THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel according to Luke
Message One—The Man-Savior’s Highest Standard of Morality
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 75, 78-79; 2:40, 52
I. We need to understand clearly what is meant by the highest standard of morality:
A. The highest standard of morality is the standard of life required by God—a life in which the divine attributes are expressed in the human virtues—Matt. 5:48.
B. The highest standard of morality is the living of the One—the Lord Jesus Christ as the Man-Savior—whose life was a composition of God with the divine attributes and man with the human virtues—Luke 1:35.
C. A living where the human life is filled with the divine life and the human virtues are strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes is what we call the highest standard of morality—6:35; 7:36-50:
1. God is expressed in the living that is according to the highest standard of morality—5:12-16.
2. If we understand this matter, we will understand the basic and crucial principle followed by Luke in writing his Gospel—8:39.
II. In the Gospel of Luke we see the kind of man that God intended to have in Genesis 1 and 2—Luke 8:39; Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7, 9:
A. God’s intention was to have a God-man—Luke 1:68-69, 78-79:
1. The man in Genesis 1 was merely a God-created man, not yet a God-man—vv. 26-27.
2. God’s intention was that the man created by Him would receive Him, as signified by the tree of life, and thereby become a God-man—2:7, 9.
B. One day God Himself became a man named Jesus, conceived of the divine essence and born of the human essence—Matt. 1:20-21; Luke 1:31-32:
1. The Lord Jesus, the God-man, is a composition of the divine essence with all the divine attributes and the human essence with all the human virtues— vv. 35, 75; 2:40, 52.
2. When He was on earth, the Man-Savior lived a life that was the mingling of the divine attributes and the human virtues; this is the highest standard of morality—vv. 40, 52.
III. The subject of the Gospel of Luke is the Man-Savior and His salvation in the highest standard of morality— 1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 78-79:
A. The Gospel of Luke reveals that in the Man-Savior we have the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality—v. 35.
B. The record in the Gospel of Luke has a particular characteristic—to reveal in the Man-Savior the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality for the New Testament jubilee—1:31-32, 35, 42, 68-69, 75, 78-79; 4:16-19.
IV. The Gospel of Luke portrays the Lord Jesus as a God-man, the Man-Savior, with the highest standard of morality—9:51-56; 13:10-17; 19:1-10:
A. In the Gospel of Luke three categories of things reveal that the Lord Jesus, the Man-Savior, lived in the highest standard of morality, with the human virtues strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes:
1. Gospel messages—4:16-21; 7:41-43; 12:14-21; 13:2-5.
2. Gospel parables—10:30-37; 14:16-24; 15:3-32; 18:9-14.
3. Gospel cases—7:36-50; 13:10-17; 16:19-31; 19:1-10; 23:39-43.
B. In 22:47—23:25 the Lord Jesus is portrayed as the true God and a real man:
1. The God-man was arrested, mocked, blasphemed, despised, and judged, but as He passed through all this, He is fully portrayed as having the highest standard of morality, as possessing the human virtues with the divine attributes and with the all-surpassing divine splendor.
2. As the true God and a real and proper man, He was fully qualified to be the Substitute for the sinners for whom He intended to die—23:34, 43.
V. The Lord’s teaching in 6:17-49 gives us a clear view of the highest standard of morality:
A. The Man-Savior has the kind of life described in verses 17 through 49.
B. Actually, Christ Himself is the highest standard of morality, for He is the man created by God in Genesis 1:26 plus the tree of life mentioned in Genesis 2:9.
C. The highest standard of morality is now a person living in us and making it possible for us to live Christ—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:20-21a.
D. The Man-Savior’s teaching concerning the highest standard of morality is based on the divine life with its expression, the divine word—Luke 6:35, 47-48:
1. The living that is according to the highest standard of morality issues from the divine life with which we have been born of the Most High—v. 35.
2. The Lord’s word in verses 43 and 44 reveals life as the source and living as the issue; His disciples are the good trees with the divine life, and out from this life issues a living that is the expression of God.
