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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:4, 6b, 14; Gal. 5:25; Rev. 22:14, 17; Eph. 6:18; Rev. 1:10a; 1 Thes. 5:17, 19
After incarnation God Himself lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. He then went to the cross and passed through death. He was resurrected and became the life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit is the ultimate expression of the Triune God. Today the Spirit as the Lord is on the throne and is also moving on earth, waiting for man to receive Him. Whoever repents, calls upon the Lord, and believes in Him will receive this wonderful Spirit and be mingled with Him as one. This mingling of man with the Triune God is the mystery of mysteries in the universe.
In resurrection this One is complete and qualified in every way. He is the Creator. He is the Redeemer. He is both God and man; thus, He has both divinity and humanity. By virtue of His having passed through death and entered into resurrection, He has within Him both the power of death and of resurrection. He has the ascension glory, the authority, and the power. He is on the throne, with both the kingdom and the glory belonging to Him. All the power of the universe is embodied in Him. We rightly call Him all-inclusive.
When you receive Him, this very Spirit comes into you, making you one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). This One, with the power of resurrection, is in your spirit. What a joyous fact it is that we are one with this all-inclusive Christ! In Him are all the riches — humanity, divinity, power, life, holiness, and glory. They are for us now, not sometime in the future.
What is our part? It is simply to walk according to this Spirit. To do this is not religion, ethics, morality, or culture. What a glorious salvation! To walk according to this all-inclusive Spirit is the essence of the whole Bible. All sixty-six books, whatever they seemingly cover, have this as their ultimate direction; they were written for this end result.
If you are invited to someone’s home for a meal, the kitchen will be a very busy place. The vegetables have to be washed and cut. The meat has to be sliced and seasoned. There may be water boiling on the stove. The oil must be heated for the things that are fried. If you look into the kitchen, you will see how much activity is going on and how messy everything appears. There may be smoke and steam in the air from the cooking. Eventually, however, a meal of delicious food will be placed before you for your enjoyment.
This kitchen activity may be likened to the process that God went through in order to be a delicious meal for us. He created the world. He became incarnate. He passed through human living. Then He entered and passed through death. Bidding death farewell, He entered into resurrection. At this point the meal was ready. When we repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, this delicious dish becomes our portion. All He would have us do is enjoy this Spirit as our portion.
This Spirit is both the breath of life and the tree of life in Genesis 2. The tree of life is simply the processed Triune God, who has become the Spirit and is now before you to eat and enjoy. After you receive Him, you are to eat of Him and enjoy Him.
Religion, culture, and morality all make demands. They tell you what to do. To ask “What should I do?” is to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To partake of the tree of life is to eat and drink without asking any questions. The marriage vows are a case in point. The bridegroom promises to love his wife unto death. The bride, in turn, vows to obey her husband, never turning back. The pastor exhorts them to be true to their vows, as the Scripture teaches. Do these exhortations and vows belong to the tree of life or to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
Demands that are put upon you are from the tree of knowledge. Those who instruct you in how to behave are eating from that tree. When you are invited to a feast, you go there to eat, not to keep regulations. God’s only desire is that you eat of the tree of life, not do this or that. The Bible ends with one call and one promise: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). The call is to come and drink of the water of life. The promise is in verse 14: “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” Those whose robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb may come to eat of the tree of life.
After I was saved, I came to love the Lord. I began to pursue Him. I wanted to be an overcomer. What I had to work on the hardest was my temper. Nothing bothered me so much as my quick temper. Although I dearly loved my mother, when my temper got the upper hand, I would say things to her that I would afterwards deeply regret. Because of my longing to overcome my temper, I bought a good number of books on the subject of how to overcome or the way to be holy. When I first read them, they seemed to make sense. When I tried to put them into practice, however, I found that they did not give much real help. Only later did I come to realize that books of that type only teach their readers to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
What does the Bible teach? The Lord Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly...I am the bread of life...He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (John 10:10; 6:48, 57). He did not come as a teacher. He did not come as a pastor to give you scriptural advice about how to get along with your spouse. He came as bread for you to eat. Eat Him. Do not ask Him what you should do.
But this is a hard word. You cannot take in the matter of eating Him. You want to learn how to deal with your wife. What method should you use? What would be the proper psychology? To use your mind to work out your problems is to eat of the tree of knowledge. The tree of life does not need to be analyzed and understood; it is simply to be eaten.
Many Christians admire the eloquence of their pastor. They enjoy his weekly sermon. Sometimes he talks of heaven; other times, of earth. He talks about the future and about the past. His audience finds his words stimulating, inspiring, and challenging. They think they are receiving sound guidance for their daily path.
Alas! They are feasting on the tree of knowledge. The Lord wants to be eaten, but we refuse. When we read the Bible or hear a preacher, we pay attention and try to learn. The tree of life, however, is for eating, not for understanding. In John 6 the Lord called Himself the true bread out of heaven (v. 32); the bread of God who gives life to the world (v. 33); the bread of life (v. 35); and the living bread (v. 51). He is to be eaten.
