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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 1:3, 21-22; 4:15; 8:9; 12:9; 13:14; Rom. 5:5
We need to see what is revealed in the Epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians. These Epistles reveal a wonderful divine matter: the Triune God dispensing His very essence into our tripartite being.
In reading 1 and 2 Corinthians it is very easy for us to be attracted to, and even captured by, matters other than the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. Therefore, in reading these Epistles, we need to pay attention to certain crucial points. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:9 Paul says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Here we see that we have been called by God into the fellowship of His Son. As we have seen, the fellowship of the Son of God is the partaking of, the participation in, the Son; that is, to partake of, to participate in, the all-inclusive Christ. God has called us into such a fellowship so that we may partake of Christ and enjoy Him as our God-given portion. God has called us into such an enjoyment of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we see that Christ is the sphere and element into which we have been placed by God: “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” God has put us into a particular sphere, and this sphere is Christ. Hence, we need to realize that God has not only called us into the fellowship and enjoyment of Christ; He has also put us into Christ as our sphere and element.
Sorry to say, many readers of the New Testament do not have any realization of the fact that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son and that He has also placed us in Christ. The reason they do not have any realization or impression regarding these matters is that they do not have such a concept, thought, or understanding as they read the New Testament.
Let us suppose, as an illustration, that you are reading a book that describes a particular machine and how it operates. If you do not have any knowledge of that machine, you may have little understanding of what you read concerning it. But someone with a thorough knowledge of that machine will easily understand what the book is saying. In fact, he only has to glance at what is written in order to grasp what is in the book. He may even understand more than what is actually written. Because he has a knowledge of the machine, he can easily take in what is written in the book about that machine.
In reading anything, we need to have an adequate knowledge of the vocabulary used. This is true even in the reading of a newspaper. The more adequate our knowledge of the vocabulary is, the more we will understand what we read. This principle applies to our reading of the Bible.
First Corinthians 1:9 tells us that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. God has called us into the enjoyment of a wonderful person, the unsearchably rich Christ. However, if we do not have the knowledge of Paul’s vocabulary, we will not have much realization concerning what he is saying about the enjoyment of Christ.
Because certain matters in the Scriptures seem to fit in with our natural concepts, we respond immediately when we read them. For instance, in Ephesians 5:22 Paul says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord.” A brother reading this verse may say, “Yes, this word certainly applies to my wife. She should be in subjection to me.” But if this brother were to read Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:30, a word that tells us that it is of God that we are in Christ, he might not have any understanding or response whatever. Such a word might sound very strange to him.
In the past, what was your reaction to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:30 about being in Christ? Were you deeply impressed with this matter? Honestly speaking, when I read this verse as a young Christian, I was troubled by it. I did not know what it meant to be in Christ. Neither did I know how it was possible to be in Christ. When I asked others about this matter, they were not able to help me. I could not find anyone to help me understand this verse. If Paul had said here that it is of God that I was saved by Christ, I would have understood this verse immediately. However, I did not know what Paul meant by saying that it is of God that I was in Christ Jesus. I use this as an illustration of the need to have a proper knowledge of Paul’s vocabulary.
In 1 Corinthians 1:30 Paul says not only that God has put us into Christ but that Christ has become “wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” We need to pay careful attention to Paul’s expression. Paul does not say that Christ was given to us as wisdom. Instead, he says that Christ became wisdom to us from God.
Once again, we may use electricity as an illustration. Electricity is not merely given from the power plant. Actually, electricity is continually transmitted from the power plant to a building. The electricity flows from the power plant to the building. There is a continual transmission of electricity.
In a similar way, God does not merely give us Christ as our wisdom once for all. On the contrary, God has caused Christ to become wisdom to us. This means that, as electricity is transmitted from the power plant to a building, so Christ is continually transmitted into us from God to be our wisdom.
In order for a particular building to receive the transmission of electricity from the power plant, the building must maintain its connection to the power plant. If this connection is broken, the transmission of electricity will cease. Electricity is not given by the power plant to the building; it is continually transmitted from the power plant to the building. Therefore, there is the need for a continual attachment in order to have the continual flowing of the current of electricity. We need to see in this illustration that the electricity does not stay in the building. Rather, the electricity continually flows into the building.
In a similar way, Christ is not merely given to us as wisdom once for all. Rather, He is continually transmitted into us to be our wisdom. In order to receive this continual transmission of Christ as wisdom, we need to keep ourselves attached to Him.
