Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:13-16
In 1:13-16 we see the matter of God’s Son versus man’s religion. Verses 13 and 14 present a vivid picture of man’s religion. In verse 13 Paul says, “For you have heard of my manner of life formerly in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it.” Here we see a contrast between the Jewish religion and the church of God. When Paul was in Judaism, he persecuted the church because the church was different from his religion. Paul hated the church because it detracted from his religion. In his religious zeal, he persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it.
In verse 14 Paul goes on to say, “And I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries in my race, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” The traditions here were those in the sect of the Pharisees, to which Paul belonged. He called himself “a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6). The Jewish religion was composed not only of the God-given law and its rituals, but also of man-made traditions. Because Paul was so zealous for the traditions of his fathers, he became a leading religionist and advanced beyond many of his contemporaries.
Then in verses 15 and 16 Paul declares, “But when it pleased God...to reveal His Son in me....” At the time appointed by God, when Saul, zealous in his religion, was persecuting the church, the Son of God was revealed to him. God could bear with Saul’s zeal for the traditions of his fathers, for this produced a dark background against which to reveal Christ. At a time which was pleasing to Him, God revealed His Son in Saul of Tarsus. God was pleased to reveal to him the living Person of the Son of God. To reveal His Son in us is also a pleasure to God. It is Christ, the Son of God, not the law, in whom God the Father is always pleased (Matt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5).
The Son of God as the embodiment and expression of God the Father (John 1:18; 14:9-11; Heb. 1:3) is life to us (John 10:10; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:4). The desire of God’s heart is to reveal His Son in us that we may know Him, receive Him as our life (John 17:3; 3:16), and become the sons of God (John 1:12; Gal. 4:5-6). As the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), Christ is far superior to Judaism and its traditions (Gal. 1:13-14). The Judaizers bewitched the Galatians so that they considered the ordinances of the law above the Son of the living God. Hence, the apostle in the opening of this Epistle testified that he had been deeply involved in that realm and far advanced in it. God, however, had rescued him out of that course of the world, which was evil in God’s eyes, by revealing His Son in him. In his experience, Paul realized that there is no comparison between the Son of the living God and Judaism with its dead traditions from his fathers.
In 1:16 Paul emphasizes the fact that the Son of God was revealed in him. This indicates that God’s revealing of His Son to us is in us, not outwardly but inwardly; not by an outward vision but by an inward seeing. This is not an objective revelation; it is a subjective one.
God made the Apostle Paul a minister of Christ by setting him apart, calling him, and revealing His Son in him. Therefore, what Paul preached was not the law, but Christ the Son of God. Furthermore, he did not merely preach the doctrine concerning Christ; he preached Christ as a living Person.
The crucial point in this message is that this living Person, God’s Son, is versus man’s religion. This was true at the time of Saul of Tarsus, it has been true throughout the centuries, and it is true today. Instead of focusing his attention on this living Person, man has a natural tendency to direct his attention to religion with its tradition. But from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22 the Bible reveals a living Person. God cares only for this living Person, not for anything else.
The record of the experience of the disciples with the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration illustrates this (Matt. 17:1-8). After bringing Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain apart, the Lord Jesus “was transfigured before them, and His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light” (Matt. 17:2). Along with the other two disciples, Peter saw the Lord’s glory. He also saw Moses and Elijah speaking with Him. Although it is doubtful that Moses and Elijah were in glory, they nonetheless were speaking with the glorified Jesus. According to Matthew 17:4, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” In making this suggestion, Peter was elevating Moses and Elijah to the same level as that of the Lord Jesus. He was heir of the centuries-old tradition concerning Moses, who represented the law, and Elijah, who represented the prophets. To the Jews, Moses and Elijah were the representatives of the entire Old Testament. Hence, even on the mount of transfiguration, Peter was zealous for the traditions regarding Moses and Elijah. But while Peter was still speaking, “behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight; hear Him!” (Matt. 17:5). Moses and Elijah then disappeared from the scene. When the disciples lifted up their eyes, “they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.” This indicates that in the eyes of God there is no place for religion or tradition — only the living Person of His Son has a place.
Man has a natural tendency to appreciate traditional things. How people treasure their traditions! For example, the Seventh-Day Adventists treasure the Sabbath day. They fondly cling to the tradition of the seventh-day Sabbath. But according to Colossians 2:16, the Sabbath is a shadow of which the reality, the body, is Christ. Now that Christ has come, we should turn from the shadow to the reality. Nevertheless, like the Jews of old, today’s Seventh-Day Adventists treasure the shadow and neglect Christ. Christ is our day. He is not only our real Sabbath, but the reality of every day. How foolish to treasure the seventh-day Sabbath when we can enjoy Christ as our real Sabbath and as the reality of every day!
