The focus of the divine revelation in the Bible is sonship. God’s intention is to express Himself. In order to have His expression, He must have many sons. Do not think that salvation is the center of God’s revelation. The center of His revelation is sonship. God wants many sons. When God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world, His intention was to beget many sons through Him, making Him His Firstborn Son. Although the Lord Jesus came the first time as the Only Begotten Son of God, when He comes the second time, He will come as the Firstborn Son (Heb. 1:6). Being the Firstborn Son means that He is the first among many sons, the Firstborn Son among many brothers (Rom. 8:29).
In the Bible, the significance of sonship is the expression of the Father. A son always expresses his father. When we look at a boy, we see in him the expression of his father. A human father may need only one son to express him, but the divine Father, who is marvelously and wonderfully great, needs millions of sons to be His expression. One day the earth will be filled with the sons of God, and wherever we go, we shall see the image of the Father, the expression of God. If you read the New Testament carefully, you will see that God does not want a company of sinners who have been redeemed, cleansed, and brought into heaven. This is meaningless. God wants many sons to be His corporate, universal expression. Wherever these sons are, there the Father will be expressed. This is sonship. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). This is the basic concept in the Scriptures.
If you spend time with a father and his son, you will discover that the son not only bears his father’s image, but that he also carries his father’s nature. As his father’s son, he has his father’s nature. Likewise, if we have truly been born of God, then we must have His nature. The nature in life is a very significant thing. Every life has a nature. The nature of a life is the very substance of that life. If there is no nature, then there is no life. Regardless of the kind of life it is — vegetable, animal, human, or divine — as long as it is a life, it has a nature. The substance and essence of a life are in its nature. What the nature is, that is what the life is also. An apple tree produces apples because it has an apple-tree nature. In like manner, a dog has a dog’s life because it has a dog’s nature, and a man has a human life because he has a human nature. Could we be human without having a human nature? Of course not. We are human beings because we have a human nature. Because we have a human nature, whatever we do, think, and say is human. Similarly, whatever a dog does is according to the dog’s nature. This nature is the source of the law of life.
The law of life is not only according to the nature of life; it is also of the nature of life. The law of life comes out of the nature of life. Because a particular life has a certain nature, it has a certain law. An apple tree has an apple-tree nature; hence, its law is the law of the apple-tree nature. Why does an apple tree bring forth apples? Because the life law regulates it according to its life nature. In this we see that the law of life is actually the working of the nature of life. When the nature of a life works, the law of that life also works. Suppose we have two trees, an apple tree and a peach tree. If these trees fail to bring forth fruit, we cannot see the law of life. But if the apple tree spontaneously produces apples and if the peach tree spontaneously produces peaches, we see the working of the law of life regulating each tree according to the nature of its life. Therefore, the law of life is simply the working, the functioning, of the nature of life.
Suppose a dog and a man are standing in front of you. If the dog and the man do not move, you will not see the function of the law of life. But if the man behaves in a human way and if the dog begins to bark, these actions will indicate the working of the nature of each life, which is the law of that life. You may command the dog, saying, “Little dog, you must imitate this man. I charge you to follow him and to be one with him, saying and doing whatever he does.” But the more you speak this way to the dog, the more it will react according to the working of the law of its nature. If, on the contrary, you command the man to behave like the dog, he will find it impossible, for he does not have a dog’s nature.
We have seen that God’s intention is to have many sons. His way to have the many sons is to make His Only Begotten Son the prototype. Christianity misses this, having never seen the difference between the Only Begotten and the Firstborn Son of God. Most Christians consider the Only Begotten and the Firstborn Son as being the same. However, there is a great difference between Jesus’ being the Only Begotten Son and His being the Firstborn Son. As the Only Begotten Son, He was not the prototype. In order to be the prototype, He had to become the Firstborn Son of God. In the Only Begotten Son there was only divinity, no humanity, but in the Firstborn Son of God there is humanity as well as divinity. This humanity has been “sonized,” that is, it has been begotten of God in Christ’s resurrection. In Psalm 2:7, God said to the Son, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Because Christ’s human nature, His humanity, has been “sonized” in His resurrection, He is no longer merely the Only Begotten Son of God, but the Firstborn Son of God with divinity and humanity. Hence, He is the prototype.
God’s way to mass-produce this prototype differs from the mass production in a factory. In a factory, a company first produces a prototype and then mass-produces the models according to the prototype. God’s way is to work His living prototype, the Firstborn Son, into our being to be our life and nature. This life is the divine life, and this nature is the divine nature. Now God is working to spread this divine life and nature into every part of our being, transforming our natural being into that of the Firstborn Son of God.
