NOURISHING PEOPLE IN THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST (3)
Christ, as the High Priest, takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His divinity with His divine love, signified by the golden girdle on His breasts, to nourish the churches ( Rev. 1:13b ). Christ is not only human but also divine. He is the Son of Man wearing a golden girdle, signifying His divinity as His divine energy. His divinity as the divine energy nourishes the churches in many ways.
Revelation 2 and 3 reveal Christ’s care for the lampstands. On the one hand, He trims the wicks of the church lamps, cutting away all the wrongdoings, shortages, failures, and defects mentioned in the seven epistles to the seven churches. Christ does the best trimming work in His humanity to cherish the churches. On the other hand, in each of these seven epistles, we see Christ’s nourishing.
In the first epistle to the church at Ephesus, Christ says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” ( 2:7 ). We may say that this is a prophecy referring to the kingdom age, in which the overcomers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life in God’s Paradise. But if we do not enjoy Christ as the tree of life in the church life today, surely we will not participate in the tree of life in the kingdom age.
In the second epistle to Smyrna, a persecuted and suffering church, Christ says that He will give the crown of life to those who overcome ( v. 10 ). A crown signifies victory. If we are not a victor today, overcoming persecution and suffering, how can we be victors in the kingdom? Our victory today is out of Christ’s being our life. If we do not have such an enjoyment today, how can we wear the crown of life in the coming age?
In the third epistle to the church in Pergamos, a church married to the world, the Lord says that He will give the overcomers in Pergamos to eat of the hidden manna ( v. 17 ). In the Old Testament a portion of manna was preserved in a golden pot concealed in the Ark ( Exo. 16:32-34 ; Heb. 9:4 ). Today we must enjoy the hidden Christ in God’s golden divine nature. Then we will enjoy Christ as the hidden manna in the coming age. Also, the Lord will give us a white stone and a new name, signifying that we have become a transformed person to be material for God’s building. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 11, pp. 156-157)
The church in Zamboanga 