THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Nine—Taking Christ as Our Person for the Church Life
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:23; 2:15-16, 18, 21-22; 3:2, 8-11, 16-17a, 19b; 4:3-4a, 11-16, 23-24
I. The church is not only the Body but also the new man— Eph. 1:23; 2:15-16:
A. Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ abolished“in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man，so making peace.”
B. Verse 16 continues, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God.”
C. This indicates that the Body is the new man; moreover, in chapter 1 the Body is the church; hence, the church is not only the Body but also the new man.
II. The focal point of the Bible is not practices, doctrines, or ordinances—it is the living person of the Son of God, who is the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit for us to enjoy Him, partake of His riches and live Him—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Phil. 1:19; Gal. 6:18:
A. In the eyes of God, there is no place for religion or tradition—only the living person of His Son has a place; God’s cares only for this living person, not for anything else—Col. 1:18b; 2:16; 3:10b-11; Mark 9:7-8.
B. Without this living person as the reality and content of the church life, even the church life will become a tradition; the church is the Body of this person, His fullness, His practical and living expression—Eph. 1:22-23; 3:8-11, 16-19.
III. Christ is the life and person of the church—1 Cor. 15:45b; Col. 3:4; Phil. 1:19:
A. The church is the Body of Christ and the new man in God’s new creation—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:15.
B. As the Body, the church needs life; as the new man the church needs not only the life but also a person.
C. The church as the Body of Christ has Christ as its life, and the church as the new man has Christ as its person.
D. We all have to take Christ as our life and as our person—Col. 3:4; Phil. 1:19:
1. In order for Him to be our person, He needs to make His home in our hearts; for this reason, we need to make room in our being and allow Christ to occupy us and be our person.
2. Enjoying the riches of Christ to be filled unto all the fullness of God—Eph. 3:19:
a. Today He is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, and He is in our spirit; when we switch on by touching our spirit, He will get into us and be assimilated by us to become us.
b. By eating Jesus, all His riches become ours, and we are filled unto all the fullness of God.
3. Perfecting the saints by feeding them for their growth and function—Eph. 4:12.
IV. Taking Christ as our person is the sweetest experience—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21:
A. The Lord as the life-giving Spirit indwells us, the Spirit is not merely a power or an attribute; neither is He merely holiness and life; rather, He lives in us as a person—1 Cor. 15:45b.
B. A sweet experience of taking the Lord as our person involves experiencing Him as the One living in us—Gal. 2:20:
1. When a sister has to discipline a disobedient child, she should open to the Lord and learn to take the Lord as her person.
2. When a sister wants to go shopping, she should not say, “Lord, is it Your will that I go shopping? Do You want me to go to the store?”This kind of prayer shows that she does not know the Lord as her person; rather, she should take the Lord as her person and do what the Lord is doing—15:4, 7.
C. Paul is one who took the Lord as his person—Phil. 1:21.
D. John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”; verse 23 says, “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”; a person who loves the Lord and keeps His word will take the Lord as his person; then the Father and the Son will come to him and make an abode with him; when the Lord comes with the Father in this way, He is able to make His home in us rather than merely visit with us for a moment of enjoyment—John 14:15, 23.
V. Life is a person, and there is no other way to apply and enjoy this person but by love—S.S. 1:2-4; Phil. 1:21; John 14:15:
A. Once we see the love of Jesus, we will be so constrained, so captured, and so attracted; we will spontaneously love Him; then by loving Him, we will enjoy Him.
B. The Lord Jesus is not a doctrine; He is not a set of gifts or a power; He is a person who needs our love, our appreciation, and our affection; how we need the sweet affection and love toward the Lord Jesus.
C. We can say a thousand times, “Lord Jesus, You are altogether lovely! O Lord Jesus, You are altogether lovely!”
D. We will not know a doctrine, but we will enjoy Jesus, a living person, as our very life.
VI. The word of Christ is actually the person of Christ—Col. 3:16; John 15:4, 7:
A. Paul almost personifies the word of Christ; he tells us to let this word dwell in us, as if it were a living person—Col. 3:16; cf. Eph. 3:17.
B. First we have Christ as our life; then we have His living word personified as His person dwelling in us—Col. 3:4, 16.
C. Since the word of Christ can dwell in us, it must be a living person; therefore, to let the word of Christ dwell in us indicates that we allow a living person—Christ Himself—to dwell in us—v. 16; 1:27.
D. If we would allow Christ to make His home in our hearts, we must be filled with the word of Christ—Eph. 3:17; John 14:23:
1. For the Lord’s word to abide in us means that the Lord Himself abides in us—15:4, 7.
2. If Christ is to abide in us in a practical way, His words must abide in us; we cannot have Christ in us experientially unless we have His words in us also—Col. 1:27; 3:16; Eph. 3:17; John 14:23; 15:4, 7.
