Search
We have seen previously that in the new covenant the forgiveness of sins is the gospel of grace. If a man can believe this grace for the forgiveness of his sins, his conscience will have rest. We know that many who belong to the Lord have received this grace for the forgiveness of their sins. Concerning this aspect of the new covenant they not only believe, but they are also willing to testify that God has forgiven them their sins and cleansed them from all their unrighteousnesses.
However, in addition to this aspect of the new covenant concerning the forgiveness of sins, there are also two other extremely glorious and precious aspects of the new covenant: one is the matter of life and power, and the other is the matter of the inward knowledge, or knowing God in an inward way. These two aspects have been much neglected and are not understood or even believed by many. This is why so many of God’s children are so spiritually poverty-stricken. This is also why many are so weak and full of failure. Brothers and sisters, it is good that God has forgiven us our sins, but if we remain the same after our sins are forgiven, God is still unable to obtain in us what He intends, and we still cannot do God’s will. In that case, what is the difference between us and the children of Israel who wandered in the wilderness? And if there is no difference, where is the glory of the new covenant? Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must see this better aspect of the new covenant.
According to Hebrews 8:9, under the old covenant God took the children of Israel by their hand and led them out of Egypt, but in the new covenant God draws our hearts out of Egypt. In the old covenant God gave the law externally to the children of Israel, but in the new covenant God has put the law inside of us and has inscribed it on our hearts. Under the old covenant there were those who taught the children of Israel, yet they observed God’s works for forty years and were always going astray in their hearts; they did not know God’s ways (3:9-10). However, in the new covenant there is no need to be taught by man, for all can know God in an inward way from the least to the greatest. Now let us see how it is that God has put His law into us and inscribed it on our hearts, and why it is an extremely glorious and precious part of the new covenant.
Before we begin, we must read the related verses. The first is Hebrews 8:10: “This is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me.” Another is Hebrews 10:16: “This is the covenant which I will covenant with them after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws upon their hearts, and upon their mind I will inscribe them.” These two verses both speak first of imparting or of inscribing. These verses are different in this respect: in 8:10 the mind is first mentioned and then the heart, whereas in 10:16 the heart is mentioned first and then the mind. Whether the mind or the heart is mentioned first, both passages speak of imparting or inscribing, and both mention the mind and the heart. Therefore, both speak of the same thing. We must also realize that both these passages are quotations from Jeremiah 31:33, which reads, “This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Jehovah: I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
Ezekiel 36:25-28 speaks of the same thing as Jeremiah 31:31-34, except that some words are clearer in Ezekiel, and other words are clearer in Jeremiah. The passage in Ezekiel reads, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will also give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and My ordinances you shall keep and do. And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
At least five things are referred to in these verses: (1) cleansing with clean water, (2) giving a new heart, (3) giving a new spirit, (4) taking away the heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh, and (5) having His Spirit within. When we put these five matters together, the result is to “cause you to walk in My statutes, and My ordinances you shall keep and do...And you will be My people, and I will be your God.” Notice the word cause in verse 27; it means to motivate. The Holy Spirit who indwells us gives us new strength to do God’s will and to please God so that God can be our God and we can be His people.
When speaking of how God has put His law within us and has inscribed it on our hearts, we must start from regeneration, for regeneration means that the Holy Spirit has put the uncreated life of God into man’s spirit. Regeneration is a new thing that takes place in man’s spirit; therefore, regeneration is not a matter of behavior but a matter of life.
Before we can speak adequately of regeneration, we must say something regarding the creation of man. We read in Genesis 2:7 that “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.” The breath of life mentioned here is the spirit, the source of man’s life. The Lord said, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63a). Job also said, “The breath of the Almighty has enlivened me” (Job 33:4). In this verse the word enlivened in Hebrew is in the plural form. When God so breathed into man, He produced two lives, one spiritual and one soulish. When God breathed the breath of life into man’s body, it became the spirit, and at the same time when this spirit came into contact with the body, it produced the soul. This is the way in which the spiritual life and the soulish life originated in man. It becomes clear then that man is composed of three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body.
The New Testament also shows that man is tripartite. For example, there is a verse that says, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete” (1 Thes. 5:23). There is another verse that says, “Even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow” (Heb. 4:12). These verses show that man is of three parts: spirit and soul and body.
The body is the seat of world-consciousness, the soul is the seat of self-consciousness, and the spirit is the seat of God-consciousness. Through the physical body we have communication with the physical world by means of the five senses. For this reason it is called the sense of the world. The soul, including the mind, emotion, and will, constitutes man’s self, man’s personality. Hence, we call the soul the sense of the self. The spirit, which includes the faculties of the conscience, intuition, and fellowship, knows how to worship God, how to serve God, and how to enter into relationship with God. Therefore, the function of the spirit is to have the sense of God.
Through the soul, the spirit controls man’s whole being. Whenever the spirit wants to do something, it passes its intention on to the soul, and the soul exercises the body to obey the command from the spirit. According to God’s arrangement, the human spirit is the highest part of man and should rule his whole being. Yet the will is the most prominent part of man’s personality and belongs to the soul. The will of man is also able to make its own choice. It can choose whether to be ruled by the spirit, by the body, or by the self. Because the soul is so powerful and occupies the seat of personality, the Scriptures call man “a living soul.”
We have said repeatedly that God has an eternal purpose, which is to dispense Himself into man. His delight is to enter into man and become one with man so that man may have His life and nature. He created man, Adam, and put him in the garden of Eden. In the midst of that garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). Those two trees were the most conspicuous and drew man’s attention. Concerning the trees in the garden God said, “Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (vv. 16-17). On the other hand, He implied that the fruit of the tree of life could be eaten. Had man eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, he would have chosen God, for the tree of life signifies God Himself. Oh, the God of creation — His purpose toward man is so wonderful and good!
Originally, man was made by God (v. 7); man’s original life was made by God also. As far as man’s original created life was concerned, it was upright (Eccl. 7:29) and it was good (Gen. 1:31). But as far as God’s eternal purpose was concerned, man had not yet received the uncreated life of God. Therefore, man still needed to choose God and God’s life. In Greek there are three different words that all translate into the one English word “life.” One of these words is bios. It refers to life in the flesh. The Lord Jesus spoke of the widow who put all her living into the treasury (Luke 21:4); the word translated “living” is from the word bios. The second Greek word is the word psuche. Psuche refers to man’s natural life, which is the soul-life. When the Scriptures speak specifically of man’s life, this is the word used (Matt. 16:26; Luke 9:24). The third word for life is zoe. Zoe is the highest life, the spiritual life, and the uncreated life. When the Scriptures speak of eternal life, as in John 3:16, the word used is zoe.
However, the man Adam did not choose life. He sinned and became fallen by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God forbade him to eat. Before that time it was possible for man’s spirit to have fellowship with God, but after man fell, his spirit became alienated from God (Eph. 4:18) and dead to God (Col. 2:13; Eph. 2:1). God told Adam from the beginning that the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die (Gen. 2:17). As far as Adam’s flesh was concerned, after he ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he lived for several hundred years (5:3-5). Therefore, the death spoken of here implies that the spirit will die before the flesh expires. Death simply means to be alienated from life, and as we know, God is a God of life. By being alienated from God, Adam was alienated from life. We know that Adam’s spirit died. This does not mean that his spirit disappeared but that his spirit lost its fellowship with God; it lost its keen sense. When Adam’s spirit died, it was still there, but it was dead to God. Adam had lost the function of his spirit. After man fell, he became dominated by his soul and was fleshy (Rom. 7:14). He could no longer understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). Man also was not subject to the law of God, neither could he be. Furthermore, according to Romans 8:7-8, man in the flesh cannot please God.
Taking these facts into account, does this mean that God’s eternal purpose will not be accomplished? No, God is God. He has planned according to His good pleasure, and He will accomplish His eternal will and fulfill His eternal purpose. He still desires to dispense His own life to man, enter into man, and be one with man. To do this, He has to solve the problem of man’s sin and redeem fallen man; He has to release His life through His Son, and He has to regenerate man through the Holy Spirit.
In order to deal with man’s sin and bring fallen man back to Himself, God sent Christ. Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross “in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). This is typified in Numbers 21:4-9, when Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. The children of Israel had committed sin and deserved death, but God told Moses to lift up the bronze serpent so that those who had been bitten by the serpent might look at it and live. In the same manner Christ was also lifted up. He died for us and bore our sins. Now we who were dead in sin may have God’s life and live (John 3:14-15).
God desires to release His life, so for that purpose He put His life in Christ (1:4; 1 John 5:11). The life of God, which is in Christ, was released when Christ died on the cross, for Christ is the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died (John 12:24). When Christ died, God’s life was released. It is also true that God regenerated us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3).
