The body of the Christian is dead because of sin but his life is hidden with Christ in God. The redeemed person is divided into the natural man and the spiritual man, which is not true of the unredeemed person.

We leave Egypt, the world, in water baptism, putting away the filth of the flesh that we may be separated unto the Lord God and received of Him. The old leaven of malice and wickedness is thrown out and the new bread of sincerity and truth is brought in.

Phase Three. The pulling back of the waters under the firmament to allow dry land to appear, the naming of the land and the waters under the firmament, and the creating of vegetation on the dry land; the safe arrival of Israel on the eastern bank of the Red Sea and the beginning of life in the wilderness; the Table of Showbread; and the feast of Firstfruits.

The main thoughts are the appearing of the land and vegetation; the beginning of life in the wilderness; the twelve loaves of the Presence together with the drink offering of strong wine; and the offering to the priest of the first sheaf of the barley harvest.

These speak to us of coming up out of the waters of baptism. We now enter resurrection life in the Lord Jesus Christ and it is a wilderness of trials to us. The dry land is the emergence of the Life of Christ in us, the waters of our soulish life pulling back enough that Christ can be revealed. Also, the vegetables and fruit indicate that the first signs of Christian behavior have appeared.

The twelve loaves of the showbread [bread of the Presence] and the accompanying drink offering speak of the Communion table and the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are born again into the Kingdom of God, and our new life is sustained through feeding on the body and blood of Christ. We now are free to choose to live righteously, no longer being under the authority of "Pharaoh."

The authority of darkness was judged at the Passover, and the legions of Hell were drowned in the Red Sea as we came up out of the waters of baptism. They could not follow us through those waters because the waters of baptism represent the death of Christ on the cross, and emerging from the waters signifies our sharing in the resurrection of Christ.

The waving of the barley sheaves in the feast of Firstfruits reminds us that when we are born again a firstfruits of our personality, our reborn inner nature, ascends to the right hand of God in Christ. This is the first reaping of our personality, and because the firstfruits is holy our entire personality is holy to the Lord.

The first three phases speak of what we term "salvation." We are saved through the blood, baptized in water, born again, and partake of the Lord's table. We are made one with the death and resurrection of Christ, being raised to sit in heavenly places together with Him. We are accepted of God through the reconciling authority of the blood of Christ. We begin to think, speak and act like a Christian.

To be continued.