According to Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18, this is transformation. In the process of transformation, the living prototype spreads from our spirit into every part of our being. Transformation wholly depends upon the imparting of the law of life into our spirit. The law which has been imparted into our spirit is the function of the divine life; it comes from the nature of the divine life. Since the day this law came into our spirit, it has been awaiting the opportunity to spread into our mind, emotion, and will. Eventually, it will spread throughout our being. As it spreads, the one law will become several laws. Because the law is the working of the nature of the divine life, when it works, it produces sonship. Its working will always produce the image of God.
With scarcely one exception, nearly all Christians have been distracted from this law and have gone astray from it. Out of a hundred Christians, probably less than five know this law or have heard about it. In Christianity, there is no word or message on the law of life. Because most Christians have gone astray from the law of life, there is the need of the anointing.
What is the difference between the law of life and the anointing? As we have seen, in the Old Testament there were the law and the prophets. The Old Testament comprises these two categories of the divine word. In ancient times, the Old Testament was even called “the Law and the Prophets.” What is the difference between the law and the prophets? Why did God, after giving the law to Moses, still need to use Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the other prophets? We have pointed out that the law was given to be a testimony of God, having been given according to the nature of the Lawgiver. Since the laws you make express the kind of person you are, your laws are your testimony. The law was the testimony of God because it testified what kind of God He is. It testified that He is a holy, righteous God, a God of light and love. Since He is such a God, His law had such a nature. In nature, the law was righteous, holy, and full of light and love. Hence, the law was God’s testimony. God chose Israel from among the nations to be His people, desiring that they would be His people according to what He is. Because the law revealed what God is, the children of Israel had to be God’s people according to His law.
In the first chapter of Isaiah we see that the children of Israel went away from God and His law (Isa. 1:4, 10). If the Israelites had not gone astray from God’s law, there would have been no need for the prophets. But because the people did go astray, God sent the prophets to call them back by rebuking, charging, and directing them to return to God’s testimony. God did not intend to make the ministry of the prophets the standard. The standard of His testimony was the law, and the ministry of the prophets was to bring the off-center people back to the center, to bring God’s straying people back to God’s testimony. Hence, the ministry of the prophets was to recover God’s fallen people to His law.
We have seen that the Old Testament comprises the law and the prophets. With what is the New Testament composed? It is composed of the law of life and the anointing. The law of life replaces the law of letters, and the anointing replaces the prophets. In a previous message we pointed out that the law was given to testify of God’s nature and that the prophets were sent to represent God’s Person. Therefore, the prophets spoke, saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” In the law we have the nature of God, and in the prophets we have the Person of God.
Which do you prefer to have — the nature of God or the presence of God which represents His Person? Every Christian regards the presence of God as dear and precious. In Christianity there is much talk about the presence of God. We are told that the presence of God should mean everything to us and that we must do all things in God’s presence. In Christianity, the believers are taught to live and walk in God’s presence, and a number of books have been written about living in the presence of God. But where can you find a book telling you to live according to the nature of God? If we have the revelation, we shall prefer the nature of God to the presence of God. I may live in a certain brother’s presence, loving him and walking with him. Nevertheless, he remains a Caucasian and I remain a Chinese who lives in the presence of a Caucasian. What does this mean? Nothing. Simply to live and walk in the presence of God without having His nature in you means very little. For thousands of years, the angels have been walking in the presence of God, but they have never satisfied Him. Only one thing can touch God’s heart — to have a people who live and walk according to His nature. For a flea to walk in your presence means nothing, but for a flea to live according to your human nature means a great deal. Thus, walking in the presence of God means little, but living in and by His nature has great significance. However, most Christians only know the presence of God; they do not know His nature.
Because most Christians know only the presence of God but not His nature, it is easy for them to grasp the matter of the anointing. However, it is difficult for them to get into God’s nature. Recently, many have testified that formerly they served in the church by organization, but that now they serve by the anointing. For example, some have said that now they come to clean the hall by the anointing. This is wonderful. However, after having been sent by the anointing to clean the meeting hall, with what life do you clean? Perhaps you clean in your old life. While the anointing is for moving, the law of life is for living. Few Christians pay attention to life. When they hear about the things of life, they respond like the Jews in ancient times, saying, “This is a hard word; who can hear it?” (John 6:60, Recovery Version). But whenever a revivalist comes to stir people up, they are excited. Anointing is for activity, but the law of life is for being.