Regeneration means to be born of God (John 1:13), to be born of heaven (1 Cor. 15:47). Regeneration also means to be born of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5). Concerning this, we need some explanation. When John the Baptist came preaching and baptizing, he said, “I have baptized you in water, but He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). John the Baptist put water and the Holy Spirit together, and the Lord Jesus also put water and the Holy Spirit together. The water to which John referred is the water of baptism; hence, the water to which the Lord Jesus referred must also be the water of baptism. The words spoken to Nicodemus by the Lord Jesus must have been words that could be easily understood. At that time many knew that John baptized with water, so when the Lord Jesus mentioned water, Nicodemus would readily understand that this referred to the water of baptism practiced by John. If the water mentioned by the Lord Jesus had implied something else, it would have been difficult for Nicodemus to understand. The water spoken of, therefore, must have referred to the water of baptism.
The baptism that John practiced was the baptism of repentance. He told people that they should believe into Him who was coming after him, that is, into Jesus (Acts 19:4). The baptism of repentance that John performed could not cause men to be regenerated. To be regenerated, one must be born both of water and of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of repentance means not only that man’s actions are evil and dead and that he needs to repent; it means also that man himself is corrupt and dead and needs to be buried, that is, to be baptized. When a man goes down into the water to be baptized, he admits before God that his actions are evil and confesses that his whole being is corrupt and dead in sin; therefore, he deserves only death and burial.
But man is not born merely “of water.” He must be born “of water and the Spirit.” He must also receive the Holy Spirit whom the Lord Jesus gives in order to obtain God’s life. John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent” (Mark 1:4), to which the Lord Jesus immediately added, “Believe” (v. 15). Repentance causes man to leave all that is of himself, and believing causes man to enter into all that is of God. Because of repentance man enters into the water, and because of faith he enters into the Holy Spirit. By entering into the water and the Spirit, he is born of water and the Spirit. Through repentance we enter into the water and terminate the life of the old man. By believing, we enter into the Holy Spirit and obtain God’s life. This is regeneration.
Although regeneration is to be “born of water and the Spirit,” the work that brings a man subjectively to regeneration is accomplished completely by the Holy Spirit. (Objectively, it is accomplished completely by Christ.) Therefore, in John 3 the Lord Jesus spoke only once of being “born of water,” but He mentioned being “born of the Spirit” three times (vv. 5-6, 8). Regeneration means that we have been “born of the Spirit.” The Spirit comes to “convict the world concerning sin” (16:8) and causes man to repent; He leads man to receive the Lord Jesus by faith; He then enters into such a believer who has repented and imparts God’s life to him that he might be regenerated. The Spirit enlightens man, causes him to repent, leads him to believe, and causes him to receive God’s life. He does all of this by using the words in the Scriptures, that is, by means of the word of the truth of the gospel. Therefore, the Scriptures say that God regenerates us through the gospel and by the word of truth (1 Cor. 4:15; James 1:18). We have been “regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). Through the Spirit and by the use of His words, God imparted and sowed His life into us. Because the Holy Spirit touched us, we believed God’s words, and God’s life entered into us. God’s life is embodied in His words. Moreover, God’s words are life (John 6:63). Therefore, when we receive God’s words, we receive God’s life.
The life that we receive at the time of regeneration is not fleshly life but spiritual. Like the wind, this life is without form and cannot be seen (3:8). Yet it is very practical and can be realized by man. Therefore, regeneration is simply this: that in addition to his own life, man receives the life of God.
When we are regenerated, we have “authority to become children of God” (1:12), and we are related to God in life as a son to his father (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15-16). God’s uncreated life is God’s life and also “eternal life” (John 17:3). It is the life that Adam could have obtained but did not. It is the life that man does not have before regeneration but that enters into us at the time of regeneration. This is the characteristic of the new covenant, the glory of the new covenant. Hallelujah!
In God’s life is God’s nature. Therefore, when we have God’s life, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). We can understand God’s heart, we spontaneously desire to do what God desires to do, and it is possible for us to live out God’s image (Col. 3:10). If a man says that he has received the life of the Son of God and yet does not in the least live out the nature of this life, neither does he love righteousness nor hate sin, then this man’s faith and regeneration are doubtful. God’s nature is in God’s life. If we are without the nature of God’s life, how can we say that we have God’s life?
“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah” (Prov. 20:27). After Adam’s fall man’s spirit became darkened. When the Holy Spirit regenerated us and put God’s life into us, He made our spirit alive (Eph. 2:5). It was like lighting a lamp. The first part of man to die at the time of Adam’s fall was the human spirit; therefore, at the time of regeneration, when the Holy Spirit puts God’s uncreated life into man’s spirit, the first part of man to become alive is his spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit starts from within man, working from the center to the circumference, from the spirit to the soul, and then to the body. When the Holy Spirit regenerates man, it is something done completely in the human spirit. In the past our spirit died because of sin. Now the spirit has been made alive (Col. 2:13), and we can know God and be sensitive to sin. For this reason, if a man says that he is regenerated yet has no knowledge of God and no feeling concerning sin, his regeneration is doubtful.
When the Holy Spirit regenerated us, He gave us a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26). For the Lord to give us a new heart does not mean that He has given us another heart but that He has renewed our corrupted heart. In like manner, for God to give us a new spirit does not mean that He gives us another spirit but that He enlivens our deadened spirit and renews our old spirit. A new heart enables us to think of God, desire God, and love God. A new heart enables us to have new desires and new inclinations toward heavenly and spiritual things. With a new spirit we are not weak and impotent toward spiritual things as before, and we are no longer ignorant of the things of God. With a new spirit we become strong and powerful concerning spiritual things, we obtain understanding regarding the things of God (1 Cor. 2:12), and we have fellowship with God.
Another glorious thing that happens when we are regenerated is that God puts His Spirit within our spirit (Ezek. 36:27). After regeneration the Spirit indwells our renewed spirit. This is something that the people under the old covenant knew nothing of. In the old covenant time the Holy Spirit of God did work upon man, but the Scriptures never say clearly that God’s Spirit came to dwell in man forever. How do we know that in the new covenant time the Holy Spirit dwells in us continually? We know this by the word the Lord told His disciples: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17). The Comforter is really the Lord Himself coming in a different form, for the Lord continued, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (v. 18). “He” in verse 17 is “I” in verse 18. Therefore, the Comforter is the Lord Himself coming in another form. When the Lord was on the earth, He was with His disciples all the time, but He could not dwell in them. After resurrection the Lord became a life-giving Spirit. Hence, He could dwell in them. As God incarnate, Christ in the flesh could only be in the midst of men, but Christ as the Spirit can enter into men. Therefore, when the Spirit is in us, it is Christ in us (Rom. 8:9-10; 2 Cor. 13:5); and when Christ is in us, it is God in us (the Christ in Ephesians 3:17 is the God in v. 19). What a blessed thing it is that the Creator dwells in His creatures! This is the most wonderful, the most blessed, and the most glorious thing in the whole universe.
The Lord did not leave us as orphans. This means that He Himself will take care of us, nourish us, nurture and edify us, and bear all our responsibilities. What Christ accomplished on the cross is objective, but the Spirit indwelling us turns the objective facts into our subjective experience. The Spirit of reality guides man into all the reality.
The word comforter in Greek has two meanings: one is “the helper who stands by.” This speaks of the Holy Spirit being our available Helper. Whenever we need His help, it seems that He is beside us and is ready to help us. The second meaning is “advocate.” Christ pleads our cause before God for our benefit.
When we were regenerated, we became a saved person. Moreover, when God saved us, it was through the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). Regeneration not only caused us to have life but also washed us. Through regeneration our old creation was washed away. This means that we are saved and delivered from the old creation. We were originally an old creation, but now through the renewing of the Holy Spirit (v. 5) we have a new heart, a new spirit, and an uncreated life. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
When man has God’s life, he can know God and understand spiritual things. Today, spiritually, he is in the kingdom of God; in the future, in reality, he will enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5).
Through regeneration we have not only God’s life today but also a living hope for the future. We have an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept in the heavens for us (1 Pet. 1:3-4). Upon the earth today we are a heavenly people, and in the future we will enjoy the heavenly portion.
We can praise and thank God that regeneration is so wonderful and that its results are so blessed and glorious. We must sing,
O what a mystery, the Savior
With me is one!
O what a marvelous salvation
God gives me in His Son!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glorious mystery!
Nothing in heav’n or earth can sever
Jesus my Lord from me!
(Hymns, #1074)
When we were regenerated, we became God’s kind. But we still need to grow up to maturity that we may be like His kind, that is, that we may become a glorified God-man. We must realize that every life has its own characteristic and ability. For instance, the birds have the bird life with its characteristic and ability. Birds like to fly and have the ability to fly. The fish have the fish life with the characteristic and ability of the fish life. The fish life enjoys living in the water and possesses the ability to live in water. Not only is the animal life like this, but the plant life is as well. “Every good tree produces good fruit, but the corrupt tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18). This is the spontaneity of life; this is the law of life.
