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Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:2; John 1:29; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; John 3:14; Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:45; Col. 1:15; Eph. 2:14-15; Gen. 1:2; 2:7-8; Luke 1:35; 4:1; John 7:39; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 20:22; Acts 2:33
In the previous chapter we covered the first factor that is vital to the recovery of the church life. This factor is Christ, the all-inclusive One. In this chapter we will cover two additional factors—the factor of the Spirit and the factor of the divine life. The Spirit is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, and life is the divine life, the eternal, uncreated life of God (1 John 1:2; Eph. 4:18). Before covering these two factors, however, I would like to say something further concerning Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension.
Christ died on the cross with a sevenfold qualification: He was the Lamb of God; He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin; He was in the form of a bronze serpent; He was the last Adam, the last of mankind; He was the Firstborn, the first item, of all God’s creatures; He was the Peacemaker; and He was a grain of wheat. These are the seven qualifications with which Christ died on the cross.
Among Christians it is commonly taught that Christ died on the cross as our Redeemer. This is absolutely correct, but it is too general. Christ died as our Redeemer, but what does this mean? When I was very young, I heard this kind of teaching and even preached this kind of gospel to others. However, I did not know what it meant to say that Christ died as our Redeemer. I only understood that Christ was our Redeemer to save us from God’s judgment and from hell. But after I was saved, I spent a great deal of time studying the Bible concerning Christ’s death. I have studied this matter for approximately fifty years, and I have come to the conclusion that, according to the complete word of God in the Bible, Christ died on the cross as seven items. Christ died on the cross not only as one item—our Redeemer—but as seven items.
First, Christ died on the cross as the Lamb of God to take away our sin (John 1:29). Second, He died on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). In other words, He died on the cross in our likeness. We are the flesh of sin. The fact that Christ died on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin means that He died in our likeness. The flesh of sin actually denotes sinners. To say that we are the flesh of sin means that we are sinners. Christ died on the cross in the likeness of sinners. He Himself was not a sinner. He knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), and He had no sin (Heb. 4:15), yet He died in the likeness of sinners.
Then, third, Christ died in the form of a bronze serpent (John 3:14; Num. 21:8-9). When He was crucified on the cross, in the eyes of God He was a bronze serpent. He died in the form of a bronze serpent to destroy the old serpent, Satan, the devil (Heb. 2:14). Fourth, Christ died on the cross as the last Adam, the last of mankind (1 Cor. 15:45b). Fifth, He died as the Firstborn of all creation, the first item of all the creatures (Col. 1:15). Since Christ became a man, He surely was a creature. In the eyes of God, Christ as a man was considered the first item of all the creatures. He died as the first of the creatures to terminate all the creation. Then, sixth, Christ died on the cross as the Peacemaker (Eph. 2:14-15). As the Peacemaker, and even as the very peace, He made peace between us and God and between all the different nations. Last, He died as a grain of wheat to produce many grains for His multiplication, His increase, and His propagation (John 12:24).
When Christ died as the Lamb of God, He died for us; that is, He died on our behalf. This is somewhat objective because it implies that He died on the cross by Himself, apart from us. However, He also died in the likeness of the flesh of sin, meaning that He died in the likeness of a sinner. This indicates that He identified Himself with us. The fact that He died in the likeness of the flesh of sin means that He died in our likeness. This is not objective but subjective to us. He joined Himself to us, the sinners. He even put us, the sinners who are the flesh of sin, upon Himself. Thus, He died in our likeness.
Then, when Christ died on the cross as the bronze serpent, He brought the devil with Him. However, we need to realize that the devil whom Christ brought to the cross is in us. On the day of man’s fall, the devil, Satan, as the personification of sin, entered into man (Rom. 5:12). From that day until now, Satan as sin has been dwelling in our flesh, in our sinful nature (7:18-20). Therefore, when Christ died in our likeness, He brought the devil with Him to the cross. Hallelujah, Christ died in the flesh! Since Satan was in the flesh, when Christ died in the likeness of our flesh, the devil died with Him. In His death He brought the devil with Him. Thus, Hebrews 2:14 says that through death Christ destroyed the devil, the one who has the might of death. When Christ was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He crucified Satan in the flesh of sin.
