第二十七週．週一

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晨興餧養

西一１２～１３　『感謝父，叫你們彀資格在光中同得所分給眾聖徒的分；祂拯救了我們脫離黑暗的權勢，把我們遷入祂愛子的國裏。』

保羅寫歌羅西二章時，乃是想到舊約中美地的圖畫，這美地就是包羅萬有之基督的豫表。一章十二節含示這點，保羅在這節說到基督是眾聖徒的分。然後，保羅在二章七節告訴我們，要在基督裏行事為人。這含示基督是我們能在其中行事為人的美地，領域，範圍。不僅如此，他在七節說到在基督裏生根，這也指明他想到那美地。我們要在基督裏生根，祂就必須成為我們的地土，我們的土壤。這些全都指明歌羅西書所啟示的基督乃是我們的美地。（歌羅西書生命讀經，一九九至二○○頁。）

信息選讀

保羅…知道神的選民在舊約時代享受美地作他們的分。不僅如此，他也知道美地是他們的一切。藉著美地，他們纔能敬拜神，並且建造聖殿，作神的見證，並作神獨一的居所。藉著美地，以色列人纔能完成神的定旨。保羅十分清楚美地對神的選民有甚麼意義，所以他寫信給歌羅西人時，乃是想著美地的這幅圖畫。因此，我們若要經歷這卷書中所啟示之包羅萬有的基督，我們就需要看見，這樣一位基督乃是迦南美地所豫表的。這位由美地所豫表的基督，乃是經過過程的三一神成了賜生命的靈。

在約書亞五章十一至十二節，我們看到一個題示，美地接續嗎哪作基督的豫表。十一節說到以色列的百姓喫美地的出產。十二節說得特別清楚：『他們喫了那地的出產，當日嗎哪就止住了，以色列人也不再有嗎哪了；那一年，他們卻喫迦南地的出產。』嗎哪豫表基督是神百姓生命的供應。正如約書亞記中這二節所指明，美地的出產乃是嗎哪的延續。因此，嗎哪若是豫表基督，美地的出產必定也是豫表祂。藉著曠野中嗎哪的供應，神的百姓就能建立會幕作神的居所。同樣的原則，因著那地豐富出產的供應，他們就能建造聖殿作神更穩固的居所。毫無疑問，以色列子民所享受的美地，乃是基督一個重大的豫表，因為乃是藉著享受美地，聖殿纔得以建立。

地是舊約聖經的緊要中心。…神呼召亞伯拉罕出來，告訴他要把他帶到一個地方，那個地方就是迦南美地。想想看，從創世記十二章到舊約末了，有多少次神題到那地。事實上，舊約的中心乃是在美地上所建造之城裏的聖殿。…美地乃是包羅萬有之基督的圖畫，豫表基督之於我們乃是一切。（歌羅西書生命讀經，二○○、二○二至二○四頁。）

以色列人在美地上的經歷，豫表今天我們對基督的享受。基督是我們的美地，基督豐富的各方面由那地的出產所豫表。我們若享受基督豐富的供應，就能活基督。我們也會得著加力，擊敗仇敵。仇敵總是在我們享受基督的時候被擊敗。不但如此，藉著享受基督的豐富，神的國就在召會中被建立，殿也被建造，作神的居所。這一切事—過基督徒生活、擊敗仇敵、建立神的國、並建造神的居所—都出於對基督豐富的享受。（哥林多前書生命讀經，五三二頁。）

參讀：歌羅西書生命讀經，第六、二十至二十一篇；基督是我們的分，第一章。

WEEK 27 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Col. 1:12-13 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

As Paul was writing Colossians 1, he was considering the picture of the good land in the Old Testament as a type of the all-inclusive Christ. There is a suggestion of this in verse 12, where Paul says that Christ is the allotted portion of the saints. Then in 2:6 Paul tells us to walk in Christ. This implies that Christ is the land, the territory, the realm, in which we may walk. Furthermore, his reference to being rooted in Christ in 2:7 also indicates that he was thinking of the good land. In order to be rooted in Christ, He must be our land, our soil. All of these are indications that the Christ revealed in Colossians is our good land. (Lifestudy of Colossians, p. 162)

Todays Reading

Paul…was aware that God’s chosen people in Old Testament times enjoyed the good land as their portion. Furthermore, he realized that the good land was everything to them. It was through the good land that they could worship God and build the temple for God’s testimony and for His unique dwelling place. It was through the good land that God’s purpose could be fulfilled through the children of Israel. Fully realizing what the good land meant to God’s chosen people, Paul composed the Epistle to the Colossians with the portrait of the good land in mind. Therefore, if we would experience the all-inclusive Christ as revealed in this book, we need to realize that such a Christ is typified by the land of Canaan. The Christ who is typified by the good land is the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit.

In Joshua 5:11 and 12 we see a hint that the good land typifies Christ as the continuation of the manna. Verse 11 says that the children of Israel ate of the produce of the land. Verse 12 is especially clear: “And the manna ceased on that day, when they ate of the produce of the land; and there was no longer manna for the children of Israel, but they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan that year.” Manna was a type of Christ as the life supply for God’s people. As these verses in Joshua point out, the produce of the good land was the continuation of the manna. Therefore, if the manna typifies Christ, the produce of the good land must also typify Him. By means of the supply of manna in the wilderness, God’s people were able to build the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place. In the same principle, through the supply of the rich produce of the land, they were able to build the temple as a more solid dwelling place for God. No doubt, the good land enjoyed by the children of Israel is a significant type of Christ, for through the enjoyment of it, the temple was built.

The land is the crucial focus of the Old Testament…[God] called out Abraham and told him that He would bring him into a certain land, which was the land of Canaan. Consider how many times from Genesis 12 to the end of the Old Testament the Lord referred to the land. Actually, the center of the Old Testament is the temple within the city built in the good land…The land is the figure of the all-inclusive Christ, a type of Christ as everything to us. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 162-165)

The experience of the children of Israel in the good land typifies our enjoyment of Christ today. Christ is our good land, and the various aspects of the riches of Christ are typified by the produce of the land. If we enjoy the rich supply of Christ, we will be able to live Christ. We will also be empowered to defeat the enemies. The enemies are always defeated when we enjoy Christ. Furthermore, through the enjoyment of the riches of Christ, the kingdom of God is established in the church, and the temple is built for God’s dwelling place. All these matters—living the Christian life, defeating the enemies, establishing the kingdom of God, and building the house of God—issue out from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 449)

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 6, 20—21; CWWL, 1966, vol. 1, “Christ Our Portion,” ch. 1