Reflections
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan….As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (Josh 3:11,13)
Israel came OUT of Egypt through a body of water. The parting of the Red Sea required a miracle. There was no other escape for them. Israel also entered INTO the promised land through a body of water. But although the parting of the Jordan was a miracle, they could have crossed over the Jordan easily without a miracle. The Jordan was not that wide. But God forbade it. Crossing the Jordan had to be by HIS hand.
God is showing us that He must lead us into the inheritance, that is, it is by His working in us through Christ that we are in the inheritance. But it is also possible to enter into the land, and try to live in there, through human effort. We can try to take possession of the things of God for ourselves through unbelief. The result will be deception.
Christianity is, “Christ in us, the hope of glory,” and the Christian life is a matter of coming into an inward knowledge and realization of Him — and of living from out of Him for all. All else that God is doing is built upon life in His Son. He is our inheritance — God has freely given us all things in His Son. (Rom. 8:32) But where we are blinded to Christ, we will accept an earthly substitute — and we will be told that we can come into this substitute through human effort.
Paul said, “Christ in us, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ.” (Col. 1:28) He also said, “I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19) But in today’s church, “Christ in us,” is either ignored or redefined. And there is no travail whatsoever that Christ be formed in us. Rather, people are trying to walk with God on some other basis — usually an earthly basis. Instead of allowing God to raise us up in Christ through the miracle of resurrection — as typified by the parting of the Jordan — we have dragged down Christianity to an earthly level.
This is why there is so much deception today. Earthly Christianity is not Christianity at all. It is like trying to live in the Promised Land through human effort.