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In the previous chapter we saw from the Word that in the Godhead, in God’s plan, in the universe, in the church, and in the Christian life Christ is everything. Christ is the center and the circumference. Christ is the life today and tomorrow. He is everything to us.
We also saw that throughout the history of the church the enemy, Satan, has been doing his best to frustrate people from knowing Christ in such an all-inclusive way. In his subtlety he often utilizes something good and sometimes even something that has been ordained and given by God so that he can frustrate God’s people from knowing Christ as the center and circumference. For instance, Judaism with its worship in the Old Testament time was something ordained by God. God ordained the Old Testament service and worship for the purpose of bringing people to Christ. God set up many types in the Old Testament time, such as the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priests, the kings, and the prophets, for the purpose of bringing people to Christ. The types are the means, the instrument, used by God to bring people to Christ. However, Satan, the enemy, came in to utilize even these God-ordained things to frustrate people from knowing Christ.
Galatians 3:23-24 says, “Before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was to be revealed. So then the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ that we might be justified out of faith.” Faith here refers to the faith we have in Christ, the faith by which we receive Christ as everything. The apostle told us that before this faith came, we were guarded, kept in custody, under law. The law was given by God and used by God to keep His people in custody. Before faith came, God’s people were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith. The function of the law was to shut up God’s people unto the faith which was to be revealed. The law has become our child-conductor. In ancient times people used a slave to take care of their children. When the children were very young, they could not take care of themselves to go to school. The parents asked the slave to escort, to conduct, the children to the schoolmaster. The law was used by God as a slave-guard, as a child-conductor, to escort God’s children to the Master — Christ. This was the purpose of God in giving us the law. The law is not the master or the schoolmaster but the child-conductor who guards us and brings us unto the Master — Christ — that we might be justified out of faith. This shows us that God uses many things, such as Judaism, gifts, the law, and even the gospel, to bring people to Christ.
But the enemy is very subtle. The very law given by God to bring people to Christ is utilized by Satan to frustrate people from Christ. This was the reason that the book to the Galatians was written. The law was given by God to bring people to Christ, but Satan came in to utilize the law to hold people, to prevent people from going to Christ, and to frustrate people from knowing Christ as everything. Instead of being a means, an instrument, to bring people to Christ, the law has become a hindrance and a separator, separating people from Christ.
Now let us consider the matter of gifts. All the New Testament gifts are instruments and means used by God to bring people to Christ and to lead people to know Christ, to express Christ, to experience Christ, and to realize Christ. Yet through the generations many gifts have been utilized by the enemy to frustrate people, to hold people, and to prevent people from knowing Christ in a deeper way. As a brother who has been serving the Lord for a long time, I can testify to you faithfully that I have seen a number of people with gifts — the gifts of healing, speaking in tongues, and even ministering. But I regret to say that it is hard to talk with many gifted persons about Christ in a deeper way. When you talk to some Christians about speaking in tongues or healing, they are very excited. But when you tell them that Christ is dwelling in their spirit, that they have to fellowship with this Christ, and that they have to be dealt with by this Christ, they are not interested. They have no ear and no heart for these things.
I do not oppose any kind of gift, but I am fighting because these gifts have been greatly utilized by the enemy to frustrate people from knowing Christ in a deeper way. There was a group of Christians in China called the True Jesus Church. Whenever they came together, they had to kneel down and shake their chairs to exercise their gifts. That was their way. I am not saying whether this is right or wrong. But the subtlety of the enemy is that he utilized this matter to hinder these people from going on to know Christ in a deeper way. They could not sit quietly with a sober mind and an open spirit to listen to someone speaking to them about Christ as the inner life. They were held by their gifts and could not advance in the knowledge of Christ.
I have seen a great number of people who were stirred up to speak in tongues. But once they had the speaking in tongues, they were held by it. It is somewhat easy to help a new believer and even an unbeliever to know Christ, but it is rather hard to help a person who speaks in tongues to know Christ in a deeper way. Here again we see the subtlety of the enemy. The gifts that are used by God to bring people to Christ have been utilized by Satan to hold people and prevent them from going on with Christ. Thus, even the gifts can become something against God’s purpose. First Corinthians was written simply because the Corinthian believers were held by the gifts and would not go on to know Christ in a deeper way. Whenever they came together, they just exercised to speak in tongues. This is why the apostle told them not to exercise that much in speaking in tongues. He said, “In the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (14:19). This is the clear word of God and we cannot fight against it. It is in the opening of this book to the Corinthians that the apostle declares, “I did not determine to know anything...except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (2:2).
If we receive Christ and experience Him by the cross, the Holy Spirit who indwells us will restrict us from exercising so much in the gifts. Many Christians today are under the deceiving of the subtle one. They are deceived not by sinful things but by good things given by God. These good things frustrate people by mixing up the Old Testament principles with the New Testament principles, mixing up the soul with the spirit, and mixing up the carnal things with the spiritual things. We need the cross. If we are willing to go to the cross and let the cross be applied in our heart, we will know where we are.
