In the Old Testament we can also see the matter of God’s dispensing. Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.” Why did God create man in His own image? In answering this question we may use the illustration of a hand and a glove. A glove is made in the image of a hand for the purpose of containing the hand. Likewise, God created man in His own image so that man might contain God. If we receive even a little wisdom from God, we shall realize that He created man in His own image with the intention of coming into man and dwelling in him.
This understanding is confirmed by Romans 9:23, which speaks of God making “known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.” Here we see that man was made a vessel to contain the glory of God. Since man was created to contain the glory of God and since the glory of God is actually God Himself expressed, man was created in God’s image for the purpose of containing God. God’s intention in creating man in this way was to enter into man. The word “image” in Genesis 1:27 indicates that God’s intention is to come into the man created by Him.
In what way does God come into man? It is not in a way that can be compared to putting apples into a box. In order to answer the question concerning how God comes into man, we need to consider chapter two of Genesis. According to this chapter, after creating man God placed him in front of the tree of life with the intention that man would eat of the fruit of this tree and thereby take God into him. As we shall see, this involves the mingling of God with man.
Some oppose the biblical truth of the mingling of God and man. To oppose this truth is to be in darkness.
In John 6 the Lord Jesus says that He is the heavenly bread for us to eat (vv. 32, 53-54, 56-58). In the same chapter the Lord twice says, “I am the bread of life” (vv. 35, 48). The bread of life is the life supply in the form of food, like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), which is also the life supply “good for food.” The food we eat eventually is mingled with our being. If the food taken in by us does not mingle with us, we must have poor digestion. The food that we eat and digest is assimilated into our being. The food becomes our tissue, bone, flesh, and skin. This means that the food eaten, digested, and assimilated by us actually becomes us. This surely is a matter of mingling. Therefore, it would certainly be incorrect to say that the food we eat is not mingled with us.
The thought of mingling is implied in Genesis 2. God does not enter into a man in a way that is like putting apples into a box. On the contrary, God comes into us in a way that is like food entering into our being to become one with us. In Genesis 1 we see that man was created by God in His image. Then in Genesis 2 the man created by God is placed in front of the tree of life. This indicates that God wants man to receive Him as food. Here we have the dispensing of God into man.
Eating implies both dispensing and mingling. When a mother serves food to her family, she dispenses the food to them. As the members of her family eat the food, it is dispensed into them. After the food is dispensed, it is mingled with those who eat it. Likewise, in Genesis 1 and 2 we have God’s dispensing of Himself into man and His mingling of Himself with man.
How can God be dispensed into man and mingled with man? This can be accomplished only by the Triune God being incarnated, living on earth, dying on the cross, resurrecting, ascending, and descending. In this way God dispenses Himself into us and mingles Himself with us.
The Bible is profound. Because the Bible is a profound book, we should not stay on the surface of the Word. Instead, we need to see what is revealed in the depths of the Scriptures. We need to see not only that in the Old Testament Christ is promised, prophesied, typified, and shadowed; we need to see what kind of Christ is promised, prophesied, typified, and shadowed in the Old Testament. As we have pointed out, this Christ is the eternal God who was incarnated, lived on earth, died, resurrected, ascended, and descended. We also need to see God’s purpose for Christ to be such a One.
The content of the New Testament is God’s New Testament economy. As we shall see, God’s New Testament economy is the dispensing of God into His chosen people for the producing of the church. This eternal economy of God, the content of the New Testament, is contained in the Old Testament.
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