Ministry Excerpts:
TO STRENGTHEN AND ENRICH THE HUMAN VIRTUES
In the age of innocence, before sin had come in, Adam was clean and innocent. His virtues, however, might not have been strong and rich. But in the Lord Jesus, the second man, the human virtues are strong and rich. In Christ’s human love, for instance, there is strength. Because His human love is a strengthened, enriched love, it cannot be broken or defeated. The Lord’s love is rich because it has been filled with the divine attribute of love. Hence, His love is a mingled love, a composition of the human love with the divine love.
We may not have the concept that Christ’s incarnation was to fill, strengthen, and enrich the human virtues. I did not realize this years ago. Through the Life-study of Luke I have been deeply impressed with the fact that the Man-Savior’s incarnation caused the empty human virtues to be filled, strengthened, and enriched with the divine attributes.
TO SANCTIFY THE HUMAN VIRTUES
The divine attributes also sanctify the human virtues. For Christ to be incarnated means that He became flesh. Concerning this, John 1:1 and 14 say that the Word, which is God, became flesh. By the time of the Lord’s incarnation, the word “flesh” signified something that was not positive. Regarding the incarnation of Christ, the Bible says that He came in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). This means that when He became flesh, He came in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but did not have the nature of the flesh of sin. This is typified by the brass serpent in Numbers 21. The brass serpent was in the form of a serpent, but it did not have the nature of a serpent. Likewise, when Christ became flesh, He had only the appearance of the flesh of sin; He did not have the nature of sinful flesh. After Christ became flesh, it was necessary for this flesh to be restored.
Luke 1:35 says, “The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; wherefore also the holy thing which is born will be called, Son of God.” Because what was conceived in Mary was of the Holy Spirit, what was born of this conception was a “holy thing,” something intrinsically holy. This holy thing, however, was born into flesh. The “thing” was holy, but the flesh was not holy. However, the holy thing that was born into the flesh would sanctify, restore, flesh. Christ was conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes to sanctify the human virtues.
The incarnation is a mystery. Through incarnation God was born into man to produce a God-man. Not only was the Lord’s conception and birth a mystery, His human living for thirty-three and a half years was a mystery as well. The One who lived in Nazareth in the home of a carpenter was not merely a man; He was also God. A man with God in Him was working as a carpenter in Nazareth. What a mystery!
The Man-Savior’s life on earth was a mystery, and our Christian life is likewise a mystery. Regeneration certainly is a mystery. It surely is a great mystery that Christ lives in us. Who is able to explain this great mystery in full? Sometimes I have pondered the matter of Christ living in me. I have asked myself how it could be possible that Christ, the embodiment of God, lives in me. Nevertheless, the Bible reveals that the Triune God became incarnate, passed through human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, and now lives in us and is our life.
TO EXPRESS GOD IN THE HUMAN VIRTUES
We have seen that the Man-Savior was conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes so that these attributes would be the content and reality of His human virtues and that the divine attributes would fill, strengthen, enrich, and sanctify His human virtues. Now we need to see that the divine attributes are for the expression of God in the human virtues.
The divine attributes fill, strengthen, enrich, and sanctify the human virtues for the purpose of expressing God in the human virtues. According to the four Gospels, whatever the Lord Jesus did in His life on earth was the expression of God in His human virtues. In the Man-Savior the divine attributes were brought into the human virtues for the expression of God.
BORN OF THE HUMAN ESSENCE WITH THE HUMAN VIRTUES CREATED BY GOD FOR MAN
The Lord Jesus was born of the human essence with the human virtues created by God for man (Luke 1:31). To say that He was born of the human essence means that He was born of man, that is, of mankind, of humankind. Christ was born of mankind with the human virtues created by God for man.
One of the main aspects of God’s creation of man was the creation of man’s virtues. If man did not have virtues, what would be the difference between man and animals?
What is the difference between man and animals? Of course, one important difference is that man has a spirit. But another vital difference is that God created man with human virtues. Animals, on the contrary, do not have virtues. For example, a dog may be very nice, but it does not have any virtues. But we human beings have human virtues. Therefore, the difference between man and animals is not only that man has a spirit but also that man has virtues.
When Christ became incarnated, He put on the human virtues. He was born of mankind with the human virtues God had created. According to Genesis 1, God created man in His image. The phrase “in His image” implies the human virtues. This means that the human virtues are actually the image of God for the expression of God. Therefore, the human virtues were created by God for man so that man may express Him.
