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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 2:1-2, 6-15
In the messages given in recent service trainings on the history of the Lord’s recovery, we considered how God’s revelation has been confirmed among us. In other words, we viewed God’s revelation from the perspective of history. In this section of four chapters we will consider our vision, our revelation. Revelation and vision both refer to the same thing. From God’s perspective there is revelation, but from our perspective there is vision. When God’s intention is revealed to us, it becomes a vision. Therefore, as we are considering God’s revelation from the perspective of history, we are really considering our vision.
Revelation and vision are two sides of the same thing. Everything has two sides: an outer side and an inner side. This is also true with human beings. Human beings appear one way outwardly but are a different way inwardly. For this reason, psychologists distinguish between the metaphysical and the physical aspects of man. The outer aspect is visible, but the inner aspect is invisible. The visible aspect is very simple, but the invisible aspect is mysterious. For example, it is easy to see that a man has ears, eyes, a nose, a mouth, shoulders, arms, hands, and feet. However, even though man is simple on the outside, he is mysterious and wonderful on the inside. The most mysterious thing within man is life. It is also mysterious that man possesses more than one life. Man has a physical life, which is his biological life. Concealed within man’s physical life is his psychological life, which the Bible calls the soul-life. This life is deeper than man’s biological life.
Believers have another life that is even deeper than their physical life or their psychological life. This is the divine, eternal life that we received when we were regenerated. This life is in our spirit. Every Christian has these three lives. The first life is the biological life, the physical life of our body. The second life is the soul-life, which is our self. The third life is the deepest; it is the eternal life in our spirit. As believers, we are not simple, because we have three kinds of life.
In the same principle, the revelation of the Bible has one appearance on the surface, but in its depths the Bible is a mystery. It is easy to perceive the outward appearance of the Bible, but it is not easy to know the inner content. When we meet someone for the first time, we know his height and outward appearance. But there are mysteries within him. He has a spirit and a soul, and his soul consists of his mind, emotion, and will. He also has a physical heart and a psychological heart. A believer is not simple, for he has three kinds of life. Likewise, the Bible has an outward appearance and an inner content. Its appearance is easy to read. The first sentence of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Even an elementary-school student can read and understand this. However, this is only the surface of the Bible. Before reading the Bible, we did not know the origin of the heavens and the earth. But after reading the Bible, we are clear that God created the heavens and the earth. This is a revelation, but it is revelation on the surface. The superficial revelation is consistent from the beginning to the end of the Bible. We will now consider the main idea of the revelation on the surface of the Bible.
The Bible clearly says that God is the source of all things. In the beginning God created the heavens, the earth, and man. The heavens, the earth, and man are the most important items in creation. The heavens are for the earth, and the earth is for man. God created a beautiful universe. However, there is a rebel, Satan, the devil, in the universe. Satan rebelled against God and seduced man to sin against God. As a result, the man, whom God created good, became fallen and was spoiled and corrupted to become evil and dark. God, however, did not forsake man. Because God loves and delights in man, He had a plan to save man. Before saving man, however, God gave the law. The law was written according to God in order to expose man’s fallen condition. It is through the law that man knows sin and himself, and it is through the law that man also comes under God’s compassion to seek God’s salvation.
At the appointed time, which was about four thousand years after man was created, God sent His only begotten Son to become a man, who is called Jesus. He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years and tasted the sufferings and hardships of human life. After thirty-three and a half years He bore the sins of the world and was judged by God on the cross, where He shed His precious blood to redeem man. On the cross He also destroyed the devil. After His death on the cross He was buried, and on the third day He was raised from the dead. His being raised from the dead proves that He is the Lord of resurrection. He remained on the earth for forty days in order to be among the disciples, after which He ascended. Ten days later the Holy Spirit was poured out, and His disciples went to preach the gospel everywhere, bringing many sinners to repentance and salvation. Because salvation was complete and the Holy Spirit had descended, every sinner could hear the gospel and be moved to repent, believe, and receive salvation. When sinners believe in the Lord Jesus and call upon His name, their sins are immediately forgiven, and they are justified and regenerated by God. These believers remain on the earth to be the church in order to do God’s will revealed in the Bible, thus pleasing and glorifying God.
One day the ascended Lord will rapture the overcoming believers to heaven. Then He will return to the earth with them in order to judge this world, terminate all the corruption in the world, and establish His kingdom — the millennial kingdom — for a thousand years. After the millennial kingdom of one thousand years God will deal with Satan, the old creation will pass away, and the new heaven and the new earth will be brought in. In the new heaven and the new earth God will be with His redeemed people forever, and man will enjoy eternal blessing. This is the revelation on the surface of the sixty-six books of the Bible. This is what every Christian believes. This is also what every messenger of the gospel has preached for the past two thousand years.