God does not care for what we do; He cares for what we are. The record of Jacob in the book of Genesis illustrates this. Throughout his entire life, Jacob did nothing. Although he performed no outstanding work, he was constantly under the process of God’s transformation. Even when he was in his mother’s womb, God used Esau to deal with him. As we have pointed out in some of the life-study messages on Genesis, his family functioned as a team to transform him. After Jacob had fled his home and had come to the home of his Uncle Laban, Laban’s hand was upon him. Do you think that Jacob’s life was a waste? Should someone have gone to Laban’s home and spoken to Jacob, saying, “Jacob, why are you here wasting your life? Why don’t you go to the mission field or establish a church? Why don’t you have a Bible study in your home? You are wasting your time living here under Laban’s hand.” But those years were not a waste. God does not want your work. He can do anything He wants simply by speaking. He calls things not being as being (Rom. 4:17). If He wants something, He simply needs to say the word and it will come into being. He does not need you to help Him. But God cannot just say, “Jacob, you must be Israel.” In order for Jacob to become Israel requires a long process. This is life.
We all must be delivered from work to life. Actually, it matters little whether you stay home or go to clean the meeting hall. I am not saying that the hall should not be cleaned. I am saying that whether we stay home, come to the meeting hall, or even enter into heaven means nothing. What counts is what we are. If you stay home, you should stay there not only according to the anointing, but also according to the law of life. Some brothers may be guided by the anointing to stay home, but while at home they fight with their wives because they do not live according to the law of life. When they are home, their wives may pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and rescue me. Send my husband to the hall. I don’t want him to stay home because he bothers me so much.” When such a brother is at home, he bothers his wife; and when he comes to clean the meeting hall, he bothers the brothers. Wherever he goes, he troubles someone because he has no change in life. Consider a dog. A dog will bother people wherever it goes. Do not think that if a dog is in an unclean place, it will bother someone, but if it is in your living room, it will not bother anyone. The environment may change, but the dog remains the same. Likewise, whether I stay home or come to clean the meeting hall, I am still what I am. My wife may be afraid of my being home, and the brothers may be afraid of my coming to the hall, saying, “Be careful with this brother. Don’t touch him. He is very fragile. If you touch him, he will break.” This brother may have the anointing, but he does not live according to the law of life. The law of life, not the anointing, is what changes us.
Although the anointing does not change us, it has a good function. Firstly, it rebukes us, and secondly, it tells us to return to the law of life. Perhaps all of us have misunderstood 1 John 2:27, which says that “the same anointing teacheth you of all things.” The anointing does not teach us to do everything; it teaches us to abide in Christ. Some brothers and sisters may wonder whether or not to go shopping and they pray to the Lord, saying, “O Lord, should I go shopping or stay home? Lord, grant me the anointing.” But the Lord may say, “My anointing doesn’t care for your going shopping or staying home. My anointing only cares that you abide in Me. As long as you abide in Me, you may go anywhere. If you abide in Me, whatever you do will be all right.” If we abide in Christ, we may go anywhere. But remember this crucial clause — “if we abide in Christ.” As long as we abide in Christ, God does not care where we go or what we do. Many who are concerned about marriage pray to the Lord regarding it, saying, “Lord, should I marry this one?” Some can testify that although they prayed in this way, the Lord never answered their prayers. Many young brothers have prayed, saying, “Lord, let me know whether this sister is the dear one You have chosen for me.” But the more the brothers pray like this, the more confused they will be. I know of some sisters who have prayed for ten years about getting married without receiving an answer. If the Lord were to answer them, He would probably say, “I don’t care about your marriage. I only care whether or not you abide in Me. If you abide in Me, you may get married. But if you do not abide in Me, you should not even marry the best brother.” The only thing that counts is whether or not we abide in the Lord. In God’s economy, it is not a matter of our doing; it is absolutely a matter of our being. It is a matter of what we are. And what we are depends upon the life according to which we live day by day.
In ancient times, the people of Israel got off the center, which is God’s law, and God sent the prophets to bring them back. Today most Christians are away from God’s center, which is the law of life. Therefore, the epistle of 1 John was written to the degraded Christians, calling them back to the anointing. The law of life is a basic matter. Because it is basic, it is mentioned in the book of Romans, a book of basic teachings. The anointing, on the contrary, is not mentioned in any of the basic books. Rather, it is mentioned in a book dealing with degradation, because many Christians had been distracted by the teachings of the antichrists. In the First Epistle of John, John told them to care for the anointing. John seemed to be saying, “The anointing tells you what to do and where to go. Don’t listen to the teachings of the antichrists — obey the anointing. The anointing will bring you back to the law of life.” First John 2 brings us back to Romans 8. But if we are truly living in Romans 8, we do not need 1 John 2. Likewise, if the Israelites had never gone astray from God’s law, there would have been no need for the prophets. From now on, we should live according to the law of life and not just move according to the anointing.
