Glorious, victorious, or spiritual?

as believers, it is very common for us to seek to be spiritual and victorious over sins. this is good. we should pursue to be spiritual instead of fleshy or soulish, and we should have such a desire to overcome our sins and unrighteousness. but have you thought about that the goal is not mere victory or spirituality, but to be glorious. in the bible, there is nowhere which mentions the victorious or spiritual church. but in Ephesians chapter 5, there is the word "glorious". 

Ephesians 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,

Ephesians 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.

this shows us that God desires a glorious church, not just a spiritual church. the angels are the most spiritual ones. but that cannot satisfy God's desire. if we look back in the first chapter of Genesis, we can find the reason. 

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

in the record of God's creation in Genesis 1, by this time, God already created myriads of angels. but God still needed to create man, who bears His image, which tells us that God wants man to express Him with His glory. the angels are spiritual but they cannot express God. only man can express God because man was made in God's image. 

if we go on to the book of Romans, we can see further that God desires and requires man to express His glory. 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

man has sinned and fall short of the glory of God, because the purpose of God creating man is that man would express God's glory. but man fell and failed to express God's glory, so man fall short in this matter. 

come back to Ephesians 5:26, which verse shows us the way to be glorious, is by the sanctifying and cleansing of Christ through the washing of the water in the word. first we need to learn this way. we need to spend time in the word of God to be washed, getting rid of all the spots and wrinkles. second, we need to be built up with all the believers as His glorious church. we can never express God's glory enough and adequate by being individuals. God requires a glorious church, not a glorious believer. 

like how the apostle Paul concluded the chapter 3 of Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:21 To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen.

God's Need and God's Goal

we all know that we have a need, but seldom do we realise that God has a need, and God's need is much greater than our needs. God needs a group of people who will be open vessels to receive His infusing and dispensing, so that this group of people can become His duplication and expression on the earth. if our eyes are opened to see such a great need of God, we will be willing to forget and lay aside our own needs, to give ourselves to meet God's need. while we are caring for God's need, God will take the responsibility to meet all our needs, because He is the all-sufficient God, and all the riches of the earth all belong to God the great Creator. 

in order for us to be able to enter into and enjoy all the riches of God and the grace of God, God will allow us to have falls and failures, ups and downs in our human life. it is during these times of failures, trials and sufferings, that our being will become open to God, even just a little crack, which will offer God the opportunity to come into us with His unsearchable riches, with His super abouding grace, to mingle Himself with us. 

why do all these happen to us, God's people? because of God's goal. God's goal is that He would enter into man to be God in man, and man would enter into God to be man in God. 

The Two Spirits - Lesson Three

Lesson Three: the Compound Spirit

1. the compound ointment in Exodus 30

Exodus 30:22 Moreover Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Exodus 30:23 You also take the finest spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred fifty shekels, and of fragrant calamus two hundred fifty shekels,

Exodus 30:24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.

Exodus 30:25 And you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a fragrant ointment compounded according to the work of a compounder; it shall be a holy anointing oil.

this holy anointing oil was applied to the tabernacle, its contents, and the serving priests. 

2. the significance of the ingredients

a. olive oil:

Psalms 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; / Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You / With the oil of gladness above Your companions.

the olive oil signifies the Spirit of God, through the pressure of Christ's death, flowing out. the olive oil is the base of the ointment; it is the basic element compounded with the spices. 

b. flowing myrrh: 

flowing myrrh, smelling sweet but tasting bitter, signifies the precious death of Christ. 

c. cinnamon: fragrant cinammon signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ's death. 

d. calamus: this calamus signifies the rising up of the Lord Jesus from the place of death.

e. cassia: signifies the power of Christ's resurrection. 

3. the sifnificance of the numbers and measurements

a. one hin of oil with four spices: 

the number one signifies the unique God. the number four signifies the creatures. therefore, in the compound ointment we have God signified by numer one, and God's creatures signified by number four. Ths indicates that the compound ointment is a matter of God plus His creature, man. 

b. three units of five hundred:

in this ointment the Triune God is typified by the three units of the measure of the four spices. 

c. five elements:

the ointment is composed of five basic elements: olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. 

4. the compounded Spirit

in Exodus 30, we see a wonderful picture of the compound ointment which signifies the compound Spirit. today the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. in this all-inclusive Spirit we enjoy God, the uplifted humanity of Jesusm, the sweetness of the death of Christ, the effectiveness of the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the power of the resurrection of Christ. 

