THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church
Message Four
Life Being the Crucial Element of the New Testament
Scripture Reading: John 1:4; 10:10b; 14:6a; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11; 1 Tim. 6:12
I. The Lord desires to recover the scriptural view and the proper realization of the eternal life of God, which we have received of God through our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ—John 1:12-13:
A. The eternal life is the life that is not only everlasting but also eternal both in time and in nature—3:16, 36; 1 John 1:2.
B. The eternal life is the uncreated life of God, the indestructible life, and the incorruptible life—Eph. 4:18; Heb. 7:16; 2 Tim. 1:10.
C. The eternal life is the life that is in the Son of God and that is the Son of God—1 John 5:11-12; 1:2; John 1:4; 10:10b; 14:6.
D. The eternal life is the life with which the believers are regenerated and which becomes the believers’ life, making the believers the children of God and the members of Christ—Col. 3:4a; John 1:12-13; Eph. 5:30.
II. God the Father is the source of life, God the Son is the embodiment of life, God the Spirit is the flow of life, the Body is the fullness of life, the building up of the Body is the growth in life, and the New Jerusalem is the city of life—John 5:26; 1:4; Rev. 22:1; Eph. 1:22b-23; 4:16; Col. 2:19; Rev. 22:1-2, 5.
III. God’s original intention was that man should eat of the tree of life; eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; John 6:57.
IV. Our human spirit is the key to life—Gen. 2:7; Prov. 20:27; John 3:6; Rom. 8:6:
A. God has reserved the human spirit for His purpose—Zech. 12:1; Gen. 2:7; Prov. 20:27; John 3:6; cf. 20:22:
1. Our spirit was particularly created by God with the breath of God as the lamp of Jehovah for us to contact God, contain God, receive God as life, and be joined to God as one spirit—Gen. 2:7, 9; Job 32:8; Prov. 20:27; John 4:24; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17.
2. In our spirit we can overcome the world and the evil one cannot touch us; the only way to overcome Satan is to stay in the high tower of our regenerated spirit—1 John 5:4, 18; John 3:6; 14:30.
B. We need to care for the sense of life in our spirit to remain in the fellowship of life, the flowing of the divine life, for the operation of the law of the Spirit of life—Rom. 8:6, 16; 1 John 1:2-3, 6-7:
1. The sense of life, on the negative side, is the feeling of death—weakness, emptiness, uneasiness, restlessness, depression, dryness, darkness, pain, etc.—Rom. 8:6a.
2. The sense of life, on the positive side, is the feeling of life and peace—strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, livingness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc.—v. 6b.
3. The sense of life is related to the consciousness of the conscience according to the life of God—Eph. 4:19.
V. The processed Triune God as the Spirit of life in our spirit is a “scientific” law; this law is the automatic and spontaneous power, principle, and function of life—Rom. 8:2:
A. Our way in the Lord’s recovery and in the Body of Christ is the inner law of life; it is the very Triune God Himself—Rev. 22:1-2; John 14:6.
B. By the dispensing function of the law of the Spirit of life, the life-dispensing Spirit, our entire person of three parts becomes life, in which we are saved subjectively through regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 5:10:
1. The Triune God dispenses into our spirit by the Spirit’s regenerating of our spirit with Christ as life to make our spirit life—Col. 3:4; John 3:6; Rom. 8:10.
2. The dispensing God spreads His dispensing into our mind, the leading part of our soul, to make our soul life—v. 6.
3. Through our soul the triune dispensing of the processed Triune God permeates further, into our mortal body, by the indwelling Spirit to dispense life into our body—v. 11.
4. The divine dispensing saturates us with life to make us men of life, saving us from death and swallowing up death in our entire tripartite being.
VI. We need to stay in touch with the pneumatic, indwelling Christ moment by moment, so that He can be our supply of life for the maintenance, sustenance, and growth of life within us—John 4:23-24; Col. 2:19:
A. We need to breathe in Christ as the breath of life—John 20:22; Lam. 3:55-56.
B. We need to drink Christ as the water of life—John 7:37-39; 4:10, 14.
C. We need to eat Christ as the bread of life—6:35, 57, 63, 68.
D. We need to walk in Christ as the light of life—8:12.
E. We need to abide in Christ as the vine tree, the tree of life—15:5; Rev. 22:2.
F. We need to deal with our heart for the growth of Christ as the seed of life—Matt. 13:18-23.
VII. We need to minister life in all purity to others for their growth in life, for the building up of the Body of Christ—1 Tim. 5:1-2; 1 John 5:16; 2 Cor. 3:6.
