Morning Nourishment - Christ, the Eternal King, Coming to Possess the Earth and the Finishing of the Mystery of God
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Day 6
Verses: Psa. 45:16-17 In the place of Your fathers will be Your sons; You will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise You forever and ever. (cid:527)In Psalm 45:16(cid:528) fathers signifies Christ's forefathers in the filesh, sons signifies the overcomers of Christ as His descendants, and princes signifies the overcomers of Christ as His co-kings, who will reign with Christ over the nations. No one can solve the problems of today's world. Only Christ the King can solve these problems. When Christ reigns on earth, the overcomers will be His helpers in the kingship, His co-kings. The sons of Christ, the overcomers, will be the princes reigning with Christ over the nations. We need to see not only the beauty of Christ that is in Christ Himself and the beauty of Christ that is in the church but also the beauty of Christ that is in all His descendants, all His members, as the princes. If we see Christ's beauty in these three ways, we will have a complete view, the full picture, of His beauty. (cid:527)Verse 17(cid:528) reveals that Christ's name will be remembered in all generations through the overcoming saints, and Christ will be praised by the nations through His overcoming and co-reigning saints. (Life-study of the Psalms, 2nd ed., pp. 267-268)
Psalm 24:7-10—shows us the victorious Christ as the coming King in God's eternal kingdom. Verse 7 says, "Lift up your heads, O gates; (cid:512) And be lifted up, O long enduring doors; (cid:512) And the King of glory will come in." The gates are of the cities of the nations. The doors are of the houses of the people. The long enduring doors indicate waiting and expecting with long endurance (Phil. 3:20; 1 Cor. 1:7). This indicates that the people of the earth have been waiting and expecting Christ's second coming. In Haggai 2:7 we are told that Christ is the Desire of all the nations. All the nations, in a general way, are expecting Christ to come, but Christ will not come quickly according to our human concept.
Thus, we need to lift up our heads and await and expect His coming with long endurance. Because we must wait for His coming with long endurance, we have a tendency to drop our heads in discouragement. This is why the psalmist says, "Lift up your heads." If we expected someone dear to us to come and he does not come, we would drop our heads. But if we received a phone call from him, telling us that he is coming, we would lift up our heads; that is, we would be encouraged to expect his coming. We have to lift up our heads, because the King of glory will come in (Psa. 24:7, 9; Luke 21:27; Matt. 25:31).
We must get ready to welcome Him. Psalm 24:8 asks, "Who is the King of glory(cid:491)" The King of glory is "Jehovah strong and mighty(cid:488) (cid:512) Jehovah mighty in battle(cid:488)" Jehovah is Jesus, and Jesus is the embodiment of the Triune God in resurrection. He is the One who is strong in fiighting and victorious. Verse 7 says, "Be lifted up," but verse 9 says, "Lift up." To be lifted up means that we are still weak, needing someone to move us. But to lift up means that we have become stronger. We can act to lift up ourselves.
The King of glory, whom we welcome, is Jehovah of hosts—Jehovah is the incarnated, crucifiied, and resurrected Triune God. He is the One in His resurrection coming back to possess the entire earth, to take it as His kingdom. The King of glory is Jehovah of hosts, the consummated Triune God embodied in the victorious and coming Christ (v. 10). We have seen that Psalm 23 reveals Christ as the Shepherd in His resurrection and that Psalm 24 reveals Christ as the King in God's kingdom— Hallelujah for our Christ being our Shepherd today and our King in the future(cid:488) (Life-study of the Psalms, 2nd ed., pp. 149-150)
Day 1
Verses: Rev. 11:15 …The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. 12:10 …Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelation 11:15…indicates that after God’s judgment upon the earth, the earth will be taken over by and returned to God so that Christ will reign in His kingdom on the earth forever and ever…The Lord’s reigning [is] in the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (22:5)… We will also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12). . All the overcomers will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4, 6), and all the saved ones will reign forever and ever in eternity (22:5b). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4291)
After Christ executes His judgment upon the nations at His coming back, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of Christ (Dan. 7:13- 14; 2:44-45). At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, not only will the great tribulation come to an end, but also this age will be closed, the mystery of God will be fiinished (Rev. 10:7), and another age, the age of the kingdom, will come for a millennium, a thousand years. When the age of the kingdom arrives, the entire earth will be the kingdom of Christ.
Today the earth is a worldly kingdom under the rule of Satan. But the day is coming when the Lord, as the King, will regain this world…The world spoken of in Revelation 11:15 is the earth that the meek will inherit in Matthew 5:5. Christ alone is the proper Owner of the earth. He paid the price on the cross to purchase the entire earth so that one day the kingdom would be established on it (13:44). Every inch of this earth belongs to Christ. We do not agree that any part of the earth belongs to anyone else. All others are usurpers; Christ is the unique Owner.