Summary

the compound ointment in Exodus 30 is a type of the compound Spirit. the olive oil represents the Spirit of God. the four spices symbolizes four elements that have been added to the Spirit. in the numbers and mesurements of the ingredients we also see the mingling of God and man; the Triune God; and the ability to bear reponsibilities. all these items are now included in the processed compound Spirit. 

The Two Spirits - Lesson Two

Lesson Two: the All-inclusive Spirit 

I. the progressive revelation of the divine Spirit

The revelation in the Bible concerning God, Christ, and the Spirit is progressive, beginning in Genesis 1 and developing progressively until the book of Revelation.

1. the Spirit of God

Genesis 1:2 But the earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters.

in relation to God's creaton, the Spirit is specifically called the Spirit of God.

2. the Spirit of Jehovah

In His relationship wth man God's title is Jehovah. in the Old Testament, we can see a few cases that the Spirit of Jehovah came upon certain man, or rushed on certain man. This indicates that the Spirit of Jehovah has to do with God's reaching of man. 

3. the Holy Spirit

Matthew 1:18 Now the origin of Jesus Christ was in this way: His mother, Mary, after she had been engaged to Joseph, before they came together, was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.

It was when the time came to prepare the way for Christ's coming and to prepare a human body for Him to initiate the New Testament dispensation, that the term "Holy Spirit" came into use. 

4. the Spirit was not yet

John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

it was quite puzzling to see that here John says that the Spirit was not yet. the Spirit of God was in Genesis 1, and the Spirit of Jehovah was also there in the Old Testament. then why here in John 7, was the Spirit not yet? in John 7, the Lord Jesus was still in the flesh; He was not yet in glory, that is, not yet in resurrection. Because He was not yet resurrectd, the Spirit was not yet. the Spirit of God was there from the very beginning, but the Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ was not yet until the Lord was glorified in resurrection. 

5. the Spirit of Jesus

Acts 16:7 And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

in the context of the book of Acts there, we can see that the apostle Paul was in suffering, so for this reason, the Spirit of Jesus was with him. The Spirit of Jesus has the elemnt of humanity, human living, and cricifixion. 

6. the Spirit of Christ

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.

the Spirit of Christ in this verse has the element of resurrection. this Spirit is the Spirit of God mentioned in the same verse and also the Spirit of life mentioned earlier in verse 2.  in the Spirit we have Christ's incarnation, humanity, human living, death, and resurrection. 

7. the Spirit of Jesus Christ

Philippians 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

when Paul wrote this word, he was a prisoner, but he could still rejoice because he had the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This Sprit supplied and supported Paul in his suffering and enabled him to rejoice. 

II. the Spirit - the all-inclusive, processed Triune God

when all the aspects and elements of the Spirit are put together we have a totality, a final product known in the New Testament as "the Spirit". He is now the all-inclusive, compound, lfe-giving, indwelling Spirit who is the processed Triune God. 

III. saved by the bountiful supply of the Spirit

from the book of Philippians, we can see that, though Paul was suffering and confined in the prison, he was rejoicing in the Lord because of the boutniful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. this is also very applicable to us today. we may feel unhappy with our situation in human life. but we can, be like Paul, learn the secret of being saved from many negative things and to express and magnify Christ to those around us. 

Summary

the revelation in the Bible concerning the Spirit is progressive. in the Old Testament, the Spirit is merely the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah. it is not until the time of the Lord's incarnation in the New Testament that the title "Holy Spirit" s used. the "Spirit of God" existed from the very beginning, but "the Spirit" was not yet until the Lord passed through the process of incarnation, human living, death and resurrection. the Spirit today is the all-inclusive Spirit containing all the divine elements for our enjoyment. 

The Two Spirits - Lesson 1

Lesson One 

The Two Spirits

there are three verses in the New Testament that speak of both the human spirit and the divine Spirit.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

we need to see the matter of the two spirits because it is a crucial truth concerning God, God's purpose and our Christian experience. 

1. God's eternal purpose

Ephesians 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Ephesians chapter 3 reveals to us that God hid within Himself an eternal purpose, and God made a plan according to His eternal purpose. Therefore, He made man in His own image and acccording to His likeness so that one day He would enter ino the man He made so that He can gain man to be a vessel to contain Himself, so as to express God. This is God's eternal purpose and also the reason why man was created. 

