I feel strongly that we need to have a message on the good land for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This matter of the good land has been a great puzzle to most Bible readers and Bible teachers. Many Christian books speak about the good land. If you read these books, you will realize that all the readers and teachers of the Bible have the feeling that the good land is not merely a tract of land in Palestine. In the Bible, the good land is a symbol, a figure, of something further. Even the lowest interpretation of the good land as a symbol—that it is the region Christians enter after crossing the Jordan River of death—follows the principle that the good land is not merely a tract of land in Palestine but rather signifies something spiritual, holy, and heavenly. It is very difficult for anyone to understand thoroughly the spiritual significance of the good land. I have been studying this matter for years. Ever since my youth, I have been interested in the true significance of this good land. I am sorry to say that as a young Christian I did not receive much help in this regard. But now in this message I shall try my best to present to you what the Lord has shown us concerning the real significance of this good land.
In the Bible, the land or earth always signifies the proper people of God. The sea, on the contrary, signifies the world that has been corrupted, polluted, and ruined by Satan. In other words, the land always signifies the people of God, and the sea signifies the worldly people, the people who have been polluted, corrupted, ruined, and usurped by Satan.
Secondly, in the Bible the land is a figure, a symbol, of Christ. Christ is the good land. When we studied Genesis 1:9 in our Life-study of Genesis, we pointed out that the land which came out of the death water on the third day was a type of the resurrected Christ who came out of death on the third day. As we saw in that study, all of the life, including the vegetable, animal, and human life, came out of the land. Even man was made from the dust of that resurrected land. Medically speaking, our physical body contains the same elements as the earth. In both the earth and our bodies we have such elements as copper, iron, and sulfur. So mankind came from the land, and the land is a figure of Christ. This signifies that Christ is the source of all kinds of life. Christ as the good land, the land that came out of death water, the land that was elevated above and surrounded by the death water, was depicted by the land of Canaan. As we shall see, the land of Canaan is an elevated land surrounded by water. This land is a picture of Christ.
In the Bible, the soil of the earth typifies us, the chosen ones of God. God has chosen us to be the soil into which He sows Himself in order that He Himself may grow in us (Matt. 13:3, 23). We are God’s soil. Eventually, we become His field and His farm to grow Christ (1 Cor. 3:9). This matter is quite weighty and meaningful.
God took some dust from the land that was resurrected out of the death water and used it to make man (Gen. 2:7). Thus man was made out of the land and was destined to express God. Man’s body was made with the dust of the resurrected land, but man himself was made in the image of God for the purpose of expressing God (Gen. 2:7; 1:26-28). Not only was the dusty man made in God’s image to express God, but he was also committed with God’s authority to exercise God’s dominion and to form God’s kingdom on earth. So God’s expression and kingdom are fully related to the earth. Man came from the resurrected land, the resurrected earth, and lived on this earth to express God and to represent Him, to form an expression of God and a kingdom of God. This expression with the kingdom is God’s goal, and we must enter into it.
This short word combines the land, Christ, and humanity. The land, Christ, and humanity combined together are the expression of God and the kingdom of God where God’s glory and authority are. This is the sphere into which we all must enter. It is the realm that we all must reach. Here is our rest and satisfaction. Here God is fully expressed and has a dwelling place, His habitation.
Revelation 21:1 says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” Here we see that the old heaven and the old earth will pass away and that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. In this new heaven and new earth will be the New Jerusalem, and within the New Jerusalem God in Christ flows as the living water which symbolizes the flowing Spirit. If you look at Revelation 21, you will see a picture of the land, Christ, and all of God’s chosen, regenerated, sanctified, and glorified people. This combination of the land, Christ, and us will be God’s expression with God’s kingdom. This is our good land, the land that we all must strive to enter into. It is here that we have rest and satisfaction.
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