Since we were regenerated, we have God’s life. This life also has its characteristic and ability. However, we must realize that although this life that we have obtained is complete, it has not matured. The organism of this life is complete; it can reach the highest level. However, when we were regenerated, what we experienced was just a new birth. The life we received was not yet grown up and matured. It was like fruit whose life is complete yet immature. The new birth is complete in organism but not in maturity. Only maturity can bring completeness to every part of the organism. Therefore, after regeneration man needs a long process of renewal by the Holy Spirit until this life is perfected in every part of his being. In later paragraphs we will see point by point how this seed of life manifests its characteristic and ability.
Let us read Hebrews 8:10 again: “I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them.” This verse shows the difference between the new covenant and the old. In the old covenant the law was placed outside of man and written on tablets of stone. In the new covenant the law is put inside of man and inscribed on his heart. That which was placed outside of man and written on tablets of stone must be of the letter (2 Cor. 3:6). In that case, what is the law that can be put inside of us and inscribed on our hearts? And what is the nature of this law? From God’s Word we see that the law that can be imparted into us and inscribed on the heart is not the law of letters but the law of life. Not every law is necessarily of life, but every life must have a law. The law that God imparted into us comes from the life that God imparted into us. Since we have the life of God, we must also have the law of God’s life. God came into the world in His Son, and the Son of God enters into man through the Spirit. The Spirit causes man to have life. This life has its function in man, and this function is the law of life we are referring to here. In other words, this law of life comes from the Spirit. This is what is mentioned in Romans 8:2: “the law of the Spirit of life.” Note that this law is singular. In the old covenant there were many laws, but in the new covenant there is not the first law, the second, the third, and the last. In the new covenant there is only one law, the law of life. This is the new covenant.
Here we must point out that the nature of the law of life is that it has a spontaneous function. For example, your ears can spontaneously hear; there is no need to regulate them with effort. Likewise, with the eyes there is no need to make special effort to regulate them. The eyes see spontaneously. With the tongue you need not use your strength to regulate it. When it tastes anything bad, you spontaneously spit it out; when it tastes anything good, you spontaneously swallow it. If the ears cannot hear, the eyes cannot see, and the tongue cannot taste properly, it is due either to some physical illness or the absence of life. What God has imparted into us is life, and this life has a law; God has not put some kind of regulations, or letters, into us but something living. It is the law of life; it is something spontaneous.
The following example will illustrate the point. Suppose you say to a dead peach tree, “You should have green leaves, you should have pink flowers, and in due time you should bear peaches.” You may speak to it in this manner from the beginning of the year to the end, but you will be speaking in vain and asking in vain, for it is dead; it does not have life. If, however, your peach tree is living, you need not say anything. Spontaneously, it will bud, grow leaves, blossom, and eventually bear fruit. This is the law of life. This law has its spontaneous function.
Since what God has imparted into us is life, the law of the life must also be there. It must have its spontaneous function. This law will spontaneously live out the life in us, and this life will naturally bring forth the content of this life through the law. Moreover, this life will manifest God’s wisdom and all that He is through this law. As long as we do not hinder it, it will spontaneously come forth.
Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts.” In order to understand what the inward parts are, we must consider the composition of the heart. The heart we are considering here is not the biological heart, but the heart referred to in the Scriptures and known in the experience of many who belong to the Lord. According to the scriptural record, the heart includes several parts. We shall now consider them one by one.
(1) The heart includes the conscience. We see this in Hebrews 10:22, which says, “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” First John 3:20 says, “If our heart blames us.” To blame is the function of the conscience, and we see from these verses that the conscience is within the system of the heart. For this reason we say that the heart includes the conscience.
(2) The heart includes the mind. In Matthew 9:4 we read: “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?” Mark 2:6 speaks of reasoning in the heart; Luke 1:51 speaks of the understanding of the heart; and Luke 24:38 speaks of the doubts of the heart. Understanding takes place in the heart (Matt. 13:15). Mary kept certain sayings and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19), and according to Hebrews 4:12, thoughts are in the heart. From these verses we can see clearly that the heart includes the mind.
(3) The heart includes the will. Acts 11:23 speaks of “purpose of heart”; Romans 6:17 mentions having “obeyed from the heart”; 2 Corinthians 9:7 says that one can purpose in his heart; and Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the “intentions of the heart.” These verses show clearly that the heart includes the will.
(4) The heart also includes the emotion. Genesis 45:26 says that Jacob’s heart “grew numb.” Luke 24:32 says, “Was not our heart burning within us?” John 14:1 says, “Do not let your heart be troubled”; and 16:22 says, “Your heart will rejoice.” These verses indicate clearly that the heart includes the emotion.
Although we dare not say that the conscience is the heart, that the mind is the heart, that the will is the heart, or that the emotion is the heart, we can say that the heart includes the conscience, the mind, the will, and the emotion. The heart controls the conscience, the mind, the will, and the emotion and is the totality of these four aspects of our being. Later, when we mention the specific parts of the heart, we will refer to them as the conscience of the heart, the mind of the heart, the will of the heart, and the emotion of the heart.
From this we can see that the inward parts mentioned in Jeremiah 31:33 include at least the four parts of the heart: the conscience, the mind, the will, and the emotion.
In Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 we have the plural word laws although the law of life is singular, not plural. Why then in these two verses does it say laws? Why has the law become plural? The reason is that the life we have received through regeneration has only one law. This is the law of life itself. But this law has more than one function in us. God’s life in each of our inner parts has its function. In the spirit it has its function; in the mind it has its function; in the will it also has its function, as well as in the emotion. In all the inward parts it has its function. When Jeremiah says that “I will put My law in their inward parts,” it means that the law of God’s life in each of the inward parts has its function.
Therefore, as far as the law itself is concerned, it is singular, but concerning the function of this law in our being, it is plural. It is just like running water; the source is one, but the pipes are many. Life has only one law in us, but this law has spread to our inward parts. We have this law in our spirit, in our mind, in our will, and also in our emotions. As far as life itself is concerned, there is one law, but as far as the function of its operation is concerned, there are many laws. The law spreads into the different parts and becomes several laws, but the source is one.
Although the spirit is the highest part of man, what represents man’s self is not the spirit but the heart. It is the heart that represents man. Psalm 4:4 speaks of considering in your heart. This indicates that the heart is man’s true self. Our heart is the most important part of our being.
The heart is between the spirit and the soul. Therefore, all that enters into the spirit must pass through the heart, and all that comes forth from the spirit must also pass through the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, / For from it are the issues of life.” This means that the heart is the exit through which the life flows out. In other words, the fruit that man produces outwardly comes out of his heart, and for this reason the heart is the most important thing. The heart is the necessary path through which the life moves. Therefore, before God’s life enters into us, what must be touched first is our heart. If our heart has not become sorrowful and has not yet repented, God’s life cannot enter. Whether God causes us to feel the sufferings of sin, the sweetness of His love, or the preciousness of Christ, He always does it by touching our heart, causing us to feel sorrowful and bringing us to repentance. The sorrowfulness of the heart is the specific function of the conscience, and being repentant is the turning of the mind. When our heart is thus touched, our will decides and our heart believes. By this receiving of Christ, the life of God enters into us and is planted within us (1 Pet. 1:23).
A grain of wheat planted into the earth will begin to grow and continue to grow. However, its growth does require certain conditions. For instance, if the seed is planted but is never watered, its growth will be hindered. We see this same principle not only in life but also in physics. Electricity is powerful, but when the little switch is turned off, the flow of electricity is stopped. It is true that life is powerful and spontaneous, but if there is something hindering its development or if the conditions for its development are absent, it will not grow. It will appear as if the growth has stopped.
How then can this life develop within us? We must remember that the receiving of life begins with our heart and that the growth of this life also begins with our heart. Whether the life within us can grow depends upon whether our heart is open toward God. If our heart is open toward God, the life in us will grow and spread, but if our heart is closed toward God, the life in us will not be able to develop and spread out. Therefore, the growth and development of life in us is entirely a matter of the heart. We must not ignore this matter.
We must realize that the heart has desires and inclinations, whereas the spirit enables us to have fellowship and communion with God. Therefore, to desire God and love God is not a matter of the spirit but a matter of the heart, whereas to worship and serve God is not a matter of the heart but a matter of the spirit. The heart can love God, but it cannot touch God. The heart can incline to God, but it cannot have fellowship with God. Only the spirit can touch God and have fellowship with God.
Some would say that if we wish to touch the things of God, we need to use our mind, just as when we hear sounds, we need to use our mind. While it is true that to hear sounds we must use our mind, it is also true that to hear sounds we must use our ears. If someone is speaking, yet you do not have ears, your mind cannot understand what is being said. The same is true with seeing; if there are red, white, yellow, and blue colors present, and you do not have eyes to see, you will not be able to understand what is red, white, yellow, or blue. If you wish to see, you must use your eyes. The sounds are transmitted to your mind through your ears, and the colors are transmitted to your mind through the eyes. Likewise, spiritual things need to be touched by the spirit.
