Scripture Reading: Col. 3:1-4; 19, 21, Rom. 8:30; Phil. 3:21
At the beginning of this message I would like to give a further word on the way of the cross. For this, I would ask you to consult the diagram on the last page of the message.
In eternity past God existed alone. Then, in time, He created all things. At a certain point in history, this creating God, the Creator of all, became a man. This crucial step is called incarnation. By means of incarnation, God put on man with all of creation, for man is the head of creation. The Lord Jesus, God incarnate, lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. When He was crucified, all creation was crucified with Him. This means that not only did Christ go to the cross, but the very man God had put on Himself with the entire creation went to the cross with Him. Therefore, Christ’s death on the cross was an all-inclusive crucifixion. After His crucifixion, Christ was buried in a tomb. The man and the creation which were crucified with Christ were also buried in that tomb. After three days, Christ arose from the dead in His resurrection. Through resurrection and in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. Furthermore, in His ascension to the third heaven, He was crowned and became the Head and the Lord over all. Then He descended upon His Body as the all-inclusive Spirit.
Because God, after completing the work of creation, passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension, we may speak of Him as the processed God. The diagram portrays the process through which He has passed. Through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, He has become the life-giving Spirit. After ascending to the third heaven, where He was enthroned and crowned, and where He was made the Head and Lord of all, He descended upon the church, His Body. In His descension, He is the all-inclusive Spirit. This all-inclusive Spirit has come upon God’s elect, who make up the church.
When Christ was incarnated and born in the manger in Bethlehem, He put humanity on Himself. This humanity included us and all of creation as well. Hence, even before we were born, Christ put us on Himself. As Christ passed through human living, we passed through it with Him. Furthermore, when He went to the cross and was crucified, we were crucified with Him. Then we were buried with Him in the tomb. In fact, all of creation was buried there. Thus, Christ’s tomb was an all-inclusive tomb. We have also resurrected and ascended with Christ. Now, even while we are participating in the church life, we are sitting with Him in the heavenlies. On the one hand, we are in the church on earth; on the other hand, we are in Christ in the heavenlies. There is a great deal of traffic between the heavens and the church, traffic that moves faster than the speed of light. Actually, to refer to such traffic is to speak from a human point of view. From God’s point of view, the heavens and the church are one. Therefore, to be in the church is to be in the heavens.
We also need to point out that the all-inclusive Spirit is the reality of the compound ointment described in Exodus 30. As the compound ointment, the Spirit no longer includes only the Spirit of God typified by the olive oil, but also the aspects of Christ’s death and resurrection typified by the spices. After the olive oil had been blended with the spices, the oil became a compound, an ointment. Formerly the olive oil was of one essence, one element. But after it had been compounded with the spices, other elements had been added to it. The ointment produced by compounding olive oil with the four spices signifies the all-inclusive Spirit.
In eternity past the Spirit of God existed with just one element, the element of divinity. But at the time of Christ’s incarnation, God put on humanity. During Christ’s thirty-three and a half years of human living on earth, more was added to the divine element. Furthermore, through His crucifixion, the essence of His all-inclusive, effective death was added to Him. The same was true of His resurrection. As Christ took these crucial steps, God was processed and compounded with humanity. Just as the olive oil was blended with the spices to be a type, the Spirit of God was blended with the effectiveness and sweetness of Christ’s death and with the effectiveness and power of His resurrection. Therefore, our God is now the processed God who descends as the all-inclusive Spirit upon His chosen people and enters into them to make them the church.
According to the New Testament, Christ has had two births. His first birth took place at His incarnation, and His second birth was in His resurrection. The church came into being through the resurrection of Christ. In His second birth the firstborn Son of God was born with all His brothers, who are the members of His Body, the church. Therefore, the church was born in resurrection, that is, in the second birth of Christ. The church now continues its existence in the all-inclusive Spirit.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that in God’s economy there is one Person, Christ, and one way, the cross. The diagram is actually a chart of this one Person and the one way. Things such as Gnosticism and asceticism have no place here. The teachings of Plato, Socrates, and Confucius and the practices of asceticism are all outside of Christ and apart from the way of the cross. All religions, including Judaism and Christianity, are outside of the line depicted on the diagram. But in the Lord’s recovery we are being brought back to the one Person and the one way. We all need to be recovered from so many different kinds of isms, philosophies, and practices to this one line, to Christ and the cross. Today both Christ and the cross are in the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, to be recovered to Christ and the cross is to be recovered to the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
In our daily Christian experience we need to know the difference between practicing asceticism and taking the way of the cross. To take the cross is certainly not to cause ourselves to suffer in some way. Some saints may say that to experience the cross is to exercise faith in order to apply what Christ accomplished on Calvary to our situation. But even this may be a subtle form of asceticism. In my early years as a Christian, I appreciated the book, The Imitation of Christ. Eventually I learned that a great deal of what that book advocates is actually asceticism.