Then, as the last Adam, Christ died with all of us, that is, with the old man. As the last Adam, the last of mankind, He brought all mankind to the cross. Thus, Romans 6:6 says that our old man has been crucified with Christ.
Then, as the first item of all creation, He died on the cross not only with us, the sinners, but with all the creation. Hebrews 2:9 says that in dying on the cross, Christ tasted death on behalf of everything. In this way He redeemed and reconciled all the creation to God (Col. 1:20).
Then, as the Peacemaker, Christ died on the cross with the law. According to Colossians 2:14, when Christ died on the cross, God nailed the ordinances of the law to the cross. Furthermore, Ephesians 2:15 says that on the cross Christ abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances. One of the strongest ordinances in the law was the ordinance of circumcision, which required all the Jewish males to cut off a part of their flesh (Gen. 17:10-13; Lev. 12:1-3). Another strong ordinance was the requirement to keep the Sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11; 31:13-17). The third major ordinance in the law was the keeping of the dietary regulations recorded in Leviticus 11. According to these regulations, certain animals were considered clean and could be eaten by the Israelites, whereas certain other animals were considered unclean and could not be eaten. It is because of these regulations that the devout Jews, even today, do not eat pork. To them the meat of the swine is a most unclean thing. Circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and the keeping of the dietary regulations are the three main ordinances that separate the Jews from the Gentiles. However, when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, He brought all these ordinances with Him, and they were all nailed to the cross by God. Therefore, the separation between the Jews and Gentiles has been taken away.
Finally, as the grain of wheat, the Lord Jesus died with the human shell. Every kind of seed has a certain shell. Within that shell life is concealed. Christ is God, and God is the divine life. This divine life, which is God Himself, was concealed in Christ’s humanity. Christ’s humanity was a shell in which the divine life was concealed. When He went to the cross to die, that human shell was crucified. The human shell was broken, and the divine life concealed within that shell was released.
Let us count how many items were with Christ when He was crucified on the cross. Actually, the number of items is countless. First, Christ was crucified with our sin, and second, with our sins. The third item was the flesh of sin, which is simply we, the sinners. The fourth item was the old serpent, Satan, and the fifth item was the old man. Christ was also crucified with the old creation, including the heavens, the earth, the birds, the cats, the dogs, the turtles, and all created things. They all shared in Christ’s death. All creation was crucified with Christ on the cross. According to Matthew 27:51, at the moment Christ died, the veil of the temple was split in two. On the veil cherubim, the living creatures, were embroidered (2 Chron. 3:14; Ezek. 1:5, 10; 10:14-15). When the veil was split, the living creatures were also split. This indicates that when Jesus died as the first item of God’s creatures, all the creatures died with Him.
Furthermore, the ordinances of the law were also included in Christ’s crucifixion. These ordinances include the habits and customs of all the different peoples on the earth. Every nation has its own habits and customs. For example, the Orientals use chopsticks to eat their food, whereas the Europeans and the Americans use forks. However, we need to realize that both chopsticks and forks were nailed to the cross. Hallelujah, in the church there are no Chinese chopsticks and no American forks! This means that in the church life there are no Chinese and no Americans. In the church life there is only the all-inclusive Christ, the Son of God. Although I was born in China, I do not consider myself as Chinese, nor do I consider you as Chinese, Japanese, American, or Korean. We are all children of God, and we are all brothers.
In the church there are no Chinese, Japanese, Americans, or Koreans. According to tradition, the Japanese wear kimonos, and the Chinese wear long gowns. However, we all need to realize that the Japanese kimono and the Chinese long gown have both been crucified on the cross. Eventually, the human shell, our very humanity, was crossed out on the cross. The cross has terminated everything, including the devil, Satan.