Some Christians treasure certain things that are far more ridiculous than this. Have you heard that some preachers are occupied with the lengthening of legs? Where is Christ in such a practice? Those who specialize in the lengthening of legs should call themselves “leg-lengtheners,” not ministers of Christ. To associate the lengthening of legs with the name of Christ is to use His name in vain.
Today millions of Christians are occupied with miracles, healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, the so-called manifestation of gifts, and head covering, but few are occupied with Christ. What a pitiful situation!
For seven and a half years, I was with a very strict Brethren assembly. During my time with them, I heard a good number of messages on the books of Daniel and Revelation. In these messages a great deal was said about beasts, horns, toes, and certain periods of days. As a young man zealous for knowledge, I was somewhat satisfied by that kind of teaching. But although I heard many messages about different aspects of prophecy, I did not hear very much concerning Christ. Actually the book of Revelation is not focused on beasts, toes, and horns; it is focused on Christ. This book is a revelation of the Person of Christ. Even the book of Daniel reveals Christ. Nevertheless, the messages given in that Brethren assembly were by no means centered on Christ.
If you attend the so-called Sunday morning services in today’s Christianity or go to Bible studies held by Christian teachers, you will hear about many things. But rarely will you hear a message in which Christ is unveiled and ministered to the Lord’s people. This indicates that today, as it has been for centuries, religious people are zealous for religious things and for traditions, but not for Christ. A great many Christians care for religion and traditions, but they do not care for the living Person of Christ.
The focal point of the Bible is not practices, doctrines, or ordinances — it is the living Person of the Son of God. In 1:15 and 16 Paul said that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. Concerning the Son of God, many are still under the influence of the traditional teachings in Christianity with respect to the Trinity. The New Testament reveals that God the Father loved the world and gave His Son for us (John 3:16). But the problem we face is how to understand this. In what way did the Father send His Son? One day, Philip said to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us” (John 14:8). Surprised at such a request, the Lord said, “Am I so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9). Then the Lord went on to say, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?” (v. 10). However, later on in this chapter, in verse 16, the Lord Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever.” If I had been Philip, I would immediately have said, “Lord, since to see You is to see the Father, why do You now say that You will pray to the Father? Your word seems contradictory.” Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus said that He would ask the Father and that the Father would give the disciples another Comforter to be with them forever, even the Spirit of reality (v. 17), who had been abiding with the disciples and who would be in them. But then in verse 18 He says, “I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.” This indicates that the very He who is the Spirit of reality in verse 17 becomes the I who is the Lord Himself in verse 18. This shows that after His resurrection the Lord would become the Spirit of reality.
My purpose in speaking of these matters from John 14 is to point out that if we are adequately enlightened through the record of the New Testament, we shall see that whenever the Son of God is mentioned, the Father is involved also. We cannot separate the Son from the Father or from the Spirit. Many Christians mistakenly separate the Son from the Father and the Spirit from the Son, claiming that They are three separate and distinct Persons. But such a separation is not according to God’s revelation in the New Testament. The Bible reveals that where the Son is, there the Father is, and there the Spirit is also. The Father is embodied in the Son, and the Son is realized as the Spirit. This means that the Spirit is the realization of the Son, who is the embodiment of the Father. For this reason, in 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (Gk.). We cannot have the grace of Christ the Son without the love of God the Father or the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Son, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit cannot be separated. Actually, these three things are one. In the same principle, we cannot separate the Spirit from the Son nor the Son from the Father. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all are one. Otherwise, God would not be triune. The word triune is composed of tri-, meaning three, and -une, meaning one. As the Triune God, God is both three in one and one in three.
It is significant that in Galatians 1:15 and 16 Paul does not say that God revealed Christ in him, but that He revealed His Son in him. Speaking of Christ does not lead to the same kind of involvement as does speaking of the Son. The reason for this difference is that whenever we speak of the Son of God, we are immediately involved with the Father and the Spirit. According to the writings of Paul, to have the Son is to have both the Father and the Spirit. As we have pointed out repeatedly, the Son is the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the Spirit for our enjoyment. Hence, when Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him, this means that the One revealed in him was the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the processed all-inclusive Spirit. The burden I have received from the Lord is to minister this matter to God’s chosen people. Although I have been ministering on this for many years, I can testify that this burden is heavier today than ever before.
In Paul’s Epistles we see that the Son is the mystery of God, the embodiment of God, and the One in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:2, 9). One day, through incarnation, the Son of God became a man called the last Adam, who, through death and resurrection, has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). In 2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” Putting all these verses together, we see that the Son of God, the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, became a man and that in resurrection this One is now the life-giving Spirit.
Concerning Christ as the Son of God, there are two “becames.” According to John 1:14, the Word, the Son of God, became flesh; that is, He became a man. Furthermore, according to 1 Corinthians 15:45, this One, called the last Adam, has become the life-giving Spirit. This is the reason that Paul can say explicitly that now the Lord is the Spirit. The Son of God is thus the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive Spirit. This wonderful Person is versus man’s religion.
