The Ministry of the Word, Vol. 21, No. 11

Christ and the Church in the Psalms (1)

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the first nine messages given during the spring 2002 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "Christ and the Church in the Psalms." Christ is revealed and typified in the Psalms, and the church also is typified in the Psalms--as the house of God for God's dwelling and as the city of God for God's kingdom. The main line in the Psalms concerns God's economy as it relates to the all-inclusive Christ and the church as the expression of Christ, the counterpart of Christ, the complement of Christ, the bride of Christ, and the Body of Christ. These messages focus in sequence on the particular psalms that refer to the central line of God's economy concerning Christ and the church. Christ is the center, circumference, hub, rim, substance, and content of the Bible as a whole and in the book of Psalms in particular. Christ is the centrality and universality of the Psalms. Those who study the Psalms should have a spirit of seeking the Lord, of wanting Him, thirsting for Him, pursuing Him, desiring Him, asking for Him, and inquiring regarding Him. Furthermore, this Christ is found in God's dwelling place. To know Christ in a full way, we must know Him in the house of God, which is the church as God's dwelling place, and in the city of God, which is the church as God's kingdom. The church is the enlargement, expansion, reproduction, surplus, fullness, and expression of Christ for His glory. Eventually, the church consummates in the New Jerusalem, which also is Christ. The enlargement of His house to become the city, the kingdom in reality, provides the Lord the ground to return and reclaim the earth from the usurping hand of Satan. The progression of the revelation through the books of the Psalms is summed up in four words--Christ, house, city, and earth. Our goal in studying the Psalms should be to experience Christ for the building up of the church as the house and the city so that the Lord will have a beachhead in order to come back and reclaim the earth. According to God's view, having a group of people who exalt Christ and become the church as the house and the city will provide Him a way to repossess the entire earth. Therefore, the deepest burden of this study of the Psalms is the fulfillment of the first and last verses of Psalm 8: "O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth!" The Announcements section of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.