Date: October 20, 1936, eveningPlace: KulangsuScripture Reading: Rom. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:3; John 12:24, 33; Gal. 3:28
During the past three evenings, we have seen the matter of being in Christ. Last night we saw one thing that is accomplished in Christ — death. Christ has died on the cross, and those who are in Christ have also died. We do not have to die ourselves; there is no need for us to seek to die or to think of ways to die. In Christ we are all dead. Through the death of Christ, those who are in Him are dead already.
We have a brother who was an officer in the army. He told me that if anyone retreated during a battle and ran away from the army, he would be executed immediately. He talked about this with the other officers. The military law was stricter than any civil law, and many soldiers could not take it. The officers were cruel and constantly harassing them. Yet once a soldier dies, he is free from the authority of the officers, and the officers can no longer do anything to him. An officer can abuse a soldier only to the point of death, after which the officer can do nothing more. The same principle is involved with our being in Christ. Adam's sin dominates us. Through sin Satan often harasses and overpowers us. But once we die in Christ, we are free from its domination.
This is God's way of dealing with our problems on the negative side. But what has He done for us on the positive side? God has appointed Adam to be the head of the human race. After Adam fell, everyone became a sinner by birth, because everyone is in Adam. How can God deliver us out of sin? His way of salvation is to appoint a new Head — Christ. Christ is the Head of the new human race, just as Adam was the head of the old human race. God has put us into Christ. We become persons in Christ, just as we were persons in Adam. Man is never independent; either he is in Adam or in Christ. If he is not in Christ, he is in Adam. There is only one man in heaven, and there is only one man in hell. As we are sitting here today, we should ask ourselves whether we are in Adam or in Christ. We must realize that we leave Adam and enter into Christ through His death. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of everything in the new creation. It is interesting to note that the Bible never tells us to believe in the death of Christ. It only tells us to believe in His resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, Paul said, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is vain; your faith is vain also." The death of Christ takes care of the negative things; it terminates everything in the old creation. The resurrection of Christ is positive; through resurrection we receive a new life. We are delivered from sin and enabled to serve God. When Christ resurrected, those who died in Him were also resurrected. They became a new man in God's eyes through the new life they received.
First Peter 1:3 mentions a very wonderful thing. It says that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Many people in the church today talk about regeneration, but they do not understand how regeneration occurs. Many say that we have been regenerated through the cross. But Peter said that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have been regenerated through Christ's resurrection. In other words, if Christ had not resurrected, we would not have been regenerated. When Christ died and resurrected, we died and resurrected with Him as well (Eph. 2:6), and we received His life into us. Regeneration brings us the life of Christ. This life was imparted to us at the time of Christ's resurrection. He first had to die before He could resurrect. If He had not died, He could not have resurrected and would not have been able to impart His life to us. Thank the Lord that He has died and lived again. Therefore, He can dispense His life to us.
We need to consider Christ's death and resurrection before we can understand the overcoming life that we have received in Christ. When the Lord was on earth, He spoke of the parable of the wheat. This is recorded in John 12:24. The Lord said that if a grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears many grains. Verse 33 shows clearly that the death of the grain of wheat, as mentioned by the Lord, refers to His death. A grain of wheat is different from a grain of sand. A grain of wheat has life, whereas sand does not have life. But if the grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it will remain as grain even after millions of years. The Lord Jesus as the grain of wheat fell into Bethlehem and died at Golgotha. Then He resurrected, and in resurrection He regenerated us, giving us the same life as His. If Christ had not left heaven to come to earth, there would only be one person, Himself, today. The Bible says that Christ is God's only begotten Son (1:18). This means that He is the unique Son. God loves His only begotten Son, but He wants to have many sons (Heb. 2:10). He desires to see His only begotten Son become the firstborn Son so that He can have many sons.
In the Gospel of John, Christ is God's only begotten Son. But in Romans 8 and Hebrews 2, He has become God's firstborn Son. We cannot call a person a firstborn son and an only begotten son at the same time. Being a firstborn son means that there are other sons to follow, but being the only begotten son means that there are no more sons. Yet God wants His only begotten Son to become the firstborn Son. How can Christ as the only begotten Son of God become God's firstborn Son? If the only begotten Son remained in heaven all the time, there would forever be an only begotten Son. In order for Him to become the firstborn Son, there is a need for Him to "fall" from heaven to the earth. One day Christ "fell" from heaven to Bethlehem and later died. There are two aspects to His death: the first is the redemptive aspect, which is for the purpose of taking away our sins. The second is the non-redemptive aspect, which is for the purpose of releasing His life.
Let us read Luke 12:49. This is the deepest verse in the Gospel of Luke. The Lord said, "I have come." He does not mention anything about redemption. He merely came "to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled!" This verse speaks of a fire being cast on the earth. This means that the fire is not from the earth, but from heaven and from God. Fire signifies the life in the Spirit. The Lord came to cast fire on the earth, that is, to release God's life to the earth. Following this the Lord said, "But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!" (v. 50). The word "pressed" in Greek means "bound" and "confined." The Lord was saying that He came to release the life of God. Yet He was still in the flesh and could not release such a life. He felt bound and confined. Because of His flesh, God's life could not be released; His life was limited by the flesh. This is why He felt bound and confined.
