EXPERIENCING AND ENJOYING CHRIST AS HE IS REVEALED IN LEVITICUS
Each of the four Gospels reveals something concerning Christ. In a sense, Leviticus is also a gospel revealing Christ. Christ is surely revealed in Leviticus, but He is revealed here in a “language” different from that used in the Gospels. We may say that this is a “Leviticus language.” One example of this language is the Hebrew word translated “burnt offering” in chapter one. Literally, this word denotes something that is ascending. If we know the language of Leviticus, we will realize that this ascending refers to Christ.
In the book of Leviticus we can see many of the details related to the enjoyment of Christ. In the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus revealed that He is the bread of life, that He is the bread which came down from heaven and is good for our eating (6:48, 50-51). But although the Lord said this clearly in John, the details concerning this cannot be found in John. For the details concerning eating Christ, we need to come to Leviticus.
It is crucial that we find a way to experience and enjoy Christ as He is revealed in Leviticus. We need to experience and enjoy Him daily and practically. If we would do this, we need to know the reality of all the offerings.
The Spirit of Reality—Christ Being the Reality of the Offerings to Us
Some may say that the reality of the offerings is Christ. This, of course, is correct. In John 14 the Lord Jesus even tells us that He is the reality. “I am the way, and the reality, and the life” (v. 6). Elsewhere in the same chapter He speaks of the Spirit of reality (v. 17). Christ cannot be the reality to us if He is simply the reality itself. In Himself He is the reality, but He is not yet the reality to us. In order for Christ to be the reality to us, there is the need of the Spirit of reality.
John 1:17 says, “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” This indicates that when the Lord Jesus came, reality also came. Christ Himself is the reality. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus tells us that He is the reality; on the other hand, He speaks of the Spirit of reality. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality” (14:16-17a).
According to the revelation in the New Testament, the Spirit of reality is the transfiguration of Christ. When Christ walked on earth as a man in the flesh, He was not yet the Spirit of reality. But after He had been crucified to accomplish an all-inclusive redemption and had entered into resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). The Christ who was once in the flesh has become the Spirit who gives life. This Spirit is the Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God. The life-giving Spirit today is the consummation of the processed Triune God. What the Father is, what the Son is, and what the Spirit is have all been consummated into this all-inclusive Spirit. This is the reason Revelation 22:17 speaks of “the Spirit.” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!”
The Spirit is not only power, strength, and energy—He is a person. However, we may not realize that we have such a person living in us and walking with us. We are not alone; we have another person—Christ as the Spirit of reality—in us and with us. This means that when we take Christ in and enjoy Him, we are taking in and enjoying a person. We all need to realize that we have Christ as a person within us.
In Matthew 28:20 the Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I am with you all the days.” This means that He is with us every day. Do you have the sense that the Lord Jesus is with you as a person? Even though this person still has the human nature as well as the divine nature, He is no longer in the flesh, for He has been transfigured to be the Spirit. He is now the consummated Spirit, the Spirit who is the consummation of the processed Triune God.
Do you realize that we have a processed God and that this processed God has become the consummated Spirit? I can testify that I have the deep sense that such a person is in me and with me, helping me, strengthening me, energizing me, and watching over me. Because Paul had this kind of realization, he could say, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13).
The Bible reveals that Christ is a wonderful person and that this wonderful person is today the life-giving Spirit. He is the consummated Triune God as the compound Spirit who is with us all the time for our enjoyment. How may we enjoy Him? We may enjoy Him as all the offerings.
The thought that we may enjoy Christ as the offerings is hidden in the book of Leviticus. For example, we may enjoy Christ as the burnt offering. We cannot be absolute for God, but Christ as the burnt offering is absolute for Him. Therefore, we should take Christ as the burnt offering and enjoy Him as the burnt offering. To have this experience and enjoyment of Christ we need to pray, saying, “Lord Jesus, You are a wonderful person. You are the consummated Spirit with me all the time, and You are with me to be my burnt offering. Lord, I cannot satisfy God, but You can satisfy Him. I cannot be absolute for God, but You have always been and still are absolute for Him. Now, Lord Jesus, I take You as my burnt offering.” By praying like this we will enjoy Christ as our burnt offering.
We may also enjoy Christ as our meal offering. As the meal offering, Christ is food for God and also for us. With this food we have frankincense and salt but no leaven or honey. The salt refers to Christ’s death and the frankincense to Christ’s resurrection. The meal offering, therefore, is full of the death and resurrection of Christ.
The more we pray concerning Christ as the offerings with the realization that He is the life-giving Spirit, the more we will enjoy Him as the offerings. The way to enjoy Christ is to contact Him and take Him in as the Spirit of reality.
(Life-Study of Leviticus, Chapter 14, by Witness Lee)
