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In leading the young people, we should follow a line related to spiritual knowledge and a line related to spiritual life. Both of these lines are important. Although we cannot take care of both lines in every meeting simultaneously, we can cover them alternately, focusing on spiritual knowledge one week and on spiritual life the next week. Since the young people are at various levels of human growth, our leading should vary as well. We can speak something simple to junior-high students, something deeper to high-school students, and something still deeper to college students. When we apply this principle, we need to be flexible and avoid making hard and fast rules. We should determine the level of depth according to the actual situation.
In leading the young people, we should avoid the way of giving a message; rather, we should give a main point and several verses. When we come to something that they do not understand, we should stop and speak again, and we should ask them to write down the main point and study what they have learned when they go home. The next time we meet, we should ask them to repeat the points by speaking in a way of testing. Although they may think that this is too difficult, it will be profitable to them. In every meeting we should use the first half for testing and the second half for a new lesson. This will give them a deep impression of the truth, and the content of the truth will be deeply rooted in them. Whenever someone is being tested, everyone will receive help. This is the best way to train the mind of the young ones and to help them.
When we speak to the young people concerning the matter of life, we should say something that will stir up their interest, but it does not have to be too long. For example, we can say, “Life gives meaning to the entire universe, and life makes the universe interesting. Just imagine if all the organisms in the universe were removed, the universe would have no meaning and would be void of anything of interest. The universe is interesting because of life, and life causes people to have a sense of wonder and meaning. If there were no plant life or animal life, the universe would be desolate and entirely void of meaning. Hence, life is the central focus of God’s creation. In the universe life is the central thought and concept. In a garden there are flowers, grass, and trees, including fruit trees, all of which are full of the beauty of life. Without life a garden would be a boring and desolate place.”
After we cover the matter of creation, we can speak about the Bible. The Bible is a book on life. There are billions of books in the world, but only the Bible is crucially focused on life. If we removed life from the Bible, it would be the same as removing life from the universe. Without life the universe is desolate, boring, and meaningless; likewise, without life the Bible is empty. The Bible speaks of the tree of life at the beginning (Gen. 2:9), and it speaks of the tree of life at the end (Rev. 22:2). Moreover, there is a river of water of life flowing at both the beginning and the end of the Bible (Gen. 2:10; Rev. 22:1). This shows that the focus of the Bible is on life. Life is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament. For example, the Gospel of John is filled with the matter of life. In the Old Testament, Psalms also mentions life (36:9). The Bible is a book on life, and all the knowledge in it is for the purpose of imparting life.
We should present the matter of creation according to the first two chapters of Genesis. There is an innumerable variety of things in the universe, but even if there were a record of every item in the Bible, it would not exhaustively explain the work of God’s creation. Nevertheless, God uses only two chapters in the Bible to record the items of His creation, because His emphasis is on life. Genesis 1:1-4 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.” For the earth to become waste and emptiness and for darkness to be on the surface of the deep indicate a situation of death, which is in contrast to life. When there was no life, darkness was on the surface of the deep. Therefore, God said, “Let there be light” (v. 3). When light came in, there was a separation from the darkness. Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters” (v. 6). God made the expanse and separated the waters under the expanse from the waters above the expanse (v. 7). When the waters were separated, an expanse was produced. Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear” (v. 9). “God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good” (v. 10). This step caused the waters to gather together, and it separated the waters from the land. There was a separation of light from darkness, a separation of what is above from what is below, and a separation of the waters from the land because God desired to create an environment for life to grow. After these steps the earth produced grass and all kinds of plants (vv. 11-12), and one by one different kinds of life appeared (vv. 20-25). This shows that life is the goal of God’s creation.
