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Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:10, 12, 17-19, 21; 6:4; Phil. 3:10a
Romans 5 shows us two persons — Adam and Christ. The disobedience of one man is versus the obedience of the One (v. 19). Adam is the first man, and Christ is the second man. In the Bible God’s desire is with the second man, not the first man. Isaac’s two sons were Esau and Jacob. God rejected Esau, the firstborn, and He loved Jacob, the second child (9:13). Also, the book of Exodus tells us that God’s ultimate judgment on Egypt was for all the firstborn ones to be killed (11:4-5). The first represents the soulish man, while the second represents the spiritual man (1 Cor. 15:46-47). We were in Adam, the first man, but now we are in Christ, the second man. We were born in Adam, but we have been born the second time in Christ. Our first birth was of Adam, and our second birth was of Christ. Anyone who has had only one birth has not been saved and is not of Christ. Because we have had our first birth in Adam and our second birth in Christ, we are of Christ.
According to Romans 5, we inherited sin and death in Adam (v. 12). Sin brought us under God’s condemnation (vv. 16, 18). As long as we are sinful, we are condemned by God under His righteous judgment. Death brings us into a situation where we are absolutely unable to fulfill any of God’s requirements. Because we are dead, we do not have the ability to be humble or patient according to God’s divine standard. Romans 5 shows us that we were first under a situation in which we were condemned by God, and we were also in a situation in which we were absolutely unable to fulfill God’s requirements. Thank God, however, that Christ died for us. His death has solved our first problem. Our being under God’s condemnation is now absolutely over. But today we are still, in a sense, in the second situation of not being able to fulfill God’s requirements.
From Adam we inherited sin and death. From Christ we received righteousness and life (vv. 17-19). Righteousness and life are the two main items we have received in and of Christ. Righteousness is versus sin, and life is versus death. We inherited sin, but we have received righteousness. Righteousness canceled sin. We inherited death from Adam, but we have received life in Christ. Life cancels and swallows up death. Righteousness in Christ is related to His death. Life in Christ is related to His resurrection. He died for our sin, and He was resurrected for us to have life. His death solves the problem of our sin, and His resurrection imparts to us His life in order to vanquish and to swallow up death. On the one hand, we have been reconciled to God by His death. On the other hand, we are now being saved in His life from death. Death is our problem. Having been reconciled, much more we will be saved in His life from death (v. 10), which is the inability and disability to fulfill God’s requirements according to His divine standard.
We have to apply this fellowship to our practical daily life. Sloppiness, looseness, and carelessness are weaknesses, and weaknesses are different aspects of death. We are sloppy, loose, and careless because we are weak, and all the weaknesses are aspects of death. We may have the thought that if we could have more freedom, that would be wonderful. But the kind of freedom that we desire may not actually be freedom but looseness.
We have to differentiate freedom from looseness. Looseness is a condition of our daily life in which we cannot help ourselves. We may not be able to help ourselves get to bed at the right time. We may not be able to help ourselves keep things in order. When we are strong and sober in our mentality, spontaneously we are not so loose. When the time comes that we need to smile, we should be able to smile. When the time comes that we need to weep, we should weep. When the time comes that we need to laugh, we should laugh. Looseness means that there is no control. Looseness is death. Freedom is not being under the bondage of anything. When we are free, we do what we feel that we have to do. Freedom is to laugh when we feel we have to laugh and to stop laughing when we feel that we need to stop. When we are free, we are not under the bondage of anything.
We are able to regulate ourselves when we are enjoying real freedom. Our being able to manage a car that we are driving means that we are driving the car in freedom. We can use the brakes when we have to, and we can step on the gas when we have to. To drive in a condition of looseness would mean that the brake or the steering wheel on the car did not work. The real freedom in driving is that the car is absolutely under our control. We need to live a sound, sober, and normal life, and that life is Christ. Christ is so sound, sober, normal, and strong.
The four Gospels unveil the marvelous humanity of the Lord Jesus. What a marvelous daily life and human living He had when He was on this earth! He was a person who was noble, solid, sober, and proper in every way. The Gospel of John unveils the Lord Jesus as the very God who passed through human living on this earth. The book of John shows us in particular how the Lord Jesus as life meets the need of every man’s case.
John 11 shows us that the need of the dead is life’s resurrecting. In this chapter we can see the Lord Jesus’ marvelous divine humanity. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus (v. 5). One day Lazarus became very ill, and Martha and Mary sent the news to the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed in the place where He was for another two days (v. 6). He had the full freedom to go to visit Lazarus or not to go. The “brake” of His “car” was so workable.
The disciples were people who were easily moved, but the Lord Jesus was so stable. When the news came about Lazarus’s sickness, the Lord’s heart was not moved. The disciples must have been puzzled and perplexed. You can imagine how disappointed they were. After two days the Lord suddenly expressed a desire to see Lazarus. When the Lord did not want to go, they were puzzled, and when the Lord was ready to go, they thought that it was not necessary to go. They said to the Lord, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and You are going there again?” (v. 8). What the Lord would not do, the disciples would do, and what the Lord would do, the disciples would not agree with. We may say that the reason for this is because they did not know the will of God. But we must also see that the disciples were not so normal. They were people who were easily excited and offended.
If we are easily offended, this means that we are not so normal. If we could be rebuked and scorned severely without being offended, this shows that we have the real freedom. Sometimes, however, just a single word can offend us. We are easily offended because we are weak and full of death. If we easily misunderstand others and are easily offended and unhappy with others, this proves that we are weak and dead. We do not have the life power to manage ourselves. When the disciples did go with the Lord to visit Lazarus, they went reluctantly. Even Thomas said to the other disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (v. 16).