VIII. We need to reign in life with grace over all things unto eternal life—Rom. 5:17, 21:
A. In experience to reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life—Matt. 8:9; Mark 4:26; 2 Cor. 2:12-14.
B. Unto eternal life is a particular expression; unto (into in John 4:14b) speaks of destination and also means “to become” or “to be.”
C. The eternal life will eventually be the New Jerusalem; the New Jerusalem is the totality of the divine life, the totality of the life of God—Rev. 22:1-2.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE RECOVERY OF THE DIVINE REVELATION
CONCERNING THE ETERNAL LIFE
The…Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine revelation concerning the eternal life. Many Christians hold the concept that eternal life is a blessing given to the believers, in which they merely go to a heavenly mansion to enjoy a better life. When I was in Christianity, no one told me that eternal life is not a blessing but that it is simply life. In our physical body we have a biological life (bios), and in our soul we have a psychological life (psuche). We had these two kinds of life before we were saved. But when we were saved, we received another life, the eternal life (zoe).
Not Only Everlasting but Eternal Both in Time and in Nature
The eternal life is the life that is not only everlasting but eternal both in time and in nature (John 3:16, 36; 1 John 1:2). This life is unlimited both in time and in nature; hence, it is eternal.
The Uncreated, Indestructible and Incorruptible Life of God
The eternal life is the uncreated life of God (Eph. 4:18), the indestructible life (Heb. 7:16), and the incorruptible life (2 Tim. 1:10). Concerning the definition of the eternal life, I received much help through the writings of Watchman Nee, Mary E. McDonough, Ruth Paxson, and T. Austin-Sparks. Through their writings I came to know that to be regenerated is simply to receive God into us as our life, to receive a life that is divine, a life other than our human life.
The Life That Is in the Son of God and That Is the Son of God
The eternal life is the life that is in the Son of God and that is the Son of God (1 John 5:11-12; 1:2; John 14:6). This life is not only in the Son of God, but it is the Son of God Himself.
The Life with Which the Believers Are Regenerated
and Which Becomes the Believers’ Life
The eternal life is the life with which the believers are regenerated and which becomes the believers’ life (Col. 3:4a), making the believers the children of God (John 1:12-13) and the members of Christ (Eph. 5:30).
The Life on Which We Should Lay Hold
In 1 Timothy 6:12 the apostle Paul charges us to lay hold on this eternal life.
The New Testament teaches us that the eternal life has three stages, and these three stages are in three ages—the present age, the church age; the coming age, the kingdom age; and the eternal age, in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center. In the first age, the church age, we receive the eternal life. Thus, it becomes our life, and we enjoy this life and live by it. In the church age it is a matter of receiving the eternal life, but in the next age, the age of the kingdom, the eternal life is not for people to receive but for people to enter into. In Matthew 25:46 those among the nations who are judged by the Lord Jesus to be “sheep” will enter into eternal life in the kingdom age. Thus, in the coming age the eternal life will become a sphere for people to enter into. In that age the eternal life will be given as a reward. In this age the eternal life is for us to receive as a free gift (Rom. 6:23b), but in the coming age the eternal life will be for us to enter into, not as a free gift but as a reward. This reward will be given to both the overcoming believers and to the “sheep” in Matthew 25 who paid a price to take care of Christ’s brothers during the great tribulation. Then in the eternal age, that is, in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center, the eternal life will eventually be the consummated gift for all of God’s redeemed people to manifest the Triune God for eternity.
