THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

God’s Building

Message Five
Knowing and Experiencing the Intrinsic Constitution of the Building of God

Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9-12; Psa. 51:1-19; Eph. 3:16-19

I. Second Samuel 7:12-14a reveals that the central thought of God, the desire of God’s heart, the goal of God’s economy, and the meaning of the universe are God’s building; God’s building is a divine-human person; God’s building is a God-man—Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Acts 9:4-5, 15; John 14:23:

A. God’s building is God becoming man that man might become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Rom. 8:2, 10,16; 1 Pet. 1:4:

1. In His humanity Christ became a joining ladder, to join heaven (God) and earth (man) into one for the building of Bethel, the house of God—Gen. 28:12-17; Rom. 1:3-4.

2. God became man through incarnation (bringing heaven to earth), and man becomes God through transformation (joining earth to heaven)—John 1:1, 51; Rom. 1:3-4; 5:10; 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18.

B. God’s building in the Gospels is the individual God-man, Jesus, who is the tabernacle of God and the temple of God—John 1:14; 2:19.

C. God’s building in Acts and the Epistles is the corporate God-man, the new man, the church, as the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the house of the living God, and the masterpiece of the Triune God—Acts 9:4-5; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 2:10, 15, 21-22; Col. 2:19; 3:10-11.

D. God’s building in Revelation is the ultimate, consummate, great corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem, the “bride-building,” the eternal mutual abode of God being built into man as the tabernacle of God and of man being built into God as the temple of God—Rev. 21:2-3, 9-10, 22.

E. God is building Himself into man and building man into God for the building up of the church as the house of God for His expression and as the kingdom of God for His dominion to fulfill His original intention for man—Gen. 1:26; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; John 14:23; Luke 17:21; Dan. 2:35, 44.

II. Christ as the seed of David refers to the resurrected Christ, who carries out God’s New Testament economy for the dispensing of the processed Triune God into the members of His Body—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 22:42-45; Rom. 1:3; Rev. 22:16; Acts 2:30-32; Matt. 16:16-18:

A. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us as God’s sure mercies, His eternal covenant, for our enjoyment—Isa. 55:1-3, 6-11; Acts 13:33-35.

B. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us for us to share His kingship in His resurrection in the eternal kingdom of God—2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6.

C. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, the seed of the kingdom, dispensed into us to make us the sons of the kingdom, reigning in life to live in the reality of the kingdom so that we may be translated by Him and return with Him in the manifestation of the kingdom as the corporate smiting stone to annihilate the kingdoms of this world and become a great mountain, the kingdom of God, that fills the whole earth—Mark 4:26; Matt. 13:18-23, 38; Heb. 11:5-6; Gen. 5:21-24; Dan. 2:34-35.

III. We are God’s farm and Christ is the seed of life, the seed of David, planted into us, to grow in us so that we may be transformed, “sonized,” into precious materials for God’s building—1 Cor. 3:9-12; 2 Sam. 7:12-14a:

A. If a seed dies by being buried in the soil, it will eventually sprout, grow, and blossom in resurrection; in resurrection Christ “blossomed” to become the life-giving Spirit to sow Himself as the seed of life, the seed of David, into our being—John 12:23-24; 1 Cor. 15:31; Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 3:18; Mark 4:14, 26-27.

B. According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of Christ as the seed of life within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16.

C. The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit; now we, like the seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection, the process of breaking and building—Rom. 8:10; John 12:24-26:

1. David signifies a life of brokenness issuing in Solomon, a life of building: hence, Solomon is the issue of man’s transgression and repentance plus God’s forgiveness—2 Sam. 12:1-13, 24; Psa. 51:1-19.

2. David typifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion; Solomon typifies Christ from His resurrection to His enthronement and to His coming back; today Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwells our spirit as the real and greater Solomon, building Himself into us and speaking the word of wisdom to us and through us for the building up of the church as the real temple of God—Matt. 12:42; 1 Kings 10:23-24; 1 Cor. 12:8; 14:4b.

D. Ephesians 3:16-19 reveals that the Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material; this is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:

1. The Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into men’s hearts, the soil, that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them—v. 3.

2. The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients of the soil; as a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil—v. 23.

3. We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us; God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients along with the human heart as the soil for the divine seed—cf. 1 Pet. 3:4.