God cares for His nature, but His presence is our safeguard. God’s nature is within us, and we must live according to it. This means that we must live according to the law of life. However, we are often distracted. In times of distraction, God’s presence will watch over us, observe us, and warn us. If we stray from the law of life, the anointing will say, “No!” After we say, “Lord, I repent,” then the anointing will tell us to return to the law of life. In a foregoing message, I said that we must live according to the law of life and move according to the anointing. The anointing represents God’s presence directing us, correcting us, and bringing us back to His nature. We must live according to the law of life. This means that we must live and walk according to God’s nature.
Why is it easy to grasp the matter of the anointing but difficult to get into the law of life? It is easy to know a brother by his presence. With even a short glimpse, we can easily recognize his presence. But it takes a great deal of time to get into his nature. Perhaps his wife, who has lived with him for many years, is the only one who has gotten into his nature. We may know this brother’s face, but we do not know his nature. In like manner, it is easy to apprehend God’s presence, but it is difficult to know His nature in our being. Merely to tell people to walk in the presence of God is rather natural and religious. It is not life. But to know God’s nature within our being and to live according to it is exceedingly deep. This is what God desires.
God is not concerned with what we do; He is concerned with what we are according to His nature within us. He does not care much about what we say to our wives, but He does care about the life by which we speak to them. According to what nature do you speak to your wife? Sometimes you may say, “Dear, I love you.” This is a good word, but in saying it you might be playing politics. Any kind of political talk, even if it is about love, is like rotten honey because it originates from our corrupted nature. It does not issue from the divine nature in your being. Likewise, God does not care whether or not you go to the mission field. He cares about the life by which you go to the mission field. I do not go to any sinful place, because the divine nature in my being does not allow me to go. I do not live according to religion or regulations; I live according to the divine nature in my being. When we live day by day according to the divine nature, we shall be saturated with Christ and transformed to His image. During the twenty years he was in Laban’s home, Jacob did nothing, but he underwent a good deal of transformation. Jacob was not instantly transformed; it took more than twenty years.
In the church service, it is not just a matter of serving according to the anointing and of not serving according to organization. If our service is merely like this, before long we shall be fighting with one another. We may even fight over cleaning the chairs. One brother may say, “Don’t you know that this is my territory? Don’t touch it and don’t bother me. Go someplace else to clean.” This brother’s way of cleaning is according to his corrupted nature. Although he might have been sent by the anointing, he cleans according to his fallen nature. Following the anointing is not as important as living according to the law of life. We may all be sent by the anointing to clean the meeting hall, but still not have any building among us. Everyone may become independent, saying, “Don’t bother me. We are in the new church service. In the old service we had an order and a sequence. According to that order, I was last and could not say anything. But now I’m the same as everyone else. Don’t tell me what to do. I’m not under you — I’m under the anointing.” If this attitude does not come out immediately, it will come out after a few weeks. A brother who claims to be following the anointing but who does not live according to the law of life may say, “We are not in the organization — we are in the organism.” But this is the “organism” of a corrupted nature. If we live this way, there can be no building. I cannot find a verse in the New Testament which says that the building comes from the so-called anointing. But in Romans and Ephesians we see that the building issues from the growth of life. The more we grow, the more of the building we shall see.
How can we grow in life? By obeying the anointing which teaches us to abide in Christ. To abide in Christ is to live according to His nature. His nature is working and functioning within us. As we have seen, the functioning of the nature of life is the law of life. The more we live according to this law of life, the more we become the kind of being God desires.
According to the Bible, God’s work throughout the centuries will consummate in the New Jerusalem. It will not consummate in a work, for there will be no work in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will be a being bearing God’s image. Hence, the very being of the New Jerusalem will be God’s expression. The church life today must be a miniature of the New Jerusalem.
We should not care much for work, but we should care for our being, for what we are according to the nature of God within us. I would like to hear a brother or sister testify, saying, “I thank God that in recent days I have been living according to the inner law of life. Last night I was distracted from the law of life, but the anointing checked me and told me to return to the divine nature within me. After a few minutes I did return, and now, once again, I am living according to the law of life.” I would also like to hear a brother testify, saying, “This morning I began to speak to my wife in a nice, yet political, way, but because my speaking did not correspond with God’s divine nature within me, I could not even complete one sentence.” Learn to live according to the law of life. The anointing is God’s presence to direct us, to correct us, and to bring us back to the law of life. It is the law of life which works in us to transform us. If the brothers and sisters in the churches live according to God’s divine nature in their being, the Lord will have a prevailing testimony on earth today. This testimony will shame the enemy and bring the Lord back. This is what the Lord is waiting for. We all must see that it is not merely a matter of following the anointing; it is absolutely a matter of living according to the law of life, according to the functioning of the divine nature of God in our being. As God’s nature works within us, it makes us exactly the same as He is, transforming us and conforming us to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. In this way, God will have the complete sonship for His corporate expression.