The heart of God is fully occupied with the living Person of His Son. Because His attention is focused on this living Person, God has no interest in giving us things such as immersion, tongues-speaking, healing, circumcision, the Sabbath, head covering, or doctrines about prophecy. God’s unique intention is to give us His Son as a living Person.
However, because of the fall, we are easily distracted to care for other things in place of Christ. It is quite possible that even among us in the Lord’s recovery we may care for any number of things instead of Christ. For instance, we may care more about the church service than we care for Christ. It is crucial for us to have a vision of this all-inclusive living Person. This Person includes the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; He includes divinity and humanity. Although this living Person is so all-inclusive, He is very practical to us, for, as the life-giving Spirit, He is in our regenerated spirit. On the one hand, He is in the heavens as the Lord, the Christ, the King, the Head, the High Priest, and the heavenly Minister; on the other hand, He is in our spirit to be everything to us. He is God, the Father, the Redeemer, the Savior, man, life, light, and the reality of every positive thing. This is the living Person of the Son of God.
We have pointed out that Paul’s Epistles were written according to God’s revelation. But we also need to see that a very high degree of intelligence was required to interpret this revelation and to express it in words. Others may receive such a revelation, but, unlike Paul, they may not have the ability to understand it and to convey it in language. We have seen that Paul, a highly educated person, was a leading religionist. According to his darkened mentality, nothing could compare to Judaism with its law, Scriptures, priestly service, and traditions. As one who always pursued what he thought was best, he was wholly given to these things. He despised the followers of Jesus; he considered that they were merely following an insignificant Nazarene, whereas he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. But one day, when it pleased God the Father, the living Person of the Son of God was revealed in him. When this Person appeared to him, he fell to the ground and spontaneously called, “Who art thou, Lord?” (Acts 9:5). Immediately the Lord replied, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” According to the darkened understanding of Saul of Tarsus, Jesus had been buried in a tomb, and His disciples had stolen His body and hidden it somewhere. But now Saul was shocked to realize that Jesus was living, was speaking from the heavens, and was being revealed to him. From the time this living Person was revealed in Saul, the veil was taken away and Saul’s keen mind was enlightened with respect to the Son of God. Henceforth, he cared for this Person and no longer cared for religion or tradition.
Pray that you may see such a vision of the living Person of the Son of God. Also pray that others will see this vision. Pray that they will see this living Person and care for Him instead of things such as the Sabbath, head covering, healing, and spiritual gifts. We need to pray that we shall care for this living Person more than anything, even more than for the church life. Without this living Person as the reality and content of the church life, even the church life will become a tradition. Oh, it is vital that we see this living Person!
Though we have a good deal of knowledge of Bible doctrine, our burden is not to minister doctrine; it is to minister the living Son of God as the embodiment of the processed Triune God realized as the life-giving Spirit. We should not treasure anything, including our Bible knowledge or spiritual experience and attainments, in place of this living Person. Daily and hourly, we need to experience this living Person. The church is the Body of this Person, His practical and living expression.
Because this living Person is everything to us, there is no need for us to seek mere holiness, spirituality, victory, love, or submission. As the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, He is within us to be whatever we need. In a forthcoming message we shall see that this One is now living in us. What we lack is not holiness or victory — it is this living Person. He is versus everything. Without Him, everything is a tradition made either by others or by ourselves. May we all see that today this living Person is versus all things.
Apart from Christ, the living Person of the Son of God, whatever we have is religion. For example, a brother may love his wife. But if he loves her apart from Christ, even this is religious. The same is true of sisters who submit to their husbands apart from Christ. This kind of submission is religious and traditional. I have known some Chinese wives who were submissive simply because they were submissive by nature. Before they were saved, they were submissive. After they became Christians, they became good, submissive, Christian wives. But this kind of submission has nothing to do with Christ. It is the expression of Chinese tradition, not of the living Person of the Son of God.
I am concerned that many of us are trying to practice the church life apart from Christ. If this is the case, our church life will be nothing more than a religion with its own kind of tradition. How desperately we need a vision of this living Person! It is crucial that He be revealed in us.
Before I received a vision of the living Person, I was one who kept many traditions. But one day it pleased God to reveal His Son in me. Now I know that this living Person is the embodiment of the processed, all-inclusive Triune God realized in my spirit as the life-giving Spirit. In my spirit I enjoy Him, experience Him, partake of His riches, and live Him. To be a Christian is to be one who is occupied with the living Person, not with religion. Judaism is a religion formed by man in dead letters with vain traditions. But the Son of God is life, the uncreated, eternal life of God. For our experience and enjoyment, this One is the all-inclusive Spirit with the divine reality (John 1:14; 14:6). I do not want anything to do with religion — I want this living Person. Which do you choose — man’s religion or the living Person of God’s Son?