If God wants to have fellowship and communion with us, yet we do not have a heart, it is impossible for Him to do so. Our heart is like the electric switch; when it is turned on, the light goes on. When it is shut off, the light goes out. If our heart is open to God, it is easy for God to have fellowship with us, but if our heart is closed to God, it is difficult for Him to have fellowship with us. It is true that God’s life is in us, but the heart is the switch of this life. Whether God’s life can pass through our spirit to the conscience, whether His life can reach our mind through the spirit, whether His life can reach our will through the spirit or touch our emotion through the spirit, is a matter of the heart. If the heart is open, God’s life has a way; if the heart is closed, God’s life has no way.
When the Holy Spirit regenerated us, we received the uncreated life of God. This life is powerful and without limitation. It is not restricted by space or time. But if our heart has problems, God’s life will be greatly hindered. If there are problems with our conscience, our mind, our will, or our emotions, God’s life will be hindered. God’s life has been imparted into our spirit, but this life desires to spread out and move into the different parts of our inward being. If there is any part in us that has problems, this life will be hindered and stopped.
Everyone who belongs to the Lord by God’s grace has God’s life in him. This is definite and cannot be denied. That God’s life is alive and lives in us also cannot be denied. Because we have God’s life in us, we receive revelation and enlightenment. His voice and feeling are within us. Why then do so many of God’s children say, “I do not receive revelation or enlightenment, and I do not have His voice or feeling”? Does this mean that God’s life in them is not real? Does it mean that God’s life is not living? No, God’s life is definitely real and definitely alive. Furthermore, God’s life is living in them. The reason they do not receive revelation or enlightenment, the reason they do not hear His voice nor sense the feeling, is that on their part there is a heart problem. Perhaps there is a problem in the conscience. Some sin that the conscience is condemning may need to be dealt with. Or perhaps the mind has the problem of being full of anxieties, worries, evil thoughts, reasonings, or doubts. There may be a problem with the will, such as stubbornly holding on to our opinion or being unwilling to obey. The emotion also may be full of fleshly desires or natural inclinations. At any rate, there is some part in the heart that has a problem.
God’s life has been imparted into us, and this life wants to move out from the spirit. But on our part we do not allow it to get through. Sometimes our conscience will not allow it through; sometimes our mind will not let it through; sometimes our will, and at other times our emotions, will not allow the life through. Therefore, God’s life cannot manifest itself through us. We must remember that when God’s life moves through us, it must pass through the different parts of our heart. If any part of the heart has problems, it will hinder the moving of God’s life.
This can be proved by Ephesians 4:17-19: “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness in greediness.” The word mind in verse 17 is nous in the Greek text. This word is used twenty-four times in the New Testament. Sometimes it is translated “mind” (as in Luke 24:45; Rom. 1:28; 7:23, 25; 11:34; 12:2; 14:5; 1 Cor. 1:10; 2:16; 14:14-15, 19; Eph. 4:17, 23; Col. 2:18; 2 Thes. 2:2; 1 Tim. 6:5; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:15; Rev. 17:9), and other times “understanding” (as in Phil. 4:7; Rev. 13:18). The word nous in meaning includes both mind and understanding. As human beings, there are three organs of perception: in our body there is the brain, in our spirit there is the intuition, and in our soul there is the mind. Our mind should be governed by our intuition. We all understand the matter of the brain in our body, but the intuition is hidden and less obvious. Sometimes we feel it and sometimes we do not; sometimes it urges us and sometimes it stops us. This we call the intuition. In between the intuition and the brain is our mind. The mind expresses the meaning of the intuition and causes the brain to make it clear. However, even if our intuition is strong and our brain is healthy, if the mind has a problem, the meaning within us cannot be made known. The nous in Ephesians 4:17 is an organ that is capable of thinking. It can be likened to our eyes. But the word understanding in verse 18, which in Greek is dianoia, defines the function of this organ and can be likened to our seeing. It is the power to understand.
Man’s vain mind (the nous) is his imagination, his “castles in the air.” This kind of mind is always filled with vain thoughts. On a certain occasion after a preacher had finished his message, he asked some in the congregation to pray. In the course of one man’s prayer, he said something about two hundred fifty strings of money. (In those days money was counted by strings.) The mind of this man was entirely filled with the imaginations of wealth. When God’s life moved into this part of his being, how could it pass through? From this example we see that whether it be a person, a matter, or a thing, it can all become an imagination to occupy our mind. Whenever our mind is occupied by some imagination, God’s life is choked (Matt. 13:22).
When a man’s mind is occupied by some imagination, his understanding becomes darkened and the power to understand becomes weakened. Once there was a young Christian who was occupied by a certain matter. He continued to turn the matter over and over in his mind until he was fully exhausted by it. At one moment he thought it was God’s will; at another moment he thought it was not God’s will. His mind was continually turning, with the result that he became confused. This means that his dianoia, his understanding, became darkened.
The reasons the mind becomes vain, the understanding darkens, and we become alienated from the life of God are due to our inner ignorance and the hardness of our heart, which cause us to forsake all feeling. The heart may become hardened to such an extent that it no longer has any feeling. For this reason the source of the problem is in the heart.
In summary, we can say that when the heart is hardened, we become alienated from the life of God, we become ignorant and unable to understand. The result is that the growth of life is hindered. Therefore, we must realize that it is not that the law of life does not move in us — the law of life is always waiting to spread out through our inward parts. However, if the different parts of our heart have problems, the moving of the life will be hindered. Thus, in order for the life of God to spread and move without hindrance, the heart must first have no problem.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 speaks of at least five things: (1) we have been cleansed with clean water; (2) we have been given a new heart; (3) we have a new spirit within us; (4) our heart of stone has been taken away, and we have been given a heart of flesh; and (5) God’s Spirit has been put within us. The result of putting these five things together is that we will walk in God’s statutes and will keep and do His ordinances. We have already pointed out that God has given us a new heart with a new spirit and that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Now we will give attention to the matter of how God removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. We must realize that when we speak of a heart of stone and a heart of flesh, it does not mean that we have two hearts. We have only one heart. The heart of stone refers to the hardness of the heart, and the heart of flesh refers to the softness of the heart, but the heart is still one. When we were saved, God gave us a heart of flesh, but our heart of stone was still there. We could say that, on one hand, we had a heart of flesh, and on the other hand, we had a heart of stone. The removal of the heart of stone is not something that occurs all at once but is a gradual softening. To what extent God’s life can grow in us depends completely upon how much our heart is softened. Our heart of stone must be gradually transformed into a heart of flesh so that God’s life can move out with no hindrance.
Among God’s children many have had the following experience: first, they were saved, and their hardened heart became softened but not completely softened. At the time of their salvation their heart was softened perhaps seventy percent, but after a while their heart becomes hardened again. It seems as if they have gone back to their former condition. Moreover, this hardening of the heart seems worse than before. Perhaps the heart is caught by certain things, touched by a certain person, entangled by some object, or attracted by a certain job. These things begin to drag the man down. They are all problems of the heart. Whether the life can grow and spread in us depends completely upon whether our heart is transformed. It depends upon whether our heart is soft or hard. If our heart is caught by things other than God, whether it is some thing, some person, or some matter, it will always hinder the moving of life. Therefore, God wants to transform our heart. He will continue to transform us until our heart is completely changed into a heart of flesh. Then God’s Spirit will cause the life in us to move out in a strong way.
When God’s life desires to move out within us, He always touches our heart first, causing our heart of stone to be softened. Some people are touched by God’s love, others by His disciplining. When the children of Israel turned away from God, He smote them, and they turned back to Him. Another example is that of a sister who was captured by her child, overly treasuring the child. God spoke once, but she would not listen. God spoke twice and three times, but still she would not listen. Then God took the child away. At that time her heart was turned to God. Another brother was ensnared by his business. God spoke once, twice, five times, ten times, but he would not listen. Then God caused his business to fall apart. At that point he was turned to God. Some who have served God have been caught by the work, being busy from morning until night. It is true that the work is something spiritual, but it can capture the heart and take the place of God. To a certain one in such a situation God spoke once, but he would not listen. God spoke ten times, and still he would not listen. God struck him and he fell; his heart became enlightened, and thus he turned to God. Some brothers and sisters have their special practice, their special merit, or their special righteousness. But their practice, merit, or righteousness becomes their boast, the yardstick by which they measure others. These things crowd their heart. God speaks to them once, twice, ten times, twenty times, but they do not listen. Then God’s hand comes upon them. At that time they become enlightened and prostrate themselves before God. Their hearts are completely turned to God. By such a work God is transforming a heart of stone into a heart of flesh so that His life can move without any hindrance. If your heart has been touched by God, you will spontaneously say, “O God, I consecrate myself to You. I want You to turn my heart wholly toward You.” When you offer yourself in such a way and allow God to do the work, He will move in you; and when He moves, you will see something, hear something, and feel something. If you are willing to obey God, His life will move out into your conscience, into your mind, into your will, and into your emotions. In this manner God’s life will continue to move in you without ceasing.
