Hebrews 2:10 reveals that Christ is the Captain of our salvation. Many Christians have no experience of Christ as their Captain. Hence, we in the Lord’s recovery need to experience Him in this aspect. Christ is not only our Savior; He is our Captain, and we are His army. As our Captain, He has taken the lead to fight on, and now we must follow Him in fighting the battle.
Hebrews 8:6 says that Christ is “the Mediator of a better covenant.” As the Mediator, Christ is the Executor in resurrection of the new covenant, the new testament, which He bequeathed to us by His death.
Christ is also the Surety, the Guarantor, of the new covenant (Heb. 7:22). He is not only the Guarantor; He is also the guarantee insuring the new testament.
Hebrews 6:20 describes Christ as the Forerunner, the One who has cut the way into glory. We are all running in God’s race, and the man Jesus Christ is our Forerunner in this race. He has run the race and He has entered the veil, where He is now waiting for us. We need to experience Christ as the Forerunner and follow Him to run the race.
In Hebrews 8:2 we see that Christ is the Minister of the true tabernacle, the heavenly tabernacle. As such a Minister, He ministers heaven (which is not only a place, but also a condition of life) into us, that we may have the heavenly life and the power to live a heavenly life on earth as He did while He was here. This matter is deep.
Christ is also the Shepherd (Heb. 13:20), the chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4). Christ with all the foregoing qualifications is our Shepherd today, taking care of God’s flock, which is the church.
Christ is also the faithful Witness, the One who testifies God (Rev. 1:5). He is the living and faithful Witness of God.
Hebrews 12:2 says that Christ is the Author of our faith. This means that He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. Although according to our natural man, we have no faith, He Himself is our faith. Hence, we live by His faith, by Him as our faith (Gal. 2:20).
Hebrews 12:2 also reveals that Christ is the Perfecter of faith. This means that He is the Finisher, the Completer, of faith. He will finish what He has originated. He will complete what He has inaugurated.
Christ is also the Bridegroom (John 3:29). When He comes back, He will judge the earth and receive us as the Bride. Hence, in order for Him to come back, He must be the Bridegroom.
We need to experience all these aspects of Christ. In the past, we knew Christ mainly as our Savior and, doctrinally, as the Son of God. We had very little experience of Him. But today, for the sake of the church life, we need to experience Him in His humanity. Have you ever experienced Christ as the Prophet speaking for God within you? To read the Bible without Christ is not real or living. We must have Christ as God’s Prophet speaking within us. Perhaps in the past you did not have Christ as the One speaking in you. At that time, your Christ seemed far away. But I can testify that my Christ is constantly speaking in me and to me. He is my Prophet.
Christ is not only God, but also a man, and His humanity must be our experience. We should not try to imitate Him. Instead, we should daily enjoy Him in His humanity. Because Christ as a man is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), we may experience Him by turning to our spirit. Hallelujah, Christ is with our spirit! The more we experience Him in His humanity, the more His humanity will become our food to nourish us. Eventually, this food will transform us and uplift our humanity.
Do not take the aspects of Christ covered in this message merely as doctrine. Rather, consider them as reminders to experience Christ. How good it is to experience Christ in His divinity as God, the Creator, the Lord, Jehovah, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. At the same time, it is very good to experience Him in His humanity as man, the seed of woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, the second man, the last Adam, the Savior, Jesus, the Christ, the Lord, the Prophet, the Apostle, the Priest, the King, the Captain of salvation, the Mediator, the Surety, the Forerunner, the Minister, the Shepherd, the faithful Witness, and the Author and Perfecter of faith, and the Bridegroom. The more we enjoy Him in all His riches, the more we shall be brought into the church life. As we enjoy Christ and experience Him in all these aspects, we are constituted into the church life. The church is not an organization; it is a constitution of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. This is the kernel of the Bible.