The Lord spoke of a baptism which He had to be baptized with, which was not yet fulfilled. Since He had already been baptized in chapter three, why did He say that He had another baptism to be baptized with? We must note that the Lord did not say that He had not been baptized. He was saying that there was a baptism that had not yet been accomplished. "Baptism" in this verse clearly refers to His death on the cross (Mark 10:38). The death of Christ was His great release. If Christ had not died, the divine life within Him would have been imprisoned and bound. But once He died, the divine life was released and ready to be received by man. This is what He wished to see.
The phrase in Jesus is not in the Bible. The Bible only says "in Christ." We cannot be in Jesus, because Jesus was a man. He was God's only begotten Son, and we have no part in Him. No one can be in Jesus of Nazareth. But one day this man who was in the flesh, this individual man, was crucified on the cross. Although His flesh died, this death released His life. When He resurrected from the dead, He became Christ Jesus; He became the One whom we can get into. When we are in Christ, we receive His life; we die and are raised up together with Him. This is what Christ's resurrection has accomplished.
Let us now turn back to John 12:24. The grain of wheat in this verse refers to Christ, the only Begotten of God. When Christ died, the grain of wheat died. The shell of the grain was broken, and the life of the grain was released. After some time, the one grain became many grains. All the grains come from the one grain. Originally, there was only one grain. Now it has become many grains. The one grain becomes many grains by falling to the ground to die. Christ, the one Man, died; His body was broken, and His life was released. In resurrection, the one grain becomes us; we become the many grains. Our life has its origin in Christ, the one grain. Our life is derived from Christ. In this way, we know what it means for Christ to be the Head and for us to be His members. Although this life is in us today, this life comes from Christ. This is the process through which Christ regenerated us.
The Lord was first the only begotten Son. After His death and resurrection, He brought forth many grains and became God's firstborn Son. As the many grains, we have now become God's many sons. On the day of resurrection the Lord said to Mary, "I ascend to My Father and your Father" (John 20:17). The Lord could not have said this three days before. But on the day of resurrection, He could say this. Before His death, He did not have such a relationship with us, but through His death and resurrection, He released His life to us. We have all received the same life and become the sons of God. Before our regeneration, we were different in Adam in many ways. Now in Christ we become the same. We have the same life and share the same nature.
Outwardly, baptism appears to be a very simple matter. But we must never consider it as being that simple. Through baptism, everything is buried. The end of Galatians 3 says that those who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There cannot be Jew or Greek, slave or free man, male or female; we are all one in Christ Jesus (vv. 27-28). For many years Communism has tried unsuccessfully to abolish all class distinctions. Even if it can abolish the father-son relationship, there are the other relationships that cannot be abolished. But in Christ, all distinctions, including nationality, sex, and class are abolished. In Christ we have all become one. Please remember that our becoming one has everything to do with the baptism in verse 27. We were buried in the water when we acknowledged that our old man had died and that this old man and all that he possessed had been crucified with Christ. When we entered the water, we entered as a person in Adam. But when we came out of the water, we came out as a Christian in Christ. When we came out of the water, all of our differences in Adam were left behind in the baptismal water and buried. We now have Christ as our life; we have all become Christians, and we can now be one.
Paul mentioned Jews and Greeks in Galatians 3 because the Jews were a proud people. They considered all Gentiles to be dogs and pigs. If you were to give money to the poor among the Jews, they would not take it. They considered themselves to be the only people who were chosen of God. Their racial consciousness was extremely strong. It was impossible to make Jews and Greeks one. But after they believed in Christ and received Him, they entered into the baptismal water. The part that distinguished Jews as Jews could not come out; only the part which is Christ could come out. Baptism is a test; it shows whether a person is in Christ or not. Do you still hold onto your national distinctions? Do you still hold onto the distinction between slaves and free men? At the time of the Roman Empire, slaves did not have any freedom. There was a vast difference between slaves and free men. Yet all those who are baptized into Christ have become one in Christ. There are no more distinctions between the nationalities and races and between slaves and free men.
In Shanghai a brother works for me as my cook. At home I call him by his name, but in the meetings I call him a brother. Once I asked him to come to me. He said, "Mr. Nee..." I interrupted him and said, "In Christ there cannot be servants and masters. You should not call me, `Mister'; you should call me, `Brother.'" There was a sister in Shanghai who had an unsaved husband. The winter before last, they decided to pray to the Lord. The wife prayed first, and then the husband also prayed and became a member in the Lord. I told the husband when he was baptized that from the time they were married until this day, they were husband and wife; however, from this night forward, their relationship in Adam was terminated. They had become one in Christ. Once I met a brother in Canada, and I asked if his father was saved. He told me that his father was a brother and that they had become one in Christ. In another meeting, I had to stand up to introduce my uncle, and I called him my brother. In a family, there are different family ties. But in Christ and in the church, there are no family ties. We have all become one in Christ. I have often said that we call our children our children at home, but in the church we call them our brothers and sisters.
