When He was in the flesh, He was the tabernacle of God among men. By being incarnated, the Word not only brought God into humanity, but also became a tabernacle to God to be God’s habitation on earth among men. According to the history in the Old Testament, there was among the people on earth a tabernacle, and in that tabernacle God was present. Jesus in the flesh was the real tabernacle. The Old Testament tabernacle was a type, a shadow, and a prefigure of the real tabernacle which was Christ Himself in the flesh. God was in the tabernacle, for it was the tabernacle that brought God to the children of Israel. In the time of the New Testament, it was Jesus in the flesh who brought God to man that man might enjoy God’s presence. When He was in the flesh as the tabernacle of God among men, God was embodied in Him (Col. 2:9). All that God is and has was embodied in Jesus. For what purpose was God embodied in the flesh in Jesus? For the purpose that sinful man might partake of God in Christ. In other words, God was embodied in Christ for our enjoyment.
When He was in the flesh, Christ was God’s dwelling on earth. One day, while He was on the mountain with three of His disciples, He was transfigured before them (Matt. 17:2; 2 Pet. 1:17-18). This means that the very God of glory who indwelt Him came out of the tabernacle. The God of glory who was concealed in and by His flesh was manifested there on the mountain. That was the transfiguration of Jesus. The glory, which was God Himself, came out of the tabernacle. Even in the ancient times the children of Israel saw the shekinah glory that was concealed in the tabernacle (Exo. 40:34). The same thing happened on the mount of transfiguration. Suddenly, as He stood before three of His disciples, the shekinah glory that was within Jesus was manifested, shining over Peter, James, and John. They were shocked, unable, at that time, to enjoy the glory very much. They might have had some enjoyment at the time. However, as they recalled that event, they must have thought of how wonderful it was.
John tells us that when Christ as the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, it was full of grace. There was something with Christ that the Bible calls grace. What is grace? It is difficult to define. We may say that grace is God in Christ with all that He is as the fullness for our enjoyment. This includes rest, comfort, power, strength, light, life, righteousness, holiness, and all the other divine attributes. This is grace for our enjoyment. We may simply enjoy God in Christ as everything. Whenever we are in the presence of God, we enjoy the fullness of all that He is. Thus, verse 16 says, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” The fullness of the Godhead, that is, all that God is, dwells in Christ bodily for our enjoyment.
We have seen that grace is nothing less than God in the Son as our enjoyment. When Galatians 2:20 is compared with 1 Corinthians 15:10, Christ is clearly seen as the grace—i.e., “yet not I, but Christ” and “yet not I, but the grace of God.” Grace is not the gift of material things, nor just the gifts of spiritual things, but the gift of God Himself in Christ as our enjoyment. The apostle Paul said that all things other than Christ are dung (Phil. 3:8). Besides Christ, besides God, even the best things in the eyes of the apostle were nothing but dung, which in the Greek means dog food, the refuse or garbage thrown out to the dogs in ancient times. If anyone is seeking anything other than God in Christ, he is seeking garbage. All things apart from God in Christ are such. But God in Christ is grace to us, and this grace came by God’s incarnation. Grace is simply God whom we enjoy in Christ as our only and full enjoyment.
When we enjoy God and participate in Him, that is grace. I say again that grace is God in the Son for our enjoyment. Grace is God, not in doctrine, but in our experience. When you experience God as your strength, life, comfort, rest, power, righteousness, and holiness, that is grace. Christ declares the Father God in the way of enjoyment, day by day affording us a portion of the enjoyment of God.
The more we enjoy God, the more we know Him. The only way to know a certain food is by eating it. Although you may tell me that a particular food is delicious, I cannot know it for myself unless I taste it. When I partake of that food, it is declared to me by my enjoyment of it. Now I know it, but still I cannot explain it to you. If you want to know it, you also must eat it. Thus, God is declared to us by our tasting of Him. We need to taste God. We need to enjoy God as our grace, for this is the way in which Christ declares God to us. This matter transcends our utterance. We do have the enjoyment, but it is difficult to tell people about it. Suppose you have tasted a cake and you say, “This cake is delicious.” If I were to ask you to tell me how delicious it is, you would have to reply, “I can’t tell you. You have to taste it for yourself.” We need to taste God. Christ came with the fullness of God’s grace. We need to enjoy His presence and remain with Him. Then we shall participate in what God is. In this way God is declared to us, and we come to realize Him.