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Luke 12:50 says, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!” The Greek word for pressed has a wonderful meaning that is hard to express in translation. Although the Chinese translation is somewhat clear, it is still far from the original meaning. The original meaning of this word refers to a person being confined in a house or put into a box and therefore feeling constrained and pressed, not freed or released.
The Lord said that He had a baptism to be baptized with and that He was pressed until it was accomplished. He had a baptism to be baptized with, and this baptism was His death, the death on the cross. Many who do not know the mystery of Christ’s life think that the Lord Jesus was afraid to die on the cross. However, this verse shows us that the Lord was very eager to die on the cross. Why? He was eager to die because there was a powerful, unlimited, and eternal life concealed in Him, and He strongly wished that He could release it.
Christians often use the term everlasting life, which is the eternal life. In their understanding, the meaning of eternal is only with respect to time. Hence, to them, the eternal life refers to the life that lasts forever and ever. In the Scriptures, however, eternal means “infinite,” not only with respect to time but also with respect to space. The eternal life is the infinite life. Such a life transcends the element of time because time has no way to encompass or measure this life. In the same way, space also cannot encompass this life because it is eternal and unlimited. Just as God is infinite, so His life is also infinite. He transcends both time and space; He transcends all things because He is the infinite God.
One day this infinite God came into a small man who, on the contrary, was finite. Do you know how much space each one of us occupies? All those who have built a meeting hall know that each person occupies a space that measures only 3.75 square feet. You occupy no more than two square feet when standing up and no more than ten square feet when lying down. Man truly is too small and too limited. Not only so, when you are in Taipei, you cannot be in Tainan, and when you are at home, you cannot be in the meeting hall. You are too restricted. Please bear in mind that the finiteness of man is just the opposite of the infinitude of God.
What is incarnation? Incarnation is God’s coming into man and mingling Himself with man. God is infinite, whereas man is finite. Incarnation is the mingling of the infinite God with the finite man. If you put me into a 3.75 square-foot box, I will feel constrained, pressed, and bound every second. If I were there for only one minute, I would be pressed for the entire minute.
All those who know the Bible and the mystery of Christ’s life say that although God is the infinite God, one day He came into Jesus the Nazarene, limiting Himself in this finite man for thirty-three and a half years. Just as a man is lowly, so also was He in His appearance. Previously, He was infinite and unlimited, but now He had become limited in His human flesh. When He was in Galilee, He could not be in Judea; when He was in Peter’s home, He could not be in James’s home. He was very much under restriction every day that He was on the earth. In the beginning He transcended both time and space. However, in order to enter into man, He came into time and space. Every day that He lived as a man was a day of limitation. Hence, He said that He had a “baptism to be baptized with,” which referred to His death. He was pressed to accomplish this matter.
What is the effect of death? The effect of death is the breaking work. What needs to be broken? The human shell has to be broken. Where is it broken? It is broken on the cross. Many people think that the death of the cross is merely a suffering of punishment and pain. However, all those who know the cross know that the cross is more than the suffering of punishment and pain. The death of the cross causes the human shell to be split and broken so that the unlimited life can be released from man. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with.” He was very much restricted in the human flesh; therefore, He longed to go to the cross that He might be broken. His death was a breaking work that enabled the unlimited life to be released from Him.
In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone.” The life of the grain of wheat is concealed in the shell of the wheat and is restricted by this outer shell. However, if this grain of wheat dies, death will have an effect, which will allow the life of the wheat to be released. Hence, the Lord Jesus said that once the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it begins to grow and bear much fruit. However, suppose we put this grain of wheat into a beautiful box to honor and respect it. If this grain of wheat could speak, it would plead with us, saying, “Do not honor and respect me in this way. I am greatly bound here. I would rather that you give me an environment in which I could die. I am very eager to die because death is my only way out. Only by death can the life within me break forth.”
Those who know Christ will say that the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross is beyond human imagination. If you ask a Muslim why the Lord Jesus died, he may tell you that Jesus sacrificed Himself for the truth. If you ask a genuine Christian why Jesus died, he will reply that Jesus died to bear the sin of the world and become a curse for the world. We have to bear in mind, however, that knowing the Lord to this extent is not high enough or accurate enough. If you ask a more advanced and spiritual Christian, he will say, “The Lord Jesus not only bore the sin of the world on the cross, He also obtained a great release. His life, which was concealed in the human shell given to Him by Mary, was released. This was because the death of the cross broke His human shell and split the veil, His physical body. His life was thus released on the cross.”