2. the way God fulfills His eternal purpose

Ephesians 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;

Ephesians 3:9 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things,

1 Timothy 1:4 Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.

in order to fulfill His eternal purpose, God made a plan, which is called "economy" in the New Testament. the economy of God is to dispense Himself into His chosen, predestinated, and redeemed people as their life, their life supply, and their everything. and out of this economy, many believers are being produced to be the members of the Body of Christ, for a full expression of the Triune God. 

3. God as the Spirit reaching man

in order for God to dispense Himself into man, the Triune God passed through the process to become the pneumatic Christ who is able to enter into man. from the Bible, we can see that God the Father is dwelling in the unapproachable light. though God the Son became a man and came to tabernacle among man, He could not enter into His disciples because of His flesh and blood. therefore, through the death and resurrection, His form was changed from a physical form into a spiritual form. God the Father is embodied in God the Son, and God the Son is realised, transmitted, experienced and gained by us in God the Spirit. 

4. the Spirit is the entire Triune God

when we have the Spirit entering in and dwelling within us, it does not mean that we only have a third of the Triune God. actually, we have the entire Triune God, because the three of the Godhead not only coexist, but they also coinhere. God is triune, which means He is three-one. 

5. the Spirit of reality

John 14:17 Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.

John 16:13 But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming.

The Spirit of reality guides the believers into all the reality of the Triune God and of all divine matters. if we would apply all that God and Christ are, we need the Spirit. 

6. the human spirit

when God created man, He created man with a human spirit, with the intention that man would be able to contact god with the human spirit. we were born again in our human spirit; we are joined to the Lord in our spirit, and we contact and worship God in our spirit. so the human spirit is the key to our Christian life. 

In summary, God's eternal purpose is to have a people that would express Him. the way He fulfills this purpose is called His economy. In His economy, God as the Spirit dispenses Himself into man. God is able to dispense Himself into man because He is the Spirit and man has a spirit. The Spirit transmits the entire Triune God, and the human spirit receives this transmission. Our spirit is the means for us to contact the Triune God; therefore the human spirit is a great thing in the universe. By the divine Spirit entering the human spirit, God will accomplish His desire. 

Numbers 19 summary

Numbers chapter 19 is a chapter on the water for impurity. the background of the water for impurity is that in Numbers chappter 11-14 and chapter 16, there were various rebellion, Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moses, the ten evip spies, and the 250 elders under the leading of Korah. so after all these rebellion, especially the 250 elders, which was the moset widespread rebellion among the people of Israel, all God's people were under the negative effect and influence of the death spreading among them. they were all unclean, so they were in need of the water for impurity to annul the effect and impurity of death. 

Numbers 19:2 This is the statute of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which is no blemish and upon which a yoke has never come.

the red heifer, as the major component of the water for impurity, typifies the redeeming Christ. we can see a few aspects of the red heifer:

1. The color red signifies the likeness of the flesh of sin, for the bearing of man's sin outwardly. When Christ was incarnated, He became in the likeness of the flesh of sin.

2. the heifer wad without blemish or defect, which signifies that Christ is perfect, without any sin. 

3. "upon which a yoke has never come" : signifies that Christ has never been used by anyone, especially by Satan, God's enemy.

4. the heifer was brought and slaughtered outside the camp, signifying Christ, who was crucified on Mt Calvary, outiside Jerusalem.

Numbers 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet strands, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

while the heifr was being burnt, the priest cast cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet strands. 

cedar wood: signifies Christ's dignified humanity.

hyssop: Christ's humbled humanity

scarlet strands: signifies the redemption of Christ.

all these elements of Christ were added into the red heifer to be burnt together into ashes for future use to be put into running water for those who would need purification. this signifies that Christ was reduced to nothing on the cross, and all these components bring us the "final product", the all-inclusive life giving Spirit, with all the elements of Christ's dignified and humbled humanity, His death on the cross and the Spirit of His resurrection, is avalable for us now to clean and purify us from death. 

now at the end of the age, the world has become so evil, corrupted and full of death, with its negative influence spreading, not only among the unbelieving people, but even among the church, among the believers. especially nowadays,  when infomation technology has become so advanced, even though we try not to see, read, or receive anything from media, without our phone, the whole world is still coming to us to invade into our being, to bring us the effect of death, to defile our being, to deaden our spirit. while we are still living on the earth, we have no way to totally or absolutley keep us from any of these. therefore, how we need the water for impurity, to constantly cleansing us, to annul the effect of death which we pick up in our normal daily human life. Thank You Lord Jesus!!

Exodus 33 Summary

there are three main points I really appreciate in this chapter.