In Christ’s crucifixion, not only were all things terminated on the cross, but the divine life was released. The divine life was released out of the one grain of wheat to produce many grains, the many sons of God. Now we are no longer sinners and no longer the old man. We no longer belong to the old creation, but we are now sons of God and members of Christ. Ultimately, we are the church, the Body of Christ.
In His resurrection Christ imparted the divine life into our being. He brought the Triune God into our being to cause us to be born of God (1 Pet. 1:3). Furthermore, in resurrection He became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to enter into our being and to be one with us (1 Cor. 15:45b; John 20:22; 1 Cor. 6:17). Now the resurrected Christ is living within us (2 Cor. 13:5; Rom. 8:10). How wonderful!
After His resurrection He ascended to the heavens to be made the Lord of the entire universe in order that He might possess the universe (Acts 2:36; 10:36). In His ascension He was also made the Christ of God to carry out God’s commission (2:36). Furthermore, He was made the Head over all things to the church and for the church (Eph. 1:22). This was for the formation of the church. Then in His ascension He poured out the all-inclusive Spirit, who was Himself, even the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God, upon His Body (Acts 2:33). In this way He baptized His members in the Spirit into one Body (1 Cor. 12:13).
Now within us we have the essential Spirit, the Spirit’s divine essence, and upon us we have the economical Spirit, the Spirit of God’s economy. In other words, within us we have the processed Triune God as our essence, and upon us we have the processed Triune God for His economy. Within us we have the Spirit of life, and upon us we have the Spirit of power. Within and without, inside and outside, we are full of the Spirit. This is vital to the church life. The church is not an organization or merely a human society. The church is the living Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23). It is an organic matter. It is an organism full of the Triune God, saturated with the Triune God, and clothed with the Triune God. The Triune God is within us as life, and the Triune God is upon us as clothing. Within we have the Triune God as our infilling, and without we have the Triune God as our clothing. Hallelujah, this is the church!
At this point I wish to say a word concerning the factor of the Spirit.
In the Bible the Spirit is first called the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2). Actually, the Spirit of God is just God Himself. Let us use the current of electricity as an illustration. The current of electricity is simply electricity itself. The current of electricity is electricity in motion. If electricity is not in motion, there is no current of electricity. In like manner, the Spirit of God is God moving. When electricity moves, it is the current; when God moves, He is the Spirit.
We should not make the mistake of separating the Spirit of God from God Himself. To do so would not be logical. It is impossible to separate the current of electricity from electricity itself. If we could separate the current of electricity from electricity, there would be no current. In the same way we cannot separate the Spirit from God, because the Spirit is simply God Himself in His move. If we separate the Spirit from God, there would be no Spirit. Therefore, whenever we read in the Bible concerning the Spirit, we need to realize that the Spirit is God Himself in His move.
Throughout the ages God has moved in different ways. First, God moved in His creation. Speaking of God in His creation, Genesis 1:2 says, “The Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters.” This verse indicates clearly that in God’s creation the Spirit is called the Spirit of God.
After God’s creation God had contact with man. God’s contact with man was another move of God. In this move the Spirit is called the Spirit of Jehovah (2:7-8; 6:3). Throughout the Old Testament, when God came to contact man, the Spirit of Jehovah came upon certain persons (Judg. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Sam. 16:13). Thus, the Spirit of Jehovah is for God to move in contacting man.
Two thousand years ago, God was incarnated to become a man. This was God’s greatest move. In this move the Spirit is called the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit was for making God’s creature holy. Man was God’s creature, but before the time of Christ’s incarnation, man was never made holy. But now God in His move desired to come into man to be one with man, even to be born of man. In such a move the Spirit is called the Holy Spirit.
