Part 3
Now point C. Israel’s crossing the river Jordan typifies not the believer’s physical death but the believer’s experience of the death of Christ, in which the old man is terminated and buried.
Many Christians, Bible students consider the crossing of the Jordan, is likened to, it typifies our physical death. Everyone has to cross the Jordan to go to the other side,which is heaven. Right? This is, uh, uh… Canaan is to them is like heaven. They have to cross over Jordan with all the waves, and the bellows. And so they cross to the other side to enter into heaven. But they do not realize this is not logical. Because in Canaan, in heaven, there are all these enemies there. While they are hoping to enter into heaven, everything will be fine, everything will be happy, but not realizing after you cross the Jordan, you are faced with all these enemies. So the crossing of the Jordan is not talking, is not referring to our physical death, but rather, it typifies the believers’ experience of the death of Christ.
The river Jordan signifies the death and resurrection of Christ. And the Israelites crossing this river signifies their experience of this death of Christ, in which the old man is terminated and buried. Romans chapter 6 verses 3 to 6 says “Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” When we baptize someone, we must have the assurance. We did not just baptize him to terminate him. We are bringing this brother or this sister into the death of Christ. He is being put into the death of Christ. Verse 4 says “we have been buried therefore with him through baptism into His death” It was wonderful in that record. It was not just a priest who went into that river, that river Jordan,the priests with the ark upon them. They went in together with Christ. Just like Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that we were buried with Him, we were raised with Him, made alive with Him, even eventually seated together with Him.Praise the lord ! With Him! With Him ! With Him!
We didn’t go into this river by ourselves,like in crossing the red sea, the children of Israel went by themselves. That signifies the aspect of our salvation from the world. But here in the crossing of the Jordan, God’s people went in with the ark. This confirms the new testament, the experience in the new testament believers that we were buried with Him through baptism into Him death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life. Verse 5 says “For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”
The crucial point that we need to see here is that whether it’s in the experience of the death of Christ or the resurrection of Christ ,we were passing through this with Him. We enter into this death, His death with Him. And we also are ushered into His resurrection with Him. Right? Whatever we pass through, that’s what He passed through. Whatever He passed through is also what we pass through.
Number 1 says “ According to typology the Jordan River denotes the death of Christinto which the believers have been baptized.”
2 The children of Israel passed through the death of Christ to bury their old man and become a new man in Christ.
What’s being buried in Jordan river was not pharaoh or his chariots, all the worldly forces. What’s being buried was the children of Israel themselves, being represented by the 12 pieces of stone that we’ll see a little bit later. There will be 12 pieces of stone representing the 12 tribes of Israel.They will be left at the river bottom signifying they are these are the ones being buried there being terminated there.And also there will be also 12 pieces of stone brought up from the riverbed to the other side to become a memorial, a testimony that these are the resurrected new Israel, who are not only crucified but now in resurrected.These are the stones brought from the river riverbed to the other side.
So, this picture shows us they, the children of Israel, passed through the death of Christ to bury the old man and to become a new man in Christ.
a They were ready to enter into the good land, take the land as their possession, and engage in warfare against the Canaanites; however, in their old man they could not gain the victory.
After the children of Israel across the red sea, they journey with God in the wilderness. That was pretty much denoting our Christian life in this vast wilderness. As we are carrying on our journey with the Lord, being fed by Him, being supplied by Him, and we are even enjoying His presence here, and there was his tabernacle. But what happened during the wilderness was not enough to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. God has to bring His people to the land, into the promised land, to build the temple in a solid, in an expanded way, and also to deal with, to crush, to subdue all those enemies.
So after crossing the red sea, they were prepared, qualified to live a kind of a Christian life. But now to enter into the good land, they have to cross the river Jordan, to deal with the old man, the natural man, the self. As long as our natural man still remains, it is impossible for us to possess this good land in full, for us to deal with and subdue all these enemies. This is a prerequisite. So God, in his sovereignty, had to bring his children to this second river. They have to pass through this, in order to be qualified to possess the land and to deal with those fearsome enemies, in order to accomplish God’s eternal purpose.
While most Christians may be well aware of the story of crossing the red sea. Hardly anyone have that much understanding, have that much realization of the crossing of the Jordan. The crossing of the Jordan is related to the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy for the possession of this good land to gain the good land for Christ. I believe from the first message you all have heard the intrinsic significance of these books of history. God desires us His people to gain the good land for Christ, to prepare a people for the bringing forth of Christ. This is related to the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose. This is not just to merely to live a good Christian life, to be spiritual. This has much to do with the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose to gain Christ for Christ so that a people can be prepared for the bringing forth of Christ