In His incarnation the Man-Savior was born in such a way as to have the human virtues. He was conceived of God to have the divine attributes, and He was born of mankind to have the human virtues. With Him the divine attributes filled the human virtues, and the human virtues contained the divine attributes. In the Man-Savior the divine attributes and human virtues are one; that is, the divine attributes and human virtues are mingled together as one. With the Man-Savior the divine attributes are in the human virtues, and the human virtues contain the divine attributes. (Life-Study of the Gospel of Luke, msg. 58)
RESCUING THE HUMAN VIRTUES FROM MAN’S FALL
The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to rescue these virtues from man’s fall. Before the Lord Jesus was born, man had become fallen. Therefore, with the exception of the Lord Jesus, the virtues of every human being are fallen. This was true even of the human virtues of Mary and Joseph. We do not agree with the Roman Catholic teaching that Mary did not have a sinful nature. (The doctrine of the sinlessness of Mary became an official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in 1854). This teaching has no basis in the Scriptures, and we do not believe it.
In the Gospels, we can see the difference between the Man-Savior’s human virtues and those of Mary and Joseph. For example, the record in Luke 2 indicates that the Lord’s virtues are high, pure, and perfect. When the Man-Savior was twelve, He said to His parents, who had been searching for Him, “Did you not know that I must be in the things of My Father?” (2:49). On the other hand, “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them” (2:51). This was subjection in His humanity to His human parents. As we read this account, we see how excellent the human virtues of the Lord Jesus were. Mary’s virtues, by contrast, were not that excellent. As we compare these two kinds of human virtues, we see that the Lord’s virtues were uplifted, whereas Mary’s virtues were not strengthened, enriched, and uplifted by the divine attributes. From this we see that it certainly is necessary for the human virtues to be rescued from the fall.
RESTORING AND RECOVERING THE HUMAN VIRTUES FROM THE DAMAGE OF MAN’S FALL
The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues also to restore and recover man’s virtues from the damage of man’s fall. Because of the fall, our human virtues have been damaged. For example, the virtue of love has been damaged. A brother may love his wife very much one day, and the next day he may be unhappy with her and even think of divorcing her. This is a strong sign that his human love has been damaged.
The love a girl has for her mother is also a damaged love. A girl may be very loving toward her mother at one moment, but this love is easily broken and may suddenly change. This proves that a girl’s human love for her mother is a fallen and damaged love. The human virtues of righteousness and holiness have also been damaged by the fall. Our righteousness has so many “holes” in it that it can be compared to a beehive. Can you count how many holes you have in your righteousness? Our love, brightness, righteousness, and holiness have all been damaged.
The Man-Savior’s incarnation was not only to rescue our virtues from the fall; His incarnation was also to restore and recover our virtues from the damage of the fall. Something may be rescued without being restored, or may be restored without being recovered. Our human virtues need to be rescued, restored, and recovered.
UPLIFTING THE HUMAN VIRTUES TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD
Furthermore, the Man-Savior was incarnated in order to uplift the human virtues to the highest standard, to the standard that matches God’s attributes for the expression of God. Because our virtues were damaged and deformed, they could not match God’s attributes. But the uplifted human virtues can match God’s attributes. The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to uplift these virtues to such a standard that they can match God’s attributes for His expression.
PRODUCING THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF MORALITY FOR THE SAVING POWER OF THE MAN-SAVIOR’S DYNAMIC SALVATION
The Man-Savior’s being conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes and being born of the human essence with the human virtues produced the highest standard of morality. This morality is for the saving power of the Man-Savior’s dynamic salvation. The result of the divine attributes filling the empty human virtues, strengthening, enriching, and sanctifying the human virtues, and expressing God in the human virtues is the highest standard of morality. The Lord Jesus refers to this morality in Matthew 5:20: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” Here the Lord charges us to have a surpassing righteousness, which is not merely an objective righteousness, but a subjective righteousness, the indwelling Christ lived out of us as our righteousness. Of course, the Man-Savior Himself had such a surpassing righteousness, and this righteousness is the highest standard of morality.
Paul in Philippians 3:9 speaks of the highest standard of morality: “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God based on faith.” Paul was endeavoring to be found in Christ not with his own righteousness, a human righteousness, but having the righteousness of God. This indicates that we Christians need to live a righteousness that is actually God Himself. Paul aspired to be found in Christ having such a surpassing righteousness, a righteousness of the highest standard, that is, the righteousness of God.