But God still desired to move on. First, He moved in creation; God created man. Then He moved to have contact with this man. After a period of time God moved to enter into man to make Himself one with man. This is incarnation. In incarnation God became a little child in a manger. We need to realize that this child in a manger was God who had become one with man. However, this is not all. When God became a man, He made Himself one with man. After He made Himself one with man, He desired that man would be one with Him. Therefore, God had to take a further step to live on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, to die on the cross, to be buried, and to rise up to become the life-giving Spirit. In the New Testament this Spirit is called the Spirit.
John 7:39 says that “the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” This word is difficult to understand. The Spirit of God was there, the Spirit of Jehovah was there, and even the Holy Spirit was there, but the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. This indicates that when Jesus died, was buried, and rose up to be glorified, He Himself became the Spirit. Today, whenever a person opens to Him, the Spirit will enter into him, saturate him, sanctify him, transform him, and mingle with him to make him a man who is one with God.
In His move God needed to take four steps. These four steps were creation, contacting man, becoming man (that is, becoming one with man), and making man one with God. First, God created the heavens and the earth with man. Then, second, God contacted man, and, third, God made Himself one with man by becoming a man. Then, in the fourth step, the very God became a life-giving Spirit to enter into man, to regenerate man, to saturate man, to transform man, and to sanctify man in order to make man absolutely one with God.
In the first step of God’s move, the Spirit is the Spirit of God. In the second step, to contact man, the Spirit is the Spirit of Jehovah, and in the third step, to become a man and to become one with man, the Spirit is the Holy Spirit. However, after becoming one with man, God still wanted to make this man one with Himself. In making man one with God, the Spirit is simply called the Spirit. Therefore, this wonderful One is the Spirit of God for God’s creation, the Spirit of Jehovah for God to contact man, the Holy Spirit for Christ’s incarnation, to make God one with man, and the Spirit to make man one with God. It is the Spirit who makes us one with God.
The last mention of the Spirit of God in the Bible is in Revelation 22:17. This verse begins, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!” The divine title used in this verse is not the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jehovah, or the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit. The Spirit is the conclusion, the final title, of the Spirit of God in the Bible.
The Spirit is the realization of Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of the Triune God (John 14:17-20; Col. 2:9). Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. The entire Triune God is embodied in Christ, and this Christ is fully realized as the Spirit.
As the embodiment of the Triune God, Christ went through incarnation, human living, and crucifixion and entered into resurrection. In resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). According to 2 Corinthians 3:17, today, after His resurrection, that is, after His glorification (Luke 24:26, 46), Christ is the Spirit.
Since the Spirit is the full realization of Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, the Spirit is simply the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. After passing through all the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Triune God in Christ became such a life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit entered into us as our life and essence, and He also came upon us as our power for His economy. Now we are one with the Triune God, who is the Spirit.
At this point we need to consider what is the divine life. As I mentioned previously, when the Triune God moves, He is the Spirit. Eventually, this Spirit comes into us to live within us. When He lives within us, He is the divine life. When God moves, He is the Spirit; when God lives in us, He is the divine life.
Thus far, we have covered the first three factors for the recovery of the church life. These three factors are Christ, the Spirit, and the divine life. Christ is God embodied, the Spirit is God moving, and the divine life is God living in us. Hallelujah! We have Christ as the embodiment of God, we have the Spirit as God moving, and we have the divine life as God living within us.
Since we have the divine life, by what life should we live? We all need to realize that if we live by our natural life, practically speaking, we are outside the church. I was born a typical Chinese. However, I do not live by the Chinese life but by the divine life. This divine life is simply God living in us.
The church is a group of people living by the divine life. This divine life is simply the all-inclusive Spirit living in the believers. This all-inclusive Spirit is the realization of the all-inclusive Christ, and the all-inclusive Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. Therefore, the church is the manifestation, the expression, of the Triune God (1 Tim. 3:15-16). Thus, we have Christ, the Spirit, and the divine life as three vital factors for the recovery of the church life.