4. The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed; the more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow, and the more it will flourish—Matt. 5:3, 8; cf. Psa. 78:8:

a. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed, but if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied, and Christ will make His home in our hearts—Eph. 3:16-19; Rom. 8:6; 1 Tim. 4:7; cf. Jude 19.

b. If we are going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we must open to the Lord absolutely and cooperate with Him to deal thoroughly with our heart—Matt. 13:3-9, 19-23.

IV. On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element, and on the other hand, we afford the nutrients; through these two, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE SEED OF DAVID BECOMING THE SON OF GOD

In 2 Samuel 7:12-14a Jehovah said to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son.” The word concerning “your seed” and “My son” indicates that the seed of David would become the Son of God, that the seed of a man would become God’s Son.

This thought is continued very strongly in the New Testament, particularly in Romans 1:3 and 4. Here Paul says, “Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Here we have the same thought as in 2 Samuel 7:12-14a—that the seed of David becomes the Son of God. These verses reveal, on the one hand, that Christ is the seed of David and, on the other hand, that He, the seed of David, has been designated the Son of God. When we compare these two portions of the Word, we see that both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament we have the matter of the seed of David becoming the Son of God.

DAVID BEING A MAN ACCORDING TO THE HEART OF GOD
BUT NOT BEING GOD IN LIFE AND IN NATURE

In 2 Samuel 7 we see that David had a good heart toward God and wanted to build a house for God. However, God intervened and did not permit David to do this, because David did not have an adequate and thorough view of God’s economy. After stopping David from building Him a house, God went on to reveal something further concerning His economy. In this chapter, therefore, the divine revelation took a great step forward.

The Bible tells us that David was a man according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Under the influence of this word, many Bible students have estimated David too highly. Yes, David was a man according to the heart of God, but, as the remainder of 2 Samuel and the book of Psalms show us, he was still a man in life, in nature, and in constitution. He was a man according to God, but he was not God in life and in nature. David could not say, “To me, to live is Christ” or “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Phil. 1:21a; Gal. 2:20). At the most, David was a “photograph” of God’s heart, but he was not God in life and in nature.

DEIFICATION—BECOMING GOD IN LIFE AND
IN NATURE BUT NOT IN THE GODHEAD

This brings us to the matter of deification—God’s intention to make the believers God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. Athanasius referred to deification when at the council of Nicea in A.D. 325 he said, “He [Christ] was made man that we might be made God.” Although the term deification is familiar to many theologians and Christian teachers, during the past sixteen centuries only a small number have dared to teach regarding the deification of the believers in Christ.

I have not been influenced by any teaching about deification, but I have learned from my study of the Bible that God does intend to make the believers God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. For instance, 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.” This verse clearly reveals that we will be like God.

God makes us like Him by imparting His life and nature into us. Second Peter 1:4 says that we have become “partakers of the divine nature.” John 1:12-13 says that we were born, regenerated, by God with His life. As God’s children we are “baby gods,” having God’s life and nature but not His Godhead. The Godhead is unique; He is the only One who should be worshipped. We have been born of God and today, having God’s life and nature, we are partially like Him. One day, when He comes, we will be wholly and entirely like Him.

It was wonderful for David to be a man according to God’s heart, but it was not sufficient. God wants those who can say, “I am not just a person according to God’s heart. I am God in life and in nature but not in His Godhead.” On the one hand, the New Testament reveals that the Godhead is unique and that only God, who alone has the Godhead, should be worshipped. On the other hand, the New Testament reveals that we, the believers in Christ, have God’s life and nature and that we are becoming God in life and in nature but will never have His Godhead.

THE SEED OF DAVID BEING BOTH DIVINE AND HUMAN

David had the heart to build a house for God, but God indicated to David that this was neither what he needed nor what God needed. God told David that He would build One to be David’s seed and that this seed would be called God’s Son. This seed would be both divine and human. Hebrews 1:5 indicates that this refers to Christ as God’s firstborn Son. Furthermore, as we have seen, Romans 1:3-4, which corresponds to 2 Samuel 7:12-14a, tells us that in resurrection the seed of David was designated the Son of God. In their intrinsic significance, 2 Samuel 7:12-14a and Romans 1:3-4 reveal to us a human and divine person.