The revelation on the surface of the Bible is taught in seminaries and preached by most preachers. Everything that is taught among Christians is included in this revelation. Hence, most Christians believe that the Bible reveals only this much. However, this is only the surface of the content of the Bible. It is not the deep mystery in the Bible.
First Corinthians 2 says that Paul spoke God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which none of the rulers of this age have known (vv. 7-8), and which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and which has not come up in man’s heart (v. 9). Paul spoke this word to the wisdom- and philosophy-seeking Greeks, and he seemed to be saying that even the greatest Greek philosopher could not imagine God’s mystery. This mystery was hidden in the Bible, but Paul spoke this mystery to the saints. When he preached the gospel to sinners, he spoke the revelation on the surface, but once the sinners were saved, he spoke the deep mystery in the Bible. Today a person who reads the Bible several times may think that he knows the content of the Bible; however, he may not know the mystery in the Bible.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, the Pharisees and the scribes read the Old Testament, spoke on the Old Testament, and even adorned themselves with verses from the Old Testament. They thought that they knew the Bible. One day, however, they asked the Lord Jesus a difficult question, and He told them that they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (Matt. 22:29). The Pharisees and scribes thought that they knew the Scriptures, but the Lord said that they did not know the Scriptures. They knew the letter of the Scriptures, but they did not know the power of God. The power of God is a mystery. The Scriptures contain not only letters but also the power of God. A person who thinks that he knows the Bible may understand only the letter of the Bible. Many seminary professors, missionaries, pastors, and Bible teachers expound the Bible and write commentaries, thinking that they understand the Bible. However, I am afraid that the Lord Jesus might say they do not know the Scriptures. Some among us have read the Bible many times and have even worn out several Bibles, but the Lord Jesus might also tell them, “You do not know the Scriptures.” It is possible for us to know the things on the surface but not know the deep things in the Bible.
I was born and raised in a Christian family, and all the schools I attended from elementary school to technical college were Christian schools. With such a Christian background I was very familiar with the revelation on the surface of the Bible. When I was young, my mother would tell us the story of Joseph in such a way that we would cry in sympathy for Joseph. My mother also told us stories from the Gospels. I heard these stories again when I attended Sunday school. Later, the pastor told the same stories in the Sunday service. After I was saved, I heard the stories again. However, I did not know the deep mystery in the Bible.
When I was about twenty years old, a nationally renowned preacher spent much of his time in northern China. One day he came to my hometown and gave a message concerning the Lord Jesus’ coming so that man may have life and may have it abundantly (John 10:10). I had never heard a message on such a topic; it seemed like a new term, a new truth to me. However, after the message I was still baffled concerning what life is and what it means to have life abundantly.
After I was saved, I loved the Lord and the Bible very much. I read and wore out several Bibles. I also sought the truth. One day I went to the strictest sect among the Brethren; they were renowned for their Bible exposition. There I treasured what I heard. The first thing that I heard was concerning the seventy weeks in Daniel 9. The seventy weeks are divided into seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and the last week (vv. 24-27). The last week can be divided into two parts: the first three and a half years and the last three and a half years. Each three and a half years is forty-two months, which is a thousand two hundred and sixty days. Because I liked what I heard, I was with the Brethren for seven and a half years and heard about both prophecies and types. Concerning prophecies, they spoke of the great human image in Daniel 2 with its head of gold, arms of silver, abdomen of bronze, two legs of iron, two feet partly of iron and partly of clay, and ten toes (vv. 31-45). They also spoke of the four beasts in Daniel 7 and of the fourth beast that grew ten horns on its head (vv. 3-7). They said that the ten toes of the great human image are the ten horns of the fourth beast. Besides prophecies, they also spoke of types. I learned much concerning the various types in the Bible.
However, I did not hear about the Spirit, about life, or about Christ living in me. I did not hear about the church being the Body of Christ or about the Body being the one new man. Even though I was saved in 1925, it was not until 1932 that I began to see the deep mystery in the Bible. By then I was more than twenty-five years old. I was born in a Christian family, educated in Christian schools, and had heard sermons in Christianity from a young age, but I knew only the revelation on the surface of the Bible. I did not know the deep mystery in the Bible.
