THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Five—Life—Growth, Development, Maturity, and Fruit
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:26-29; 2 Pet. 1:5-7; Heb. 6:1; Gal. 5:22-23; John 15:16
I. The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of the truth and of life—John 18:37b; 10:10b:
A. Whereas Christianity relies on organization and human work, the church relies solely on the light of the truth for the enjoyment of the Lord’s life—Titus 1:1-2; 1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 6:19.
B. The entire content of the church must be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life—John 14:6.
C. Both the truth and the life are Christ Himself, but they are two different aspects of what He is—8:32, 36; 14:6; 11:25:
1. The truth is the outward definition and explanation, and life is the inward and intrinsic content.
2. Christ is in us as our life (Col. 3:4), but the experience of life needs an explanation; this explanation is the truth.
D. The experience of the Lord as life is contained in the Lord as the truth—John 14:6; 11:25.
II. If we would have the proper knowledge of life, we need to know what the growth of life is—Col. 2:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:13 4-5; 5:18; 2 Tim. 1:7:
A. The growth of life is not the improvement of behavior, the expression of piety, zealous serving, the increase of knowledge, to abound in gifts, or the increase of power.
B. The growth of life is the increase of the element of God (Col. 2:19), the increase of the stature of Christ (Eph. 3:17a; 4:13), the expanding of the ground of the Holy Spirit (5:18), the decrease of the human element, the breaking of the natural life, and the subduing of every part of our soul (2 Tim. 1:7).
III. The Lord’s recovery is not a movement; the recovery is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into our being—Matt. 13:3-4a, 19:
A. The kingdom of God is the Triune God in His incarnation sown into His chosen people to grow and develop in them into a kingdom—Mark 4:26-29.
B. The kingdom of God is produced by the multiplication of the seed—v. 26:
1. The sower sows the seed, the seed grows and multiplies, and eventually the multiplication of the seed becomes the constituent of the kingdom.
2. The kingdom is not built by work but by the multiplication of the seed of life.
C. The kingdom is the enlargement of Christ, the multiplication of Christ as the seed sown into us—Luke 17:20-21; 8:5-8.
IV. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 we have the development of the seed of the kingdom from faith to love:
A. Our faith needs to be exercised that the virtue of the divine life may be developed to reach its maturity—v. 5.
B. Faith may be compared to a seed:
1. In 1 Peter 1:23 the seed is the word with Christ in it as life.
2. In 2 Peter 1 this seed becomes our faith, which is “faith equally precious” (v. 1); this faith is one with Christ as the seed.
C. The development from faith to love includes virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and godliness—vv. 5-6.
D. Eventually, we have the full development and maturity from the seed of faith, through the roots of virtue and knowledge, the trunk of self-control, and the branches of endurance and godliness, to the blossom and fruit of brotherly love and love—v. 7.
V. To be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life, whereas to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us—Heb. 6:1:
A. The last stage of transformation is maturity, the fullness of life:
1. God’s eternal purpose can be accomplished only through our transformation and maturity—Gen. 1:26; Col. 1:28; 2:19; Eph. 4:13.
2. Maturity is a matter of having the divine life imparted into us again and again until we have the fullness of life—John 10:10b; 2 Cor. 5:4b.
B. The fullness of life is blessing, which is the overflow of life into others—Gen. 47:7, 10; 49:28; 1 John 5:16.
C. God will sovereignly use persons, things, and events to empty us of everything that has filled us and to take away every preoccupation so that we may have an increased capacity to be filled with God—Rom. 8:28; Luke 1:53; Matt. 5:6.
VI. Fruit denotes both expression and multiplication; we need two kinds of fruit out of the divine life—the fruit of Christian virtues and the fruit of persons regenerated with the divine life—Gal. 5:22-23; John 15:16.
VII. The believers, who have been regenerated in Christ with God’s life, are God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation to grow Christ that precious materials may be produced for God’s building—1 Cor. 3:9:
A. According to the Bible, growth equals building; this takes place by the growth of the divine seed of life within us—1 John 3:9; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16.
B. Ephesians 3:17 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—Psa. 78:88; Matt. 5:3, 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. 3:16-17; 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 have to open to the Lord absolutely and cooperate with Him to deal thoroughly with our heart—Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23.
5. 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:
DEVELOPING THE SEED OF FAITH
Virtue
Verse 5 says, “And for this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge.” The Greek word rendered “adding” literally means bringing in besides. Besides, along with, the precious and exceedingly great promises given to us by God, we should bring in all diligence to cooperate with the enabling of the dynamic divine nature for the carrying out of God’s promises.
After a seed has been sown in the soil, it needs to be developed. The principle is the same with the development of the seed of faith. In our faith we need to develop virtue. Literally, the Greek word for virtue means excellency. It denotes the energy of the divine life issuing in vigorous action. If faith is regarded as the seed, virtue may be considered a root that comes out of this seed.
Knowledge
In 1:5 Peter also tells us to supply “in virtue knowledge.” Virtue, the vigorous action, needs the bountiful supply of the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (vv. 2, 3, 8) regarding the all things related to the divine life and godliness and the partaking of the divine nature (vv. 3-4) for our enjoyment in the following development. The knowledge which we should develop in our virtue includes the knowledge of God and of our Savior, the knowledge of God’s economy, the knowledge of what faith is, and the knowledge of the divine power, glory, virtue, nature, and life. Actually, this is the knowledge of all things related to life and godliness. We must have this knowledge developed in our virtue. It is not adequate to have virtue without knowledge. I believe that knowledge also is a primary root that develops out of the seed of faith. With virtue and knowledge we have the growth of the seed.