It is by this eternal life and in this eternal life that the believers have been brought forth. The eternal life is crucial for the producing of the believers and for the building up of the organic Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 1)
THE FOCUS OF JOHN’S MINISTRY
BEING THE MYSTERIES OF THE DIVINE LIFE
Paul’s ministry was to complete the divine revelation (Col. 1:25-27) of God’s New Testament economy, that is, the Triune God in Christ as the life-giving Spirit producing the members of Christ for the constituting and the building up of the Body of Christ, that the Triune God may have a full expression—the fullness of God (Eph. 1:23; 3:19)—in the universe. Paul’s writings were completed around A.D. 67. Paul’s completing ministry was damaged by the apostasy preceding and following his death. Then after a quarter of a century, around A.D. 90, John’s writings came forth. John’s ministry was not only to mend the broken ministry of Paul but also to consummate the entire divine revelation of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, of both the Gospels and the Epistles. In such a ministry, the focus is the mysteries of the divine life. John’s Gospel, as the consummation of the Gospels, unveils the mysteries of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. John’s Epistles (especially the first), as the consummation of the Epistles, unfold the mystery of the fellowship of the divine life, which is the fellowship of God’s children with God the Father and with one another. Then John’s Revelation, as the consummation of the New Testament and the Old Testament, reveals the mystery of Christ as the life supply to God’s children for His expression and as the center of the universal administration of the Triune God. Here John used the expression that which to open his Epistle and unfold the mystery of the fellowship in the divine life. That he did not use personal pronouns in reference to the Lord implies that what he was about to unfold is mysterious. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, 1 John 1:1, footnote 1)
This differs from in the beginning in John’s Gospel (John 1:1). In the beginning traces back to eternity past before creation; from the beginning proceeds forward from the creation. This indicates that John’s Epistle is a continuation of his Gospel, which concerns the believers’experience of the divine life. In his Gospel, John revealed the way for sinners to receive the eternal life—to believe in the Son of God. In his Epistle he pointed out the way for the believers, who have received the divine life, to enjoy that life in its fellowship—to abide in the Son of God. And in his Revelation he unveiled the consummation of the eternal life as the believers’full enjoyment in eternity. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, 1 John 1:1, footnote 2)
EATING THE TREE OF LIFE, THAT IS, ENJOYING CHRIST AS OUR LIFE SUPPLY, BEING THE PRIMARY MATTER IN THE CHURCH LIFE
The eating of the tree of life not only was God’s original intention concerning man but also will be the eternal issue of God’s redemption. All God’s redeemed people will enjoy the tree of life, which is Christ with all the divine riches as the redeemed’s eternal portion for eternity (Rev. 22:2, 14, 19).…Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life. The content of the church life depends on the enjoyment of Christ. The more we enjoy Him, the richer the content will be. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 409)
THE HUMAN SPIRIT
If we are going to see the human spirit, we have to see its source, its creation.…The creation of man’s spirit was not like the creation of his body. Man’s body was formed from the dust of the ground, having nothing to do with God’s life or with God’s Spirit. It was formed of physical, material dust. But the material for the creation of man’s spirit, the breath of life, was very close to the life of God and to the Spirit of God. This indicates strongly that this organ of the human being is not for material things or for psychological things. This organ is for the divine life and the divine Spirit.
The Purpose of the Spirit of Man Being Created
Receiving and Containing the Life of God and the Spirit of God
Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah.” Generally speaking, the word in Hebrew for spirit is ruach, but the Hebrew word for spirit here is neshamah. Neshamah is the same word used in Genesis 2:7 for breath. In Proverbs 20:27 it is translated “spirit.” By this we can see that the breath of life breathed into man by God at man’s creation was the spirit of man. The spirit of man is something within us that is very close to God’s life and God’s Spirit. This indicates that the spirit of man was created for the purpose of receiving and containing the life of God and the Spirit of God. Eventually, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Our spirit can become one spirit with the Lord because it was created with the breath of life, which is very close to God’s life and God’s Spirit.
Zechariah 12:1 says that Jehovah stretches forth the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. No one can deny that these three items—the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man—are crucial in God’s creation to fulfill His purpose. The heavens were created for the earth, the earth was created for man, and man was created for God. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,”lsn.16)
Overcoming by Walking According to the Spirit
When a person is willing to walk according to the spirit, he will overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan. If we walk according to the spirit, we will spontaneously overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan with no effort. On the contrary, those who constantly focus on how to overcome sin and the world will easily fall into sin and are bound and entangled by the world. Likewise, the more a person pays attention to overcoming Satan, the easier it is for Satan to attack him. Hence, the secret to living an overcoming life is to walk according to the spirit. As long as we live in the spirit and walk according to the spirit, we will overcome. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “Lessons for New Believers,”lsn. 5)
Taking Care of the Sense of Life
Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Verse 2 of Romans 8 speaks of the law of the Spirit of life, and verse 11 speaks of the Spirit who dwells in us. Then we have to read Ephesians 4:18-19. In verse 18 there is the life of God. The unbelievers are alienated from the life of God. Then verse 19 says that they are “past feeling.” Hebrews 8:10 says that in the new covenant God writes His laws within the believers. Then 1 John 2:27 speaks concerning the anointing that teaches the believers concerning all things. John 15:4-5 speaks of our mutual abiding with the Lord, and Philippians 2:13 speaks of God operating in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. These are some of the most precious verses in the New Testament, and they all have something to do with the sense of life. Of course, in the whole New Testament you cannot find a verse that directly uses the term the sense of life. But the sense of life is thoroughly implied and referred to in all the above verses.
