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Scripture Reading: John 6:57; 14:19-20, 23; 15:4-5; Gal. 2:20a; Eph. 3:16-17; Phil. 1:20b-21
I would like to impress us again with the five wonderful statements mentioned in the first chapter that specifically express the burden of this book. First, man is the center of the universe. Second, Christ is the meaning of human life. Third, the church is the expression of Christ. Fourth, the church life is the real communal life. Fifth, go therefore and disciple all the nations.
In this chapter my burden is to share with you that God needs us. God needs man, and man needs Christ. Without man, God cannot fulfill His purpose. Without man, God can do nothing. On the other hand, we also have to say, “Without Christ, I can do nothing.” Without us, God can do nothing, and without Christ, we can do nothing. God needs us, and we need Christ. We are here for God, and Christ is here for us.
If we were not for God and if we did not have Christ for us, we would be miserable and pitiful. Unfortunately, this is the real situation of today’s world. The people in the world are not for God, and they do not have Christ for them. They just go along by themselves and by trusting themselves. But we Christians are different in that we are for God, and we have Christ for us. Do you have a genuine realization that you are for God and that you have Christ for you? If you really do, you will be on fire, and you will go and tell people this.
We said in the preceding chapters that God has a purpose. God’s purpose is to express Himself and also to deal with His enemy. To carry out His twofold purpose, God needs man to be His expression and to subdue His enemy. But how can man do this? Humanly speaking, we may be incapable of doing many things, but all of us can breathe, drink, and eat. Even the little babes know how to do these things. There is no need for anyone to teach them. In the same manner, we are incapable in the spiritual realm, but we can breathe in Christ (John 20:22), drink Christ (4:14; 7:37), and take Christ in as our food (6:35, 51, 57). Christ is the air, the breath; Christ is the water, the drink; and Christ is the bread, the food. Therefore, we all can take Christ in. God has no intention for us to express Him by ourselves or to do anything for Him by ourselves. God’s intention is that we express Him and do things for Him by taking Christ as our life (Col. 3:4; John 6:57; 14:19).
There are two big mistakes — one made by the worldly people and the other by the Christians. The big mistake of the worldly people is that they do nothing for God. The Christians, on the other hand, try to do something for God by themselves. This also is a big mistake. The right way for us is to do something for God not by ourselves but by taking Christ as our life. The Lord Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (15:5b). Yet the apostle Paul said, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). Without Christ, we can do nothing. But with Christ and in Christ, we are able to do all things. In John 14:20 the Lord told the disciples, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Hence, we are not without Christ. We have Christ, and we are in Christ.
In today’s human society there is nothing except vanity and misery because people are on the wrong way. They have nothing to do with God. The Christians, however, are trying to do something for God by themselves. Now, at the end of this age, the Lord is going to recover something mainly through the younger generation. Therefore, you young people all have to learn how to be for God by taking Christ as your life. If I ask you what you are doing here, you should not say that you are here studying or working. Rather, you have to say, “I am here in Southern California for God!” What are the young people doing here? They are here for God! By what way? By taking Christ as their life! This means that they are breathing Christ, drinking Christ, and eating Christ.
Without us, God can do nothing, and without Christ, we can do nothing. We are vessels for God who need to take Christ as our life. How wonderful it is that we are good for taking Christ as our life! The animals were not created for taking Christ, but we were. We all are qualified to take Christ. If you truly realize this, you will go out to tell people that they are good and qualified for taking Christ. Christ is our life (Col. 3:4), and the eternal life is nothing less than Christ Himself (John 3:15-16, 36; 14:6a).
For the past years we have been stressing Christ as our life, but in recent days the Lord has shown us that He is also a person. In John 15:4a He says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” You as a person abide in Christ, and He as a person abides in you. Christ is a person. He is not merely power, strength, might, or life, but a person. Within a tree there is life, but the tree is not a person. Within a motor there is power, but the motor is not a person. But within a man there is life and power, and even the more, he is a person. Christ to us is not only life and power but also a person abiding in us (vv. 4a, 5a; 14:23).
Ephesians 3:17a says, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts.” A person needs a home. Christ desires to make His home in our hearts. This means that this Christ who is making home in our hearts is a person. God’s intention is that we human beings take Christ as our person. This means that we have to live, not by ourselves but by Christ as our person (Gal. 2:20a; Phil. 1:20b-21; John 6:57; 14:19).