God first created the lower forms of life and then the higher forms. His creation began with plant life, which is the lowest form of life. Then He created the animal life and then man’s life, which is the highest form of life. Plant life has no consciousness. Of the created forms of life with consciousness, God began with organisms that have the lowest form of consciousness, that is, the animals in the water. Then He created the animals in the air and the animals on the ground (vv. 11, 21, 25). In principle, animals on the ground have a higher degree of consciousness than those in the air. Following the creation of the animals on the ground, God created man (vv. 26-27). Man has the highest form of consciousness and sense among all of God’s creation, whether in the sphere of water, air, or land. Among all the created organisms, except for angels, man’s consciousness and senses are the highest. Nevertheless, Genesis 2 shows that God was not satisfied that man would have only the created life; He wanted man to receive the uncreated divine life, the highest life in the universe, which is God’s life. Hence, after creating man, God placed him before the tree of life so that man would receive this life (v. 9). From this we can see that life is the content and the goal in God’s creation.
We must tell the young people that God is life. In the Bible there are many verses that speak of God being life. Psalm 36:9 says that God is the fountain of life. The Gospel of John begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1), but then it says, “In Him was life” (v. 4). In 10:10 the Lord said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” Colossians 3 says, “Christ our life” (v. 4). First John 5:11-12 says, “God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” In chapter 22 of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible, the tree of life and the river of water of life are mentioned again (vv. 1-2). All these verses show that God emphasizes life, that God Himself is life, and that God desires to give us eternal life.
The matter of God being life requires a change in our natural concept, because the first thought most people have about God is not related to life. The first thought of both Christians and non-Christians concerning God is not related to God being life. Some think of God as being the sovereign One, others think of Him as the Creator, and still others as the almighty One, but rarely do they think of God as life. Even theologians do not place much emphasis on the matter of God being life. Most tell people that God is mighty, holy, compassionate, righteous, and so forth. Rarely in Christianity is there a message emphasizing that God is life. Nevertheless, the Bible reveals that God is life. According to the record in the Bible, after God created man, the first thing that He did was to place man in front of the tree of life in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8-9). The first impression God gave to man of Himself was not related to power, holiness, love, or righteousness but to life.
In Genesis 2, after God created man, He did not speak to man of His power or His love; rather, He placed man in front of the tree of life in the garden of Eden. This shows that God is life to man. When I saw this, I had a great inward turn. Formerly, I thought of God as a great God, but on that day I became clear that God is life to us. Even though He is great, He became the tree of life with fruit for us to eat. In the New Testament many people viewed the Lord Jesus as a person of great power because He performed many miracles, such as changing water into wine and even raising people from the dead. However, the Lord said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and He likened Himself to the children’s bread (Matt. 15:26). This reveals that God is life.
God is not only life, but He also longs to be our life. However, in order to be our life, He had to come forth to be our life and to be gained by us. The Bible shows that the coming forth of God is a matter of flowing. The first step in His flowing out was in the Lord Jesus. The second step of His flowing out is as the life-giving Spirit. The flowing out of God in the Lord Jesus may not be obvious to us. However, we can clearly see that the Spirit is the flowing out of God. In the Old Testament, when Moses struck the rock, living water flowed out of the rock. The flowing out of the living water is a type of the Spirit (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4). John 7:38-39 also says that rivers of living water will flow out of the innermost being of those who believe into the Lord and that the Spirit is this living water. Hence, the Spirit is the flowing out of God, the ultimate means of God flowing into man.
God became flesh in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, and then He became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection (1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b). His “becoming” in these two steps was for the purpose of flowing out in order to be received into us. This is seen at the conclusion of the Bible. Revelation 22:1-2 says, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits.” Both the living water that flows out of the throne and the tree of life are God, because the tree of life is the Lord Jesus, and the water of life is the Spirit. The picture at the end of Revelation shows that God is flowing out to be our life. He is the tree of life full of fruits for us to eat; He is also the gushing water of life for us to drink. Because He is flowing out, we can take Him into us to be our life.
If the Lord Jesus had not become the life-giving Spirit, it would not be possible for us to receive Him. After becoming flesh and then becoming the life-giving Spirit, God is available to be received by us.