Moreover, He is coming back to take possession of the earth (Rev. 10:1-2)…Wherever our travels may take us, we need to learn to declare, “This is my Lord’s property. Temporarily it is usurped by the enemy, but one day my Lord will come to claim what is His.” Sooner or later, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Revelation 11:15 says, “He will reign forever and ever.” In Revelation 22:5 we are told that the believers “will reign forever and ever.” To reign forever will be the fiinal blessing to God's redeemed in eternity. This reigning is an issue, a glorious, eternal, corporate consummation of our present reigning in life through the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness unto eternal life.
This is a blessing we will enjoy for eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. We will be kings over the nations, reigning forever. We need to remember that we are members of the royal family, kings of the kingly family. Even when we are at a restaurant, we should remember that we are kings eating there. We are heaven-born kings; hence, we should never sell our royal status. If we consider that we are kings, we would not act lightly, talk loosely, or behave meanly. We can even preach the gospel with this in view. We may tell others that we are kings. Then we may start our preaching of the gospel by saying, “The Bible tells me that, as a child of God, I am a king.” There are many ways to preach the gospel. We need this kind of vital preaching of the gospel.
In eternity the believers as sons of God and as the constituents of the New Jerusalem will all be kings. The angels will be serving ones (Heb. 1:13-14), serving us. They are the servants of the royal family, and we are kings over the nations. This is the kingdom of God in eternity. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4291-4292, 4437-4438)
Day 2
Verses: Lam. 3:22-23 It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, for His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 5:19 You, O Jehovah, abide forever; Your throne is from generation to generation. I believe that this word [in Lamentations 3:22 and 23] came to Jeremiah as he was contacting the Lord in the morning, reviewing all the afflictions of his people. . While Jeremiah was reviewing these afflictions, he must have regretted the sinfulness of Israel. At this juncture the word of Jehovah came to him, that no matter how much He had punished Israel, He had not utterly consumed them. Jeremiah and many others remained. This was God’s lovingkindness. Realizing that he and all the others who remained with him were under God’s compassions, Jeremiah praised, saying, “For His compassions do not fail” (v. 22b). The people of Israel had failed, but God’s compassions did not fail. His compassions had preserved the remnant of Israel. Jeremiah went on to say, “They are new every morning” (v. 23a). This indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compassionate One every morning. It was through his contact with the Lord that he received this word regarding His lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness. God’s compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One. The faithfulness of God [v. 23b] refers to His word…God had spoken to Israel’s forefathers, and He was faithful to keep His word. (Life-study of Lamentations, 2nd ed., pp. 6-7)
When the household of Israel receives the Lord’s salvation, who will turn first, Israel or the Lord(cid:491)—(cid:527)Zechariah 12(cid:528) reveals that it is the Lord, not Israel, who will take the initiative and turn. When Jerusalem is besieged by Antichrist, the Lord Jesus will turn to the children of Israel and appear to them. They will then look upon Him, the One whom they have pierced, and repent (v. 10). This means that when they see the Lord, they will turn to Him and receive His household salvation. Jeremiah concluded his writing by asking two questions of Jehovah: “Have You utterly rejected us(cid:491) (cid:512) Are You exceedingly angry with us(cid:491)" (cid:527)Lam. 5:22(cid:528).
Jehovah had not utterly rejected Israel, nor was He exceedingly angry with them. But they needed to wait on Him until the time of restoration, when He will restore the children of Israel to be in His person and in His eternal kingdom to enjoy what He had promised to their forefathers. In the third lamentation Jeremiah spoke of God’s loving-kindness, compassions, and faithfulness, and at the end of the fiifth lamentation he appealed to God's eternal being and His eternal throne, His unchanging government…God’s eternal being and throne are higher than His lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness.
According to the New Testament, God’s salvation is a matter of His love (John 3:16), His grace (Eph. 2:8), and His righteousness (Rom. 1:17). God’s love and grace may change, but God’s righteousness cannot change, because His righteousness is related to His government (Psa. 89:14)…God’s lovingkindness and compassions can change, but God’s person and His government remain unchanging forever. Jeremiah ended Lamentations not with God’s lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness but with God’s eternal being and His throne.