The law of life should be continually moving out. God wants to move out through the different inward parts of our being, but many times when the law of life moves, it runs into a hard wall and cannot get through. There is a hindrance to the moving. Therefore, in order for the life to move and get through, we need to fulfill two conditions.
The first condition is to obey the first sense of life. Unless a man is not regenerated, he will have some sense of life. A Christian who was a medical doctor asked a preacher the following question: “Both the beginning and the growth of our spiritual life start with hunger and thirst. However, many people do not feel hungry or thirsty. When that is the case, how can we cause them to become hungry and thirsty?” The reply was, “You are a medical doctor. You know that a man has life. Unless a man is dead, he will have some appetite. Then how do you increase his appetite? You prescribe something for him to increase his appetite. As he takes the medicine, his appetite increases little by little. You continue this until his appetite is restored to normal. Therefore, whenever we have a little sense, we should obey this sense. When we obey this sense, our hunger and thirst increase slightly. When we obey more, the hunger and thirst increase again, and our sense becomes stronger. Then we obey a little more. The more we obey, the stronger the sense will be. By taking this way, we become alive from within.” The Lord’s life moves within us in the same way. It moves into our emotion, causing us to turn to God; it moves into our mind, causing us to turn to God; then it moves into our will, causing us to turn to God. By such continuous moving and turning, the life within us will be increased, deepened, and caused to grow. Therefore, we need to begin by obeying the least sense. Whenever there is a sense, we should obey.
Some will ask, “After obeying, what is next?” The answer is that before you obey the first sense, you need not worry about the next step. According to the Scriptures, God never gives a man two senses at the same time. Abraham is an example. When he went out, he did not know where he was going (Heb. 11:8). He only knew that God wanted him to leave his home, his land, and his relatives and come into a place that God would show him (Acts 7:3). Abraham’s first sense was to leave Ur of the Chaldeans. The leading of life will never cause you to be independent but always dependent. Abraham’s experience was this: “I will take this first step. The next step I do not know.” But as he walked step by step, he was fully dependent upon the Lord. God not only gave Abraham faith but also wrought His life and nature into Abraham. Therefore, after obeying in the first step, you still need to continue to look to God, committing the second step to God through fellowship. By going on in this way, step by step, God will give you guidance.
When by God’s grace we learn to follow Him from within, there will be feelings in us. When we go on in this way step by step and make a move that is beyond God, a move that does not match the life within us, we will immediately sense the forbidding of the Holy Spirit (16:6). This is very precious. Immediately, you will sense that the Spirit of Jesus does not allow you (v. 7). If you obey the inner guidance again and again, either to do or to stop, you will grow in life. We repeat that we need to obey the first sense of life; even the least sense needs to be obeyed, for obeying is an important condition in allowing the life to move.
Another condition is to love God. Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” According to the original language, the word mind should be translated as “understanding” (dianoia). The verse shows that we have to use our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole understanding, and our whole strength to love God. God’s Word shows us that loving God is related to the moving of life. The experience of many saints indicates that God first plants life into us and then touches our emotion with love. In the Gospel of John the emphasis is upon faith and also upon love. This Gospel says that he who believes has eternal life (3:16). It also says, “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” (14:23). Faith means to receive the life into us, and love means to let the life flow out. Only faith can let the life come in, and only love can let the life flow out.
Therefore, we need to allow this love to reach our heart and flow into our emotion, mind, and will. We need to lift up our heads and say, “O my God, I want to love You from my whole heart; I want to love You from my whole soul; I want to love You from my whole understanding; I want to love You from my whole strength!” Anyone who truly does this will immediately see his mind change, his words change, and his behavior change. Everything within and without will be totally changed. For in this person a love story has taken place. Brothers and sisters, what God expects of us today is that our heart, our soul, our understanding, and our strength be touched by Him. Second Corinthians 3:16 says, “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Whenever the heart turns to the Lord, there will be the enlightenment, His voice, and the sense of life.
So the question is not, What is enlightenment? What is His voice? or What is the sense of life? The question is, Where is your heart? If your heart is glued to some person, matter, or thing, if it is attached to gifts, spiritual experiences, or spiritual work, the spreading of life will be hindered. The life within will be restrained from flowing out because it cannot pass through the heart. For this reason the heart must be turned to the Lord and fixed upon God Himself. If our heart is turned to God, we will have enlightenment within us, and we will hear His voice and have the sense of life within. Brothers and sisters, if we want to know God’s will, we should not attempt to understand with our mind; we should first turn our heart to God. We must say, “O God, I desire only You; I want nothing else.” If we do this, we will very easily understand God’s will.
Romans 12:1-2 can prove these things for us. Paul first says, “I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God.” By these words he first touches their emotion. Then he says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” With these words his intention was to move the will. Then he tells them, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.” This is the knowing of God’s will in the mind. This shows us that the life that is in man can spread to his emotion, his will, and his mind. In this way the life permeates the inward parts of our being and flows out through us. When our heart is absolutely turned to God, He will impart feeling within us, and He will guide and uphold us so that we may have the strength to obey Him. Then inwardly and outwardly we will be changed. Therefore, if we want the life within us to spread to the outside, if we want the life to grow, we need to love the Lord our God from our whole heart, from our whole soul, from our whole understanding, and from our whole strength.
God’s life is continually moving. If we are willing to give Him the way by obeying Him, the life within will naturally grow and develop. If we allow this life to continue to move in us, letting it move into our conscience, our mind, our emotion, and our will, such continual moving will eliminate all the things we should not have and leave within us all the riches of God. In this way there is always something being eliminated and something being added. The more things are eliminated, the more things will be added. What is eliminated is something we should not have; what is added is something we should have. That which is eliminated is something of Adam, and that which is added is something of Christ. That which is eliminated is old, and that which is added is new. That which is eliminated is dead, and that which is added is living. By this process of gradual elimination and gradual addition, the life within us grows.
When God’s life is thus moving within us, there are two functions. The first is death, and the second is resurrection. The function of death is to remove the illness, and the function of resurrection is to give us health. The first element of the Lord’s cross is death, and the second element is life. Romans 6 tells us that these two elements are the most powerful and useful elements in the life of Christ. The cross simply means that when our heart is touched by God, we offer ourselves to Him so that His life can continue to move within us. When His life is moving, there is an element that puts us to death. This function of death will eliminate the things in us that we should not have. It will eliminate the things that are contrary to God, contrary to life, and contrary to the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, there is an element of life that makes us alive. This function of life causes us to live out all the riches of the Godhead so that we are full of light, full of joy, and full of peace. The death of Christ and the life of Christ thus cause us to be delivered from sin and from all that God hates and condemns. On the other hand, they cause us to receive something fresh, something illuminating, something of joy and peace. Just as there is the elimination, there is also the addition. We need to allow God’s life to operate, to move in us. Whenever His life is moving, something is being eliminated and something is being added. Every time God’s life moves in us, we die a little more, and at the same time we live a little more. The more God’s life moves and eliminates the things that should not be there, the more the things that should be there will be added; the more the death is eliminated, the more the life will be increased. May we go on according to the moving of God’s life so that His life in us can reach all the different parts, moving without hindrance, always eliminating something and always adding something.
Hebrews 8:7 says, “If that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second.” We have mentioned before that the reason the first covenant had fault was not because the covenant itself was faulty but because it was weak when applied to man. The first covenant composed of the commandments of letters was written upon stone tablets. It could only demand man to keep the law; it could not give man the power to do it. The reason the new covenant is a better covenant is that through it the law is imparted into man; it is inscribed on man’s heart. The new covenant law of life can cause man to obey God’s will and does not need man’s teaching. It enables man to know God from within. Therefore, we say that the new covenant is exceedingly glorious and extremely precious.
In the new covenant God’s laws are put into the inward parts of man. If God’s life moves to a certain part and cannot get through, it is hindered and will remain stopped there. It will be unable to spread out. This does not mean that there is something that the new covenant cannot do. No, the new covenant can do all things, for the new covenant means that “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). The reason the new covenant can do all things is that the moving of this life is powerful. This power is the power of the indestructible life (7:16). The mighty power of the moving of this life is the same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead (Eph. 1:20). It is also the power of the moving of this life that is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think (3:20).
Let us now consider some examples.
We are told in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 that the hearts of the children of Israel became hardened. When they read the Old Testament there was a veil on their hearts. It also tells us that whenever their hearts would turn to the Lord, the veil would be taken away. This makes it clear that the veil of the Israelites was their hard heart, a heart that did not want the Lord. Whenever their hearts would turn to the Lord, the veil would be taken away. Therefore, whenever we have a veil within us, it means that our heart has a problem.
The question then is how can our heart be turned to the Lord? The Scriptures say that man’s “heart is like streams of water in the hand of Jehovah; / He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1). As long as we are willing to put our heart in God’s hand, He can turn us.
