"the All-Inclusive Christ" 14

Entering the Good Land

1. By taking the word of the Lord

Joshua 1:2 Moses My servant is dead; now then arise, and cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.

Joshua 1:3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses.

the Lord has promised us and He will surely fulfill His promise. so we need to believe the Lord, taking the word of the Lord and give Him our cooperation, by rising up to take possession of the land. 

2. by realizing that we have been buried

we, who have been saved and have been enjoying Christ must realize that we have been crucified on the cross. we are dead, and we have been buried. after Israel people left Egypt and before they entered into the land of Canaan, they crossed both the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Paul told us in his epistle that Israel people were baptized in the water and the cloud, so we can see that their crossing the Red Sea was a type of baptisim. during this baptism, they were all crucified and buried, which also applies to us, the New Testament believers. but right before their entering into the land, they also crossed the Jordan River, and Joshua charged 12 representives to put 12 stones at the bottom of the river and picked up another 12 stones to erect as the memorial. 

Joshua 4:3 And command them, saying, Take up for yourselves from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones; and bring them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.

this shows us that, like Israel people, so many times, and it is so easy for us to forget that we are dead and buried, after our initial baptism. we always forget that we are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. so we often jump out of our grave and go back to live in our old and natural life, even tempting to go back to Egypt. therefore, we need to be reminded again and again that we are crucified and we are dead to the world. in the eyes of God, we are all dead and buried in the death of Christ on the cross. no natural man can enter into the good land. only resurrected people can enter and possess the all-inclusive Christ. 

3. by applying the death of Christ

thus, believing that we have been crucified with Christ and that we have been buried, we must apply this death to ourselves, to put our flesh to death. we must daily take the ground that we are dead and buried and apply the death of Christ to our fleshly members. 

Colossians 2:11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

Colossians 2:12 Buried together with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised together with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness, which is idolatry;

in Colossians chapter 2 we are told that we have been buried and raised with Christ. then in Colossians chapter 3, we are told to put to death our members which are on the earth. if we realize our burial and resurrection with Christ, we must apply His death to our fleshly members in a practical way by faith. 

4. by enjoying the produce of the land

Joshua 5:12 And the manna ceased on that day, when they ate of the produce of the land; and there was no longer manna for the children of Israel, but they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan that year.

on the night when Israel people left Egypt, they ate the passover lamb to be energized and stregthened. during the forty years in the wilderness, God gave them manna everyday to feed them. but when they entered into the land, the manna ceased and they ate of the produce of the land. this shows us that theie eating of Christ went on into a new stage. they were enjoying a much greater, richer and fuller Christ, passing on from the passover lamb and the manna. we also need to ask ourselves, how about the Christ we are enjoying right now? is it a little manna, or the rich produce of the land flowing with mild and honey? whether or not we are enjoying Christ as the produce of the land depends very much on our burial, and our taking the ground of resurrection.

5. by fighting the battle

when we are enjoying Christ as the produce of the land, we will be aware and burdened with the spiritual battle. in the land of Canaan, Joshua had to lead the army of Israel to defeat all the previous heathern inhabitants to take over the land, which signifies the evil powers in air, the dark kingdom of Satan, who are still veiling the all-inclusiveness of Christ from God's people. therefore, we need to fight to take over the entire land, to encourage all God's people to enter into this enjoyment of Christ as the good land. 

Joshua 5:14 And He said, Neither, but as the Captain of Jehovah’s army have I now come. Then Joshua fell to the ground upon his face and worshipped. And he said to Him, What does my Lord speak to His servant?

Joshua 5:15 And the Captain of Jehovah’s army said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so.

after we are burdened with this matter of fighting, we will be able to receive a vision from the Lord, showing us that the Lord is the Captain of Jehovah's army. we can have the faith and assurance that the Lord is with us, and He is going before us and fighing the battle for us. 

6. how to fight the battle 

if we llok at the record in the book of Joshua, how Israel people took over the city of Jericho, we will have an idea how we should fight the battle. they circled around the city with the Ark, and with the priests trumpting the rams' horns, which is not a weapon for fighting, but for declaring the gospel of peace. so today, we fight not with any fleshly weapons, but by proclaiming Christ. 

Joshua 6:10 And Joshua commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word go forth from your mouth, until the day I say to you, Shout! Then you shall shout.

the people were not allowed to speak any word, until they were charged to shout. so for us today, if we are going to testify the victorious Christ, there are also many times when we must be silent. we should not speak in a light way, but wait until the time appointed by the Lord to pray and praise the Lord with a loud voice. we have to realize that in fighting the spiritual warfare, we can never do it as separate individuals, but we must be formed and united together with all the saints as the army of God. we must also remember that our enemies are not flesh and blood; but spiritual forces, the principalities, the powers in the heavenlies. we do not argue or debate with people. we use spiritual weapons. we declare the victorious Christ! this is how we will possess the good land.