God's Servant Is Christ Who Is To Come
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles {nations}, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One, came two thousand years ago. He revealed in Himself the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God. He provided a foretaste of what it will be like when He appears in His glory, surrounded by His saints and the holy angels.
Why, then, did He not set up the Kingdom of God on the earth at His first coming? Why did He permit another two thousand years of war, famine, human anguish? Why does God allow sin to fester and raise into a hideous boil on the face of the earth?
One reason for the delay is that God is waiting for sin to come to maturity. God's purpose in allowing sin to come to maturity is best known to God and has to do with His own wisdom and ways of accomplishing His goals, particularly among the spirit inhabitants of the heavens.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by {through} the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10)
God's willingness to permit sin to come to maturity was expressed to Abraham:
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)
God must wait for both the wheat and the tares to come to maturity so that when God uproots the tares from His creation the wheat will not also be destroyed. It is God's way to wait until the spirits and their activities come to clear definition before He exercises His judgment.
A second reason for the delay is that God desires that all people come to repentance.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
A third reason for the delay is that the Body of Christ, the fullness of the Anointed One, was not in existence when Christ first came to the earth. The Body of Christ is being created from the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus. This process has been continuing for the past two thousand years and now is approaching maturity in preparation for Christ's glorious appearing.
The sin and rebellion in the earth are assisting in the development of the Body of Christ, especially in the formation of the conquering character of the victorious saints. Our faith is as gold being refined in the fire.
How could an overcomer be formed if there were nothing to overcome? It is necessary for the accomplishing of God's eternal purposes that offenses come. Just as manure is used to fertilize the plants that yield the food we eat, so the presence of offenses assists the development of the fruit of righteousness as we overcome sin.
God is causing all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His eternal purpose in Christ.
The first and second appearings of Christ are revealed in the fifth chapter of the Book of Micah:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brothers shall return unto the children of Israel. (Micah 5:2,3)
Christ, the Word of God, the Servant of the Lord, is the "ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
"She who travails" is the Church of Christ. The travail of the Church, when it truly is the travail of the Spirit of God, always brings forth Christ. All the ministries and gifts the Spirit has given to the saints are laboring to build the Body of Christ "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
"The remnant of his brothers" are the members of Christ's Body. Christ has been formed in them through the travail of the Church.
As soon as Christ has been formed in the Church to the degree God has in mind, the Head of the Body will return. The result of the joining of the Head to the Body is described as follows:
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:4)
"They" who "shall abide" are the people of true Israel, the Lord's elect.
John 17:23 repeats the revelation of Micah 5:4:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)
Again, in Ephesians 1:22,23:
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22,23)
The extent to which Christ is central in the plan of God becomes more apparent as we press into Him. The more we mature as saints the greater Christ becomes in importance to us.
All the promises of redemption and blessing found in the Scriptures are directed toward Christ. They are available to us only because of our relationship to Christ.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
The promises of fruitfulness, of dominion over the enemies of the Seed, and of being a blessing to the nations of the earth were made to Christ. Christ is the only Seed of Abraham. All the promises made to the Servant of the Lord, as recorded in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets, are directed toward Christ. We are so accustomed to "claiming the promises of Scripture" we do not always realize that these promises are directed toward Christ.
In fact, the burden of prophecy concerning the Kingdom of God declared by the Prophets of Israel did not apply to the Jews of their day. The announcements leaped over their heads and settled down to abide eternally on the Babe of Bethlehem and on those who belong to Him.
Unto whom {the Hebrew Prophets} it was revealed, that not unto themselves {the physical Israelites}, but unto us {the Christians - Jews and Gentiles} they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (I Peter 1:12)
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. (Galatians 3:19)
The only utterances of the Prophets that apply to physical Israel are those dealing with the flesh and blood issues of their own day or with some physical characteristic of their future history. Every declaration of spiritual significance, including all those statements that have to do with the Kingdom of God, is directed toward Christ even though it is spoken to "Israel."
Christ Himself is the only true Israel of God, the only true Vine of God. No person is a member of the true Israel unless he or she is part of Christ. The Seed of Abraham is One.
No promise concerning the Kingdom of God applies to physical Israel or to any believer as an individual apart from Christ. The promises concerning the Kingdom of God apply only to Christ. A man, woman, boy, or girl must be in Christ in order to be a recipient of the promises of the holy Scriptures.
