GOD BEING ENJOYED BY MAN IN THE SPIRIT

One day Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die. When they heard this, they were surprised. He had been with them for only a short time, and they had only recently come to know Him as the Christ, the Son of God, the very embodiment of God Himself. Now He said that He was going to die. For Him to die meant that He would go away, and this meant that everything would change. The disciples were worried. But the Lord told them not to be troubled, because it was expedient for Him to go. In fact, if He did not go, He would not be able to come again. This was a strange word. If I had been Peter, I would have asked the Lord, “Why are You saying that You must come again? You are already here.” We need to consider the Lord’s word.

If Brother Hwang wants to serve me fresh fish, he will show me a live fish, but then he needs to take the fish away to prepare it. Although I have seen the fish, it still must go away. Brother Hwang may say to me, “Unless I take the fish away, it will be raw, and there will be no way for you to eat it. Once I take it away and cook it, I will bring it back for you to eat.” When the fish came the first time, it was outside of me. When it comes the second time, it will be able to be inside of me. In order for it to come again, it must first go away. There is no need to be troubled or saddened by its going away, because we will enjoy it when it comes back.

When the Lord spoke of His going in order to come again, He seemingly said, “If I go away, the world will no longer see Me, but I will come back. And when I come back again, I will be edible and drinkable. When I come again, I will be the Spirit and enter into you and be with you always. Not only so, when I come back, you will live, just as I live, and you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me and I in you.”

Before He spoke such a word, He prepared a supper in which He broke bread with the disciples, and He said to them, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you” (Matt. 26:26-27). Seemingly, He was saying, “If I do not go, I will not be able to come back to you. I need to be crucified, not merely to accomplish redemption for your sins but in order that you can eat Me.” Poor Christianity! It only sees that the death of Christ is for redemption. It does not see that Christ’s death is even the more for eating. When the children of Israel killed the passover lamb, they did not merely shed the blood of the lamb for their redemption. They also ate the meat of the lamb as their food. In the same way, when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, His death was not merely for redemption through the shedding of His blood. It was so that we could eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him.

Thank the Lord that our Passover Lamb has been slain. The Christ who has come to be our food has been crucified and resurrected. In His resurrection He is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is now wonderful and mystical. All that God is and all that He has passed through are now in the Spirit. In incarnation, divinity entered into humanity, and in resurrection, humanity entered into divinity. Humanity is now in the Spirit. Now everything of the Lord is in the Spirit. Because of this the Spirit is not so simple. We should realize that all the fullness of God is in the Spirit. The Spirit has been given, He has been poured out, and He has been breathed out. Everything is now in the Spirit. Everything has been prepared and is available. There is no further need to do anything. We should just eat.

Let me repeat. In resurrection the Lord became the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost this Spirit was poured out. The Bible says that the Spirit has even been sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Previously, God was only in unapproachable light. Then one day He came forth and appeared on the earth, but He was still limited by time and space. When He was in Samaria, those in Jerusalem could not see Him. When He was in Judea, those in Galilee could not see Him. Then He died, resurrected, and became the Spirit. Today this Spirit has been poured out and sent forth into all the earth. Our God is now in the Spirit. Today He is like the air, filling the entire earth. He is omnipresent; He permeates everything and is present everywhere. Therefore, anyone can contact Him and receive Him.

Human beings need food and drink, and they also need air. Of these three things, air is the most available. God has become so available and enjoyable to us that it is enough to just breathe Him in as air. God is Spirit, and everything related to Him is in the Spirit. In the original Greek text, spirit and breath are the same word. Today the Spirit is like the air that we breathe. He is everywhere; He permeates everything and is omnipresent. When He comes to us in a strong way, He can be compared to wind, and when He comes to us in a gentle way, He can be compared to breath. When we can hear or feel the movement of air, it is wind, but when we cannot hear or feel its movement, it is breath. God has been processed to the extent that He is available in every place; no one can be deprived of Him. He is just as available as air; we can breathe Him in. There is no need for us to exert any effort to breathe Him in. What a blessing this is!