CHRIST AS THE SON OF MAN CHERISHING US AND AS THE SON OF GOD NOURISHING US (2)
Now we want to look at eight illustrations in the New Testament that unveil Christ as the Son of Man cherishing us and as the Son of God nourishing us.
ILLUSTRATION ONE
Christ as the Son of Man became the Lamb of God to take away our sin (John 1:29)—cherishing. If God had never become a man, He could not have become the Lamb. The One who is the Lamb is the Son of Man with humanity. It was only in humanity that God could accomplish redemption for us by dying on the cross. Our sin is the most troublesome thing to all of us, but Christ became the Lamb of God to die for us, to accomplish redemption for us, to take all our sins away. This is the greatest cherishing to us to make us happy and restful.
Christ as the Son of God became the life-giving Spirit to give life to us and transform us (vv. 32-34, 42)—nourishing. As the Lamb, Christ cherished us, and as the life-giving Spirit, He nourishes us. When a child will not eat, the mother will do something to make him happy. By cherishing her child, she is able to nourish him. Our God is like a mother. First, He cherishes us, makes us happy. Then He gives us some nourishment to transform us from clay to precious stones for God’s building. Without Christ’s cherishing, no one would come to receive Him as the life-giving Spirit.
ILLUSTRATION TWO
Christ as the Son of Man, in the form of the serpent, destroyed the old serpent, the source of sin, through His redeeming death (3:14; Heb. 2:14)—cherishing. We were bitten by the old serpent in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, so we have the poison, the essence, of the serpent in our being. It was not sufficient for Christ merely to become our redeeming Lamb. He also had to become in the form of the serpent. Paul in Romans 8:3 says that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Christ became a serpent in form not in element. He was the reality of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 (vv. 4-9) to destroy Satan, the source of sin, through His redeeming death.
Christ as the Son of God speaks the words of God and gives Himself as the Spirit to us not by measure so that we may have the eternal life (John 3:34-36, 15-16)—nourishing. The unlimited Son of God speaks God’s words and gives the Spirit to the hearers of God’s word. Those who hear His word and receive the Spirit are regenerated to be His increase, His bride (vv. 29-30). (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 9, pp. 133-134)
The church in Zamboanga 