If we would apply the cross to our situation, we need to contact the all-inclusive Spirit. The effectiveness of the death of Christ is in this Spirit, just as the effectiveness of certain medicines is included in a certain prescribed dose. When a person takes the prescribed dose, he experiences the effectiveness of that medicine. Today the all-inclusive Spirit is an all-inclusive dose. This dose includes the effectiveness of Christ’s death and the power of His resurrection. Furthermore, Christ’s resurrected and uplifted humanity is also in the all-inclusive Spirit.
According to the New Testament, the all-inclusive Spirit is the Spirit. In John 7:39 we are told that the Spirit was not yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. This means the Spirit of God had not yet been compounded to become the Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit. But when Jesus was glorified, the process of compounding was accomplished, and the Spirit came into being. Today it is the Spirit who descends upon us and enters into us to indwell our spirit. In this Spirit we have the effectiveness of the death of Christ.
If we would apply the cross of Christ, we need to open ourselves to the Spirit, contact the Spirit, and allow the Spirit to have a free way within us. Then the Spirit will spontaneously apply the effectiveness of the death of Christ to us. This is what it means to apply the death of Christ. Furthermore, when we open to the Spirit and allow Him to apply the death of Christ to our situation, this experience of Christ’s death will bring Christ to us in resurrection. Hence, through the experience of Christ’s death, we also experience His resurrection. The more we experience this, the more we can say with Paul, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
Due to the influence of tradition, we often use the right terms in the wrong way. The terms are correct, but our understanding of them is mistaken. One of these terms is the cross. When we speak of applying the cross to our situation, we need to have the proper understanding. We need to realize that the effectiveness of the death of Christ is in the all-inclusive Spirit. The reality of the cross of Christ is in the Spirit. Thus, if we open to the Spirit and allow the Spirit to move freely within us, He will flow within us. This inward flowing will bring to us the effectiveness of the death of Christ. Moreover, this application of Christ’s death will bring Christ Himself in resurrection. Then, as those who have died with Christ, we shall live with Him in resurrection. It is here that Christ becomes our life in a practical way. We have died with Christ on the cross, and we have been raised up together with Christ. Now, in resurrection, we have Christ as our life. If we spend more time considering the diagram, we shall be helped to realize in what way we have Christ as our life.
In 3:1 Paul says, “If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” The word “raised” here refers to the raising aspect of baptism, which is altogether contrary to asceticism. We were raised together with Christ. We are now where Christ is, sitting in the heavens. Hence, we should not practice the things on earth that ascetics do. Rather, we should seek the things which are in the heavens.
We need to live by Christ in the heavens, not by the elements of the world. As those who have died with Christ from the things on the earth, especially to things related to asceticism, as those who have been baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3), and who have been raised together with Christ, we should live in the heavens. But how can we do this? The diagram will help us to answer this question also. By the diagram we see that the heavens are joined to the church; therefore, to live in the heavens is simply to live in the church, for the church and the heavens are one. This is the reason that there should not be any of the elements of the world in the church. Today, to be in the church is to be in the heavens, and to be in the heavens is to be in the church. In our Christian life the church and the heavens are one. As I participate in the church life, I have the sense that I am in the heavens. Many Christians talk about going to heaven in the future, but we are in the heavens daily. Oh, the church is in the heavens today! Here, in this heavenly realm, we have no place for the elements of the world.
In 3:3 Paul goes on to say, “For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.” Because our life (not our natural life, but our spiritual life, which is Christ) has been hidden with Christ in God, who is in the heavens, we should no longer care for things on the earth. God in the heavens should be the sphere of our living. With Christ we should live in God.