We long to have advice. Formerly, I would easily give suggestions when various ones came to me with problems. What I was really doing was teaching them to eat of the tree of knowledge. Now, if you check with any young people who have come to me for help, they will all tell you I had no advice to give them except to eat the Lord. Nonetheless, you still want to know what to do, what course you should follow, what method you should use. You are probably thinking, “Yes, it is all very well to eat the Lord. But when my husband loses his temper with me next time, how shall I handle the situation? What method will alleviate matters? How shall I react?” When you ask questions like that, you turn back to the tree of knowledge.
Rather than imagining what might happen later, stay in fellowship with the Lord. “Lord, You are the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. You are living in my spirit. You and I have become one spirit. I would just abide here in my spirit with You.” Go home in peace. Do not wonder what you will do if such-and-such happens. Simply follow the Spirit. There is no reason to ask anyone what you should do. Praise the Lord that He is within you and that you are one spirit with Him. Keep talking to Him in this way. When you get home, if your husband confronts you at the door and asks, “Where have you been? Why do you not take care of the house?” do not react. Keep saying, “Lord, I am one spirit with You. You are the life-giving Spirit.” He may say, “Oh, you are so spiritual! Is the Lord in your spirit and not in mine?” Just keep thanking the Lord that He is within you, giving life to you. If your husband then proposes, “How about fixing something for us to eat?” keep walking according to the Spirit. I believe the Spirit will constrain you to go into the kitchen and cook for him. As you are working there, say, “Lord, You are the life-giving Spirit within my spirit. Hallelujah!”
If you will live in this way, you will be walking according to the Spirit. You do not need to know what the standard is for a good husband or wife. You do not need to think about honoring your parents. You do not need to consider how to love people or how not to lose your temper. All your being is toward this One who is the life-giving Spirit indwelling your spirit.
This is a glorious way to live. Practice it. You will be out of the realm of religion, morality, and the law. There will be only Christ. You will be in the good of God’s intention. It is His heart’s desire to live in you as your life and your person. What I am proposing is not superstition or empty doctrine. Surely you have already had some experience of this. Think back to a time when you prayed yourself into the spirit. It made you forget heaven and earth. You and the Lord were one, and it seemed there was nothing else. “O Lord! O Lord! It is so good to be here with You!”
This spirit of prayer must be the realm in which we live. Bring this atmosphere into your daily life. Pray without ceasing. This does not mean to keep praying for all different matters all the time. To pray without ceasing means to breathe in the Lord and enjoy Him constantly. It means to stay in the realm of the Spirit where the Lord is with you and you are with Him. Do not quench this Spirit.
If you are willing to practice this, the element of the Lord will increase in you from day to day. A sanctifying process will take place. Things that others do will no longer appeal to you. What you formerly enjoyed you will no longer have any interest in doing. Your smart remarks will not be forthcoming. Your taste in clothing will be different. These changes will be the result of the Lord’s increase in you, not of an effort at outward conformity. Because you are one spirit with the Lord and walk according to this spirit, the result will be that you are transformed and made holy. Without any intention you will be an overcomer.
Pray daily: “Lord, I love You. Attract me, that I may love You more. Rekindle my love for You this very day. Every day I want my love for You to be fresh and sweet. Come and make Your home in my heart. You are the One I desire.”
To thus declare your love for the Lord and to invite Him to make His home in your heart is not an insignificant matter. Suppose you expressed your love to someone of your acquaintance and your longing that that one come and live with you. How deeply moved that person would be! This One whom you are inviting is the Lord of heaven, the Creator, the incarnated, crucified One who is now the Spirit. In Him are the power of resurrection and the riches of ascension.
He is pleased to come when you invite Him. He Himself said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him” (John 14:23). The Father and Son will live in you.
Is this mere fanciful talk? Is the Lord Jesus real? Is it true that He now is the all-inclusive Spirit? Praise the Lord, it is real! When you say, “Lord, I am here. Come and live in me,” He will come. You will enjoy His presence, sweetness, comfort, and supply from within. This will be your experience, even though you cannot describe it precisely. Unbelievers will wonder what kind of person you are and what makes you that way.
In the last book of the Bible there was one who said, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). May this be true of all of us. “Lord, make me one who is in spirit. May all my days on earth be the Lord’s day. I want to be one who is in spirit.” With all of us so exercised to be in spirit, enjoying God and man mingled together, we have the church life today. Tomorrow we will have the New Jerusalem. This is the eternal purpose of God, His heart’s desire, and His greatest pleasure.
Nothing pleases Him more than your being one spirit with Him and walking according to that spirit. Do you love the Lord? Then enjoy this mingling with Him. Do not worry about the criticisms of others. Do not have rules to follow. Do not have secondary considerations. Simply love Him, walk in spirit, be mingled with Him, and fellowship with Him in spirit: “Lord, I love You. You and I have become one spirit. I am living in You. You are living in me. I want my walk to be in You and according to the spirit.” Here is overcoming life, light, power, riches, spirituality, holiness — the church life.
Do you see how different it is to walk in spirit than to be in religion? The Triune God has become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. He is now living in your spirit so that He and you are one mingled spirit. In this one spirit pray, fellowship with Him, and be joined with Him. Walk according to this one spirit.
