In the old Testament, God could move by Himself, without man. For instance,
when God created the heavens and the earth, there was no need of man to
match Him. But the New Testament begins with the divine incarnation. This
set up the principle for God's New Testament economy, which is that God
needs man to match Him. Without man, God can do nothing. In the Old Testament,
God could do many things without man. In the New Testament, God has given
Himself to be bound together with man. This binding together of God with
man can be illustrated by the runners in a three-legged race, who be bound
together in such a way that each pair of runners has three legs. In the
New Testament, God must have man to match Him, to be one with Him, to coordinate
with Him. This is the basic principle of God's New Testament economy.
In His New Testament economy, God does nothing without man. Man must be
one with God, and be bound together with God. "He who is joined to the
Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). This implies that in the New Testament
God's economy has bound man together with God. God is willing to be bound
to man, for he cannot move withour man. This is why God never preaches
th Gospel directly to anyone; instead, He preaches the gospel through man.
Christ is moving today throughout the earth " You shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the remotest part of
the earth" (Acts 1:8). To be Christ's witnesses is to be His testimony,
and to be His testimony is to be His portrait. If we are Christ's
testimony, His portrait, people will see Him wherever we go. We witness
for Christ in the sense of being His portraits. Hence, all gospel preachers
are actually witnesses, portraits, of Christ.
The Lord's move today is with us. Regarding His move, we may be either
a "mule wagon" or a "747". By this I mean that if we are slow, the Lord's
move with us will be slow. If we are fast, the Lord's move with us will
be fast.
Dennis Yap Tsong Hsih