Brothers and sisters, I would ask you to stand together in the spirit to pray and fight the battle. Throughout the generations the enemy has always been doing things in a subtle way. He is doing one thing, yet he pretends he is doing something else. We have to stand together in the spirit to pray. The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:4). We have to pray in the spirit to fight the battle for Christ. Only Christ is the safeguard. Do not trust anything else. All things must be tested by Christ.
In this chapter I want to go on further and fellowship about the subjective Christ. The all-inclusive Christ is more subjective than objective to us. This is something missed, lost, and neglected by today’s Christianity. Apparently Christianity is a religion of Christ. Many people there are the believers, the followers, of Christ, and they more or less confess the name of Christ. However, in today’s Christianity Christ is mostly a Christ in name. He is mostly One who is objective, One who is far away from the Christians. Very few Christians today know that Christ is more subjective to us than objective.
All the things that are outside of us are objective. All the things that are within us are subjective to us. With all the truths in the Scriptures there are two aspects: the objective aspect and the subjective aspect.
For instance, there are objective justification and subjective justification. Sanctification also has its objective and subjective sides. At the time we received Christ, objectively speaking, we were justified and even sanctified. We have Christ as our righteousness and holiness, objectively speaking. Subjectively speaking, however, we may be quite poor in these things. We may be neither righteous nor holy subjectively. Objectively, we are justified and righteous in Christ, and we are also sanctified and made holy. But subjectively, in ourselves we are poor. Objectively, all the Christians are one hundred percent rich in Christ. Everything in Christ is ours. But subjectively, we Christians may be quite poor in Christ, possessing nothing.
With Christ Himself there are also these two sides. On the one hand, the New Testament tells us many times that Christ has ascended to the heavens and is now at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11; 7:55-56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20). This is the objective Christ. But on the other hand, there are many more passages in the New Testament telling us that Christ is in us. Romans 8:10a says, “Christ is in you”; 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Jesus Christ is in you”; and Colossians 1:27 tells us that Christ in us is our hope of glory. Christ also dwells in us (John 15:4-5; Gal. 2:20), and He is making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). Thus, we see that, on one side, Christ is in the heavens, and on the other side, Christ is in us. Are these two Christs? No. Is Christ divided into two parts, one part in the heavens and another part in us? No.
When I was young, I tried in vain to figure out how Christ could be in the heavens and in me as well. But one day the Lord pointed out to me the illustration of electricity. We all know the current of electricity is at the same time in this room and in the power plant far away. If it is only in the power plant and not in this room, it has nothing to do with us. If it is merely objective and not subjective, we cannot enjoy it. Likewise, if Christ is merely in the heavens and not in you and me, if Christ is just the objective Christ and not the subjective Christ, then Christ has nothing to do with us.
Let us use an apple as an illustration. While the apple is in my hand, it is objective to you and has nothing to do with you. You can appreciate it, but it has nothing to do with you because you do not have it. The objective apple has to become subjective to you. You have to take it and eat it, and then it can get into your stomach. In this way you have made the objective apple a subjective one. Then you have the nourishment, the life, and all the riches of the apple. I hope you can see the picture.
Today is Christ merely objective to you, or is He the subjective Christ to you? I have no doubt that Christ is in the heavens, and I can give you the Scripture verses that tell us this. But the New Testament also tells us many times that Christ is in us and we are in Him. The book of Ephesians mentions repeatedly that Christ is in us and we are in Christ. I regret to say, however, that in today’s Christianity there is a lot of talk about Christ in the heavens but very little talk about Christ in us. No matter how great the quantity is of good oranges in Southern California, they will not do you any good unless they get into your stomach. Only the oranges that you have taken into your stomach are yours. Similarly, no matter how good Christ is in the heavenlies, if He is not in you, He has nothing to do with you. He must be subjective to you. You must have a subjective Christ.
Some people may say that we need to be balanced. But we need to consider whether we need to be balanced objectively or subjectively. There is too much of the objective Christ in Christianity today, but there is very little of the subjective Christ in you. You have to be balanced on the subjective side, not on the objective side. Christ is already in the heavens. Now there is a great need for you to receive Him into you. You have to be balanced in this way. You do not have enough Christ within you. You may have the gifts, but I wish to ask you, “How much Christ do you have today? How much Christ do you have in your daily life and in your home?” We must see that it is not good enough just to have an objective Christ.
Of course, the objective side is the base. If we did not have any oranges in Southern California, we could not have an orange in us. There is no doubt that we need the objective side. But today there are millions of oranges in America, but how many oranges have we eaten? We need to make the objective produce of America something subjective within us. I am not satisfied just to be here in America surrounded by the objective produce. I want to put more and more American produce into my stomach. If you just preach Christ in the heavens, it is not good enough. The objective Christ in the heavens has nothing to do with you. You must have Him come into you. The more you know Christ in a subjective way, the more you will be satisfied with Him as the objective One.
