After wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered into the good land of Canaan, the third stage of their salvation. Here, in the third stage, in the good land, they enjoyed something more than the lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the water—they enjoyed the rich produce of the land of Canaan. Although they had eaten manna daily in the wilderness for nearly forty years, immediately after they entered into the good land, the manna ceased and they began to enjoy the rich produce of the all-inclusive land (Josh. 5:11-12). The Passover lamb, the heavenly manna, the living water, and the produce of the good land of Canaan are all types of the different aspects of the riches of Christ. If the children of Israel had only been saved in Egypt, they would have never tasted the manna. If they had not entered into the land of Canaan, they would never have enjoyed the rich produce of the good land. Hallelujah for the rich enjoyment of Christ in the various stages of salvation!
In the third stage of their salvation, salvation into Canaan, the Israelites entered into the rest (Deut. 12:9). All the rich enjoyment of Christ in the three stages of salvation is for the securing of the good land and the building up of the temple that there might be the expression of God and the divine government of God among men on earth. The full salvation of God with the rich enjoyment of Christ is for God’s expression and kingdom. Salvation from Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the good land is absolutely for God’s expression and kingdom. As we have seen, where there is God’s expression and kingdom, there is the Sabbath rest. When God’s glory filled His house, the temple, all His people rested in His presence. That was a Sabbath to God and to His saved people. Therefore, we clearly see that the three stages of God’s salvation are for His expression and kingdom so that God may have rest with His saved people.
As we have pointed out, God’s full salvation, which He intended for the children of Israel, included redemption through the Passover lamb, exodus from Egypt, feeding by the heavenly manna, thirst-quenching by the living water from the cleft rock, and partaking of the riches of the good land of Canaan. All the Israelites shared in the Passover lamb, the heavenly manna, and the living water, but of those who shared the exodus from Egypt only Joshua and Caleb entered into the good land and partook of it; all the rest fell in the wilderness (Num. 14:30; 1 Cor. 10:1-11). Though all were redeemed, only the two overcomers, Joshua and Caleb, received the prize of the good land.
The Passover lamb, the heavenly manna, the living water, and the good land of Canaan are all types of the different aspects of Christ. According to what has been depicted of the children of Israel, not all believers who have been redeemed through Christ will partake of Christ as a prize to them as their rest, their satisfaction, both in the church age and in the coming kingdom. Only those who, after being redeemed, seek Christ diligently will do so. This is why the Apostle Paul, though fully redeemed, was still pressing toward the mark that he might gain Christ as the prize (Phil. 3:10-14). In Philippians 3, Paul tells us that he was in Judaism but that for Christ’s sake he gave it up (vv. 4-9). Here in the book of Hebrews the writer holds the same concept in encouraging the Hebrew believers to forsake Judaism and press toward Christ that they may not miss the prize.
According to the type of the salvation of the children of Israel, the salvation of the new testament believers is also in three stages. Firstly, we experience salvation from the world. We are justified through the blood of Jesus (Rom. 3:22-25) and separated from the world (Gal. 1:4; 6:14). If anyone has not made his exodus from the world, he has not completed the first stage of his salvation. The salvation offered in Christianity is mainly a salvation with justification by faith through the blood of Christ, but without an exodus. Today there are millions of real Christians who have been justified by faith through the blood of Christ but who are still in the world. They need an exodus. We praise the Lord that we are out of the world, which includes religion. We are out of Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.
The second stage of our salvation is salvation through the soul, which includes being sanctified (Rom. 6:19, 22) and being transformed (Rom. 12:2). Many think that the word soul is not a good word. We should not say this. The soul may be either very good or very bad. The New Testament reveals that after we have been justified and regenerated, we need to be sanctified and transformed. In the past years, it has been made clear that transformation, including sanctification, concerns our soul. Our soul, that is, our being, must be sanctified and transformed, saturated with all that Christ is. The very essence, element, and substance of Christ in our spirit must spread into our soul. Undoubtedly, Christ’s divine essence has been sown into our spirit. Now it must permeate and saturate our soul until our soul is completely transformed by His divine element. Transformation is not merely a change; it means that the divine essence of Christ is wrought into us. Andrew Murray used the word “woven,” saying that something of Christ is woven, like textile, into us. During the early years of our ministry we also used this expression as an illustration. Although it is not wrong, we cannot find such a term in the Bible. Instead, the Bible uses the words mingling or mingled.
Leviticus 2:4, speaking of the meal offering, says that fine flour is to be mingled with oil. The word mingled, a biblical term, is much better than the term woven. Consider the picture of the meal offering in Leviticus 2. Fine flour is mingled, that is, permeated and saturated with oil. Eventually, the fine flour is transformed, not by changing itself but by having the oil mingled with it. The fine flour signifies humanity and the oil signifies divinity. God’s intention in His economy is that our humanity be mingled with His divinity. We, the fine flour, and He, the oil, shall be mingled together. When the fine flour is mingled with the oil, both the fine flour and the oil still have their own substance. Likewise, in the mingling of divinity with humanity, the substance of humanity and divinity both remain, but these two substances are mingled together as one entity. This is a marvelous and clear picture of God’s mingling with us. This mingling is our transformation.
What is transformation? It is not a moral correction nor a change of ethical behavior. Transformation means that our humanity is firstly cleansed by the Lord’s redeeming blood and then mingled with the anointing oil—the Holy Spirit— until we are sanctified, made holy, both positionally and dispositionally. In this stage, the second stage of our salvation, we enjoy Christ as the heavenly manna and as the living water, as the life-giving Spirit which comes out of the cleft rock which is Christ Himself. In this stage of transformation, we enjoy Christ in a richer and more subjective way. We praise the Lord that in the past years many saints in the Lord’s recovery have been brought into the actuality of such a transformation. Although there has been some outward adjustment and correction, our trust is not in this but in the Lord’s marvelous transforming work. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (Gk.). We all need this transformation. Hallelujah, we are now passing through the second stage of our salvation!
The real church life is filled with transformation. I am more than encouraged with the transformation taking place among the young people in the churches. The churches are going on. We do not need to correct the saints very much, although we do need to take care of the young ones in the way of life. We are seeing the young people in the church being transformed by the divine life. What a wonderful transformation!