基督作众民的约
以赛亚四十二章启示基督是众民的约，并外邦人的光。基督是约，这约也是个遗命。约是指两方之间的协定，双方所签定的合同。遗命乃是约，就是签署的协定，成了将一些东西传给继承者的遗嘱。约是神和我们之间的协定。藉着基督的死，这约就成了遗命，遗嘱。现今基督在祂的复活里，执行这遗命。
我们可以用买房子来说明这事。我们可以说自己买了一栋房子，但我们需要拿到所有权状，作为我们购买的证明。权状就是一分同意书，一个约。房子已经立了约要给我们，这约的保证就是所有权状。我们的购买已经立了约，就成了法定的。就一面意义而言，我们可以说权状，就是约，等于房子。房子的权状就是约，约就是房子。
新约的实际就是基督
以赛亚在四十二章六节和四十九章八节，两次说到神将基督赐给我们作我们的约。这就是说，神的救恩，神的祝福，以及神一切的丰富都已经立约给了我们，这约就是基督。就如我的权状等于我的房子，基督也就等于神一切的救恩、祝福、恩典、实际和丰富。这一切都已经立约给了我们。我们的约就是基督。神的救恩、神的公义、神的称义、神的赦免、神的救赎、神的丰富、以及祂一切所有并将要作的，都已经立约给了我们。
在原文里，约这辞也是遗命。每一个正确的约至终都成了遗命。在立约的人死以前，这是约; 他死了以后，那约就成了遗命。用今天的话来说，遗命就是遗嘱。如果你父亲立了遗嘱，说你可得一千万元、二十栋房子、十五艘船，难道你不高兴么？我们在天上的父给了我们许多东西; 我们有一个充满千百样遗赠之物的遗嘱。我在天上的父给了我这一切遗赠，这些都成了遗命立约给了我; 那就是新约。我们手中有新约圣经，但这并不是实际。新约中千百项遗赠的实际乃是基督。没有基督，圣经就是空的，所以真正的遗命，真正的遗嘱，乃是基督。基督是我们的所有权状，这所有权状在我们的灵里，就是那包罗万有、赐生命、内住、并终极完成的灵。
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Christ As a Covenant for the People (1) – Isa. 42:6
Isaiah 42 reveals Christ as a covenant for the people and a light for the nations. Christ is a covenant, and this covenant is a testament. A covenant denotes an agreement between two parties, a contract signed by both parties. A testament is a covenant, a signed agreement, that has become a will in which certain things are passed on to the heirs. The covenant is the agreement between God and us. Through the death of Christ, the covenant became a testament, a will. Now in His resurrection Christ executes, enforces, this testament.
We can use the buying of a house to illustrate this. We may say we have bought a house, but we need the title deed as a proof of our purchase. The deed is an agreement, a covenant. The house has been covenanted to us, and the guarantee of this covenant is the title deed. Our purchase has been covenanted. It has been legalized. In a sense, we may say that the title deed, the covenant, equals the house. The title deed to the house is the covenant, and the covenant is the house.
The Reality of the New Testament Is Christ
Isaiah says twice, in 42:6 and 49:8, that God has given Christ to us as our covenant. This means that God’s salvation, God’s blessings and all of God’s riches have been covenanted to us, and this covenant is just Christ. Just as my title deed equals my house, Christ equals all of God’s salvation, blessings, grace, reality and riches. All of this has been covenanted to us. Our covenant is Christ. God’s salvation, God’s righteousness, God’s justification, God’s forgiveness, God’s redemption, God’s riches and all He has and will do have been covenanted to us.
In Greek the word for covenant is also the word for testament. Every proper covenant eventually becomes a testament. Before the person who enacted the covenant dies, it is the covenant. After he dies, that covenant becomes a testament. A testament in today’s terms is a will. What if your father had a will which said that you were entitled to ten million dollars, twenty houses, and fifteen commercial ships. Would you not be happy? Our Father in heaven has given us a lot of things. We have a will full of hundreds of bequests. My heavenly Father has given me all these bequests, and they have been covenanted to me as a testament. That is the new testament. We have the New Testament of the Bible in our hands, but this is not the reality. The reality of all the hundreds of bequests in the New Testament is Christ. Without Christ, the Bible is empty, so the real testament, the real will, is Christ. Christ is our title deed, and this title deed is in our spirit as the all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling, consummated Spirit.