Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1) - 1

Message Title: Christ as the Great Light, the One who has Authority, the Physician, the Bridegroom, the Unfulled Cloth, and the New Wine

what is the intrinsic significance of this title, "Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ"? 

this is about the heart of the divine revelation, and the central thought of God's eternal economy. and our experience and enjoyment of Christ is for the corporate expresson of Christ as the organic Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate expression of Christ. 

Philippians 2:2 Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing,

what is the "one thing". the "one thing" is the subjective experience of Christ as our enjoyment. our mind should focus, concentrate on the subjective experience of Christ for our enjoyment. 

the experience of Christ is mainly in our spirit, and the enjoyment of Christ is mainly in our soul. so Paul says here in 2:2, we need to be one in soul, thinking the one thing. in order to be thinking the one thing, we need the mind of Christ to be in our mind, so that we can be one with another in mind. we can pray a short prayer: " Lord, let your inward parts to be duplicated in our inward parts." 

it is possible for us to have the experience without the enjoyment. this is like little children eating healthy food, such as vegetables but do not like eating them. 

our enjoyment of Christ need to be sufficient and adequate. we need to pray to the Lord, "Lord, grang me more enjoyment of Christ."  our goal should be the full enjoyment of Christ and the full gaining of Christ. 

I. Christ is the great light shining on those sitting in darkness and rising on those sitting in the region and shadow of death

John  12:36 While you have the light, believe into the light, so that you may become sons of light. Jesus said these things, and He went away and was hidden from them. 

God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. therefore, as the children of God, we are sons of light. one of the way for us to enjoy God as our portion is that we need to walk in the light. in His presence we enjoy Christ as our allotted portion. 

Malachi 4:2 But unto you who fear My name will the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings, and you will go forth and leap about like well-fed calves.

as the Sun of righteousness, He has healing in His wings, which is the rays of His shining. when He shines on us, He is the light of life, so His shining in us as the sun is for our growth in life, and for the dispersing of the darkness in our being. Also, the healing in His wings is the healing in life to annul any unrighteousness in our being. 

II. the centurion saw that the Lord was One who had authority because the Lord was a man under authority

the centurion was a man under authority so he could have authority to command those who were under his authority. and the centurion recognised that the Lord was also such a man under authority. as a man, the Lord rejected His natural humanity and lived a human life under the restriction of the divine life of the heavenly Father. 

III. In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the Lord Jesus as the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a Physician

Matthew 9:12 Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.

Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

a judge's judgement is according to righteousness, whereas a physician's healing is according to mercy and grace. if the Lord had visited us pitiful people as a Judge, we all would have been condemned and rejected, and none of us would have been qualified, selected, and called to be the people of His heavenly kingdom. However, the Lord came to minister as a Physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save us that we might be reconstituted to be His new and heavenly citizens, with whom He could establish His heavenly kingdom. 

therefore, in our preaching the gospel, we should not present the Lord as a Judge, but as a Physician coming to be a friend of sinners and tax collectors. 

IV. Christ is our Bridegroom

a bridegroom is the most pleasant person. the Lord came as a Physician to heal us, then He made us the sons of the bridechamber, eventually, He will make us His bride. 

V. Christ the unfulled cloth and our new garment

Matthew 9:16 No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

we always want to improve our natural life. we look at the living of Jesus, and then we start to imitate His living, and we even pray to the Lord to help us in our self-improvement. this will only make a "worse tear" in us. as the kingdom people, we should not do this. instead, we take the crucified and resurrected Christ as our new garment to cover us as our righteousness before God. 

VI. Christ is our new wine to be put into fresh wineskins

Christ is new in time, recent, and newly possessed. Christ as the new, cheering life with cheering strength that strengthens us, and makes us very happy. the fresh wineskins signify the church life in the local churches as the container of the new wine, which is Christ Himself as the exciting life.