Perhaps the clearest prophetic picture of Christ to be found in the entire Scriptures is the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The Tabernacle of the Congregation is described in Exodus, Chapters 25-40. The Tabernacle is an illustration of the Person of Christ, Christ, the Anointed One, the Servant of the Lord.
Imagine, if you will, the Tabernacle standing on end with the Altar of Burnt Offering at the bottom and the Mercy Seat at the top. There you have Christ, the Servant of the Lord.
The Head of Christ is God Himself.
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. (I Corinthians 11:3)
God is represented by the solid-gold Mercy Seat with its covering cherubim. Dwelling between the cherubim is the Fullness of the Glory of God Almighty. The Mercy Seat (Lid of Atonement) reveals to us the desire of God to reconcile to Himself the fallen race of man. Christ always is seeking to reconcile people to God (II Corinthians 5:20).
The two covering cherubim remind us there are two sides to God's Personality. God possesses a fiery, undefilable holiness. God is the great Judge, the great Lawgiver. The soul that sins shall die. That part of the Nature of God has not changed over the passage of time although some believe that it has.
God possesses also a great Father heart of love for His creatures and continually is seeking ways to save them. Gentleness always has been true of God, even on Mount Sinai. God does not change. We must accept both aspects of God's Nature if we wish to have a true understanding of Him. God is perfect fiery holiness. God is perfect redeeming love.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: . . . . (Romans 11:22)
The Head of Christ is the Mercy Seat. Crowning the Head is the Fullness of the Glory of God, including the fiery judgment of God and also the redeeming love of God.
The soul of Christ is represented by the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the Ark are the Ten Commandments (the law of God written in the mind and heart); the memorial jar of manna (continual reliance on every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God); and Aaron's rod that budded (the power of endless, incorruptible life that abides in and upon every priest whom God has chosen to stand before Himself).
The Altar of Incense is the voice of Christ continually offering to God worship, supplication, and intercession. Christ prays without ceasing. As Christ is formed in us we become part of that burden of worship, supplication, and intercession. Christ always is speaking and singing to the Father. This increasingly becomes true of us.
In the right hand of Christ is the golden Lampstand, the Spirit of Christ. The Lampstand of the Tabernacle represents the fullness of the seven Spirits of God who dwell in their fullness in and upon Christ.
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; (Isaiah 11:2)
The Spirit of God without measure will abide on the Body of Christ as soon as the Head is joined to the Body. We Christians possess the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. But in the Day of the Lord the fullness of the holy anointing oil, the priestly anointing, will flow down over the entire body of God's anointed Servant.
It is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; (Psalms 133:2)
The fullness of resurrection life will abide eternally on the Servant of the Lord "as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended on the mountains of Zion" (Psalms 133:3).
In Christ's right hand, then, is the fullness of revelation and power.
In the left hand of the Servant of the Lord, Christ, is the Table of Showbread. The Table of Showbread typifies the body and blood of Christ, the Divine Substance that is the Bread of God "which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world" (John 6:33). It is the body and blood of Christ in us, by which we are to live, that will raise us up to Christ at His appearing.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:54-57)
Christ is the Tree of Life. He is the Resurrection. He is the Life. The victorious saints have the opportunity to eat of Him (Revelation 2:7). The body and blood of Christ compose the Substance of the Word of God, the eternal Life that is Christ and from which the Body of Christ is formed. The members of the Wife of the Lamb can bring life and light to the nations of the earth because the members have been formed from and live by the body and blood of Christ (John 6:57).
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)
The new Jerusalem itself is a portrayal of Jesus Christ, of each saint who has come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and of God in Jesus in all the true saints.
The bronze Laver represents the hip area of the Servant of the Lord. The Laver speaks of the righteousness, holiness, and obedience produced by the "washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26).
Righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God form the basis for the fruitfulness and dominion that are the inheritance of God's Servant. Cleansing, fruitfulness, and physical strength proceed from the hip area of man.
Righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God are the moral image of Christ. Only as the image of Christ is perfected in us are we eligible to receive and capable of receiving the fruitfulness and dominion promised to "man" (Genesis 1:27,28). Christ and His Body are the firstfruits of "man" (James 1:18).
The feet of the Servant of the Lord are portrayed by the bronze Altar of Burnt Offering. The altar of sacrifice was constructed from acacia wood covered with bronze (Exodus 27:1,2). Bronze typifies that which can withstand the fire of God's judgment.
