The Daily Word of Righteousness

Our Christian Pilgrimage, #23

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles [nations] shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (Isaiah 60:2-4)

Notice the above passage: "Thy sons"! "Thy daughters"! Isn't that interesting?

It can be seen from this passage that the people do not come to the Lord Himself but to the saints. The Glory of God is resting on the saints and the nations come to that glory. They cannot come to God Himself because God is a devouring fire. But they can come to those human beings in whom God is dwelling. "They come to thee."

A son of God. We become a child of God legally by receiving Jesus as Christ sent from God. But passing from childhood to sonship requires growth. It appears today that God has numerous children, but not all of them are growing. In order to be a son of God we must overcome, through Christ, all the pressures and traps of the enemy. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God to put to death the deeds of their body (Romans 8:13,14). It is the conquerors, the victorious saints, who finally will be termed "the sons of God" (Revelation 21:7).

As the Father in Heaven is filled with Life and is Life, so will His sons be filled with the same Life and be that Life. We are of God and are being created in the image of God.

This is part of our "Canaan," our inheritance.

The Body of Christ. Christ is the Anointed Deliverer of whom the Hebrew Prophets spoke. Christ is the One who will deliver Israel from all evil, bring justice to the nations of the earth, and set up an everlasting kingdom of peace and joy.

The Head of Christ came to earth two thousand years ago. He died for our sins and then was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Now His body and blood are being given to His chosen people so a Body may be formed—the Body of Christ, the Body of the Anointed Deliverer. It is the will of God that Christ, the Servant of the Lord, consist of the great eternal Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and also of members who, through the grace of God in Jesus, become an integral, eternally indivisible part of the Head.

It is through the Body of Christ that the Head speaks and acts, just as in the physical body the brain and central nervous system speak and act through the body.

The Lord Jesus is the Head. We are being created, through the gifts and ministries of the Spirit of God, the Body of the Anointed Deliverer, the Body of the Servant of the Lord.

To be continued.