When He was on the cross, a soldier pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water (19:34). Blood signifies that He bore our sins and redeemed us. Hence, the death of the Lord Jesus was a redemptive death, as indicated by the blood. However, not only did blood come out on the cross but also water. Water refers to life. The Lord’s death was not merely for the accomplishment of redemption but also for the release of life. If He, the one grain of wheat, was to be multiplied thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold, He had to pass through death. If He had not died, He would have remained a single grain. But since He died, the life of this single grain has entered into the many grains. He was a seed that was full of life. If He had not died, His life would have remained only in Himself and could not have entered into Peter, James, John, the other disciples, and all those who have believed in Him. Do not say that time is so long and space is so wide. If He had not died, His life would have stayed only in Himself and could not have been in the disciples. If He had not died, He could have walked among the disciples, but He could not have lived in them.
Regrettably, the disciples only knew the preciousness of the Lord’s presence among them, but it never occurred to them that the Lord would come into them and be mingled with them. The Lord intended to be in them as their life. The Lord said that He had a baptism to be baptized with, that He had to suffer death. The Lord felt that death was a glory and a release, but the disciples were sorrowful. Why were the disciples sorrowful? It was because the Lord had to die. There were originally thirteen of them altogether — the Lord Jesus plus the disciples. If the Lord died, however, they felt that they would be like orphans. Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus told them not to be sorrowful because in only three days He would come back into their midst. Furthermore, not only would He be in their midst, but He would also enter into them and abide in them. Previously, whenever the disciples were in Galilee, and the Lord was in the land of Judea, He had no way to be with them because He was restricted by His human shell. However, after the Lord’s death His life was released from within Him, and after His resurrection this life entered into all those who believed in Him.
On the day of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection, the eleven disciples were in a house, and the doors were shut. Suddenly, the Lord Jesus appeared. After His resurrection He intentionally appeared to the disciples to show them that He was no longer limited by time or space. The disciples were in the house, and the doors were shut, but He was not limited by those things. Why? It was because He had already transcended all those things. On the one hand, He is over all; on the other hand, He is in all. Whenever someone believes into His name and calls upon His name, He enters into him to be his life.
In Acts, when we see Paul, Peter, John, and Stephen, we cannot but worship the Lord, because He as the only grain had died and already borne much fruit. He is Christ, the eternal life. Through His death and resurrection everyone who believes in Him receives His life. Hence, everyone who believes in Him is Christ. Paul, Peter, John, and Stephen were all Christ because His life was in them, and He Himself was in them.
Suppose that in the beginning there was only one seed of wheat. After this seed is sown into the ground, it dies, yet some time later it grows up and becomes thirty seeds. Then, after these thirty seeds are sown into the ground, they also die and later grow into nine hundred seeds. In this way after many decades the whole earth is eventually filled with wheat. This is like the multiplication of Christians. The Christian life is afraid of ease and of being complimented. To prevent Christians from multiplying and spreading, all that is necessary is to pay them a high compliment, offer them a high position, cause them to enjoy happiness, and make them feel at ease. On the contrary, the more Christians are persecuted and opposed, the more they flourish. Christians do not fear men’s opposition; rather, Christians fear men’s praises. Two thousand years of history show us that the more Christians are killed, the more Christians there are. In the second century the Roman emperor gave the order to kill all the Christians. One day a Roman official presented a letter to the emperor, saying that there would be no more people in the city of Rome if the killing continued. Why was this? This was because everyone believed in Jesus.
What was the process that God’s life went through in order to enter into man and be released out of man? The life of God was in Christ originally, but there was only one Christ in the flesh — Jesus the Nazarene. When Jesus the Nazarene was in Galilee, He could not be in the land of Judea; when He was in the land of Judea, He could not be in Galilee. He was One who was restricted in the flesh, but one day He died. From the human perspective death is pitiful, yet in the eyes of Christ death was glorious, because after His death He transcended time, space, and every kind of bondage. Moreover, from the day of His resurrection, His life entered into man.