OUR NEED FOR GOD TO WORK HIMSELF IN CHRIST
INTO US AS OUR LIFE, NATURE, AND CONSTITUTION

Just as the photograph of a person does not have the life and nature of that person, so David, a photograph of God’s heart, did not have the life and nature of God. Even though he was a man whose heart was according to God, he did not have anything related to God organically. What David needed is what we need today. We need God to build Himself in Christ into our humanity. This means that we need God to work Himself in Christ into us as our life, our nature, and our constitution. As a result, we are not simply a man according to God’s heart—we are God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. We today are not outwardly as high as David was, but we can declare that we have God’s life, nature, and constitution.

In order to accomplish this, God in Christ became a man and went through some processes that this man could be designated something divine. In resurrection He was designated the firstborn Son of God. In and through resurrection Christ, the firstborn Son of God, became the life-giving Spirit, who now enters into us to impart, to dispense, Himself as life into our being to be our inner constitution, to make us a God-man just like Him. He was God becoming man, and we are man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

GOD’S DESIRE TO BUILD HIMSELF IN CHRIST INTO US
IN ORDER TO HAVE A MUTUAL ABODE

Many Christians are still trying merely to have a behaving, a living, and a being that are according to God’s heart, but they do not have the concept that God desires to build Himself in Christ into our being. What He is building into us will be His abode, which will be our abode also. Hence, it becomes a mutual abode. The New Jerusalem is this mutual abode. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God; on the other hand, it is also our eternal dwelling place (Rev. 21:3, 22). For eternity the New Jerusalem will be the fulfillment of the Lord’s brief word in John 15:4: “Abide in Me and I in you.”

Ephesians 3:17 tells us that Christ is now within us doing the work of building Himself into us to produce this mutual abode. We often say that Christ is living in us and working in us. Now we need to ask this question: What is Christ wanting to accomplish by His working in us? The answer is that Christ is working in us to build up God’s habitation by building Himself into us.

David wanted to build God a house of cedar, but God wanted to build Himself in Christ into David. What God would build into David would be both God’s house and David’s house. This mutual abode is also unveiled in John 14:23: “If anyone loves Me,..My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” This abode will be not only for the Triune God but also for us. What God builds up in us is both God’s habitation and our habitation.

We need to realize that God will have a habitation not by our doing or working but by His building. Christ builds the church (Matt. 16:18) by coming into our spirit and spreading Himself from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will to occupy our entire soul. This church will become His habitation and our habitation. This is what we need, and our burden is to emphasize this one thing.

THE TRIUNE GOD BECOMING OUR INTRINSIC CONSTITUTION

There is no need for us to build anything for God. Rather, God needs to build Himself in Christ into us as our life, nature, and essence. Eventually, the Triune God will become our intrinsic constitution. We will be constituted with the Triune God. That will be the seed of David and the Son of God—something divine and human satisfying God’s need and our need for a mutual abode. The New Jerusalem is the consummation of this mutual abode, and we will all be there. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 25)

GOD’S BUILDING HIMSELF IN CHRIST INTO US
BEING AN ORGANIC MATTER

God’s building Himself into our being is altogether an organic matter. In order for such a building to take place, we need to receive, digest, and assimilate an organic element. Our spiritual food and drink is the organic, pneumatic Christ (John 6:51, 57; 7:37-39), the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit.

This Christ is not merely the Christ of history in an objective sense. A Christ who is only an objective, historical Savior, the One whose story is recorded in the Bible, would not be related to us organically. It is a tragedy that many Christians know Christ only in an objective way. The Bible reveals that Christ came and stayed with His disciples for a period of time. Then He passed through death and entered into resurrection, and through this process He became the life-giving Spirit. Today as the Spirit He is real, genuine, living, and present. Thus, we may say that He is the “now” Christ. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 26)

The issue of the divine dispensing is transformation, which is the building. God’s building is to take Himself as the material and build Himself into His chosen and redeemed people. Some brothers and sisters have an incorrect concept, thinking that if they have compatible interests and the same opinion and serve together in coordination, they are built up together. That is not building. The genuine building is the Triune God building Himself into the believers through the transformation of the believers. Ephesians 3 presents us a picture of the apostle praying to God the Father that He would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened through the Holy Spirit that Christ may make His home in us. This is a picture of the dispensing of the Triune God. In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” An abode is something that is built up. Hence, for the Triune God to make an abode in us is for Him to build Himself into us, that is, to build Himself with us together as a mutual dwelling place for Him and us.

