Basically, God does two kinds of work. One kind belongs to the spirit with the divine life, and another kind, which includes the works not of life but of power, involves miracles. Works of power are related to our physical body, not to our spirit. For instance, when the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, that was related to his body, not to his spirit, for Lazarus died again. During the Lord’s earthly ministry many were healed or raised from the dead, but eventually they all died. This is a strong proof that miracles do not have any relationship to our spirit. The work God is doing in this age is not in the physical realm but in the realm of our spirit. The majority of the New Testament writings are for God’s work in our spirit. Only a small percentage of the New Testament refers to God’s work in the physical realm. Whatever God works in the physical realm is a miracle. Whatever God does in the realm of our spirit is not miraculous but divine. We treasure this divine work. But we do not care much for the miraculous work, because that work belongs to God’s work of restoration in the coming age.

We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that God’s intention in His economy for us in this age is not to restore our body. Rather, God’s intention in this age of grace is to work on our spirit and soul. First, He regenerates our spirit. Then through our spirit He works to transform our soul. Eventually, at the coming of the next age, God will redeem, not heal, our body. Nevertheless, in His mercy and for His purpose, sometimes God borrows the works of power of the coming age and gives the believers a taste of them in this age.

The works of power of the coming age are related to the leaves of the tree of life. “The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2b). The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their life and life supply inwardly, that they may enjoy the divine life. But the restored nations will be healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their guide and regulation outwardly. Today the life of the tree of life is dispensed into our spirit and soul. Furthermore, this life may even be dispensed into our mortal bodies through the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8:11).

Paul experienced such a dispensing. As the leading apostle, he had great faith and did many miracles. But when he himself had a thorn in the flesh and prayed three times for the Lord to remove it, the Lord did not heal him. Instead, He said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). Furthermore, although the Lord released Paul from imprisonment in Acts 16 and also from his first imprisonment in Rome, eventually the Lord did not do anything to rescue Paul from martyrdom. The reason for this is that the age of grace is not the time for the Lord to rescue our bodies from sickness and death. The Lord may do this on occasion, but He will not do it continually. But in the coming age a great many will be healed by the leaves of the tree of life. There will not be regeneration, but there will be an abundance of healing. Today, however, there is not much miraculous healing, but there is much experience of regeneration and transformation. Furthermore, most of the healing we experience comes from the indwelling Spirit giving life through our spirit and mind to our mortal bodies.

In Hebrews 6:4 and 5 we see that the believers enjoy three matters that are genuine blessings assigned to us for the new creation-enlightenment, the heavenly gift, and the good word of God. In addition, the believers may also taste the works of power of the coming age. As the result of being enlightened and tasting the heavenly gift, the good word of God, and the works of power of the coming age, the believers become partakers of the Holy Spirit. This means that the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and the tasting of the heavenly gift, the good word of God, and the works of power of the coming age issue in our partaking of the Holy Spirit. Today we are not merely enlightened by the Holy Spirit and we do not merely partake of a heavenly gift, a good word, or a work of power, but we are partaking of and enjoying the Holy Spirit Himself. This is truly a great matter. As believers we are not only partakers of the divine nature-we are also partakers of the Holy Spirit.
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