection and uprightness so that God could build up a renewed Job with God’s nature and attributes.
God carried out a work of stripping and consuming on Job to tear him down so that God could have a basis and a way to rebuild Job with God Himself, making him a God-man, the same as God in life and nature (but not in the Godhead), for the expression of God.
Spiritual Burden
The sixty-six books of the Bible speak of only one thing—God in Christ as The Spirit wants to dispense Himself into us to be our life, nature, and everything so that we may live Christ and express Christ.
God in Christ is constituted into man, and man is constituted into God; God and man are mingled together to become one entity called the God-man.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The sixty-six books of the Bible speak of only one thing—God in Christ as The Spirit wants to dispense Himself into us to be our life, nature, and everything so that we may live Christ and express Christ.
Job was a good man who manifested his own perfection, uprightness, and integrity.
God’s intention was for Job to become a God-man to express God in His attributes.
God in Christ is constituted into man, and man is constituted into God; God and man are mingled together to become one entity called the God-man.
The Experience of Life
Job 42:5-6 I [Job] had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You; therefore I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.
When everything has been stripped away, you see God, and He attracts you to receive Him. Then you have God’s nature, life, element, essence, and even His being. This causes a metabolic change within you, transforming you from the form of your present being into another form, the divine form.
Practice and Application
God in Christ is constituted into man, and man is constituted into God; God and man are mingled together to become one entity called the God-man.
A God-man loves the Lord with his whole being (that is, out of his whole heart, whole soul, whole mind, and whole strength); a God-man does not trust in the flesh, denies the self, and exercises his spirit to live Christ; a God-man is a man of God who has the word of God and breathes in the breath of God; a God-man realizes that he is not an individual but part of the corporate God-man—the Body of Christ, the one new one.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Creator did not reveal His purpose to anyone before the New Testament age (Job 10:13; Eph. 3:9).
(Please illustrate that Job could not find the reason for God’s dealing with him, but he believed that some reasons were hidden in God’s heart.)
T2 There were many things within God Himself, but He could not reveal them to Job (Eph. 3:9, 17).
(Please illustrate that Job was in the primitive stage of the divine revelation.)
Day 2
T1 God created man in His own image and according to His likeness for man to express Him (Gen. 1:26; 1 John 3:2).
(Please illustrate that expressing God is higher than fearing God and shunning evil.)
T2 Only God knew that Job had a need, which was the lack of God (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17).
(Please illustrate that a Christian should pursue God Himself more than anything else.)
Day 3
T1 Job was in a wrong realm, building up his own perfection, uprightness, and integrity (Job 42:5-6).
(Please illustrate that God considers all these things to be frustrations and therefore wants to strip them from us.)
T2 Today there are two realms—the realm of the old creation and the realm of the new creation (Job 42:5-6).
(Please illustrate the difference between the realm of the old creation and the realm of the new creation.)
Day 4
T1 Seeing the revelation concerning God’s economy enables one to understand the book of Job (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17).
(Please illustrate what the revelation of God’s economy is.)
T2 The main content of the New Testament is the eternal economy of The Triune God according to His good pleasure (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17).
(What is the answer given by God concerning the purpose of Job’s suffering?)
Day 5
T1 The Bible reveals a wonderful and excellent One—the God-man, Jesus Christ (John 12:24; Rom. 8:29).
(What is a God-man?)
T2 We must die and live so that many God-men can become the building material (John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:31).
(Please illustrate with experience that the Christian life does not consist in loving others outwardly or in being gentle and forbearing ethically; we must die daily.)
Day 6
T1 The Bible, the word of God, is the breathing out of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
(Please illustrate that God’s speaking is His breathing out; His word is The Spirit.)
T2 Applying the humanity of Jesus to every detail of our daily walk and conduct (2 Tim. 2:22; 3:16).
(Please illustrate the ways to enjoy the humanity of Jesus.)