In considering our vision, we will not look at the revelation on the surface of the Bible, for many can recite this revelation. Our need is to consider the deep mystery in the Bible.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then we are told what God created on the first day. Chapter 1 also speaks of God’s restoration and further creation. We can understand what God created when we read these verses. However, there is a mystery in this chapter, for verse 26 begins with “God said, Let Us...” This “Us” is a mystery. Is there one God or many Gods? To say that there are many Gods is heresy. But how can God refer to Himself as “Us”? This is a mystery.
In verse 26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Have we seen God’s image or His likeness? Do we know that we were made in God’s image, according to His likeness? This is a mystery. The Bible says that no one has seen God and that God is invisible (John 1:18; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17). How can the invisible God have an image? If He has an image, can He be seen by men? Furthermore, what is the distinction between image and likeness? Theologians cannot research this matter thoroughly, nor can they give a clear explanation concerning this matter. Hence, Bible expositors cannot expound the word Us in Genesis 1:26, nor can they explain the words image and likeness. This proves that there is a mystery in Genesis 1 that is not easy to utter.
We need to ask, is man in the image of God or in the image of man? Is man according to the likeness of God or according to the likeness of man? It is correct to say that we are men, but man has the image of God and the likeness of God. Some theologians may think that it is a heresy, blasphemy, to say this. How can a small man dare to say that he bears God’s image and likeness? But we know that this is not blasphemy; it is the revelation of a mystery in the Bible.
Genesis 1 says that the plants and animals are “according to their kind” (vv. 11-12, 21, 24-25). Dogs are according to the dog kind, horses are according to the horse kind, and cattle are according to the cattle kind. The same is true of grass, flowers, and trees. Peaches are according to the peach kind, apricots are according to the apricot kind, peonies are according to the peony kind, and chrysanthemums are according to the chrysanthemum kind. Everything is according to its kind. However, according to what kind is man? Is man according to mankind or God’s kind? The Bible says that man was made in God’s image, according to God’s likeness. Therefore, man was created according to God’s kind. We have been criticized because we speak according to the Bible and say that man is according to God’s kind. People say that we speak heresy. Our critics say that because man is man, not God, how can man be according to God’s kind? They say that only God is according to God’s kind; therefore, man cannot be according to God’s kind. Nevertheless, the Bible says that man was made in God’s image, according to God’s kind. Man being according to God’s kind is a mystery in the Bible.
It is not simple to understand the truth in the Bible. The superficial revelation of the Bible is easy to understand, but the mystery in the Bible is difficult to understand. I have given many messages in the United States concerning the mingling of God and man. Some say that these messages are heresy, because I am saying that man can be God. However, the Bible says that man was made in God’s image, according to God’s likeness. Let us use a glove as an example. A glove is made in the image of a hand with the purpose of containing the hand. God made man in His image with the purpose of entering into man. Romans 11 reveals that the believers have been grafted into God (vv. 17-24), and chapter 9 says that man is a vessel to contain God (vv. 23-24). We would not put a square object in a round box. A vessel is shaped according to the object it is to contain. The beginning of the Bible speaks of God making man in His own image, according to His own likeness, to indicate that one day God would become one with man.
Some believe that the Bible is concerning God creating man; God sending His Son to save fallen man; man’s sins being forgiven; man repenting, believing, and being saved; and man eventually going to heaven. This, however, is the surface of the Bible. The Bible is concerning the deeper revelation. The first chapter of the Bible reveals that one day God would be joined with man, become one with man. God wants to be man’s content; therefore, He made man in His image and likeness so that man would be a vessel to contain Him. When God enters into man, He is joined with man, becomes one with man. A cup that contains coffee is a coffee cup. Similarly, a man who contains God is a God-man.
Unless a person contains God, he is empty, being without content. Those who are not saved are without content, and their lives are meaningless. But those who are saved are not empty, meaningless, or without content. We are full of content, and our content is God Himself. This is not being proud; this is a fact. Believing in Jesus is not a matter of being saved to go to heaven; rather, believing in Jesus is a matter of being saved to contain God. When we contain God, we become God-men. Our vessels were formerly a mess, filthy, and defiled. But now that the precious blood of the Lord Jesus has redeemed us, we are washed, we are clean, and the divine life has come into us to be our content. We are God-containing vessels. This is the deep mystery in the Bible.
In Genesis 2 God put man in front of a tree. That tree has a special name; it is called the tree of life (vv. 8-9). In putting man in front of the tree of life, God seemed to be telling man, “You have My image and My likeness, but you do not have My life. At best, you are a photograph of Me.” The man whom God made was like a photograph of God; he did not have God’s life. God wanting man to take the tree of life indicates that He wanted to enter into man in order to be man’s life.