In verse 4 Paul continues, “When Christ our life is manifested, then you also shall be manifested with Him in glory.” In God, Christ, not our self, our soul, is our life. This life is now hidden, but it will be manifested. Then we shall be manifested with this life in glory.
Many Christians take 3:3 for granted. But what does it mean to say that our life has been hidden with Christ in God? Although this is difficult to explain, the diagram will help us to gain some understanding of it. As a result of the process outlined in this diagram, God, man, the heavens, and the church have been brought together. I realize that some Bible teachers do not believe that God, man, the heavens, and the church have become one. Concerning this, we need to have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. As we consider the diagram, we can say first that we are in God. Because God has been processed, we who believe in Christ are now in God. We are also in the heavens and in the church. To be in God is to be in the heavens, and to be in the heavens is to be in the church. We can also say that to be in the church is to be in the heavens and that to be in the heavens is to be in God. Praise the Lord that we are in God, in the heavens, and in the church. If we realize this, we shall spontaneously understand that our life is hidden with Christ in God. We are with Christ and cannot be separated from Him. In God we are with Christ, in the heavens we are with Christ, and in the church we are with Christ. We have died with Christ, we have been raised with Christ, and we are hidden in God with Christ. All this is possible because we and Christ have become one. Now for us to live is Christ.
Moreover, 1 Corinthians 12:12 tells us that Christ is the Body. Since we, the believers, are the Body of Christ, this reveals our oneness with Christ. We truly are with Christ. Where Christ is, there we are also. With Christ, our life is hidden in God.
In verses 1 and 3 we have a matter that deserves our attention. In verse 1 we are told that Christ is at the right hand of God. But according to verse 3, Christ is in God. Where then is Christ, at the right hand of God or in God? I wonder how those who specialize in analytical theology would answer this question. No matter how much we may try to analyze this, our minds are too limited to comprehend it. The Triune God is unlimited, far beyond our understanding. Do not try to understand Him with your limited mentality. At the same time, Christ is both at the right hand of God and in God. However, according to our limited mentality, we cannot reconcile these statements.
Regarding matters such as this, we do not follow the traditional teachings of the so-called historic church; we follow the pure Word of God. Many believers claim to know the Bible, whereas actually their understanding of the Scriptures has been blinded by traditional teachings embodied in creeds such as the Nicene Creed. However, as we have pointed out, we follow the pure and complete Word of God. According to the Bible, Christ is at the right hand of God and also hidden within God. We may not be able to reconcile these statements, but we believe them because of what the Bible tells us.
I appreciate the word “hidden” in 3:3. Today our life is hidden with Christ in God. But one day Christ will appear, and we shall be manifested with Him in glory. Although we shall be manifested with Christ in the future, now is the time for us to be hidden. For this reason, we should not advertise ourselves.
The importance of a hidden life was impressed upon me afresh in my work on the biography of Brother Nee. Although this book has been completed, I am still seeking the Lord’s mind whether or not it should be published. The reason for my hesitation is that it is difficult to print a biography of someone without exposing that person. This is somewhat opposed to the principle of a hidden life. The life of a Christian today should be a hidden life.
At present, even Christ is hidden. Think of how much He is criticized, opposed, and attacked. People rebel against Him to such an extent that it almost seems as if He does not exist. Although Christ is suffering from this attack and rebellion, He continues to be silent and hidden.
In contrast to the practice of Christianity, our life should not be exposed. We should do many things that are not known by others. Our Christian life should be a hidden life, a life hidden with Christ in God. Our church life should also be hidden in God and in the heavens. The practice of today’s Christianity is to promote people and their work by advertising them. Such a practice is Babylonian, to say the least. The church life is a life hidden with Christ in God and in the heavens. As long as we are hidden, we are with Christ in God, in the heavens, and in the church. But when we advertise and promote ourselves, we are outside of Christ and are not with Him. When Christ appears, we shall appear with Him. That will be the time of our manifestation with Christ. But now is our time to be hidden and to suffer.
According to Romans 8, we shall one day be glorified with Christ. In Romans 8:19 we are told that the “creation eagerly expects the revelation of the sons of God,” at which time it will “be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (v. 21). What a wonderful day it will be when we appear with our Christ in glory! At that time, even our vile body will be transfigured into a glorious body. But as we await that wonderful day, we must remain hidden with Christ in God, in the heavens, and in the church.