The Feeling of Death
First, we need to see the meaning, the definition, of the sense of life.
The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death, a kind of negative feeling. This is definitely revealed in Romans 8:6. We have to realize that Romans 8:6 is altogether a verse of sensation because it says that the mind set on the flesh is death. This is not only a fact, but it is also a matter of feeling, a matter of consciousness. When you set your mind on the flesh, you have the sense of death. You feel that death is there.
The feeling of death is the inner feeling of weakness, emptiness, uneasiness, restlessness, depression, dryness, darkness, pain, etc.—on the negative side (v. 6a). When you sense that you are weak, empty, uneasy, restless, depressed, dried up, darkened, and in pain within, this indicates that death is there. When death is present, this means that you have set your mind on the flesh. To set the mind on the flesh simply means to live in the flesh. The mind is the key of our daily walk. The key opens the gate for us to walk on the way. To set the mind on the flesh simply means to open the gate of the flesh and to walk the fleshly way. Thus, when you sense that death is present, you have to realize that you are living, walking, in the flesh. This is the negative function of the sense of life.
The Feeling of Life and Peace
On the positive side the sense of life functions to give us a consciousness of the following positive things—strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc. (v. 6b). Instead of being weak, we are strong. Instead of being empty, we are satisfied. Instead of uneasiness and restlessness, we have peace and rest. Instead of depression, we have release and liveliness. Liveliness is a kind of condition of livingness. We have a sense of watering versus dryness, brightness versus darkness, and comfort versus pain. All these are the positive feelings we have from the function of the sense of life. When we have these kinds of feelings, we have to realize that this is the working of the sense of life.
Thus, in Romans 8:6 the main thing that is implied is the sense of life. To set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. This is altogether a matter of sensation and consciousness. This consciousness is the sense of life. It functions not only to guide us but also to govern us, to control us, and to direct us. The feeling of death and the feeling of life and peace are the two aspects of the meaning of the sense of life.
Being Related to the Consciousness of the Conscience
On both the negative side and the positive side, the sense of life is always related to the consciousness of the conscience. Ephesians 4:19 says that the unbelievers are “past feeling.” Feeling here refers mainly to the consciousness of one’s conscience. The unbelievers in general do not care for the feeling of their conscience. The most careless people concerning their inner feeling are the most sinful people. The unbelievers who endeavor to be good persons surely would take care of their inner feeling. Just to be governed by the law, by the police, is not up to the moral standard. Even with the unbelievers, the moral standard must be according to the inner feeling of their conscience. Of course, the sense of life, for a believer, is not simply a matter of the conscience, but it is related to the consciousness of the conscience according to the sense of life, the life of God.
If we are living in the natural life, the sense is of death and is entirely on the negative side. Then we have the feeling of death with all of its negative points. If we are living in the divine life, the sense is of life and is entirely on the positive side. Then we have the feeling of life and peace with all of its positive points. The sense of life makes us know whether we are living in the natural life or in the divine life. The sense of life guides us, governs us, controls us, and directs us.…Since we are seeking after Christ as our life, we must take care of this sense of life. If we do not have the positive sensations of strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc., we must realize that we are not living in the divine life; it must be that we are living in the natural life. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,”lsn.11)
THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE REFERRING TO A SCIENTIFIC LAW
In Romans 8 the law of the Spirit of life refers to a scientific law. It is used in the same way in chapter 7, where Paul indicates that there is a law in his flesh that always tends to sin, that works to sin (v. 23).…It is talking about the law. You should not pick up any word or any point other than the law as the subject of this chapter. Romans 8 is a chapter on the law of the Spirit of life. The term the law of the Spirit of life is mentioned only once, but then in the definition it is not mentioned. This indicates that whatever chapter 8 talks about is a description, or an explanation, of this law. This is somewhat like Genesis 1. The first verse mentions God’s creating, and then the rest of the chapter is a definition, an explanation, a description, of God’s creation. In like manner, the entire chapter of Romans 8 is a definition, description, explanation, and presentation of this law. Whatever is mentioned after verse 2 is something related to the law. It is a little part of the law. By this you can see that it is altogether right to say that the law of the Spirit of life is nothing less than the Triune God processed and dwelling in us. The Triune God is this law, and this Triune God is the One who has been processed and who is now indwelling us. Processed indicates that something happened; indwelling indicates that something is still going on. The Triune God who has been processed and who is now dwelling in us is Himself the law. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training”, msg. 33)
The Inner Law of Life Being the Very Triune God Himself
According to [Jeremiah chapter 32] verse 38, Israel would be Jehovah’s people, and He would be their God. After making this promise, Jehovah said, “I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for their own good and for the good of their children after them” (v. 39).