In Acts, Peter and the other apostles testified for the Lord. Their testimony was the testimony of the Lord’s resurrection life. At that time Roman politics, Greek philosophy, and Jewish religion had no way to deal with Peter and the apostles. They testified, saying, “The God of our fathers has raised Jesus, whom you slew by hanging Him on a tree” (5:30). After the Lord’s resurrection they brought three thousand people to be saved on one day (2:41) and five thousand on another day (4:4). The Sanhedrin wanted to arrest the apostles, but they said, “It is necessary to obey God rather than men” (5:29). After the life of the Lord Jesus entered into them, the entire Roman Empire, Greek philosophy, plus the Jewish religion were not able to put them down. This is the immensity of the power brought forth through the resurrection life of Christ.
We all have had the kind of experience where we intend to do good, yet we are not able to do it. This is because we are weak. We must realize, however, that because Christ has come into us, there is no good thing that we cannot do, and there is no good deed that we cannot perform. The infinite life of Christ with its infinite power has entered into us. Just as He is, so also are we. Just as He has the life of God, so we also have the life of God. Moreover, the life that is in us is the power of God. All Bible readers know that the four Gospels are the biographies of Jesus, and Acts is the biography of the disciples. Strictly speaking, however, Acts is also the biography of Jesus. The four Gospels are the biographies of Jesus as an individual, and Acts is the biography of Jesus in the disciples. Hence, there is not only one Jesus in Acts. The disciples of the Lord became the church as His extension in time and His spread in space. After two thousand years of extending and spreading, this Jesus is now in the United States and in China at the same time; He is in the East and in the West simultaneously. This is the purpose God intends to accomplish. The reason the Lord Jesus had to die and be raised was so that He could enter into man to be man’s life for His spread and extension.
In Christianity today, however, people present God’s salvation and the truth in a very superficial way. Since they do not see the deep and mysterious content of God, they merely tell people, “You are sinful, but Christ died for you and bore your sins that He might give you joy and peace. If you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will receive only blessings and will not suffer loss.” Sometimes when people do not have peace, after praying to the Lord, they have peace. The same is true with their business; sometimes their business is blessed when they pray. However, Christianity has missed a great and precious point — God’s life enters into man at the time he believes in Jesus.
Let us use the installation of an electric lamp as an illustration. If everything is ready, but the lamp has not yet been connected to the electric source, the lamp cannot shine. Once the lamp is connected to the electric source, the electricity will immediately enter into the electric lamp to make it shine. This shining does not come from the outward polishing. If the electric lamp is polished outwardly but not connected to the electricity, it still will not shine. Once the electricity enters into the electric lamp, the lamp will emit light. We Christians are the same. Do not think that if you “polish” yourself outwardly, that is, if you improve your behavior, you will be saved. Without the light, without Christ’s coming into us, and without God’s life, we are still empty within. Nothing can satisfy us until the day that we open our heart to receive the Lord Jesus — not only receiving His bearing of our sins but also receiving Him as our life. Then He will come into us, and we will be saved.
We look to God to show us that the most precious matter concerning a saved person is nothing other than the fact that he has Christ, the very God, in him. One day in 1934 while I was preaching in Tientsin, I saw that Christ is in me. At that time I was almost beside myself, and I wanted to tell everyone, “Do not touch me. Within I am too great and too glorious. The God of glory, the great Christ, is living in me.” Christ in us is truly too great a matter! When we are sorrowful, He comforts us. When we are weak, He strengthens us. When we are in darkness, He enlightens us. When we are unable to do good, He empowers us from within. He lives in us as our life and our disposition. He is our very being. Therefore, now for us to live is Christ, and Christ is also magnified in us.
There is a brother whose colleagues all regard him as a good and blameless man, but they feel that there is one thing about him that is strange. He is always preaching Jesus to people and urging people to believe in Jesus. Thus, this brother’s colleagues have given him the nickname “Jesus.” Actually, this is not a nickname — this is a glory. In fact, he is Jesus. He has the life, the love, and the disposition of Jesus — he is Jesus. Hence, he can do things that others cannot do, and he can live a life that others cannot live. Where does his power come from? It comes from Jesus, not the Jesus in heaven but the Jesus who lives in him.
Those who are inexperienced may think that this brother is crazy. How could Jesus enter into a man? How could Jesus be our life? If we truly know this, we will shout that He is very willing to come into us. We are lowly and unable to stand in His light, yet He is willing to come into us to be our life, our personality, our love, our morality, our holiness, our patience, and our power. Herein lies the real power of God’s salvation. This power is the life of Christ in the Christians.