VII. For the church as the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person in the matter of speaking—Matt. 12:34-37; Eph.3:17a; John 7:16-18; 8:28, 38a; 12:49-50; 14:10:
A. The entire Bible has one mouth and speaks the same thing—Heb. 1:1-2a.
B. We need to consider one new man in Ephesians 2:15 together with one mouth in Romans 15:6 and speak the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
1. In the one new man there is one mouth to speak the same thing—Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10.
2. There is only one new man, and the one new man has only one person, so the one new man speaks with one mouth and says the same thing.
3. In the one new man there is only one person, and only this person has the freedom to speak—Matt. 17:5.
4. Although we are many and come from many places, we all have one mouth and we all speak the same thing; this is because we all are the one new man having only one person—Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; 3:17a; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE CHURCH BEING THE BODY AND THE NEW MAN
It is easy for people to say that the church is the Body of Christ. However, the Bible says that the church is not only the Body but also the new man. The new man is different from the Body. Let us use the physical body as an example. A body is simply a vessel to be used as an organ. A man, however, is not merely an organ; a man has a person. A body needs life, but a man needs a person in addition to life. Life is different from a person. A plant has life, but it does not have a person. A man has not only life but also a person. In the past we saw that the church is the Body with Christ as its life. However, we did not see that the church is the new man with Christ not only as its life but also as its person.
THE CHURCH BEING THE NEW MAN
The Bible says that the church is the new man. Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ abolished “in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” Paul says that the Lord created the two—the Jewish and the Gentile believers—into one new man. Therefore, the new man is not an individual. The new man is corporate. Verse 16 continues, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God.” Verse 15 says that the Lord created the two into one new man, not an individual man but a corporate man, and verse 16 says that He reconciled both in one Body. This indicates that the Body is the new man. Moreover, in chapter 1 the Body is the church. Hence, the church is not only the Body but also the new man.
THE CHURCH HAVING NOT ONLY LIFE
BUT ALSO A PERSON
Now we must consider a crucial point. Why is there a person in man? A man is not a machine, because machines do not have a person. However, human beings have a person. The importance of being a human being is that human beings have a person. Without a person, I am merely a body. My body is not my person. I am a man because there is life within me. This life, however, is also related to a person. Hence, in order to be a human, our life must be expressed through a person. (The Meaning of Human Life and a Proper Consecration, msg. 9)
THE CHURCH BEING THE BODY OF CHRIST AND THE NEW MAN
In these verses we are first told that the church is the Body of Christ and the new man in God’s new creation (1:22-23; 2:15). We all have to know these two big terms—the Body of Christ and the new man. Some would say that the Body of Christ is just an illustration or a symbol. But we need to see that Christ’s Body is a reality. Christ needs a Body just as we do. Our body is not a symbol but a reality.
Christ is a great person. He fills all in all. It is hard to say what all in all means. I have been considering these three words for years. To say that Christ fills all in all shows how vast He is. He is so great and so vast that He fills the whole universe. … This great, vast, and unlimited Christ, as such a person, needs a great Body to be His fullness for His complete expression. His small physical body was too limited. But after His resurrection and through His resurrection, He gained a mystical Body, and this mystical Body is universally vast. It is not a symbol; it is a Body! It is His Body, and this Body has many members. We are the members of this Body (Rom. 12:4-5). If the Body of Christ were just a symbol, then we would be the members of a symbol. That would mean nothing. The Body of Christ, however, is not a symbol. It is a living Body, and we are living members of this living Body.
The church is not only the Body of Christ but also a new person, the new man. As the Body, the church needs life. If there is no life in your body, it becomes a carcass, a corpse. The church as the Body is living because the church has life. As the new man the church needs not only the life but also a person. A man needs a person. The plants are living, but they need only life. They do not need a person, because they are not human beings. But the church is a great living being as the new man, so the church needs a person. The church as the Body of Christ has Christ as its life, and the church as the new man has Christ as its person. We all have to take Christ as our life and as our person. The church is not an organization but the living Body of Christ, having Christ as its life, and the new man, having Christ as its person.