Self-control
In verse 6 Peter continues, “And in knowledge self-control, and in self-control endurance, and in endurance godliness.” Self-control, or temperance, is the exercise of control and restraint over the self in its passions, desires, and habits. This needs to be supplied and developed in knowledge for the proper growth in life.
Endurance
According to Peter’s word in verse 6, in our self-control we need to develop endurance. Self-control is to deal with ourselves; endurance is to bear with others and with circumstances. In order to live a proper Christian life, we need endurance toward those around us and also toward our environment and circumstances.
Godliness
In our endurance we need to develop godliness. Godliness is a living that is like God and expresses God. As we exercise control over the self and bear with others and with circumstances, godliness needs to be developed in our spiritual life so that we may be like God and express Him. If faith is the seed, virtue and knowledge the roots, self-control the trunk, then endurance and godliness are the branches. Here we see a rather full development: out of the seed come the roots, the trunk, and the branches. Eventually, in verse 7 we see brotherly love and love as the blossom and the fruit.
Brotherly Love and Love
In verse 7 Peter concludes, “And in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love, love.” The Greek word rendered “brotherly love” is philadelphia, composed of phileo, to have affection for, and adelphos, a brother; hence, brotherly affection, a love of delight and pleasure. In godliness, the expression of God, this love needs to be supplied for the brotherhood (1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; Gal. 6:10), for our testimony to the world (John 13:34-35) and for the bearing of fruit (John 15:16-17).
The Greek word for love in verse 7 is agape, the word used in the New Testament for the divine love, which God is in His nature (1 John 4:8, 16). It is nobler than phileo; it adorns all the qualities of the Christian life (1 Cor. 13; Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-14). It is stronger in ability and greater in capacity than human love (Matt. 5:44, 46), yet a believer who lives by the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3) and partakes of the divine nature (v. 4) can be saturated with it and express it in full. Such a love needs to be developed in brotherly love, to govern it and flow in it for the full expression of God, who is this love. As we have seen, faith may be considered the seed of life, and this nobler love, the fruit (v. 8) in its full development. The six developments in between are the stages of its growth unto maturity. (Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 6)
PLANTED INTO CHRIST
In order to be rooted in Christ, we must first be planted into Him. In a number of places, the Bible speaks of planting. In the song of Moses we read these words: “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in” (Exo. 15:17). Psalm 92:13 says, “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” In Jeremiah 2:21 the Lord says of His people, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed,” and in 32:41, “I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” In Matthew 15:13 the Lord Jesus said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.” According to John 15, the Lord Jesus regarded Himself as a vine and the Father as the husbandman, the One who planted the vine and cares for it. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says that we, the believers, are God’s farm (Gk.). He also declares, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6, Gk.). Now in Colossians 2:7 we see that we have been rooted into Christ. Christ is the land, the soil, and God has planted us into Him.
As those who have been planted into Christ, we have been rooted in Him. Just as the tiny root hairs absorb the riches from the soil, so we absorb the rich nourishment of Christ. We are trees, and Christ is the soil into which we have been planted and in which we are rooted. Now we are absorbing His riches into us, and we grow by the nourishment we receive from these riches.
ONE UNIT IN LIFE
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says that he planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the growth. This indicates that the believers are plants and that Christ is the soil. Now we need to ask in what part of our being this planting has taken place. Certainly it is neither in the mind nor in the physical body. Rather, it is in our spirit. The experience of being planted into Christ and rooted in Him takes place in our spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” When a plant is rooted in the soil, it becomes one with the soil. First the plant gets into the soil; then the nourishment in the soil comes into the plant. In this way, the plant and the soil become one in life. The nourishing element in the soil corresponds to the life in the plant, and something within the plant corresponds to the element in the soil. We may say that there is a fellowship between the plant and the soil. In this fellowship those factors in the plant and in the soil which correspond to each other become one in life. Thus, the plant and the soil become one unit in life.
The transaction that took place between the divine Spirit and our spirit at the time of regeneration remains forever. We may say that our spirit has married the divine Spirit and thus the two spirits have entered into an eternal union. With this marriage there can be no separation, no divorce. Although the natural mind may not like this marriage, our spirit appreciates it. Whenever we face difficulties in our daily living, we should not remain in the natural mind, but turn to the spirit. However, we often prefer to remain in the mind, emotion, or will. If we stay in the soul instead of turning to the spirit, we shall not be able to walk in Christ. To walk in Him we must be rooted in Him in a practical way in our experience. Only when we remain in the spirit are we actually rooted in Christ and thus able to walk in Him. We have been planted into Christ. But when we turn to our spirit, we have the experience of being rooted in Him. Having been rooted in Christ, we are able to walk in Him. In this way we experience Christ as the good land with the rich soil that affords us the nourishing life element. The more we are rooted into this soil, the more we absorb the nourishment of Christ into our being. This is not the objective Christ in doctrine; it is the subjective Christ in our experience.
GENUINE GROWTH
Colossians 2:19 says that by holding the Head the Body “grows with the growth of God.” To grow with the growth of God is to grow by having God Himself added into us. This takes place only when we are rooted in Christ as the soil. God Himself with His element and substance is the rich nourishment in Christ. If we remain rooted in our spirit, we absorb this element, and this causes us to grow with the growth of God. We grow with the addition, the increase, of God into us. This is altogether a matter of the genuine experience of Christ in our daily life. (Life-study of Colossians, msg. 51)