Now let us read some verses from the Scriptures to see the subjective Christ. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Verse 1 says that the Word was in the beginning, in eternity. Now the Word came in the flesh and is closer to us. He is not just in eternity but also in time; He is not just in divinity but also in humanity. He tabernacled among us. Notice the preposition used here is among. He tabernacled among us, but He was not yet in us. When Christ was in the flesh, the most He could do was to be among us; He could not be in us.
John 14:16 says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever.” Here it is not clear whether He is among us or in us. It just says that He may be “with” us, which may mean that He is either among us or in us. Verse 17 says, “Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” In you — this is a strong word. Then verse 18 says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” This does not refer to His second coming. If it did, that would mean that the Lord has left us as orphans for nearly two thousand years. But the Lord did not do that. Verse 19 says, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live.” How long is “yet a little while”? It was just three days. After He died, He came back right away in His resurrection. He went away at the most for seventy-two hours; then He came back as the Spirit. Yet a little while and the world beholds Him no longer, but the disciples behold Him; because He lives by His resurrection, they also shall live by being raised up with Him. Verse 20 says, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This is very subjective.
The Gospel of John speaks of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. After you read through the entire book from chapter 1 through chapter 21, where did this Christ go? You may say that Christ went to heaven after His resurrection. However, according to the Gospel of John, Christ is still here. In Mark and Luke we are told that Christ went to the heavens after He was resurrected. But the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Christ being life to us, does not say that the very Christ who is life in us has gone to the heavens. So where is He? Praise the Lord that today He is not only among us but also — and even more — He is in us. He is the subjective Christ in us. If He is not subjective, if He is merely a Savior in the heavens and He is not in us, how can He be life to us? He can never be life to us unless He is in us. We must know and realize Him as One who is more subjective than objective to us.
John 15:4-5 says, “Abide in Me and I in you...I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him...” These verses clearly show that Christ is subjective to us. Let us also read Romans 8:9-10: “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. But if Christ is in you...” “Christ is in you” — this is the key phrase in the book of Romans.
Now we come to the book of Galatians. In 1:15-16 Paul says, “It pleased God...to reveal His Son in me.” Then in 2:20 he says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” So we see that Christ is revealed in us and then lives in us. Furthermore, in 4:19 Paul says, “My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.” To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ mingled with our whole being. In every part of our being — in our mind, in our emotion, in our will, in our conscience, and in our spirit — Christ is mingled with us. This means Christ is formed in us. It is not only Christ revealed in us and living in us but also Christ being formed in us. To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us. Christ has to saturate us and permeate us until He is altogether blended with us. Then He is formed in us. How subjective He is to us!
Colossians 1:27 says, “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This mystery of God is not just the Christ in the heavens but even more the Christ in us as our hope of glory. Furthermore, Colossians 3:4 tells us that Christ is our life. Christ is our life today and He is our hope in the future. He is everything to us. However, the most important thing is that He is in us.
In addition to the verses mentioned above, we have Ephesians 3:17: “That Christ may make His home in your hearts...” The Greek word for make home is the verb form of the noun home. Christ not only dwells in us but also makes His home in us. To dwell, to remain, in a certain place is one thing, and to make home, to settle down, in that place is another thing. I have been a guest in the saints’ homes many times in the past years in the Lord’s work, but I have never once settled down in any of the saints’ homes. I cannot do this, because that is not my home. I do not have the liberty and the right to settle down in their home. However, Christ not only is in us, lives in us, dwells in us, and is being formed in us, but He also wants to make His home in us, to settle down in us. Many Christians are longing to go to heaven as their home, but Christ is longing to come to them as His home. You may want to go there, but He wants to come here. You are going in the wrong direction. You want to go, but He wants to come. You want to have heaven, but He wants to have you.
We all have Christ within us, but do we have Him living in us and being formed in us? Even more, do we have Him making His home, settling down, in us? This is very subjective. Only such a subjective Christ can be everything to us. If He is only objective, He might be able to be our Savior, our Deliverer, and our Help, but He cannot be the life and the subjective inner strength to us. But praise the Lord that He is now within us, so He is everything to us. This is just like saying that the electricity in this room is everything to this room. If we need heat, it gives us heat. If we need cooling, it gives us cooling. If we need light, it gives us light. If we need power, it gives us power. There is one electricity, yet it is all-inclusive. However, it must be in the room. If it is only in the power plant and not in the room, it has nothing to do with us.
Let us learn how to realize Christ as the subjective One. He is the center and He is everything, yet He must be subjective to us. No matter how much He is, how good He is, and how all-inclusive He is, if He is not subjective, He is nothing to us. The objective Christ who is far away from us has nothing to do with us. But, praise Him, today He is in us. I can testify that every day I am dealing with this subjective Christ.
Christ must be subjective more than objective to us. Then there is the availability for us to experience Him and enjoy Him. Today He is not only with us and close to us, but He is also within us. I would say that He is so “handy” within us. We have to experience Him as such a handy and subjective Christ.
