The law is a picture of God, a portrait of God, the testimony of God; Christ is the reality of the law as the testimony of God, and for us to keep the law in reality is to live a God-man life, a life which is God’s testimony.
In our deeper study of the vital sketch of the divine revelation in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we realise that the whole Bible – and these three books in particular – unveil God’s economy.
The entire Bible speaks of God’s economy; the cargo of the Bible is the economy of God, and besides this, there’s nothing else in the Bible.
In His economy, God has a household administration to accomplish His plan for the fulfillment of the desire of His heart. God has a heart’s desire to gain a people who are not only created by Him but also regenerated by Him, sanctified and transformed by Him, and who are conformed to the image of Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God.
Eventually, this people will be brought into glory, into the corporate expression of the Triune God, where they shine with God and express God.
We need to know God’s economy and speak only the teaching of God’s economy, and besides God’s economy we should speak or teach nothing else.
In the Old Testament this expression “God’s economy” is not found, but we have a picture of it; in the New Testament we see God’s economy in a clear speaking, especially in the writings of Paul.
As God’s people, we have been chosen and redeemed by God, and we are brought to the point where we can see the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy; this trains us and builds us up as His testimony on earth.
In the book of Genesis we see how God’s people were chosen, in Exodus they received the divine revelation concerning God and His dwelling place, and in Leviticus God trained His people to worship Him and partake of Him and to live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life.
If we look at the history of the children of Israel in the Old Testament, we realise that it is a type of`our history as believers in the New Testament; what has happened to them is for our admonition, so that we may learn from their example.
Oh, may we have an unveiled face to see the divine revelation concerning God and His economy, and may we be trained and built up as His testimony on the earth today!
The Law is the Testimony of God for His People to receive the Revelation concerning Himself
At Mount Sinai God’s people received the revelation concerning God Himself so that they may be separated unto Him to be His people.
The law is not a set of commandments for His people to keep; rather, it is the testimony of God for His people to receive a revelation concerning who He is. The law is a portrait of God, a revelation of God Himself; the law reveals that our God is a God of love, light, holiness, and righteousness.
In the New Testament we do have a description of God, and we see that He is love, light, holiness, and righteousness; however, in the Old Testament we see a picture of God.
The Ten Commandments are a type signifying Christ as the portrait of God, as the expression of God’s image.
Heb. 1:3 says that Jesus Christ – the Son of God – is the express image of God, the impress of God’s substance. When others saw Jesus, they saw God.
The law is also a portrait of God; if we take a closer look at the ten commandments what we see is not a set of rules from God but rather, what God is – we see that God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness.
Because the law was such a portrait of God, it was called the Testimony of God (see Exo. 25:16, 21; 31:18).
Therefore, the ark in which the law was placed was called the Ark of the Testimony (Exo. 25:22) and the tabernacle in which the Ark was placed was called the Tabernacle of the testimony (Exo. 38:31). And in the Psalms, many times the law is referred to as the testimony (Psa. 19:7; 25:10; 119:2).
Through the law, God’s people received a revelation of who God is; the law as the portrait of God revealed God to His people so that they may be separated unto the Holy God as His sanctified people.
The Lord told His people, I am Jehovah your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy (Lev. 11:44).
We can see God’s work even from the first chapter of Genesis; God created all things and accomplished many things, but we do not see what kind of God He is. We can’t see from Genesis 1 whether He is a God of love or a God of hate, a God of darkness or a God of light.
The Law, however, presents to us a portrait, a description, of God, and thereby we understand who He is. Through the law we have a portrait, a description, of who God is; through the law we understand what God is, what is His heart’s desire, and what kind of God He is.
As the testimony of God, the law is a type of Christ; Christ is the living portrait of God, His living definition and description. When Christ came, He expressed God, He explained God, and He defined God; He Himself was the word of God, the very definition and explanation of God.
As God’s people, we need to receive the revelation concerning Himself so that we may be separated unto the holy God as His sanctified people; this matter is given a particular emphasis in the book of Leviticus (see Lev. 11:44).