The bronze Altar is Calvary in its perfect and complete work of redemption, bringing the Divine reconciliation to the ends of the earth. The acacia wood reveals the humanity of Christ on the cross. The overlay of bronze speaks of the fiery judgment that always will fall on sin and rebellion against God, burning up all that is displeasing to the Lord.
Christ strides through the earth executing the judgment of God. He is the "new sharp threshing instrument having teeth" (Isaiah 41:15). It is given to the Body of Christ to judge men and angels. God will crush Satan under the feet of the saints.
We see, therefore, that the purposes of God will be fulfilled in and through His Servant who is Christ, the Anointed Deliverer who is to come.
The earth is rolling along in the grip of sin and death. The original curse still binds mankind and nature. The disobedience of Adam and Eve condemned every person born on the earth to a life of sorrow.
But Jesus Christ has come and has brought to mankind His Life, the life that is the light of men. Christ's death on the cross removed from Satan all legal right to the creation of God.
However, the removal of his "rights" does not prevent Satan from continuing with his actual influence on the affairs of the world. Today the earth is filled with lust, violence, covetousness, sorcery, rebellion against God, pride, and every other sinful and rebellious perversity. These manifestations of hatred and defiance against God always result in unrest, confusion, and anguish of spirit, soul, and body.
The world is "the valley of the shadow of death" of which David wrote. Every year that passes produces an increase in the work of demons among men, in the manifestation of the spirit of Satan. The earth is becoming an unfit place for the habitation of righteous people. As soon as God's purposes have been accomplished He will bring the present age to a close.
The ministry of Christ did not come to an end on the cross of Calvary. Instead, the Substance of the resurrected Christ has been sown and yet is being sown in millions of devout believers. A stupendous harvest of Christ is appearing on the horizon. Truly, God is bringing many sons to glory. Christ is being multiplied "as the stars of the heaven and as the sand that is on the sea shore."
At the precise moment designated by the Father, the Servant of the Lord - the branches as well as the Vine - will be empowered to bring judgment and deliverance, justice and truth, to the nations of the earth.
The judgment and deliverance, justice and truth, are being created now in the members of the Body of Christ. The Body is not yet mature in the area of judgment and righteousness. Full deliverance for the earth is impossible until the Church itself is walking in Kingdom righteousness and power.
As soon as God has brought Christ to maturity in the sons of God, the sons will be unveiled and all the creation will behold the image of Christ that has been created in God's holy ones.
So magnificent, so galactic in breadth and energy will be the Presence of God revealed in the sons of God, that the entire creation will be released into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. The release will take place in the "midnight hour," when the nations have fallen into the "inner prison," into the deepest dungeon of sin and death ever experienced on the earth. Can this period be far away?
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. (Acts 16:25,26)
In the last days of the present age another set of "two witnesses" (Christ and His Body) will be released from their "prison." Then will there be a great earthquake, and the kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelation 11:11-15).
Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Spirit of Christ in Isaiah commanded us: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth!"
Thus far in history we have seen the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the Head, and the Standard against which every other aspect of the Servant is being measured.
Christ, the Servant of the Lord, is being formed in the Church. God has mighty, eternal purposes that cannot be accomplished apart from the development of the fullness of Christ in the members of the Body of Christ.
Each day the members of the Body of Christ portray in themselves the death and resurrection of Christ; for the death and resurrection of Christ are the power of God unto salvation. "As he is, so are we in this world" (I John 4:17).
The Holy Spirit has been charged with maturing and unifying the Body of Christ.
Let us who are of the Church of Christ reach out toward the Lord Jesus with single-mindedness of purpose in order that we may grasp that for which we have been grasped by the Lord. If we do this we cannot fail, for He has promised to keep that which has been committed to Him against the Day when the Kingdom of God is brought into the earth by the Lord God of Heaven.
Our calling is exceedingly high. The One who is calling us is higher than all. He neither shall fail nor be discouraged with you or me if we will set our love on Him. We must be faithful in the small tasks set before us each day and continue to look to God for the wisdom and strength needed to achieve victory over the problems at hand.
If each of us will remain steadfast in our hope in Christ we will, in the not too distant future, serve God as an integral part of the eternal Servant of the Lord.
O God, grant to each of us the fervent desire to do Your will. Guide us into uprightness and holiness of thought, word, and deed. Help us overcome sin and self-seeking. Create in us a true love for the Lord Jesus.
Keep us from the evil one, we pray. We sanctify Your great Name in our hearts. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth as it is performed in Heaven.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.