A tree has life, but that life does not have any preferences, thoughts, and desires. The tree would never say, “Be merciful to me. Today’s weather is too cold. I need more clothing.” A real, living person, on the other hand, has a very sensitive personality. We have our preferences, thoughts, and desires. When someone is unhappy with us, we know it because we are living persons. The church as the new man has Christ as the most wonderful person. (The Greatest Prophecy in the Bible and Its Fulfillment, ch. 3)
TAKING CHRIST AS OUR PERSON
BEING THE SWEETEST EXPERIENCE
We must realize that the Spirit is not merely a power or an attribute; neither is He merely holiness and life. Rather, He lives in us as a person. I hope that we all can apprehend this matter in our spirit. This is the deepest, finest, and sweetest experience of the Lord. To experience the person of the Lord is the deepest experience and also the most complete, tender, and sweet experience of Him.
A sweet experience of taking the Lord as our person involves experiencing Him as the One living in us. When a sister has to discipline a disobedient child, she should open to the Lord and learn to take the Lord as her person. When she opens to the Lord, she will not only have a deep sense of the Lord’s way, but she will also be able to follow this sense, even if it is not according to her concept. Following the Lord in this way has a very different taste.
When a sister wants to go shopping, she should not say, “Lord, is it Your will that I go shopping? Do You want me to go to the store?” This kind of prayer shows that she does not know the Lord as her person. Rather, she should take the Lord as her person and do what the Lord is doing.
LIVING BY CHRIST IS ONE THING,
TO LIVE IS CHRIST IS ANOTHER THING
Paul is one who took the Lord as his person. He says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). He does not simply say, “I live by Christ.” It is one thing to live by Christ, and it is quite another to live Christ. Can the sisters say, “To me, to live is my husband”? I believe many sisters can say that they live by their husband and listen to their husband because their husband is their head. However, accepting a husband’s headship in this way often results in bitterness. This can be seen in the fact that few wives pass up an opportunity to complain about their husband to others. If a sister truly took her husband as her person, there would be no bitterness and complaining, and everything would be sweet.
John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Verse 23 says, “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.” These words have such a sweet taste. A person who loves the Lord and keeps His word will take the Lord as his person. Then the Father and the Son will come to him and make an abode with him. When the Lord comes with the Father in this way, He is able to make His home in us rather than merely visit with us for a moment of enjoyment.
First Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” The Holy Spirit is in our spirit, and our spirit is in our body; hence, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in us as a person; we need to take Him as our person.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” The phrase no longer I does not mean that our temper or preferences no longer exist; rather, it means that our person no longer lives. The phrase Christ who lives in me does not refer to the life of Christ, the power of Christ, the holiness of Christ, or the love of Christ; rather, it refers to the person of Christ. Christ Himself lives in us. Eventually, Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). This is the experience of Christ as our person. (Taking Christ as Our Person for the Church Life, msg. 7)
ENJOY BY LOVING
Life is a person, and there is no other way to apply and enjoy this person but by love. We need to love Him. Some of the saints in past centuries used to pray, “Lord, show me Your love that I may love You.” We need to pray the same prayer. Once we see the love of Jesus, we will be so constrained, so captured, and so attracted. We will spontaneously love Him. Then by loving Him, we will enjoy Him. This is life, and since this life is a person, there is no other way for us to experience Him but by love. Only by loving Jesus can we enjoy Him.
If I want to enjoy a brother, I must love that brother. The more I love him, the more I enjoy him. The Lord Jesus is not a doctrine; He is not a set of gifts or a power; He is a person who needs our love, our appreciation, and our affection. How we need the sweet affection and love toward the Lord Jesus.
One book among the sixty-six books of the Bible, the Song of Songs, illustrates how the Lord Jesus is altogether lovely. This book shows how the Lord is so attractive and how we are those who love Him. We just love Him! Could you love some doctrine in this way? I do not believe that you could even love the gifts in this way. Do you love the gifts? Could you say, “O dear gifts, you are altogether lovely! Oh, the healing! Oh, the speaking in tongues! All the gifts are so sweet!”?
Just try to speak in this way. It simply does not fit. But we can say a thousand times, “Lord Jesus, You are altogether lovely! O Lord Jesus, You are altogether lovely!”
I do care for all the furniture in my apartment, but I have never told it how much I love it. I simply cannot express myself in this way. But the more you say this to a person, the more there is the sweet love and enjoyment. This is because there is the affectionate attachment in a person. The Lord Jesus is not a chair; He is not a sofa; neither is He a teaching, a doctrine, a gift, or a power. He is a loving person. “My Beloved is altogether lovely! He is my life!” This life is nothing else but a lovely person.
We may talk about Christ being our life, but if we do not have the real love toward Him, He is only life to us in doctrine. We just have the doctrine of Christ as life; we do not have the enjoyment of Him as life. If we would enjoy Jesus as life, we must love Him. As long as we love Him, even if we do not know the term life, we will enjoy life. We will not know a doctrine, but we will enjoy Jesus, a living person, as our very life. (Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, ch. 2)