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to be the reality of the law as the testimony of God; You are the living portrait of God, for You expressed God, defined God, and explained God. May we receive the revelation concerning God Himself so that we may be separated unto the holy God as His sanctified people. Amen, Lord, may we see picture after picture of who our God is, and may we be infused with God. We want to know our God, see who our God is, and be infused with the element of God as revealed in His Word.
Christ is the Living Portrait of God; we Keep the Law by Living God to Express Him
In the Old Testament God was expressed, defined, and explained through the law; God’s loving seekers saw God, enjoyed God, and knew God by the law.
We as Christians may think that the law was given for us to keep, but actually the law was given as a testimony of God, a portrait of God, for us to have a revelation of who and what God is.
Therefore, so many of the Psalmists expressed their love for the law, and by reading and praying the law they enjoyed God the uttermost.
As the testimony of God, the law is indeed lovable. Even Paul said that the law is holy, and the commandment holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7:12). The law is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual, because the law is a portrait of God.
The Bible shows us that the law is God’s testimony (Exo. 16:34; 31:18; 32:15; 40:20; Psa. 19:7), God’s expression, a revelation of God to His people.
The law of God reveals God’s attributes, showing that He is jealous (Exo. 20:4-6; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2), holy (Exo. 20:7-11), loving (vv. 6, 12-15; cf. Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14), righteous (Exo. 20:5), truthful (v. 16; cf. 1 John 1:5-6), and pure (Exo. 20:2-3, 17).
As the word of God and the testimony, the expression, of God, the law is a type of Christ as God’s Word and God’s testimony, God’s expression (John 1:1, 18; Rev. 19:13; 1:5; Col. 1:15).
Since the law is such a positive thing, what does it mean for us as New Testament believers to keep the law? The reality of keeping the law is for us to live God and express God.
Just as Christ expressed God and lived God, defining God and explaining God in His human living, so we today need to express God by being infused with God through His Word.
We need to have a living in the eternal economy of God, the living of a God-man; such a living is a continual denial of the self and being crucified with Christ, who is God’s testimony.
The way we keep the law – the reality of keeping the law in spirit – is by denying the self and living a crucified life to live Christ, who is the testimony of God.
We live God and express God by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for the enlarged and expanded expression of God (Matt. 16:24; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rom. 8:4).
We can approach the keeping of the law in two ways – we can either be letter-keepers or God-seekers; if we are letter-keepers, the law is a code of conduct or God’s rules for our Christian life, but if we’re God-seekers, Christ is the reality of the law, and we will live God and express God.
May we be the loving seekers of God, those who love God, seek God, and take the law – and God’s word – not as some rules and regulations but the portrait of God, the testimony of God, and we will be infused with God so that we may no longer live in ourselves but in the mingled spirit.
When we allow the Lord to infuse Himself into us through His word, we will live a different kind of life, a life of continually denying the self and being crucified with Christ, and Christ as the reality of the law – the real testimony of God and portrait of God – is infused into us to live in us a God-man life.
Lord Jesus, we come to Your word with an exercised spirit to be infused with You as the portrait of God, the living testimony of God. We want to be the loving seekers of God who are infused with God in His word and are supplied by the bountiful Spirit so that we may live a life of continually denying the self and being crucified to live Christ! Amen, Lord, may we have a living in the eternal economy of God, the living of a God-man, to become the actual testimony of God on earth by being the reproduction of Christ as the testimony of God.
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Cristos este portretul viu al lui Dumnezeu; noi păzim legea trăindu-L pe Dumnezeu pentru a-L exprima pe El.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, msg. 49 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 1, A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God’s Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Christ is the testimony true / Of God in essence and in deed; / God’s glory He has fully shown, / And we in Him God’s nature read. / His testimony is more full / Than was the witness of the law, / Which only God in letter showed, / And not in endless living pow’r. (Hymns #494)
# Perfect embodiment Thou art of God, / A portrait full the Scripture gives of Thee; / In Thee we comprehend God’s image true, / And thru the Scripture Thou art real to me. (Hymns #801)
# Now we’re learning to turn to our spirit, / Now we’re learning to take Christ as life; / Now we’re learning to feed upon Jesus / And be freed from all struggling and strife. / Hallelujah for life in the Spirit, / Hallelujah for newness within. / When we turn from our mind to our spirit, / We enjoy all the riches of Him. (Hymns #1141)
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