This is a strong sign that in writing Lamentations Jeremiah touched God’s economy…There, in 5:19, he touched God’s person and God’s throne. In the New Jerusalem, God will be fully unveiled in His person and in His government, both of which are the unshakable foundation of His dealing with us. At that time, we will see God Himself as the eternal King with His eternal, unshakable kingdom (Heb. 12:28). (Life-study of Lamentations, 2nd ed., pp. 14-15)
Further Reading: Life-study of Lamentations, msg. 3; Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 11
Day 3
Verses: Rev. 10:1 And I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon His head, and His face (cid:90)(cid:68)(cid:86) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:78)(cid:72) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72) (cid:86)(cid:88)(cid:81)L (cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71) (cid:43)(cid:76)(cid:86) (cid:73)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:87) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:78)(cid:72) (cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:86) (cid:82)(cid:73) (cid:191)(cid:85)(cid:72)N 4:3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. In Revelation 10:1-11 we have a clear vision of Christ coming to take possession of the earth. . In this chapter Christ is “another strong Angel,” like the One in 7:2; 8:3; and 18:1. This vision is a hint that, before the seventh trumpet, Christ is still on His way to earth. Revelation 10:1 also says that Christ is “clothed with a cloud.” He is not yet on the cloud, as in 14:14 and in Matthew 24:30; 26:64. To be on the cloud is to come openly, whereas to be clothed with a cloud is to come secretly. This indicates that even after the sixth trumpet, which will be in the midst of the great tribulation, Christ will still be coming secretly, not openly, until He will be seen by all the tribes of the earth [Rev. 1:7]…Even at the time of the sixth bowl, during the gathering at Armageddon, Christ will give the warning that He is coming as a thief (16:15)…By this we see that the general teaching that Christ will come before the great tribulation is inaccurate. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 296)
In this vision Christ has a rainbow upon His head. Here the rainbow indicates that Christ in His judgment upon the earth and in His coming to take possession of it will keep the covenant that God made with Noah concerning the earth (Gen. 9:8-17). The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant with man and all living creatures that He will not destroy them again with a filood (vv. 8-17). The book of Revelation shows that God will judge the earth with all its inhabitants. The rainbow around His throne (cid:527)4:3(cid:528) signifies that God is the covenanting God, the faithful God, who will keep His covenant while executing His judgment upon the earth.
He will not judge mankind again with a filood nor destroy all mankind, but will keep a part of mankind to be the nations of the new earth for His glory (21:24, 26). This rainbow indicates that God is faithful in His administration toward mankind. In chapter 4 God is about to judge mankind, but in exercising His judgment, He will remember His covenant with Noah. He is the judging God, and He is also the covenant-keeping God. This rainbow around God’s throne is like an emerald in appearance. An emerald is a precious stone whose grass-green color signifies the lives on earth.
This indicates that as God is executing His judgment upon the earth, He will remember His covenant and will spare some of the lives on earth, as indicated in Genesis 9:11. An emerald, being a precious stone, is solid. God’s reminder to keep His covenant is solid. There is this solid reminder around the throne. In Revelation 4:5 we are told that “out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders.” All of these signify God’s wrath in His judgment. In the Epistles, out of the throne of grace come the mercy and grace of God for anyone who approaches Him through the redeeming blood of Christ. But here, out of the throne of judgment come forth lightnings, voices, and thunders as warnings to the sinful world.
In the book of Revelation, after all of God’s judgments have been executed, the throne of God will be the throne of eternal life supply, out of which will proceed the river of water of life with the tree of life growing in it. All the believers who are participating in God’s mercy and grace today by approaching God’s throne of grace will enjoy the river of life and the tree of life out of God’s throne as their life supply for eternity, while the unbelievers, who will be judged by God’s throne of judgment, will have no share in the eternal enjoyment issuing out of God’s eternal throne. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 296-297, 208-209)
Day 4
Verses: Rev. 10:2-3 And He had in His hand a little opened scroll. And He placed His right foot on the sea and the left on the land; and He cried out with a loud voice just as a lion roars. And when He cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices. Revelation 10:1 also says that “His face was like the sun.” ” Surely here, close to His coming to the earth openly, He will not be like the morning star, which appears before the darkest time, prior to dawn. When Christ comes to take possession of the earth, His feet will be "like pillars of fiire." Here, pillars indicate steadfastness (Jer. 1:18; Gal. 2:9). Fire here signifies the holiness of God (Exo. 19:18; Heb. 12:29), according to which Christ will execute His judgment upon the earth. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 297)
This little opened scroll [in Revelation 10:2 and 8] is the scroll in 5:1, which only Christ is worthy to open and which He took out of the hand of God (vv. 5, 7). Now it is in His hand. In 5:1 it was sealed; in 10:2 and 8 it is opened. The scroll has been opened because all the seals have been loosed. Here, being only a part of the scroll, it is called “a little…scroll.” The main part of the scroll has already been revealed. Christ’s placing His feet on the sea and on the land [in 10:2] is His treading on them, and to tread on them is to take possession of them (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3; Psa. 8:6-8).