Suppose we have a young man and a young lady who are going to get married. They are two beings with two persons. How can the two of them become one being? In many weddings the head of the bride is covered. This signifies that the two persons become one since the wife is willing to have her head covered. As a wife you have to realize that, according to God’s economy, your head has to be covered. This does not mean that the man as the head has authority and that the wife is miserable in losing all her rights. Rather, it is a matter of love. It means that the wife loves her husband to such an extent that she is willing to give herself up. She is willing to give up her person and take her husband as her person. As a living being, she does not live by her own person; she lives by her husband’s person. This is real love.
Likewise, we need to give up our person and take Christ as our person. When we are willing to forget about ourselves and take Christ as our person, we will be rooted and grounded in love (Eph. 3:17b). We will say to the Lord, “O Lord Jesus, I just love You. You are so wonderful, good, nice, capable, and qualified. O Lord, You are so sweet and tender. I want to forget about myself and take You as my person.”
Among the saints, the husband should not say to his wife, “Did you hear the message in the meeting tonight? Who is the head?” The wife may say, “Yes, I heard that. No doubt, you are the husband, so you are the head. But it’s pitiful that I am a woman. Since I am your wife, I have no choice but to cover my head.” This kind of wrong understanding concerning the husband being the head, the person, of the wife will lead to either separation or divorce. We must know that the wife’s taking the husband as her person is a matter of love. When we take Christ as our person, it simply means that we love Him. We tell Him, “O Lord Jesus, You are so sweet and capable. Therefore, Lord, I just forget about myself, and I take You as my person.” If I ask a sister why she is wearing a particular dress, she may say, “Because I like it.” This is a failure. As a wife you should be able to say, “I wear this dress because my husband likes it.” Suppose I ask a brother, “Why do you comb your hair that way?” His answer should be, “Because my Husband, the Lord who lives in me, likes it.” This is what it means to take Christ as our person.
Let me share a living testimony with you. After I had given some messages concerning taking Christ as our person, a sister testified that in the past she had difficulty going to sleep at night. She used to pray earnestly, asking the Lord to help her go to sleep. But from the time that she understood the real meaning of taking Christ as her person, she began to change her way of prayer. She prayed in a simple way, saying, “Lord, do You want to sleep or not? If You want to sleep, then I sleep. If You don’t want to sleep, then I don’t sleep.” She told us that after she prayed this way, she immediately went to sleep. This is a good example of what it means to take Christ as your person.
Recently, I checked with one of the young students. I said, “Brother So-and-so, after tonight’s meeting, you are going to take a bus. How would you pray?” He said, “I will pray, ‘Lord, which bus should I take?’” I told him that his prayer was a religious prayer and that it was wrong to pray that way. Then I told him, “When you go out of the meeting hall, you need to have a little talk with the Lord, saying, ‘Lord, which bus are You going to take? If You take bus number one, I will take that too. If You take bus number two, I will also take the same bus.’” It is so simple to take Christ as our person.
Do not try to be holy, spiritual, or victorious. Forget about all these things. Always take Christ as your person. Always tell Him and tell the whole universe that now you are not living by yourself. You are living by Christ not only as your life but also as your person. It is so simple. I encourage all of you, the younger ones as well as the older ones, to try it. We need to be simplified. We have become complicated by Christian teachings. We were taught that we should be holy, but we need to forget about this. Instead, be so simple and go to the Lord. Just tell Him, “O Lord, You are not only my life but also my person. I am good and qualified for taking You as my person.”
Wherever you are, whatever you do, and whatever you say, simply take Christ as your person. Suppose tomorrow you plan to go to the beach. You have to put this into practice and ask, “Lord, will You go to the beach tomorrow? Lord, if You go, I will go. If You do not go, neither will I. You are my person.” It is so simple. If we all take Christ as our person, spontaneously we will express God, and we will also subdue the enemy. We will conquer all the enemies and have a conquering life instead of a conquered life.
Just be simple. Learn to practice taking Christ as your person in all the things in your daily walk. In everything learn to take Christ as your person. Do not take this as a doctrine. Take this word and put it into practice in your daily living. Then you will see how prevailing it is. If you take Christ as your person, you will spontaneously express God and represent God. All day long the enemy will be under your feet. You will have a subduing life instead of a subdued life. This means that you will be victorious.