1. Moses moved the tent outside the camp, and those who saught Jehovah would go out of the camp to the tent.

2. Moses was called a comapnion of God.

3. Moses "barganing" with God 

Exodus 33:7 Now Moses would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, some distance from the camp; and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought Jehovah went out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

at that time, after the worshipping of the golden calf, Moses, who was a man knowing God's heart, realised that the whole camp of Isael was defiled and corrupted, which caused God no longer able to be in the midst of this camp. so he took the tent outside the camp, and he would go there to meet with and speak with God, also those who sought Jehovah. the situation is still the same today for us. the whole camp, Christianity has been defiled and mixed with all kinds of evil and wicked things, which our God, who is holiness and righteousness cannot tolerate. if we want to seek God and His presence, we need to go outside the camp to the tent of meeting. we need to forsake all the rituals, religions, mixtures in woship, etc. just to seek after God and God alone. 

Exodus 33:11 And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion. And Moses would return to the camp, but his attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart out of the tent.

here Moses is mentioned as a companion of God, who spoke to Moses face to face. in Genesis 18, we have Abraham who was called a friend of God. here in Exodus 33, we have Moses, who is a companion of God. a companion is more than a friend. companionship, which also includes friendship but more than friendship, means that Moses was not only close and intimate with God, but also shared the same common interest, common goal and common aim with God. Moses could stay on mountaintop with God for forthy days and nights twice, which shows Moses had a very close and intimate relationship with God. both God and Moses enjoyed this time of staying together. it is also by spending so much time with God, Moses became a man knowing God's heart, knowing God's way, what God wanted to do, and he could join himself to God's desire and interest, which qualified Moses to become a companion, an associate with God. for us today, if we have a heart to serve the Lord, we also need to become companions to the Lord. we cannot serve the Lord without knowing what is on the Lord's heart, what the Lord desires. to serve the Lord is not a matter of methods or ways, but a matter of becoming a close and intimate companion with the Lord, so that the Lord can duplicate His heart in us, thus making us people accoding to His heart, to participate in His interest. we cannot become close to God without spending much time with Him. so everyday, we need to labor, to set aside adequate time, to be in the Lord's presence, to get to know the Lord's heart by reading His word, by praying to fellowship with the Lord. 

Exodus 33:12 And Moses said to Jehovah, See, You say to me, Bring up this people; but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.

Exodus 33:13 Now therefore if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people.

Exodus 33:14 And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.

Exodus 33:15 And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

Exous 33:16 For how then shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, are distinct from all the other people who are on the face of the earth?

in this portion, we can see Moses 'bargaining" with God. Moses asked for God to go up with the people, asked for the presence of God. what makes us the believers different with the non-believers, is that we have the presence of the Lord. we need to treasure the prescence of the Lord more than anything else. when we have the Lord's presence, we have everything; if we lose the Lord's presence, we los all things. even the conversation here between God and Moses is very interesting, quite similar to the conversation between God and Abraham in Genesis 18. Moses did not pray religious prayer with God. rather here is like the conversation between two companions. Moses knew God's heart for His people, so Moses knew how to "bargain" with God. and Moses also knew the bottom line of God, which he would not go cross. this clearly shows the intimacy between God and Moses. 

Exodus 32 Summary

in Exodus chapter 32, we mainly see two events happening, which do worth our attention. first, Israel people were worshipping the golden calf made by Aaron; second, the tribe of Levites killed their relatives and became the tribe with priesthood. 

the background of this chapter was that Moses went up to the mountain of God to be with Jehovah for 40 days and night, during which time, God revealed to Moses all the details of the tabernacle, including the Ark, the incense altar, and other furnishings in the tabernacle. then the Israel people were waiting at the foot of the mountain. then they became impatient and asked Aaron to make a god for them beause they did not know what had happened to Moses. and Aaron asked them to give their golden earrings. and Aaron took all the golden rings and made a golden calf, and told Israel people to worship this golden calf. 

Exodus 32:3 And all the people tore off the golden rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

Exodus 32:4 And he took the gold from their hand and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!

Here we need to have a look at the spiritual significance behind this portion of the word. first, where did they have the gold from? on the night when Israel people got out of Egypy, Jehovah asked them to ask for articles of gold and silver, etc. from all their neighbors, the Egyptians, which was definitly not robbery, but the righteous wages they should have had for their hard labor for Pharoah. but the purpose of God's giving them material riches through the hands of Egyptians, was not for them to wear as adornament, but for the building up of the tabernacle. However, they used the golad as rings or earrings, which was a misuse of God's blessing, and which eventually was offered to make the golden calf. so from this we can see two points:

1. Israel people abused the material riches God blessed them with, for their own beautification, instead of building up the tabernacle, God's habitation. 