If we are willing to pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I pray that You will incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to unjust gain” (Psa. 119:36), God will be able to turn our heart. If we are those who are truly saved, whose heart has been renewed, even if we have turned to other things and become cold, yet we clearly realize within us that God is having mercy toward us, His life keeps moving within us, until one day it will move us to say aloud or in silence, “O God, I pray that You will turn my heart.” Based on this slight giving in, the life will move further and increase more. In this way our heart is stirred up and is being turned to the Lord.
Philippians 2:12 says, “Even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” How could they do this? The answer follows: “For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure” (v. 13). Many times not only are we not able to obey God, but we also do not want to obey God. However, if we are truly saved and our heart has been touched, even though at times we backslide and our heart becomes hardened, yet within us we know the story: God has mercy toward us, His life is still moving in us, and eventually it will move until our heart will again have the desire to obey God. We will then decide to obey God, and we will also be enabled to obey God. The reason is simply that God’s life has moved into our emotion and will. It has moved to the extent that we become able to obey God.
The conscience of a certain sister was so accused that she felt she would never want God’s will and never be able to obey God again. It seemed that all she waited for was the verdict of God’s judgment, so great was her suffering. But at this same time there was a prayer within her. She whispered to God, “O God, I may not be able to seek Your will, but I still ask You to make me to seek Your will. Even though I cannot obey You, I still ask You to cause me to obey You.” That was a wonderful prayer. Philippians 2:13 upheld her that day. She realized that if God had not been working in her heart she would not have had such a prayer. Since God’s moving had caused her to pray such a prayer, God must also be able to cause her to obey His will, for His moving is for the accomplishment of His good pleasure. When she saw this, she was revived with joy.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.” This work was accomplished by God Himself in Christ Jesus. We can say that it is God’s masterpiece. A masterpiece is simply the most excellent, fine piece of work, the best production. Nothing can be better than a masterpiece. God has not only saved His people, but in Christ Jesus He has also made them into a masterpiece. This has been done through the working of the power of His life in man. This is an aspect of the characteristic of the new covenant. God has made man into such a masterpiece that He could not do better. This has not been done so that man could be satisfied in himself but so that God’s purpose of fulfilling the good works which He has prepared beforehand might be accomplished. What a wonderfully high standard! The good works which God has prepared for us must be something that He considers to be good. Only that which has its origin in love is the good works that God considers good (Matt. 19:17). Any good work that does not originate from love, even doling out all our possessions to feed the poor, or even delivering up our body to be burned for others, is still not profitable (1 Cor. 13:3). The good works that originate from love are not ordinary good works but good works that issue from a life of love and that are done based on the principle of love. The good works which God has prepared for us to do can be fulfilled and lived out only by God’s life. Praise God, He has saved us and put His life in us! It is through the power of this life that the masterpiece can be accomplished and that we can do the good works which He has prepared for us. This is the gospel. This is the glory of the new covenant. Hallelujah!
The apostle Paul says, “His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain” (1 Cor. 15:10). We know that this was true because he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles. Yet he says, “Not I but the grace of God which is with me.” Paul could labor more abundantly than others, not because his body was stronger nor because he was more diligent than others but because the grace of God was with him. He says further, “Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; for which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power” (Col. 1:28-29). The word power in verse 29 can also be translated “exploding power.” In other words, what God was operating inwardly was an exploding power; hence, what Paul was working outwardly was also an exploding power. The apostle Paul worked, not because he was energetic in himself but because within him there was an exploding power. This exploding power exploded continually within him, enabling him to labor diligently and to struggle to bring all men before God perfect in Christ. This exploding power is the power of the working of God’s life. It is the power of this life that enables us to labor diligently and to strive in our work.
To labor more abundantly and to strive or struggle prove both the inner grace and the power of the inner life. This indicates that God gives us grace, not to make us those who appreciate spirituality nor that we might enjoy our own spirituality but that we may be more diligent, laboring and striving more than others. If anyone says that he is the Lord’s servant and yet continues to love himself, to be lazy, and not to work, then he is not only slothful; he is also surely evil (Matt. 25:26). This kind of servant is condemned by the Lord. Therefore, we must not talk about empty doctrines. We must look to God that we may live out His grace and manifest His power.
Before considering how this life enables us to have a living and fresh service, let us read three passages. The first is 2 Corinthians 3:5-6: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
The second is Romans 7:6: “Now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.”
The third passage is Romans 2:28-29: “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.”
These three passages of Scripture show that there is a great difference between the service of the new covenant and that of the old. Service in the old covenant was of the letter, but service in the new covenant is of the Spirit. The service of the old covenant was old, but the service of the new covenant is fresh. The service of the old covenant killed, but the service of the new covenant gives life. In other words, the service in the old covenant was according to the written letter, commandment after commandment. It was a service according to form. But the service in the new covenant is according to the Spirit. In the new covenant the Spirit dictates how man should act, and he acts accordingly; the Spirit dictates how man should speak, and he speaks accordingly; the Spirit tells man how to pray, and he prays in that way.
We may say that the service of the old covenant was outward, and the service of the new covenant is inward. The service of “the letter” in the old covenant resulted only in death, and the service of “the Spirit” in the new covenant results in giving man life. In other words, the service that is by “the letter” is dead, and the service that is by “the letter” is old, but service that is based on living “in Christ” is alive. Service that is according to “the letter” is old, but service that is the result of living “in Christ” is fresh. Service that is according to “the letter” is only in letters, but service that comes from living “in Christ” is spiritual.
We can say then that any kind of service that is outward, according to the letter, and in oldness is the service of the old covenant. But any service that is inward, according to the spirit, and in newness is the service of the new covenant. Any service that comes from copying or imitating something outward is not the service of the new covenant. The service of the new covenant is something that is the result of having a relationship with Christ and is worked out from within. The service of the new covenant is spiritual, of revelation, and in newness. The service of the new covenant is from God, through God, and to God (Rom. 11:36). The strength of service is from Him, the course of service is through Him, and the result of service is to Him. This is spiritual service. This is living service, and this is the new covenant service.
Paul says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:5-6). God was working in them to such an extent that they were enabled to become ministers of the new covenant; that is, they became the serving ones under the new covenant. Paul also says, “Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the operation of His power” (Eph. 3:7). Paul says clearly that his becoming a minister of the gospel was according to the gift of God’s grace. This gift was not tongues, nor was it visions, miracles, wonders, healing, or casting out of demons — although Paul had all these gifts (1 Cor. 14:18; Acts 13:9-11; 14:8-10; 16:9, 16-18; 18:9). Neither was this gift excellence of speech or of wisdom (1 Cor. 2:1). This gift was not something that came down suddenly out of heaven. Paul says very clearly that this gift was given to him according to the operation of God’s power. It was not a miraculous gift but a gift of grace. It came through the power of God’s operation in Paul. This gift enabled Paul to “announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel and to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things” (Eph. 3:8-9). This gift is marvelous. This marvelous gift was given to him according to the power of God’s operation.
When the law of life is allowed to move in us without hindrance, it will develop to a state where Christ can be formed in us (Gal. 4:19). When Christ is gradually formed in us, we will be transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). The goal of transformation is to be like Him (1 John 3:2). Christ being formed in us cannot be separated from the working of God’s life in us. To the extent that God’s life becomes mingled with us, Christ will be formed in us, and to that extent we will be transformed.
To the extent that a man is filled with the life of Christ, lives Christ out, and expresses Christ, he is conformed to the image of God’s Son, as mentioned in Romans 8:29. This is what Paul pursued, and this was Paul’s experience (Phil. 3:10; 1:20). This can also be our experience today and should be the pursuit of every child of God. As far as being fully like Him is concerned, we must wait until the Lord appears (1 John 3:2). That day will be the time of the redemption of our body (Eph. 1:14; 4:30; Rom. 8:23). At that time we will be completely like Him.
A simple illustration will help us to see what it means to have Christ formed in us. In an egg there is the life of a chicken. However, if during the first days of incubation you use a light to look through the egg, you cannot tell which part is the head and which is the foot. It is when the chicken is almost ready to break through the shell and come out that you can see what the complete shape of the chicken is. At that time we can say that the chicken has been formed inside the egg. In like manner, Christ’s life in immature Christians is not well-formed. It is only formed in full-grown Christians. The life of Christ is complete, but it is restricted by us. Therefore, Christ is not yet fully formed in us. This means that the growth of life is hindered.
Paul was in travail again for the Galatian believers until Christ was formed in them (Gal. 4:19). We see from this that the formation of Christ is very important. Paul was not speaking empty words here, nor was he feeling sorry for himself. He was travailing again, which takes time, love, intercession, tears, and daily expectation. How many of God’s children today have Christ formed in them? How many who serve the Lord care for the spiritual state of God’s children and travail painfully in spiritual birth? When we speak of this, we repent, we are pained, and we weep, not only because we are in such a poor situation but also that even toward some of God’s children our love is so inadequate.