In order for God to be life to us, He cannot be outside of us; rather, He has to enter into man. In order for us to receive anything into us, there is the need for a receiving organ. For example, in order to receive food into our physical body, we need a stomach; to hear sound, we must have ears; and to see colors, we must have eyes. If we want to receive something, we must have an appropriate organ in order to receive it. Consequently, man needs a receiving organ in order to receive God. Therefore, God created man with a human spirit. Of all the living creatures, only man has a spirit, although angels, who are also created, are spirits (Heb. 1:14). When the Lord Jesus spoke of being the bread of life to eat and the living water to drink, He was not speaking of food that is received by our stomach, the food that perishes (John 6:27), but of Himself as spiritual food to be received in our human spirit (v. 63). In our spirit we can receive God as our spiritual bread and our spiritual water.
God created man with a spirit so that He could be received by man. Genesis 2:7 says, “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” God used dust to form man’s body and then breathed the breath of life into man’s nostrils. This breath is not the same as God’s Spirit. However, when this breath entered into man, it became man’s spirit. In verse 7 the word breath is the same word in the original language as spirit in Proverbs 20:27. As a result of God’s breathing, man became a living soul. Man has three parts: a physical body made from dust, a spirit formed by the breath that was breathed into him, and a soul that was produced when God’s breath was breathed into him. The soul is deeper than the body, but it is not as deep as the human spirit.
First Thessalonians 5:23 confirms that man has three parts, saying, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete.” This verse clearly states that man has three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Hebrews 4:12 proves that the spirit is distinct from the soul, because it speaks of the living word of God that is piercing “even to the dividing of soul and spirit.”
God created a spirit for man so that man could receive Him, because He is Spirit. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” Man’s spirit is for man to contact God. If we consider this matter more deeply, we can add two more verses. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” The fact that the Spirit can witness with our spirit proves that the purpose of our spirit is to receive God as Spirit and that God can come into our spirit because He is Spirit. Thus, the Holy Spirit can witness in our spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We can be joined to the Lord as one spirit because we have received Him as the Spirit in our spirit; thus, the Spirit and our spirit are one spirit. These two verses are quite deep, and we must consider whether we should present them to high-school students or only to college students.
Besides the crucial points above, we must help the young saints to know their human spirit. Our conscience is a part of our human spirit, and the function of our conscience proves that we have a spirit. Despite the fact that a decision makes sense according to our intellect and reasoning, we still may have an uneasy sense in the depth of our being. This is because our reasoning capacity, which is related to our soul, is not as deep as the function of the conscience in our spirit. Although we may make a decision according to our intellect, there often is a sense in the depth of our being that causes us to have a sense of unease related to a decision that is based merely on our intellect. This sense is the response of our conscience. The most obvious example is stealing something from another person. Even though stealing may bring some sense of pleasure to our soul, there is an accusation, a condemnation, and even a fear in the depths of our being. These sensations come from the operation of our conscience in our spirit. In addition to our soul, there is a deeper part of our being that is our spirit, and this deeper part is manifested to us through the operation of our conscience in our spirit. Many times our intellect and emotions are in agreement to do a certain thing, but our conscience protests and condemns the inclination of our intellect and emotion. This proves that our spirit and our soul are different and that our spirit is deeper than our soul.
We can also speak to high-school or college students about man being a vessel created by God. Romans 9:21-23 says, “Does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? And what if God, wishing to demonstrate His wrath and make His power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.” This shows that God-created human beings are vessels. The purpose of a vessel is to contain something. God created man as a vessel to contain Himself.
Many people think that God created man as an instrument to be used by Him. This is not accurate. God created man as a vessel, and He wants to put Himself into this vessel so that He can be expressed. God does not want us to be an instrument. Second Corinthians 4:7 says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” When we were saved, God entered into us; thus, we have a treasure in us, the earthen vessels. Our main function in this universe, or we may say our only function, is to be God’s vessel. Just as a light bulb is a vessel designed to contain and express electricity, we are vessels designed to contain and express God.