This is not a doctrine; this should be our daily experience. This is the growth of life, and this is also the genuine spiritual growth, the real overcoming life. The Lord’s recovery, beginning with Brother Nee, has always been concerned with this building. What we need is not the outward material blessings or the so-called spirituality or victory. What we need is Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3, that is, that the Father would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in our hearts. We need to pray for one another and the church. We all need to be strengthened into our inner man so that we may be joined to the Spirit, to the Triune God, to experience the continual dispensing of the Divine Trinity, with the Father as the source, the Son as the element, and the Spirit as the essence (4:4-6). This dispensing issues in the building of God in us. Thus, we and God, God and we, become a mutual dwelling place. First, we dwell in Him, and then He dwells in us. Eventually, by our dwelling in Him and His dwelling in us, He and we become one; that is, God becomes man and man becomes God. This is the ultimate issue of the making of the abode in John 14—the New Jerusalem. In other words, this mutual dwelling of us in Him and Him in us issues in the New Jerusalem. Thank the Lord that today we are living in the reality of the New Jerusalem to build the Body of Christ for the New Jerusalem. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Dispensing, Transformation, and Building of the Processed Divine Trinity in the Believers”, msg. 3)

CHRIST’S BUILDING THE CHURCH WITH HIMSELF AS
THE SPIRITUAL FOOD AND SPIRITUAL DRINK

When we enjoy the “now” Christ by eating, drinking, and breathing Him, a metabolic process, a spiritual digestion and metabolism, takes place within us. Through this metabolic process Christ is constituted into our being. This constitution is the building. Christ, therefore, is building Himself into us as our inner constitution. The issue of such a building is that we become a very particular class of people—the members of the Body of Christ. Whenever we gather together we are the church of God.

In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church.” Now we can see by what way Christ builds the church. He is building His church by supplying us with spiritual drink and by feeding us with spiritual food, which are uniquely Himself as the Spirit. The more we enjoy Him by eating, drinking, and breathing Him, the more He builds His church.

THE CHURCH BEING BUILT NOT BY OUTWARD ORGANIZATION
BUT THROUGH INWARD TRANSFORMATION

Concerning the building up of the church, we do not trust in outward organization; rather, we pay our full attention to the inward transformation, that is, to the inner constituting by the spiritual metabolism. In different kinds of meetings, we endeavor to minister Christ into the saints as their spiritual food and drink. The more we receive Christ in this way, the more we will experience the inner, spiritual metabolism. This metabolism is transformation, and transformation is the building.

Just as every member of our physical body is organic, so every member of the Body of Christ is organic. The church is a group of transformed people who have grown into one organism, the organic Body of Christ. The way to be built up as this organism is to grow, and the way to grow is to eat, drink, and breathe Christ. No matter what our race or nationality may be, we are all undergoing the same metabolic process that day by day produces transformation, which equals building. This is the spiritual growth and also the spiritual building.

Every member of our physical body is not only organic but also inseparably connected to our body, for all the members have grown together organically to be one body. The principle is the same with the Body of Christ. As one who has been in the church for over sixty years, I can testify that I cannot be separated from the church. Without the church I could not live, for apart from the church, life would have no meaning. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 26)

THE SEED OF LIFE FOR GOD’S BUILDING

In Genesis 1 God gave the herbs yielding seed and the fruit trees bearing fruit that produces seed to be food for man (vv. 11-12, 29). The purpose of a seed is to produce life according to its own kind. In the fulfillment of the type in Genesis 1, Christ is the seed sown into us to grow, produce life, and develop into a harvest for the fulfillment of God’s purpose to have an expression of Himself. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Through His death and resurrection, Christ as the one grain was multiplied to produce many grains to be blended into one loaf, which is the church for His expression (1 Cor. 10:17). When we were regenerated, Christ as the seed of life was sown into us, and now the life of the seed, which is Christ Himself within us, needs to grow. Then as Christ’s multiplication, we ourselves become seeds of life (Matt. 13:38) to be sown for the dispensing of life into others.

In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus came as the Sower to sow the word as the seed of life (Matt. 13:3; Luke 8:11), and in the Epistles the church is a farm to grow Christ. First Corinthians 3: 9 says, “We are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” The purpose of Christ’s sowing Himself as the seed of life is to produce the church as God’s farm. A farm is always for growing something. The church as God’s farm grows Christ. For this purpose there is the need of both sowing and watering to produce the growth of life.