Strictly speaking, what we have in 1 Corinthians 1:30 is not the giving of Christ as wisdom. What we have here is the dispensing of Christ as wisdom into us. As the dispensing of electricity should be a continual matter, so the dispensing of Christ as wisdom should be also a continual matter. Now we can understand what Paul means when he says that Christ has become wisdom to us from God.
In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we see that Christ also becomes our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We have seen that Christ became wisdom to us from God as three vital matters in God’s salvation: righteousness for our past, by which we have been justified by God so that we may be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life; sanctification for the present, by which we are being sanctified in our soul, that is, transformed in our mind, emotion, and will, with the divine life; and redemption for the future, that is, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23), by which we will be transfigured in our body with the divine life to have the Lord’s glorious likeness (Phil. 3:21). It is of God that we participate in such a complete and perfect salvation. In this salvation our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — becomes organically one with Christ, and Christ becomes everything to us. This is altogether of God, not of ourselves, that we may boast and glory in Him.
We should not regard the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:30 simply as objective matters. Actually, as our wisdom Christ is being transmitted into us to become our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The very elements of righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are being transmitted into us in a subjective way.
A divine transmission is taking place from the heavenly power plant into our being. As the result of this transmission, Christ becomes to us a living and subjective righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Contrary to what we may have been taught in the past, there is no need for us to reckon Christ to be our righteousness. Righteousness here is not a matter of reckoning; it is a matter of transmission. Christ is being transmitted into us as our living righteousness and also as our living sanctification and redemption. This transmission is a matter of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians we have some crucial matters. We have the enjoyment of Christ, we have Christ as the sphere and element into which we have been placed by God, we have Christ becoming wisdom to us from God, and we have Christ being transmitted into us to be our living righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
In the book of 1 Corinthians we also see that through the divine transmission, through the divine dispensing, we have the gifts with which to function. In order to function in the church, we need the gifts. But where do the gifts come from? We should not think that spiritual gifts will suddenly come upon us in a miraculous way. On the contrary, all spiritual gifts are transmitted into us from God as the source.
God is the source of the gifts, and the transmitting agent of the gifts is the Spirit of God. Through the Spirit, by the Spirit, and with the Spirit, God is transmitting Himself into our being. This transmission will go on until it reaches the point where we have a particular gift. Then we will be able to function with this gift.
In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians Paul lists the functions that come out of certain gifts, such as the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. We have pointed out that prophecy is a matter of speaking for Christ and even of speaking forth Christ. All these gifts are the outcome of the divine transmission. May we all see that this transmission is equal to what we call the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In order to function we need the gifts that come from the divine dispensing. When I was a young Christian, I did not have much experience of the divine transmission, and therefore I felt that I could not function. For example, on a certain occasion I was called upon to offer a prayer at the end of the so-called service. I was greatly surprised when I heard my name, and I did not know what to say. At that time I was not clear that the living Christ was in me and that the Spirit of the living God was transmitting the riches of Christ into my being. I had neither the knowledge nor the experience of this. For this reason I did not feel that I could offer a prayer, much less speak in a public meeting. But after many years and by the Lord’s mercy, we have learned that, according to the Bible, we may function by the gifts that come from the divine dispensing.
According to the New Testament, function depends on at least three basic matters: first, the fact that we have been regenerated; second, on Christ living in us; and third, on the anointing of the Spirit of God.
We are familiar with the fact that in the Bible anointing is related to oil. Therefore, to be anointed is to be “oiled.” We all have the “oiling” Spirit within us, anointing us day by day. What we need to do is stay firmly attached to Christ as the anointed One. In 2 Corinthians 1:21 Paul says, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” God has firmly attached us unto Christ, and now we need to stay attached to Him. If we stay attached to Him in our experience, the anointing, the oiling, will never cease.
Allow me to testify of my experience of the anointing as I was preparing to give this message. When I was with the Lord concerning the message, I was anointed by Him. I experienced a rich “oiling” of the Spirit. Because of this anointing, I was eager to come to the meeting for the purpose of dispensing the Triune God. I wanted to spread this ointment to others.
Our daily righteousness, sanctification, redemption and also our practical function in the church meetings come from the divine transmission. Because we experience such an inner transmission taking place day by day, we are anointed by the Spirit, “oiled” by Him. Through this anointing we have the divine essence within us for our experience and enjoyment. This is clearly revealed in the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians.