This indicates that Christ is coming down to take possession of the earth. Only He is worthy to open the scroll of God’s economy, and only He is qualifiied to possess the earth. In Joshua, God told the people that they would possess whatever part of the land the sole of their foot would tread upon. They were to walk through the good land, and wherever they set their feet, that would be their possession. Based upon the same principle, Christ, as another Angel sent by God, will come to tread upon the sea and the earth, for the earth and the sea have both been given to Him as His inheritance (Psa. 2:8).
Although the earth and sea have been usurped by His enemy, and although He has been tolerating this for centuries, one day He will tolerate it no longer. He will come to claim His rightful inheritance. Revelation 10:3 says that Christ “cried out with a loud voice just as a lion roars.” A lion’s roaring is likened to a king’s wrath (Prov. 19:12; 20:2). This indicates that Christ, as the King of the earth, is provoked to wrath. In the Gospels Christ spoke like a lamb, but in Revelation He roars like a lion. Chapter 3 mentions the word of the Lord’s endurance.
Endurance means toleration. But by the time of chapter 10 the Lord no longer exercises endurance. Rather, in His coming to take possession of the earth, He roars like a lion. When Christ cried out with a loud voice, “the seven thunders uttered their own voices.” The seven thunders must be the ultimate utterances of God’s full wrath. Verse 4 says, “And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven, saying, Seal the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.”
Today we do not know what the seven thunders said, but one day we will know. Verses 5 and 6 say, “And the Angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up His right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer.” The main item of the things in heaven is the angels, the main item of the things in the earth is men, and the main item of the things in the sea is the demons. After the sixth trumpet, there will be no more time of toleration in God’s judgment upon the earth. Hence, the seventh trumpet is the most serious of God’s judgments. It is God’s answer in full to the martyred saints’ prayer in 6:10. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 297-299)
Day 5
Verses: Rev. 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is about to trumpet, then the mystery of God is finished, as He has announced the good news to His own slaves the prophets. 1 Tim. 3:16 …Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. [In Revelation 10:7] we see that the completion of God’s mystery will be at the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet. . When the seventh angel is about to trumpet, the mystery of God will be fiinished. In the dispensations from Adam to Moses and from Moses to Christ, everything was unveiled, manifested, and there was no mystery. It will be the same in the dispensation of the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and new earth—everything will be unveiled, and there will be no more mystery. But in the dispensation from Christ to the millennial kingdom, everything is a mystery. The incarnation of Christ, as the beginning of this dispensation of mystery, is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:16). Christ Himself (Col. 2:2), the church (Eph. 3:4-6), the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 13:11), the gospel (Eph. 6:19), the indwelling of Christ (Col. 1:26-27), and the coming resurrection and transfiiguration of the saints as the end of this dispensation of mystery (1 Cor. 15:51-52) are all mysteries that were hidden in the times of the ages (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26)…At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, not only God’s judgment of wrath upon the earth but also the mystery of God are fiinished. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 299-300)
Today the indwelling Christ and the church are a mystery…Christ’s dwelling in us is a mystery. When non-Christians receive too much money in change from a cashier in a restaurant, they are pleased and consider it a bargain. But when we receive extra change, we return it…The unbelievers cannot understand what kind of people we are…Although today is a time of mystery, when the seventh trumpet is sounded, the mystery will be over.
At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, Christ will be manifested, and the whole earth will recognize Him. In the opening of the seals, Christ is silent, but in the sounding of the trumpets, He is no longer silent. In the seventh trumpet the good news that God announced to His own slaves the prophets, as in Isaiah 2:4; 11:1-10; 65:17-20; and 66:22, will be fulfiilled; that is, the kingdom in its manifestation will come (Rev. 11:15), and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem will follow (21:1-3).
In the incarnation Christ is God manifested in the filesh (1 Tim. 3:16). He was manifested in the filesh not only as the Son but as the entire God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the Word, who is the very God, Christ became filesh (John 1:14). Therefore, He is God—the Triune God—manifested in the filesh. It is important for us to realize that it was the entire God and not only the Son of God who was incarnated. John 1:14 says that the Word, which is God, became filesh. This God, who the Word is, is not a partial God; rather, He is the entire God—God the Son, God the Father, and God the Spirit.
The New Testament does not say that the Word, who became filesh, was God the Son. Instead, the New Testament indicates that in the beginning was the Word, and this Word is the entire Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Hence, Christ in incarnation is the entire God manifested in the filesh. Because of the infiluence of traditional teaching, we may think that only the Son of God, not the entire God, was incarnated. Actually, the New Testament does not say that the Son of God was incarnated; it says that God was manifested in the filesh. This means that the entire God became incarnated. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 281-282)