God’s farm is for God’s building. As God’s cultivated land, we are a farm in God’s new creation to grow Christ in order that through transformation precious materials may be produced for God’s building (v. 12a). The more life grows, the more it transforms. The thought of transformation is seen also in Matthew 13, in which the Lord Jesus first speaks of the seed to produce wheat and then of the treasure hidden in the field, consisting of gold or precious stones, and the pearl of great value (vv. 44-46). The divine life that grows in us and transforms us for the building up of God’s house comes out of the seed of life. (CWWL, 1969, vol. 2, “Further Speaking on the Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures”, ch. 3)

Christ Sowing Himself as the Seed into Us as the Soil for God’s Building

Matthew 13 reveals that Christ has sown Himself as the seed into us as the soil. Christ is the seed, and we are the soil with the nutrients for the growth of the seed. Christ in resurrection, Christ as the life-giving Spirit, has sown Himself into us not simply to stay in us but to grow in us. The growth of Christ in us equals the building.

The Christ who has sown Himself into us is now doing a particular work in us — the work of making His home in our inner being, in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). This is building, and it is carried out through the mingling of divinity with humanity. Such a building is mentioned in John 14:23: “If anyone loves Me,…My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” This abode is not only for the Triune God but is also for us. Hence, it is a mutual abode.

This thought regarding the building is strengthened in 1 Corinthians and in Revelation. In 1 Corinthians 3:10 Paul says, “According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation [Christ], and another builds upon it. But let each man take heed how he builds upon it.” Then he goes on to speak of building “upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble” (v. 12). Revelation 3:12 tells us that Christ will make the overcomer a pillar in the temple of God, which is the New Jerusalem. Eventually, the New Jerusalem, the consummation of the building, a composition of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers (21:12-14), will be the wife of the Lamb, Christ, and a mutual abode for God and His redeemed for eternity (vv. 2-3, 9). (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 29)

Growth Equaling Building, which Takes Place by the Growth
of the Divine Seed within Us

According to the Bible, growth equals building. The Lord Jesus declared, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). This building takes place by the growth of the divine seed within us.

The Triune God, the source of life, has sown Himself in Christ as a seed into our being. Once this seed comes into us, it meets something within us — our spiritual nutrients — and it begins to grow. The degree of growth depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed. Matthew 13 indicates that only the good soil (vv. 8, 23) affords the adequate nutrients for the growth of the divine seed. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 30)

God’s Building Work Being Based upon His Tearing Down

In order for God to enter into man, incarnation is required. In order for man to enter into God, the process of death and resurrection is required. This is the principle of God’s building. In order for God to build the church, He must do a tearing-down work within us. This tearing down involves death. Abraham believed that God is the One who calls the things not being as being; he also believed that God is the One who gives life to the dead (Rom. 4:17). This is the God in whom Abraham believed. Calling the things not being as being is creation; giving life to the dead is redemption and building. God is a creating God, the One who calls the things not being as being. He is also a redeeming and building God, the One who gives life to the dead.

Our God is a God of creation and a God of tearing down, of destruction. He is a merciless God; He will shatter and break everything He has created. Perhaps some would say that this is lamentable, but without this shattering, this tearing down, there is no building. Without the tearing down, God cannot be built into man, and without this tearing down, man cannot be built into God. Even after His incarnation the Son of God still had to pass through the destruction of death in order to enter into resurrection. What is in death is not glorious, but what is in resurrection is glorious. What is in death is something in man, but what is in resurrection is something that has entered into God. What is in death is limited, but what is in resurrection is unlimited. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 1, “The Church as the Body of Christ”, msg. 8)

The Materials for the Building

Divinity and Humanity

In building a house, it is necessary to have the proper material. When God created the universe, He did not use any material; He created simply by His speaking. For instance, He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. However, in order to build a home in us, Christ must have the material. On the one hand, this material is Christ Himself as the element; on the other hand, this material includes something from us with our humanity.

Another verse that speaks of the Triune God doing a building work in us is John 14:23. Here the Lord Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me,..My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” The words “make an abode” in this verse equal “make His home” in Ephesians 3:17. The Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material. The word concerning building in these verses implies that God’s building Himself in Christ into us has very much to do with what we are.

The Seed and the Soil with Its Nutrients

This is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients in the soil. This seed, therefore, does not grow just with itself; it grows with itself and the nutrients in the soil. As a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil. Here we see an important spiritual principle. In order to grow, the seed must be sown into good soil. If the seed were sown into sand or among stones, it would not grow, because neither sand nor stone can supply the necessary nutrients.