In Kaifeng, Honan province, many government officials believe in the Lord. I was invited once to preach to them. When a local brother introduced them to me one by one, he addressed them as Officer So-and-so. I turned around and told him that we have all been saved from Adam into Christ and that we were all brothers. Two of the brothers were heads of some government departments. Some time ago they came to Shanghai and had a meal with the brothers. A brother was about to address them as Officer So-and-so, but when he saw me, he corrected himself immediately and said, "I am sorry. I made a mistake. They are Brother So-and-so." Hallelujah! Through death we have been delivered from Adam, and through resurrection, we have entered into Christ. In Christ we are all God's sons and dear brothers to one another.
In Christ there is also no distinction between male and female. The Bible only speaks of God's sons. Sisters, what are you? Through God's only begotten Son, you have all become sons. In the flesh you are female, but you have received the life of God's Son. This life is the life of the Son. Therefore, even the sisters are sons. A brother once said that the brothers should be called male brothers and the sisters female brothers. This is right. Second Corinthians 6:18 says that we are sons and daughters of God, but this portion is not talking about our relationship in Christ. Hence, there is no contradiction between that portion of the word and Galatians 3:28. We are all sons of God in Christ, and there cannot be male or female. This is a glorious fact.
Since this is the case, what should our attitude be today? Romans 6:11 provides the best answer. This verse says that we should reckon ourselves dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus. If the words "in Christ Jesus" were taken away from this verse, there would not be any Christian faith. Many people believe that being a Christian is a matter of "counting everything from yesterday as being dead and everything from today as being alive." But the death and life we talk about are in Christ. I have read Romans 6:11 many times and have spoken on it many times, but often I forget the words "in Christ." If we are not in Christ, we can never reckon ourselves dead, and we cannot die. We die in Christ, not in ourselves.
We should say to the Lord, "In myself I am still not dead; I am still alive to sin. Today I still want to sin. But thank You because You have said that I am dead in Christ. I do not believe in myself; I believe that I am dead in Christ. I believe that I am dead in Christ already!" This is faith. Death comes by faith, not by works. We should not seek to die or try to die when temptations come. No! We are dead when we are in Christ. We have died in Christ, and God has crucified us in Christ. When we are in ourselves, we are alive, but when we are in Christ, we are dead. Our death in Christ is not something that will happen tomorrow or something that is happening today. Our death in Christ is an accomplished fact. We died in Christ long ago. This is an accomplished fact.
On the one hand, Romans 6:11 says that we should reckon ourselves dead to sin. This is the negative side of our being in Christ. On the other hand, it says that we should reckon ourselves living to God in Christ Jesus. This is the positive side of our being in Christ. First we die in Christ, then we are made alive in Christ. When we are made alive, we bear the fruit of the Spirit, which are the various virtues. Yet we cannot live out these virtues by ourselves; we can only live them out as we live by the life of God. If we live by the life of God, we will spontaneously overcome sin and bear the fruit of the Spirit. There is no need to pray much. It is better to praise instead. When temptations come and Satan tells us that we are still living in ourselves and that we have not died, we should say to him that we are no longer in ourselves, that we are in Christ, and that we are alive unto God in Christ.
A victorious life does not depend on the so-called reckoning. We overcome when we are in Christ. We may do a wonderful job of reckoning when we are in the meetings. But when we go home, it would not work to try to continue to reckon in ourselves. Victory can only be found in Christ. Let me illustrate this by the example of the lamp. A lamp shines when it comes in contact with electricity. The source of the lamp is the electrical power plant. A lamp shines as long as it is in touch with electricity. The lamp cannot shine in itself; it shines because it is connected to the electrical power plant. Furthermore, consider the difference between the Shanghai electric street trolley and the automobile. Neither the trolley nor the automobile can move by themselves. A trolley moves when it is in contact with electricity, whereas a car moves by the power of combustion. It is possible for the power of a car to run out. When the fuel runs out, the car will not run. However, our life is not like an automobile with a limited supply of fuel. Our life works in the principle of the trolley. As long as we are connected to Christ, all the riches of Christ will be transmitted to us continuously. There is no need to worry if the supply will run out.
The whole matter today is whether or not we are willing to be in Christ. If there are unsaved friends in the audience here, you only need to enter into Christ and to be joined to Him. All of His riches will flow into you. This is God's grace; you do not have to do anything, yet you can receive everything.
Death is a termination; it is negative. It terminates our life in Adam and buries everything that is old. Resurrection is the beginning of the new life; it is positive and initiates our new life in Christ. In Christ's resurrection, we receive His life. Hence, we die in Christ and also resurrect in Christ. Both death and resurrection are in Christ. Everything is in Christ.