2. self beautification eventually brought in idolatry, worshipping the golden calf.

what can this have to do with us today?

1. as God's people, our heavenly Father does care for all our daily needs. but we need to be careful not to follow the pattern of Israel people in Exodus 32. on one hand, we should be grateful for each blessing we receive from God. we should thank Him and praise Him. on the other hand, we need to be governed with the view that, God's blessing us is ultimately for the building up of His church, His Body. we cannot receive all the blessings from God and just use them for our own pleasure or entertainment. of crouse, it is normal that we do have basic human needs or necessary needs, which is reasonable. but the blessings are not for us to adorn ourselves with excessary ornaments. we are living on the earth not for beautifying ourselves or to enjoy a luxiour life, but for God's heart desire, for God's purpose, for the building up of God's dwelling place. everything we take from our Father's hands need to be used with God's building up in view. 

2. if we get indulged in self beautification, we will eventually be led astray to idolatry, further away from God. 

Exodus 32:26 Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Whoever is for Jehovah, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him.

when Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, He said "let My people go, that they may serve Me." God's original intention was that the whole nation of Israel should be priests serving Him. Peter also mentioned in his epistles that we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. so in God's eyes, every believer is a priest to serve Him. but by that time, because of worshipping golden calf, Israel people became corrupted, and lost the qualification to serve as holy priests to God. Moses sounded out a call for a remnant. at that time, only the sons of Levi stood out and answered Moses' call, so they became the tribe of priesthood. 

for us today, the situation is the same. the whole Christianity has become degraded and corrupted. the Lord is still sounding out the call for overcomers, who will keep them from defilement, who will fully consecrate themselves to the Lord, to purify them from any idolatry or mixture in worshipping. what shall our attitude be today? we should be like the sons of Levi, to love the Lord Jesus above everyone else and everything else, even to deny the closet natural affection and relationship. the Lord said in the gospels, that those who love their fathers and mothers more than Him, are not worthy to be His disciples. this does not mean that we must not love our parents, our families. this just means that we should give the Lord the first place, the preeminence. in our daily life and our personal universe, the Lord should always be the first. also, we have to keep coming to the Lord, allow His divine light to expose within us, if there is any mixture in our worshipping, in our serving the Lord, so that we can maitain the qualification of our priesthood. 

Consecration

after we have believed into the Lord, there is still much work for God to do in our lives, in our walking and working. but God has created us with a free will, and God does not treat us as robots. God is great and loving, and He is a gentleman. therefore, He needs our consent, our permission, before He can start to work in us, to use us, or to direct our path. He is very patient. if we do not want God to work, He will patiently wait until we become willing. Our consecration is our consent to allow the Lord to start working. 

in our Christian journey, we may be loving the Lord, reading the Bible everyday, even active in so-called "church work". but without a true and genuine consecration, we will not have much spiritual worth or value in the eyes of God, because we have not handed over our being to the hands of the Lord. how much we can be used by the Lord, depends on how much we have consecrated oursevels to the Lord, and how much we allow the Lord to work on us first. 

1. the basis of consecration 

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price. So then glorify God in your body.

Romans 14:8 For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's.

because the Lord has purchased us with the hightest price, His precious blood, we do not have right over our own. the Lord has the righteous basis to claim His right and authority over us. 

2. the motive of consecration

Exodus 21:5 But if the servant plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;

the slave in Exodus chapter 21, who could have entered into freedom, because of his love to his master, was willing to serve the master as slave forever. 

love is the motive of our consecration. without being touched by the love of God upon us, we will not respond God with loving Him, and our consecration will be such a bitter thing, like many slaves in history, who were forced to serve the master with sufferings and enduring. The security of our consecration depends upon its basis; but the vitality and sweetness of our consecration depends on its motive power, i.e., the love of God. 

3. the significance of consecration

Romans 12: 1 I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.

our consecration to God means that we have become a sacrifice to God. when God's love lays hold of us, we immediately put ourselves on the altar of the burnt offerings. this is such a waste, a huge tragedy to our family, our friends and the people who know us. but deep within our heart, we know and feel that we are producing food to God, bringing satisfaction to God, a sweet fragrance ascending to the heavens to satify God. 

4. the purpose of consecration

Isaiah 64:8 But now, Jehovah, You are our Father; / We are the clay; and You, our Potter; / And all of us are the work of Your hand.

