In the fellowship between man and God, Christ, as the gift man offers to God, becomes the food that God enjoys. This is typified by Abel’s offering of the fat portions of the firstlings of the flock (4:4). The firstlings of the flock and the fat portions typify the Lord Jesus as the means by which we fellowship with God. In order for fallen, sinful men to fellowship with God, we cannot be in ourselves; we must be in Christ. We cannot rely on ourselves; we must rely on Christ. A gift relates to our being accepted by God, whereas food relates to God’s satisfaction. Abel’s offering signifies that the Lord Jesus is the means by which we fellowship with God. He is our gift to God for our acceptance before Him, and He is the food that God receives from us for His satisfaction.
When God judged the people in the world and flooded the world with water, He delivered some from perdition. We also will be delivered in Christ, our ark.
As soon as Noah came out of the ark, he offered up burnt offerings. When God smelled the satisfying fragrance, He immediately accepted Noah. This shows us that Christ is not only our ark for deliverance from God’s wrath, but on the positive side, He is also our burnt offering for our acceptance before God.
The receiving of the covenant of grace promised by God can be seen in the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the covenant of grace promised by God, the Lord Jesus has a particular position.
Galatians 3:16 tells us that Christ, as the true Isaac, is the unique seed of Abraham. In the book of Genesis, almost everything concerning Isaac can be applied to Christ because Isaac typifies Christ. Christ is the unique One who receives the inheritance; all that the Father has is for Him and belongs to Him. His only lack is a counterpart. He needs a Rebekah to be His counterpart. This means that in the covenant of grace which God made with man, the Lord Jesus (including those who belong to Him) is God’s unique Heir, God’s unique seed, who received the inheritance. This seed received everything from the Father; everything the Father has belongs to Him. However, He needs a counterpart; He needs the church to be His Rebekah.
In the covenant of grace, God came to Abraham’s tent one day to fellowship with him. On this occasion, Abraham was not seeking God, but God was seeking Abraham. He did not go into God’s presence to visit with Him, but God came to Abraham’s tent to visit him. In the fellowship Abraham set cakes and a calf before Him. Undoubtedly, the calf signifies the Lord Jesus, and the cakes also signify the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus was killed as a calf, and all that He is and all that He accomplished became a cake that man could offer to God. Later, in Exodus and Numbers, God charged His people to present offerings involving animal sacrifices and meal offerings. In Genesis, the calf signifies the offering of an animal sacrifice, and the cakes signify the meal offering. Both the offering of an animal sacrifice and the meal offering refer to the Lord Jesus as the enjoyment in the fellowship between man and God. God wants to carry out His covenant of grace to the point that we can fellowship with Him and He can fellowship with us. In all of God’s fellowship with us and our fellowship with God, everything that is being enjoyed is the Lord Jesus.
In Genesis 22, when Abraham offered up Isaac, God showed Abraham a ram that had not been brought by him but had been prepared by God. Christ as the real Lamb solves all of our problems before God, deals with all of our difficulties before God, and satisfies all of God’s requirements for us. Without this Lamb, the covenant of grace that God made with us would be without a center and could not be fulfilled.
Genesis 49:10 tells us that as the Peace-bringer, Christ is called Shiloh, and to Him will be the obedience of the peoples.
In summarizing these four points, in God’s covenant of grace, Christ is first the unique Heir and everything that the Father has belongs to Him; His only need is a counterpart. Second, He is the enjoyment in the fellowship between God and man. Third, He is the Lamb who fulfilled God’s covenant of grace. Finally, He is Shiloh in the covenant of grace, the Peace-bringer, and all the people will be obedient to Him. Therefore, without the Lord Jesus, God’s covenant of grace with man would be without an Heir, there would be no enjoyment in the fellowship between God and man, the covenant of grace would not be fulfilled, and the peace of the covenant of grace could not be spread to all the people. All things are fulfilled by Him, belong to Him, and spread to all the people through Him.