In this series of messages, we want to see the move of God in man, which is God's history in His union with man in the New Testament. In a previous series of messages entitled The History of God in His Union with Man, we have seen God's move in the Old Testament from Genesis through Leviticus. God moved with men and among men in the Old Testament, but He never moved in man.

When we touch this matter, we have to be careful because in the Old Testament we do have some hints concerning God's appearing to people. God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18 in the form of a man. One day Abraham was sitting in front of his tent when three men came to him. Two of them were angels and the other was Jehovah, the very God. Thus, in Genesis 18 not only God but also the angels appeared in the form of men. Abraham prepared water for Jehovah to wash His feet and Sarah prepared a meal. This shows that God's appearing to man and God's relationship with man are very mysterious.

But in principle we need to see that God did not move in man in the Old Testament; He moved only with men and among men. It was not until the age of the New Testament that God came to move on this earth in man. His first step to move in the New Testament age was to enter into man. God took a definite step to enter into man, and this laid a foundation for His move in man throughout the New Testament. God entered into the womb of a human virgin and stayed there for nine months to be born of that virgin. This was His move to enter into man as a foundation for His further move in man.

The Old Testament was a preparation for God's move in man in the New Testament. Strictly speaking, in the Old Testament God's move was among men and through men but not in man. When the New Testament age came, God's entire way changed. He was in the Old Testament working all the time with men and among men but outside of men. Samson is a good illustration of this. Samson was very strong and full of the power of God but his personal life was a mess. This shows that God's move in the Old Testament was outside of man and not something of an inward life. The New Testament is different from the Old Testament in the one fact that God entered into man. God was born of man. Matthew 1:20 says that what was begotten in Mary was of the Holy Spirit. God was born in Mary. One day God came out of eternity with His divinity and entered into a human virgin's womb to be born there.

I have been studying the Bible for many years, and through my study I have come to the conclusion that there are ten main items in the eternal economy of God revealed in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. The first five items are the steps of God's move, and the last five items are the issues of God's move. In the eternal economy of God in the New Testament, there are five steps and five issues of God's move in man.

The five steps are incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. These are the steps that God took in His move in man on this earth. He was incarnated in man, and He lived in man. In incarnation He entered into the womb of Mary and remained there for nine months. After His birth He passed through a human living of thirty-three and a half years. Then He went to the cross to be crucified in man. Jesus was crucified on the cross as a man but He was not just a man. He was God Himself. Then He was resurrected. He rose up from the dead in man and ascended to the heavens in man. These are the five steps of His move. The five issues of these steps are the church, the Body of Christ, the new man, the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God, and the New Jerusalem. These five steps and five issues cover the entire New Testament concerning the move of God in man. The first page of the New Testament is on incarnation, and the last page of the New Testament is on the New Jerusalem.