The truth in the Bible is that God wants man to receive Him. The Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word,...and the Word was God” (1:1). One day the Word became flesh (v. 14). This incarnated Word lived as a man among His disciples and said, “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever” (6:51). By linking these verses with Genesis 2, we see that God created man as a vessel with the intention of being received by man. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (John 6:57).
Eating the Lord is also a mystery that the majority of Christians do not know. In 1958 I was in Taipei and spoke on John 6:57. From then on we have been speaking of eating, drinking, and enjoying God. One time after a meeting a brother who is a professor said to me, “Brother Lee, your message today was good, but one word was very barbaric. It is barbaric to talk about eating Jesus.” I said, “Brother, I am not the one who is barbaric. This is what the Lord Jesus Himself said.” This shows that even though we know the Bible on the surface, we do not actually know the Bible. Many Christians do not know the truth of eating Jesus.
Those who study nutrition say, “You are what you eat.” In other words, we are an aggregate of the food that we eat. The rice, bread, fish, meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits that we eat become us after they are digested. This mystery is in the Bible: God wants to be the bread of life to man. Only after He is our bread of life can He be our real content.
The beginning of the Bible matches the ending of the Bible. In Revelation 2 the Lord promised, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (v. 7). At the end of Revelation the Lord also promised, “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life” (22:14). The tree of life is God Himself. To wash one’s robes is to keep one’s conduct clean through the washing of the blood of the Lamb (7:14; 1 John 1:7). This is how we are qualified to enjoy God. This is a deep mystery in the Bible; it is not the revelation on the surface.
Not only does the beginning of the Bible match its ending; the entire Bible is consistent. In John 15 the Lord said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him...” (v. 5). This is a mystery. This is a picture of grafting. The Lord is the vine, and we are the branches. In our natural birth we are not branches in the Lord; we were grafted into Him when we were regenerated (cf. Rom. 11:17, 24). Grafting unites the life of two trees and mingles them into one in order to bear fruit. Grafting is a simple example, but the reality contained in this example is not simple. This is the way that we abide in the Lord, and He abides in us. We human beings are abiding in God, and the Triune God is abiding in us. This is a mystery.
After the Gospel of John and the book of Acts we come to Paul’s Epistles. The first Epistle of Paul is the Epistle to the Romans. Romans 6:5 says, “If we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” This is a mystery within a mystery. The Bible scholar F. L. Godet once said that the words grown together in this verse refer to a union in life. In such a life union we may partake of Christ’s life and characteristics and thus grow in life. This is a deep mystery, not superficial revelation.
In chapter 8 Paul speaks of the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2). This is a deeper mystery. There is a law that regulates us from within. This law is the law of the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of life is the Triune God. The Triune God is the Spirit of life, and He has become a law within us. This is exceedingly mysterious. In Paul’s Epistles the word mystery is used many times. Paul says that Christ is the mystery of God, that the church is the mystery of Christ, and that Christ and the church are the great mystery (Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4; 5:32). These are matters of the Spirit, for the Triune God has become the life-giving Spirit, who is now dwelling in our spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; Rom. 8:11).
In Revelation John speaks of seven golden lampstands, which are the seven churches (1:20). This is also a mystery. In Revelation the Spirit of God is the seven Spirits (v. 4), and the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6). This is much more mysterious. The ultimate manifestation of the Triune God is the life-giving Spirit, who is the seven Spirits, and the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the second person of the Trinity. The church was produced in the New Testament age. The church is a lampstand, and the lampstand is the mystery of the church. Ultimately, the church becomes the New Jerusalem, which is the mystery of mysteries, the totality of all the mysteries. In the New Jerusalem there are the tree of life, the river of water of life, the man-creating God, and the created man. The New Jerusalem is the totality, the aggregate, of all the mysteries. This is the mystery in the Bible.
Are we Christians with merely the revelation on the surface of the Bible, or do we know the deep mystery? Our being Christians is also a mystery. Eventually, we will become the totality of mysteries, the New Jerusalem. Then we will enjoy all the mysteries. This is the deep mystery in the Bible. Paul told the Corinthians that he preached this mystery, which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and which has not come up in man’s heart, yet God has revealed it to us (1 Cor. 2:9-10). This is not the revelation on the surface of the Bible but the mystery hidden in the Bible. This is what the Lord wants to recover in His recovery today.