"But the New Testament sacrifice, in contrast to the Old, is a “living sacrifice.” Wherever a real consecration to God has taken place, His purpose comes into evidence in the life consecrated to Him. That life becomes active for God. Our being for God is based on our having offered ourselves to God. If we have not presented ourselves as a sacrifice to Him, we shall never be able to do anything for Him. Only those who have been reduced to nothingness on the altar can serve Him acceptably.

When we present ourselves to the Lord, we want to remember that the significance of our consecration is that we are a sacrifice to God. He wants us to be a “living sacrifice,” to live for Him and work for Him. Then the doing will not be our doing, but His doing through us."

5. the result of consecration

Leviticus 1:8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar;

Leviticus 1:9 But its inward parts and its legs he shall wash with water. Then the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.

in the book of Leviticus, we can see that the result of God's accepting the burnt offering sacrifice was that the fire coming from heavens would consume the sacrifice laid on the altar to ashes. the ashes are good for nothing. this shows us that the result of our consecration is that we will be reduced to ashes, good for nothing in the world, even good for nothing in the Christian realm. we may think that we consecrate ourselves to be great preachers or evangelists. NO. we will not have any fame in our Christian life. we will not become popular celebrities in the Christian world. 

Seven Figures in Genesis 2

if we read Genesis chapter 2, there are seven positive figures plus one negative item, which need us to pay attention to.

1. man of clay

Genesis 2:7 Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

2 Corinthians 4: 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.

Romans 9:21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?

God made the man Adam with clay. in the New Testament, the apostle Paul also mentioned that we, men, are vessles, even earthen vessels. a vessel is made with a purpose to contain something. for example, a cup is a vessel to contain water, or drinks. then, as vessels unto honor, what we are human beings made to contain? 2 Corinthians 4:7 gives us the answer, that we, earthen vessels have this treasure within us, which is God Himself. why are we vessels unto honor? because we have this treasure within us. we have Christ making His home in us, dwelling in us.

2. the tree of life

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.

Life is in Christ, and Christ is the source of life. therefore, the tree of life in Genesis 2 signifies Christ as life to us.

3. the river of water

Genesis 2:10 And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

the flowing river in Genesis 2 is a figure of Christ as the life-giving Spirit gushing up within us as a fountain and flowing out of us as a stream.

4. gold

5. bdellium

6. onyx stone

Genesis 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that goes around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

gold, bdellium (a pearl like substance), and onyx stone are the precious materials, both seen here in Genesis 2, and also in the end of the Bible, in the last two chapters of Revelation, in the holy city, New Jerusalem. here we need to take a look at the development of God's building of His dwelling place in the entire Bible. first, in Exodus chapter 26, concerning the tabernacle, we can see that the structure of the tabernacle is standing boards made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. so in principle, gold is the material for the building of God's dwelling place among His people. with the tabernacle, there is the high priest, who serves the Lord. the high priest had the ephod, with two onyx stones on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of israel. moreover, there were twelve more precious stones on the high priest's breastplate. this shows us that the precious items were not only for the building of the Lord's dwelling place, but also for the priestly service. 1 Peter 2:5 says "You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 

7. Eve, a bride

Genesis 2:22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.

compare this portion in Genesis chapter 2 with Ephesians chapter 5, we will realize that Adam and Eve are a type of Christ and the church. at the last two chapters in Revelation, the holy city, New Jerusalem, as the consummation of all God's redeemed and transformed people, is the wife of the Lamb. 

how can these seven items be related to our spiritual experience?

we all start with the first item, the man of clay. in the old creation, we are just men of clay. but one day, the Lord's mercy reached us and we are saved!!! during our regenaration, we become God's new creation, the living stones for God's building. to be regenerated is to be transformed with the life of Christ from a man of clay to a man of stone. the more we eat and drink Christ, the more we will be transformed into living stones, into precious materials for God's building. we are transformed by experiencing and enjoying Christ as life. we eat of Him as the tree of life, and we drink of Him as the river of water. in this way, we are gradually transfomred. 

one negative item: the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

in the garden of Eden, there was another tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. because Adam did not obey God's word and took of the wrong tree, sin entered into mankind, with the wage of sin, which is death. this tree, together with the tree of life, are within us. we have to be careful moment by moment everyday. everyday, we are facing such a choice, whether we will choose the tree of life, or the tree of knowledge. we need to exercise our will to make the right choice, to choose life, not death!!

for more detail, read 

CWWL 1963 vol 1 "the Believer's Experience of Transformation" chapter 1