We, the chosen people of God, should all have one heart and one way. We should have one heart to love God, to seek God, to live God, and to be constituted with God. This means that we love to be the expression of God. The one way is just the Triune God. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6a).
What should be our way in the Body of Christ? As the Body of Christ, we should take the way of the inner law, which is the Triune God with His divine capacity. We should all have one heart to love Him, and we should all take Him as our life and our way. This one heart and one way is the one accord (Acts 1:14). If we do not have one heart and one way, we cannot be in one accord.
For eternity in the New Jerusalem there will be only one way. John tells us, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month” (Rev. 22:1-2a). In the middle of the street, the river of water of life flows, and in the river the tree of life grows. This indicates that the way, the life, and the life supply are all one. It also indicates what our way should be today. Our way in the Lord’s recovery is life; it is the inner law of life; it is the very Triune God Himself. (Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 27)
The Life of the Triune God Being Dispensed into the Tripartite Man
Now we come to the very precious matter of the life of the Triune God dispensed into the tripartite man. How marvelous that God is triune and that we are tripartite!
Romans 8:2 speaks of the life of the Triune God. Verse 10 reveals that this life has been dispensed into our spirit and has caused our spirit to become life. Furthermore, according to verse 6, this life can be dispensed into our mind and can cause our mind to be life also. Ultimately, as verse 11 discloses, the divine life can even be imparted into our mortal bodies. In these verses we see the three parts of man: the spirit, the soul (represented by the mind), and the body. The spirit is the center, the body is the circumference, and the mind is in between. From the center through the middle to the circumference, the life of the Triune God is being dispensed into our entire being.
The dispensation of the divine zoe into us began when we were regenerated. According to 8:2, this life is the Spirit and it is in Christ Jesus. But now, through God’s dispensation, it also has something to do with us. Without this life, we are doomed to perish. Praise the Lord that when we were regenerated, zoe was dispensed into our spirit!
In order for the divine life to be dispensed into us, this life first had to pass through a long process involving incarnation, human living, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and descension. The life dispensed into us is actually the processed Triune God. In Genesis 1:1 this life could not be dispensed into man, for as yet it had not passed through the necessary stages. But now it is fully possible for such a wonderful life to be dispensed into us. This life is present and available, and we can receive it simply by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.
That the spirit in [Romans chapter 8] verse 10 is not the Holy Spirit is proved by the fact that here Paul contrasts the body with the spirit. Paul says that the body is dead but that the spirit is life. We would expect him to say that the spirit is living. Instead, he says that the spirit is life, or zoe. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, this zoe gets into our spirit and causes our spirit to become zoe. Now not only the Triune God is life, but our spirit is also life.
The reason that I am so lively and energetic is that my spirit is zoe. However, I spent years in organized Christianity and no one told me that my spirit is zoe. I was instructed in various religious practices, but I was not told that my spirit is life. But now I know that the divine zoe has been dispensed into my spirit, into the center of my being. Now I know that my spirit has become zoe! (Life-study of Romans, msg. 62)
ENJOYING CHRIST IN THE SPIRIT TO SUSTAIN OUR LIFE
In the Gospel of John, there are six major items of the enjoyment of Christ in the spirit. These include life (1:4; 10:10), which is the first and most basic matter; the food supply (6:35); the living water for drinking (4:14; 7:37); the breath of life (20:22); the light of life (8:12); and the dwelling place (15:4-5). As human beings living on this earth, we need life, food, water, air, light, and a dwelling place. In order for life to exist, food, water, air, and light are needed. These four items are for the maintenance of life. Without sunlight in the universe, all the living things would die. Light is needed to maintain life. Similarly, man cannot live without air for a long period of time, perhaps less than three or four minutes. If we do not breathe, we will die within a short period of time. We also must eat and drink in order to sustain our life.
