‹‹  WEEK 12 — DAY 3  ›› 

Morning Nourishment

Gen. 8:20 "And Noah built an altar to Jehovah and took of every clean beast and of every
clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar."

9:1 "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and
fill the earth."

Eight people emerged from the ark. Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, that is, the eighth day of the old week...; thus, the number eight signifies resurrection. Since all the believers, the components of the church, were included in Christ's resurrection (Eph. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:3), they are the resurrected people.

     Eight persons were in the ark when it passed through the flood and when it came to rest on the mountain. Thus, whatever the ark experienced, they also experienced by being in the ark. This illustrates how the believers, by being in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:4), were crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor.5:14; Gal. 2:20a) and also resurrected with Christ (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1). Because we are in Christ, His experience has become ours. (Gen. 8:18, footnote)

Today's Reading

     [In Genesis 8:20] the altar is a type of the cross of Christ, and the offerings are types of the different aspects of Christ (Lev. 1—7 and footnotes). The building of an altar and the offering of offerings on it signify the offering of Christ to God through the cross. In the church life, the first thing we must do is not to work for God but to go to the cross to be terminated; then we need to experience Christ and offer to God the Christ whom we have experienced in different aspects for God's satisfaction. (Gen. 8:20, footnote 1)

     Man's fall brought in the curse (Gen. 3:17); the offering of Christ to God through the cross in the church life keeps the curse away and brings in the blessing (8:22; Gal. 3:13-14). The ultimate curse is death, and the greatest blessing is life (Psa. 133:3). (Gen. 8:21, footnote 2)

     The church life goes back to the beginning for the fulfillment of God's purpose (Gen. 9:1-2, 6-7). In the beginning was the expression of God and the representation of God (1:26). God created man in His own image that he might express Him, and He committed man with His dominion that he might represent Him. Man failed God in both of these. So, God saved eight people through water and brought them in resurrection into a new age. Then God restated His goal to resurrected mankind. This is the church life. In the church life, we have been brought back to God's original goal, which is that man express and represent Him.

     We are a resurrected people, a people who have been brought back from the fall to the beginning. We were fallen in Adam, but we have been recovered in Christ. In Christ, we have been brought back to the beginning for the expression and representation of God. In the church life, we have the life to express God. We may tell people, “Do you want to see God? Do you want to know God? Come to the church and you will see Him. In the church you will see God's expression.” Furthermore, the church has been authorized to represent God in this age on earth. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 431-432)

     After baptism we become a new person in resurrection. Resurrection is not only a future state; it is also a present process. To walk in newness of life means to live today in the realm of resurrection and to reign in life. This kind of living deals with all that is of Adam in us until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). (Rom. 6:4, footnote 4)

     [In Romans 6:5 in the likeness of His resurrection] does not refer to a future, objective resurrection but to the present process of growth. When we were baptized, we grew together with Christ in the likeness of His death; now, through His death we are growing into His resurrection. Just as the element of Christ's death is found only in Him, so the element of Christ's resurrection is found only in Christ Himself. He Himself is resurrection (John 11:25). After experiencing a proper baptism, we continue to grow in and with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection, that is, to walk in newness of life. (Rom. 6:5, footnote 3)

Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 32; Life-study of Romans, msg. 11