When the Lord Jesus was on His way to the village at Bethany, the first one who came to meet Him was Martha. Martha said to the Lord Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). Then the Lord Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again and that He is the resurrection and the life (vv. 23, 25). But Martha did not hear what the Lord Jesus said. Her response was that she knew that her brother would rise again in the resurrection in the last day (v. 24). After her conversation with the Lord Jesus, Martha went away and told her sister Mary that the Lord was there and that He was calling her (v. 28). This was Martha’s opinion and not the Lord’s command. The Lord Jesus was not offended by the opinions of Martha, Mary (v. 32), and the Jews (vv. 36-37). At one point, the Lord wept in sympathy with their sorrow over Lazarus’s death. In John 11 we can see that the Lord was always in full control of Himself. With Him there was the full freedom. He was absolutely free, and there was not one bit of looseness with Him because He was full of life.
If I laugh or weep without limitation and without control, that means I am full of death. We have to realize that if we partake of Christ and enjoy Him as our life, our whole being, our whole human living, will be absolutely changed. Our partaking of the transforming life of Christ will not only enable us to overcome some sins and besetting habits but will also and more importantly swallow up all the death of our natural man to make us absolutely another person. Then when we laugh, we will laugh in a different way. When we weep, we will weep in a way full of control. We may be happy and excited, but we will be happy and excited under a certain control. When every part of our being is under the control and inner regulation of Christ as the divine inner life, this is the real freedom.
Lawlessness and looseness are not freedom. Freedom is to be under the full control of the divine life yet without bondage. Our being able to do household duties at the proper times with joy is a proof that we have the life power within us. The life power within us enables us to wash the dishes, to be on time, and to get to bed at the proper time. Doing these things will not be a bondage but a joy if we are enjoying the real freedom in the divine life. We need to enjoy the life power, the power of the Lord’s resurrection, to have a proper human living in our daily life. Nothing should be a bondage, a pressure, or a suffering to us, but in everything we should have the joy of the Lord because we are being saved in His life. If we do not have the life, whatever we do will be a pressure or a suffering. We need the real experience of Christ as our inner saving life.
Much more, we will be saved in His life from death. This kind of saving from death includes being set free from sin and also includes sanctification, transformation, conformation to the image of Christ, and the building up of the Body. We are independent because we are short of life. In Ezekiel 37 the bones were dried up thoroughly, so every bone was individual and separate from the other bones. The bones were separated and detached from one another because there was no life. Because there was no life, they were disjointed, separated, and absolutely individualistic. The bones of our human body are joined together to be one body through, by, and with life. In like manner, we are built together into one Body through, by, and with the divine life.
We need to be impressed that in many respects we are still full of death. We are still so weak, loose, sloppy, careless, independent, individualistic, and unwilling to be coordinated with others. All these are signs of our weakness, and our weakness is simply deadness. We need the divine life. The more life we have, the more this life will swallow up the death in our being. Then there will be a real transformation in us.
Do not think that transformation is something that happens in a sudden way. Transformation goes on hour after hour, moment by moment, and little by little all day long. By the Lord’s mercy, I have been under the transformation of the inner life for many years. We should not think that it is necessary to pray and fast for a period of time to undergo the process of transformation. Transformation does not come in a sudden way but works in a very normal way day by day. Bit by bit the transformation of the inner life works in a very normal and ordinary way, even with the small things in our daily life. We may not be able to sense the transformation of life, but after a certain period of time there will be a difference in our being because of the growth of life.
We cannot see much growth in life in a young child from day to day, but after a year we are able to see some growth in life. From one day to the next we cannot see any difference in the flowers or fruit trees. But after a certain period of time, we are able to see the flowers blossom and the fruit trees bear fruit. The growth of the plant life is not something that comes suddenly but gradually. After a certain period of time, we are able to see the blossoms and the fruit, the evidence of the growth of life.
If we mean business with the Lord to enjoy Christ as the life within us, there should be a change with us after a certain period of time. If there is no change or progress with us after a certain amount of time, this indicates that we are not enjoying the saving inner life of Christ. The more that we say, “O Lord, Amen,” the more life we will receive. Spontaneously, we will be saved in His life from all the signs of death. We will be saved from all the weakness and inability to meet God’s requirements according to His divine standard.
In Philippians 3:10a Paul said that he wanted to know the power of the Lord’s resurrection. This power is His resurrection life which raised Him from among the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). We need to know and experience the life power of the Lord’s resurrection to be saved in His life.
We need to bring this fellowship to the Lord and pray-read the verses in the Scripture reading in Romans until we sense that the life within us is really ruling and reigning like a king. Then we will not only walk in newness of life (6:4) and not only be saved in life (5:10), but we will also reign in life (v. 17). Then we will have the full freedom. We will reign as a king in life by taking Christ as life. Nothing will be a bondage to us because we will be free in our enjoyment of the saving life of Christ. As we are being saved in His life, we will be sanctified, transformed, and built up into the Body of Christ. Sanctification, transformation, and the building up of the Body come out of the saving of life.
The way that we enjoy this saving of life is revealed in Romans 10. Verses 12 and 13 tell us that the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him and that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. When we call upon the name of the Lord, we are saved in His life. When we call upon Him, we enjoy the saving life. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we may enjoy His saving life to the fullest extent day by day.