The practical way to enjoy Christ as all these items is in our mingled spirit, which is our human spirit mingled with the divine Spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17). If we read the Gospel of John carefully, we will discover that after the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption through His work on the cross and passed through death into resurrection, He became the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit (20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b). As the Spirit, the Lord Himself dwells in our spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 2 Tim. 4:22). (CWWL, 1966, vol. 1, “Christ Our Portion,”ch. 3)
REIGNING IN LIFE WITH GRACE OVER ALL THINGS UNTO ETERNAL LIFE
The result of setting our mind on the mingled spirit and walking according to the mingled spirit is our reigning in life with grace over all things unto eternal life (5:17b, 21). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” msg. 2)
To Reign in Life Being to Be Under the Ruling of the Divine Life
The grace of God and the gift in grace of Christ abounded to the many unto justification of life to all men that many would reign in life through Christ. In Romans 5:17 Paul says, “If, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” The goal of being justified is to have life and reign in life. We are saved in life to the extent that the life we have received enthrones us as kings to reign over all things. God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace—God Himself as our all-sufficient supply for our organic salvation—and of the gift of righteousness—God’s judicial redemption applied to us in a practical way. Those who receive the abundance of grace are able to reign in life, for life issues out of the abundance of grace. We have received righteousness objectively, but we still need to continually receive the abundance of grace so that we can reign in life subjectively.
God causes the believers to have life that they may reign in life, subduing the insubordination of sin, death, and all the negative things belonging to sin and death. To reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life. Thus, today there is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the life of restriction and limitation in the divine life.
To reign in life is to rule as kings. To reign is to conquer, subdue, and rule over Satan, the world, sin, the flesh, ourselves, and all our environmental circumstances. In Romans 8 Paul says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (v. 35). Then he goes on to say, “We more than conquer through Him who loved us” (v. 37). Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ because we are more than conquerors over all the troubles in our environment. We should conquer all things and reign in life by grace. Our Christian life today should not only be a victorious and overcoming life; it should also be a kingly and reigning life. This should be our experience today. Instead of waiting for the millennium in order to reign with Christ, we should desire to reign in life as kings today. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 298)
The Eternal Life Eventually Being the New Jerusalem
In John 4:14 the Lord Jesus said that the water that He gives us becomes in us a fountain of water gushing up into eternal life. This verse indicates that the Triune God flows in the Divine Trinity in three stages: the Father as the fountain, Christ the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the river. We need to see that the Triune God is flowing through the Father, Christ the Son, and the Spirit into us. Whenever we drink of this water, it becomes a fountain in us. We all should say, “The fountain is in me!” This fountain emerges as a spring, and the spring flows out as a river for the New Jerusalem. As the spring of living water, Christ quenches our thirst, satisfies us, makes us happy, and becomes our pleasure.
According to John 4:14, the flowing Triune God is “into eternal life.” The Greek preposition translated as into is rich in meaning. Into here means issuing in, or to be, to become; thus, it speaks of destination. The eternal life is the destination of the flowing Triune God. A fountain is in us springing up as a river into a destination. This destination is the eternal life as the totality of the divine life. Just as our human life has its totality and a living person is the totality of the human life, so also the eternal life has its totality and the totality of the divine life is the New Jerusalem. The eternal life eventually will be the New Jerusalem. Thus, into eternal life means into the New Jerusalem.
We must have something flowing into the divine New Jerusalem in order for us to arrive there. When God in Christ as the Spirit flows into us, He flows with us. He will flow us into the New Jerusalem to be the New Jerusalem. Thus, the New Jerusalem is the issue of God’s flowing in three stages. All three stages are in us; we have the fountain, the spring, and the river within us at the same time. The Father is the fountain as the source, Christ the Son is the spring, and the Spirit is the flowing river, and this flowing issues in the eternal life, which is the New Jerusalem as the destination of the flowing Triune God. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 278)
The New Jerusalem Being the Totality of the Divine Life,
the Totality of the Life of God
To have eternal life means to be joined to, to participate in, the New Jerusalem.…The New Jerusalem is seen in the eternal life in 4:14. Eternal life here is the totality of the divine life. A man is the totality of the human life; each one of us is the totality of the human life, but the divine life has only one totality in the whole universe—the New Jerusalem. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “A Word of Love to the Co-workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord,” ch.2)