Some children of God are immature and abnormal. Others even shrink back and fall. Can we put all the blame on them for their poor situation? Can we feel at ease and go on day after day without feeling sorrow and praying for them? “O God, forgive us and be merciful to us. Give us time to learn and to experience. Give us time to travail again for those who are like the Galatian believers.”
According to Romans 12:1-2 there are two prerequisites for transformation: one is the presentation of our bodies; the other is the renewing of our mind. The presentation of our body can be likened to regeneration, it is done once for all; however, transformation is a process and is something gradual.
Let us now consider specifically the relationship between the mind and transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Ephesians 4:23 says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Both of these verses refer to the relationship between the renewing of the mind and transformation. The work of the Holy Spirit is always from the center to the circumference. Because the spirit is especially related to the mind, the spirit must be renewed first; then the mind must be renewed; finally, man’s behavior will gradually be changed.
Repentance means to have a change of mind; it means that the eyes have been opened. To have our mind renewed simply means that our eyes have been enlightened. The more our mind is renewed, the more we are transformed. Day by day through the light of life, God is causing us to know ourselves, to repudiate ourselves, to know the reality of the inner life, and to experience putting off the old man and putting on the new man regarding our manner of life. This is a matter of our subjective experience. Objectively speaking, Christians have already put off, as regards their former manner of life, the old man, and have also put on the new man (vv. 22, 24; Col. 3:10). These are all facts that have been accomplished in Christ.
We must realize that transformation is not like regeneration. Regeneration is something that happens once for all, but transformation is a daily, gradual process. We must ask ourselves this question: to what extent have I experienced transformation? If there has been no change in us since the time we became a Christian, if we are still self-loving, self-pitying, selfish, proud, self-exalting, and full of worry and doubt, then it is questionable whether we have really met the light. If, as we go on, we become more cold, more hardened, more proud, more conceited, more loose and unruly, then there is illness either in our heart or in our mind. If this is the case, we need to humble ourselves and begin again to deal with our heart. We need to ask the Lord to be merciful to us, to enlighten us and give us strength to get rid of any sin and every bit of self that is hindering the move of the law of life.
The Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:7-8). May the Lord be merciful to us that our heart may be softened before Him. At the same time we need to believe Philippians 2:13: “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” This is the characteristic of the new covenant. This is also the glory of the new covenant. We must praise God.
To be conformed in Romans 8:29 and Philippians 3:10 means “to be of like form and nature” or “to be alike” in the original text. This Greek word is used only three times in the New Testament: in Romans 8:29, in Philippians 3:21, where it is used as an adjective, and in Philippians 3:10, where it is used as a verb.
What is the difference in being transformed and being conformed? Transformation speaks of a process, and conformation speaks of the completed work. Transformation means that the Lord’s life gradually grows up in us so that we are the same as the Lord. Conformation means that we are transformed completely and are the same in form and nature as the Lord. To be conformed can be compared to something that comes out of a mold. When a smith puts melted brass into a mold, his melted brass takes the shape of the mold. It could also be likened to a person making a cake who puts the dough into a mold. The result is that the cake becomes the same in shape as the mold. Our likeness to the Lord will be a likeness to this degree.
Romans 8:29 says, “To be conformed to the image of His Son.” This means that our image will be the same as that of the Lord’s glorified humanity. If a person wants to be transformed and be conformed to the image of the prototype that God has ordained, he must have a change of nature from within. God’s life must enter into his spirit and permeate his whole being until he is completely changed in nature. Accordingly, there will be a complete conformation in image. Thus, the Spirit of the Lord works step by step, from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:17-18). Praise the Lord for such a work!
Here again we need to consider the matter of the heart. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” Here a mirror is used as an illustration. A mirror can reflect only what it is directed at, what is in front of it. Likewise, in our daily life the more we see Christ, the more we will reflect Christ. An unveiled face means that our face is not covered with a veil; thus, we can see Christ in a complete way. If we have a veil over our face, either we will not see Christ at all, or we will see Him in an incomplete way. When 2 Corinthians 3:12-16 is examined carefully, it is apparent that the veil was due to the fact that the heart did not want the Lord. In the past Moses’ face shone because God spoke to him. Because the Israelites feared the light of the shining of his face, they hesitated to draw near to him. Therefore, when Moses came into the presence of God, he removed the veil, but when he came out, he used the veil to cover his face again (Exo. 34:29-35). The veil upon Moses’ face speaks of the condition of the children of Israel, that their hearts were far from God. Later, the Israelites were again in the same condition of being afraid of the light. They did not want the light. The veil upon their heart had not yet been removed; therefore, when they read the Old Testament, they could not understand it. Second Corinthians 3:16 says very clearly that whenever their heart turned to the Lord, the veil was taken away. This is the key to whether or not we can clearly see the Lord. If our heart is turned to other things, it will be as if it were covered with a veil, and naturally our life will be as if under a dim light and will reflect Christ in an incomplete way.
It is a problem of the heart, a problem of the mirror. Whenever we feel that there is a barrier, a veil, between the Lord and us, our heart needs to be turned once again to the Lord. When our heart is turned to the Lord, we can see clearly, and the reflection is also clear.
We have said already that the goal of transformation is to be like Him. But complete likeness to Him must wait until the Lord appears. That is the time of the redemption of our body. Then we will be wholly like Him. For this reason we must also say a word concerning the redemption of the body. We have seen that when Adam fell, the spirit died first, and man became completely controlled by the soul and completely in the flesh. Later, the body also died (Gen. 5:5; Rom. 8:11). This means that the death that took place in the spirit eventually reached the body.
When man is regenerated, his spirit is made alive first. Then through the work of the cross the Holy Spirit puts to death the evil practices of our body (v. 13; Col. 3:5), causing us to deny ourselves daily (Luke 9:23). Furthermore, through the operation of the life in us day by day, we are being changed increasingly both in our nature and in our form so that we may be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Eventually, one day when the Lord appears, “we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2). This is the redemption of the body for which Paul was waiting (Rom. 8:23). This matter is also mentioned in Philippians 3:21, where Paul says that the Lord Jesus will “transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory, according to His operation by which He is able even to subject all things to Himself.”
From these verses we see that God’s salvation begins with making our spirit alive and ends with the redemption of our body. The phrase you will live mentioned in Romans 8:13 refers to our daily experience of living in the body. It does not refer to the redemption of our body. The Scriptures tell us that resurrection and transformation are a mystery (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The redemption of the body in which we are made like unto His own glorious body is also exceedingly glorious. The apostle John believed that this would be fulfilled one day. Therefore, he said that when the Lord appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. This is the characteristic of the new covenant. This is also the glory of the new covenant. Brothers and sisters, let us not be too late in believing.
The redemption of the body is clearly a matter of God’s grace; nevertheless, after the apostle John says that we will be like Him and see Him as He is, he immediately follows by saying, “And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
Put into its context, this hope refers to the words be like Him. Purifying in this verse is different from being clean. To be clean means to be without defilement, but purifying means not only to be without defilement but also to be without mixture. The way to purify ourselves is through the shining of the light of life within us (John 1:4) so that we may know ourselves (Psa. 36:9) and eliminate all that displeases Him.
We are those who have God’s nature; therefore, according to the consciousness that comes from the nature of the life of God, we should deal not only with sin but with all that is of ourselves and all that is not of God’s will. This is the meaning of purifying ourselves. But there is a purification even deeper than this. A brother who has become learned in the Lord spoke of purification in this way: “The danger of spirituality is to experience victory and sanctification, to be fruitful in our work, to possess spiritual gifts and righteousnesses that are of life...Deeper purification means that even that which comes from God’s revelation, which issues from the resurrection life of Christ, should not be allowed to remain. There is the process of metabolism in the growth of life...This means that anything which comes from the resurrection life will never be lost; it will forever be fresh. However, it must be kept in the newness of the Holy Spirit and not merely remembered in the mind. That which has its source in His resurrection life will not be lost but will remain in us forever; it will become part of our life and be constituted into our being. Whenever that particular thing is required, we need only to take it in the Holy Spirit. Then it will be as fresh and living as if we had just seen it.”
These words are not easily understood, but they do call forth a response in us. Brothers and sisters, if we have such a hope in Him, we will say to ourselves what the apostle John said, “Everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself,” and then we will rise up and walk according to the shining of the Holy Spirit.
The continual moving of God’s life in us has a great purpose. The second part of Hebrews 8:10 says, “I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me.” This tells us what is on God’s heart and what His purpose is from eternity to eternity. God wants to be our God, and we need to be His people according to the law of life. This is real and very wonderful. We shall now see from the Scriptures what an important matter in the universe this is.
What does God intend to have in the universe? In Genesis 2 we see that after God had created man, He indicated that man should exercise his free will to choose His life. However, we are not told what God intended to have in the universe. Genesis 3 speaks of man’s fall, but it does not tell us what the devil was really after. It was not until God led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, where He declared the Ten Commandments, that He revealed what was on His heart. It was not until the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness that He revealed what the devil was really after, and it was not until the Lord prayed the prayer that He taught His disciples that again He clearly spoke of God’s true desire.