How can we have the righteousness of God? We can only have this righteousness by having God live in us. If God does not live in us, we cannot live Him. If we do not live God, we cannot live the righteousness of God. To live the righteousness of God, we must have God Himself living in us. This is the surpassing righteousness, the righteousness of the highest standard. The Man-Savior’s incarnation was to produce this highest standard of morality, and this morality is for the saving power of His dynamic salvation. Due to the influence of tradition, many Christians have the wrong concept concerning the Lord’s salvation. Their concept is that our Savior, Jesus Christ, came merely to save us from hell and to bring us to heaven. This understanding of salvation is very inadequate. The Man-Savior’s way of saving us is much higher than this.
According to His way of saving us, the Man-Savior first brought God’s attributes into man’s virtues. Then He lived a life with the human virtues filled, strengthened, enriched, and sanctified by the divine attributes. In such a living there is saving power. The Lord does not save us by merely stretching out His hand to rescue us from hell. Rather, when He saves us, He comes into us as the One with the human virtues filled with the divine attributes. Such a life saves us from within and uplifts our human virtues, restoring, sanctifying, and transforming us. A person who is saved in this way will surely not go to hell. Instead, he will go to the place where God is.
However, suppose a person could actually be saved according to the natural concept of merely being rescued from hell and brought to heaven. If Christ simply stretched forth His hand to lift us out of hell into heaven, God would not be pleased. He would say to such a person, “I am not happy with what you are. Your person is offensive to Me. I don’t want you to remain here in heaven with Me.”
We need to see that the Man-Savior’s way of saving us is not superficial. In order to save us, He, the very God, came into man, bringing God’s attributes into man’s virtues. While He was on earth, He lived the life of a God-man, with the divine attributes filling His human virtues. Eventually, He died on the cross and was resurrected. In His resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now as the life-giving Spirit He enters into us to bring God into our being and to fill our virtues with God’s attributes. In this way we are being saved day by day. We are being saved in the way of the Lord’s restoring, His transforming.
THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF MORALITY CONSTITUTING THE QUALIFICATION AND THE BASIC FACTOR FOR THE MAN-SAVIOR’S DYNAMIC SALVATION
The highest standard of morality constitutes the qualification for the Man-Savior’s dynamic salvation. Only the Man-Savior has this qualification; no other person, including Confucius and Plato, is so qualified. In the Gospel of Luke there are a number of cases illustrating that the Man-Savior’s standard of morality qualifies Him for dynamic salvation. The best illustration is the parable of the good Samaritan (10:25-37). This Samaritan lived the highest standard of morality, and He saved the fallen one by His standard of morality.
The highest standard of morality also constitutes the basic factor for the Man-Savior’s dynamic salvation. We see this in the case of Zaccheus (19:1-10). Because of the Man-Savior’s dynamic salvation, Zaccheus became another person immediately after coming into contact with Him.
During the years of His ministry on earth, the Lord Jesus was like a great magnet drawing people to Himself. Attracted by Him, the disciples left everything to follow Him. We know from the four Gospels that great crowds went after Him. We also have been drawn to Him by His powerful Person. The reason we spend so much time in meetings is that we have been attracted to the Man-Savior. We have been drawn by His dynamic saving power. The Man-Savior’s dynamic saving power is constituted of His highest standard of morality in which His powerful Spirit and eternal life are.
The Triune God is a mystery, and the incarnation of Christ is also a great mystery. Furthermore, the Man-Savior’s living on earth was mysterious. First, He was a magnet attracting His followers. Eventually, He came into His followers and made each one of them a mystery. This is the reason that, as believers, we are a mystery to our relatives and friends. They do not understand what we are doing day by day and why we are doing it. Actually, we are all living a mysterious life.
Our being a mystery is altogether due to the Man-Savior, the God-man, whose divine attributes fill His human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality. As we have emphasized in this message, the Man-Savior’s highest standard of morality constitutes the qualification for His dynamic salvation; it also constitutes the basic factor for this salvation. How marvelous! (Life-Study of the Gospel of Luke, msg. 59)