If we think that to believe in Jesus is merely for us to obtain peace, joy, and blessing, then we only know the appearance of the treasure. For example, suppose you go to a jewelry shop to buy a diamond, and the salesperson puts the diamond into a very nice box. When your children see the package, they want that pretty box but ignore the diamond inside the box. It is the same with many of us in our knowledge concerning salvation. Why do we believe in Jesus? We believe in Jesus because we want to avoid sufferings and to have peace and security. What we want is only the pretty box. We do not know that God’s salvation is for Christ to be our life. All we want is the box, but we have not seen the diamond within. In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” What is this treasure? This treasure is Christ Himself, God Himself.
The center of the entire New Testament is that the Triune God is living in us and we in Him. The Holy Spirit is in us, Christ is in us, God is in us, and we are in the Triune God. The center of the New Testament is to show us that we, the saved ones, have God in us. It is true that God gives us peace, joy, and blessing, but these are all outward things. The intrinsic content of God’s salvation is God Himself, Christ Himself. He is the treasure in us, the earthen vessels.
We often say that Christians have to grow, but what is the Christian growth? Our Christian growth begins with knowing that God is in us. When we were saved, Christ came into us. However, our eyes need to be opened one day to see that Christ is truly the treasure. This glorious Christ, the God of glory, is living in us; He is our life. This is the first step of the Christian growth.
Our Christian growth is dependent on our knowing Christ as our life. What is a Christian? In short, a Christian is one who has two different lives — his own life and Christ’s life. Once a person receives Christ, he is no longer simply himself, but he has Christ within him. Christ and he have become one. This simple word reveals the highest, most glorious, and most mysterious fact — Christ is in us as our life.
Every saved one has the life of Christ. Therefore, every saved person has two lives — his own life and Christ’s life. These two lives live together. If you truly are a saved person, many times you may have an experience in which you sense that apart from yourself there is another person within you. This is the wonderful thing about being a Christian. You have no need to consult people outwardly, because there is One in you who is very wonderful, and you can come near to Him. When you have a problem, you can trust Him. When you encounter something that you do not understand, you can ask Him. When you are sad and sorrowful and no one sympathizes with you, this One in you, as a voice or a thought, will comfort and cherish you. When you are about to lose your temper or to commit a sin, this One will urge you not to do so and will stop you from doing so. In addition to yourself, there is another person in you. This person is Christ, God, and the Spirit.
If you have never had such an experience, I am afraid that you are not yet saved because you do not have God and His life in you. A Christian, a person who is truly saved, has Christ in him as his other person. We must clearly see the fact that Christ is living in us. The reason why a Christian is able to endure sufferings is because Christ lives in him. The reason why a Christian can sacrifice and consecrate himself is because Christ lives in him. The reason why a Christian earnestly preaches the gospel is because Christ lives in him. The power, motivation, and burden of a Christian all come from the Christ within him.
Today even though many people are saved, they regrettably do not know that Christ is in them. Some people have an incomplete understanding concerning this fact and are not living in this reality. This is similar to a person who prefers to remain in darkness and not turn on the light even though an electric lamp has been installed in the room. Christ is already in us, yet to this day we still do not live by Him much of the time. Rather, we still live by ourselves. Although we have Christ, we are not willing to live in Christ. Hence, every day all the saved ones have to face these two persons — one is themselves, and the other is Christ. Which one of the two will you choose? Do you want to live in yourself or in Christ? Do you live for Christ or for yourself? Do you give room to Christ or to yourself? This is the choice every Christian must personally face. Because you are a person who is subjective — that is, you have a mind, emotion, and will — you must make the choice by yourself. If you choose to live by Christ, this will please God, and this is what God desires. However, if you choose to live by yourself, God will not be able to do anything, and He will let you do what you want.
The key is whether you choose to live by yourself or by Christ. If you choose to live by yourself, you will appear the same as you were before you were saved. The reason why many Christians appear the same as the unbelievers is that they are living by themselves. If they would live by Christ, the glory and the beauty of God would be expressed in them. Whether we live by Christ or by ourselves is altogether dependent on us. God will not choose for us. He desires that we choose Christ, and He has put His life in us. However, God will never choose for us. If we do not live by Him, we will still live in darkness. Suppose there is an electric lamp in this house. If we are not willing to turn on the switch, the electric company will not be able to do anything for us. Now Christ is in us, and God is in us. Whether or not we choose to live by Christ is altogether dependent upon us.