The first of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” The second is, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor the form of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water beneath the earth. You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God.” The third commandment is, “You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain.” The fourth is, “Remember the Sabbath day so as to sanctify it” (Exo. 20:3-8).
In these four commandments God revealed His will and clearly unveiled His formal requirements for man. Here He spoke clearly of the purpose of His creation and the purpose of His redemption. The purpose is simply that God wants to be God. God is God, and He wants to be God among men.
In the New Testament there is a great revelation that parallels God’s revelation upon Mount Sinai. It is the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness. In the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah we are clearly told of the cherub that God had made, who later exalted himself to become equal with God; he rebelled against God, was judged by God (Ezek. 28:8, 12-19; Isa. 14:12-15), and became the devil. However, this matter was not as clearly revealed as it is in the Gospels when the devil made his open bid to usurp God’s position. The strongest part of the devil’s temptation of the Lord was, “If You will fall down and worship me.” But the Lord without any hesitation rebuked him saying, “Go away, Satan!” Then the Lord solemnly declared, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Matt. 4:9-10). Only God is God!
In the New Testament the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples is also a great revelation. In this prayer He also revealed God’s will — that God wants to be God. The Lord said, “You then pray in this way: Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth” (Matt. 6:9). In the heavens God’s name can only be used by God, but on earth there are people who take His name in vain, and yet He hides Himself as if He did not exist. However, one day our Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified.” The Lord’s purpose in wanting us to pray in this way is that we would declare that only He is God. The rest are not. We need to glory in His holy name as the psalmist did (Psa. 105:3). We need to say, “O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth” (8:1). O God, may Your praise be perfected in “the mouth of infants and sucklings” (Matt. 21:16).
Although God is God, the marvelous fact is that He desires to dwell among men. God commanded Moses to build Him a sanctuary, saying clearly, “That I may dwell in their midst” (Exo. 25:8). Again He said, “I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell in the midst of them; I am Jehovah their God” (29:45-46). God wanted Moses to tell the children of Israel plainly that He was Jehovah their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt to give them the land of Canaan and to be their God (Lev. 25:38). Leviticus 26:12 is clearer still: “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.” God is God. He is very high and very great. Yet He comes to dwell in the midst of men to be their God.
When the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14), this Word of life that was from the beginning was heard and seen and handled by man (1 John 1:1). “No one has ever seen God,” but now “the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). This is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23).
When the church was built as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5), it became God’s dwelling place in spirit (Eph. 2:22). This is a very mysterious and glorious matter. When the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, He was limited by space and time, but when God dwells in the church in spirit, He is limited by neither time nor space. Hallelujah!
Although in the old covenant time the people of Israel forsook God, in the future God will make a new covenant with them. In the future He will impart His laws into their mind and inscribe them on their hearts so that He may be their God (Heb. 8:10).
One day the tabernacle of God will be with men: “He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them” (Rev. 21:3). This is most wonderful. “And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away” (v. 4). At that time God and man, man and God, will never be separated again. Hallelujah!
On the resurrection day Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). This verse tells us that we have not only a Father but also a God. The difference between God as Father and God as God as shown in the Scriptures is that God as the Father indicates His relation to individuals, and God as God indicates His relation to the whole universe. God as our Father is a matter of life, showing that we are related to Him as a son is related to a father, and God as God is a matter of position, showing that He is the Creator.
When we know God as the Father, we will dare to throw ourselves upon His bosom. And when we know God as God, we must bow down and worship Him. We are God’s children, living in His love and gladly enjoying all that He gives us. We are also His people, standing upon the position of a man, worshipping and praising Him. Because God is God, we need to worship Him in holy splendor (Psa. 29:2) and in fear (5:7). Anyone who knows God as God in all things cannot but fear Him and pay attention to such things as his clothing and behavior. Anyone who is loose, careless, haughty, doing whatever he wills, and allowing sin to remain, is one who does not know God as God.
We know that “there is no creature that is not manifest before Him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we are to give our account” (Heb. 4:13). Therefore, “Do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. For the things which are done by them in secret it is shameful even to speak of” (Eph. 5:11-12).
If a man is afraid to open up anything to God, that is called darkness. Anything that a man dares not open to God is a shame. Paul says, “Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). We dare not but fear the Lord and entreat men, telling them that unless they are nonrepentant or unsaved, they must know that “our God is also a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). If man does not deal seriously with all the sins that should be dealt with, he will fall, one day, into the hands of the living God. This will be a fearful experience (10:31).
Do you think that God is sleeping because He temporarily hides Himself? God is patient and tolerant, waiting for you to repent. Do you think that He can be mocked? The Scriptures tell us “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). Brothers and sisters, we must fear God.
If you know that God is God, you will want to be a man. The fall infected us with the desire to be God, but salvation instills once again in us the willing desire to be man. The principle of the garden of Eden is that after eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we will be like God (Gen. 3:5), but the principle of Golgotha is the restoration of our position as man. Thus, if we know God as God, we will stand in our position as man. Our Lord was born as a man in the house of a carpenter (Matt. 13:55). As a man, He submitted Himself to the baptism of John the Baptist (3:13-16). Three times as a man He rejected the temptation of the devil (4:1-10). Also as a man, He suffered and was tried (Heb. 2:18). As a man, He was mocked upon the cross and did not come down (Matt. 27:42-44). If the Lord took His position as a man, what about us?
The twenty-four elders of Revelation 4:4 are the elders of the whole universe. (The twenty-four elders already have the crowns, are already sitting upon the thrones, and have the number twenty-four, which is not the number of the church; therefore, they must be the elders of the whole universe, representing the angels whom God created and being the elders among the angels.) Because they know God as the God of creation, they worship Him and say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created” (v. 11). When eventually they come to the wedding feast of the Lamb, they will still bow down and worship God, who sits upon the throne (19:4).
When the angel flew in the air, preaching the eternal gospel to the people on the earth, he said, “Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who has made heaven and earth and the sea and the springs of waters” (14:6-7). This indicates that when we know God as God and the Creator, we will worship Him.
Anyone who knows God as God and takes the position of a slave will worship Him (22:9). Surely, he who “sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God,” is the one who opposes the Lord (2 Thes. 2:4). The one who is able to do signs and deceive people on the earth, telling them to worship the beast (Rev. 13:14-15) is surely the false Christ (Matt. 24:23-24). Anyone who knows God as God will worship Him. This is what glorifies God.
Now we must see that God has imparted His law into our mind and inscribed it on our heart for the purpose that He may be our God in the law of life and that we may be His people in the law of life. The second half of Hebrews 8:10 immediately follows what has gone before. It does not say here that God wants to be our God upon the throne. Rather, it says that God wants to be our God in the law of life and that He wants us to be His people in the law of life. We and God, God and we, both have our relationships in the law of life. If we are not in the law of life, we cannot touch God. If we live in the law of life, we will be God’s people and God will be our God. The only way to draw near to Him, serve Him, and worship Him is by touching God in the law of life.
Why is it that God becomes our God and we become His people in the law of life? To explain this, we need once again to consider man’s creation and new birth. Because God is Spirit, anyone who desires to have fellowship with Him must have a spirit. When God made Adam, there was an element in him that was the same as God’s. That element in man was the spirit. When Adam fell and became alienated from God’s life, his spirit was dead to God. However, due to God’s redemption, when man repents and believes, not only does his spirit become alive, but also he receives God’s uncreated life. Through the Holy Spirit, God enters into us and dwells in us, and from that point on we can worship God in spirit and truthfulness. John 4:23-24 is very clear. Verse 24 says that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” This means that only the element in man that is the same as God can worship God. Only the spirit can worship Spirit. Only worship that is in the spirit is true worship. This kind of worship is not something in which one uses his mind; neither is it something in which one uses his emotions or will. This worship is in spirit and truthfulness. Verse 23 says, “The true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness; for the Father also seeks such to worship Him.” This is very meaningful. When we read this with what follows, we see that if a man desires to worship God, he must first know how to worship the Father. If a person does not have the relationship of Father and son with God, he does not yet have life and his spirit is still dead; he cannot worship God. When a person is born again, his spirit is made alive, he becomes a child of God, and he can have fellowship with God. It is such that the Father wants to worship Him. Therefore, before we can be God’s people, we must first become God’s children. For this reason we say that God becomes our God in the law of life, and we are God’s people in the law of life.
Titus 2:14 says, “Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify to Himself a particular people as His unique possession, zealous of good works.” As God’s particular people, we become His acquired possession (Eph. 1:14). The reason we can become God’s particular people is that He is our God in the law of life, and we are His people in the law of life.
Revelation 21:7 says, “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me.” In eternity, as far as the relationship of life and the individual relationship are concerned, we will be sons to God, but as far as God’s position and our knowledge of Him as God are concerned, He will be our God. How glorious this is!
Finally, we must speak to ourselves the same words that were spoken to the apostle John: “Worship God” (22:9).
