The Bible is a wonderful book. Because the Bible is wonderful, it is mysterious. Although a great many people have read and continue to read the Bible, few know what the Bible talks about. The Bible has much to say about God, Christ, Israel, and many other things, but what does the Bible actually talk about? If we would answer this question, we need to study the Minor Prophets.
The Minor Prophets are a key to understanding the Bible. In our study of the Minor Prophets, we have emphasized four points: God’s chastisement of Israel, God’s punishment upon the nations, the manifestation of Christ, and the restoration of all things. Through God’s chastisement of Israel and His punishment upon the nations, the manifestation of Christ is brought forth, and the manifestation of Christ will bring in the restoration. This restoration will include not only Israel but the whole human race, the earth, and the entire universe. The new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem will be the eternal restoration of all things. These four matters are revealed in the Bible, in particular in the Minor Prophets.
The Bible may be considered the history of God. If we human beings have a history, not only as a race but even as individuals, then surely the unique, universal, and wonderful person of God must also have a history. Where do we find the history of God? God’s history, the divine history, is recorded in the Bible.
God’s history is of two portions—the history of God with man, found in the Old Testament, and the history of God in man, found in the New Testament. In the Old Testament God’s history was a history with man. In the New Testament God’s history is a history in man, for this history involves God’s being one with man. Therefore, the history of God in the New Testament is a divine history in humanity.
God created man according to Himself, that is, in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). We may say that the man created in God’s image was a “photograph” of God. As a photograph of a person shows us something concerning that person himself to a certain degree, so the man created by God as a photograph of God can show forth God only to a limited extent. After God created man, He was with man, but He was still outside of man. Hence, in the Old Testament we see God not in man or one with man but simply with man. In Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, and the entire Old Testament, God was with man but not yet in man and not yet one with man.
The Old Testament does not speak mainly concerning man; rather, it speaks mainly concerning God. God has the primary role, and man has the subordinate role. The history in the Old Testament, therefore, is God’s history, God’s history with man.
God’s history in the New Testament is very different. Beginning with the first chapter of Matthew and continuing to the last chapter of Revelation, we have God coming into man and being one with man. The New Testament reveals that God is now in man and one with man. Thus, God’s history in the New Testament is the history of God in man.
Regarding the history of God in man, the incarnation of Christ accomplished two things. First, the incarnation brought God into man. Before the incarnation, as the Old Testament reveals, God was merely with man; He was outside of man. But by incarnation God entered into man, and from that time onward the history of God was different. Whereas in the past God was with man, and His history was a history with man, now God was in man, and His history began to be a history in man.
Second, the incarnation made God one with man. As a result of the incarnation, there was a wonderful person—a person who is the mingling of God with man. This person, Jesus, is not only God, and He is not merely a man. He is the complete God and the perfect man. Further, He is not only God in man—He is God mingled with man.
From this we see that the incarnation was an unprecedented event. Prior to the incarnation, there was not such a person, a person who is both God and man. But now, as a result of the incarnation, there is a wonderful person who is the mingling of God with man.
As believers, we all have become involved with this wonderful person, this One who is both God and man. A verse which speaks of this involvement is Revelation 22:17a, which says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” The Spirit is the consummated Triune God, and the bride is the transformed tripartite man. As this verse reveals, these two, the Spirit and the bride, will be married, joined to become one entity, one corporate person. This is a strong indication that, in the New Testament, God is in man and is one with man. The New Jerusalem is a marvelous sign demonstrating how God is in man and is one with man.