In Matthew 13 the seed is divinity, and the soil with its nutrients is humanity. We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us. God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients. For this reason, human beings can believe in the Lord and receive Him.

The seed that has been sown into us is Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The rate at which the seed grows within us depends on the nutrients afforded by us. The more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish.

Our Need to be Strengthened into Our Inner Man

Since God’s building Himself in Christ into us depends not only on Himself as the element but also on the nutrients supplied by us, we need to be strengthened into our inner man. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed. But if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied. Then Christ will make His home in our inner being. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 30)

Dealing with the Heart so that Christ Can Grow within Us

The parable of the sower in Mark 4 focuses attention on the human heart. The human heart is the soil for the seed sown by the Slave-Savior. Mark 4:14 says, “The sower sows the word.” The Sower is Christ, and the word is also Christ. This means that the Lord Jesus came to sow Himself into us. He Himself is both the Sower and the seed of life. Verse 15 says, “These are the ones beside the way, where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.” “Beside the way” is the place close to the way. It is hardened by the traffic of the way, and it is difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. This typifies a preoccupied heart, hardened by worldly traffic and not open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom. The soil should not be preoccupied by anything and must be absolutely open for the seed of life, but the wayside has been trodden too much by worldly traffic. This is the heart that has been preoccupied by many other things, thus becoming hardened. The wayside signifies a preoccupied heart.

Verses 16 and 17 say, “Likewise, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. Yet they have no root in themselves, but last only for a time; then when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they are stumbled.” The rocky places do not have much earth. This signifies a stony heart. There is some ground good for the seed, but this ground is too shallow. Underneath this ground are rocks. It is rather hard for the seed to root deeply into a stony heart. Many times we may be willing to receive the word, but we only receive it superficially because there are some rocks in our heart. Thus, it is hard for Christ as the seed of life to root deeply in us.

Verses 18 and 19 say, “Others are the ones being sown into the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, And the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts for other things enter in and utterly choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Our lusts for other things can choke the word. You may not think that the anxieties of the age or the deceitfulness of riches trouble you, but what about the lusts for other things? Some may be desirous of a high position or a high degree. The anxieties of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Verse 20 says, “These are the ones sown on the good earth: those who hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirtyfold, and one sixtyfold, and one a hundredfold.” The good ground, the good heart, is a heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, without hidden sins, without the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, and without the lusts for other things. Such a heart is pure, good, and right.

Our Heart Being Released from any Preoccupation for the Seed of Life to be Sown in It

The Triune God, who is the tree of life, has imparted Himself into us to be our enjoyment. He is the seed of life sown into our heart. Our heart is like the soil, the earth. If the soil of our heart is the wayside, trodden by the world and preoccupied by many things, it becomes hardened. Our heart must be released from any preoccupation for the seed of life to be sown in it. Our heart may not be preoccupied, but there may be hidden rocks in our heart. The rocks are hidden sins, personal desires, self-seeking, and self-pity, which frustrate the seed from gaining root in the depth of the earth. We may seemingly be a good brother or a good sister, and yet we are superficial with the Lord because of the rocks in our heart. Thus, it is impossible for the Lord as the seed of life to grow within us deeply. It is also possible for our heart to be full of thorns, which are the anxieties of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things. Some people have their heart set on a better car. Even this desire can hinder and choke the word from becoming fruitful. The thorns frustrate and choke the growth of the seed.

If we are going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we have to deal with our heart. We have to ask the Lord to be merciful to us. By His mercy we have to deal with all these negative things in our heart. We have to deal with the things preoccupying us, with the hidden rocks, with the anxieties of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things. Then our heart will be good, right, proper, released, and prepared for Christ as the seed of life to grow within us. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life”, ch. 13)

GOD IN CHRIST CARRYING OUT HIS INTRINSIC BUILDING—THE BUILDING OF HIS HOME—IN OUR ENTIRE BEING

If Christ’s making His home in our hearts did not need something from us, Paul would not have prayed for us as he did in Ephesians 3. Here Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen us with power through His Spirit into our inner man. This power, referred to in Ephesians 1:19-22, is the power that raised Christ from the dead, seated Christ at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, subjected all things under Christ’s feet, and gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church. Such power operates in us (3:20), and with it God strengthens us for His building. The Spirit through whom God strengthens us is the consummation of the processed Triune God. On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element and, on the other hand, we afford the nutrients. Through these two God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home — in our entire being. (Life-study of Samuel, msg. 30)