Scripture Reading: Phil. 1:19; 2:12b, Phil. 2:16a; Eph. 3:8; 5:18-20; Col. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 4:6; 6:3
The basic thought of the Bible is that the Triune God desires to work Himself into man so that man may take Him as life and live Him. In order to fulfill this desire, the Triune God has passed through a wonderful process. Both the incarnation and the crucifixion were steps in this process. Through His death on the cross, Christ dealt with sin, sins, and Satan. He also released the divine life. Christ’s all-inclusive death was followed by His resurrection. By incarnation, Christ became a man; through crucifixion He dealt with all negative things; and in resurrection He imparted Himself into all those who believe in Him so that they might become one with Him in life and in nature.
By creation man is God’s creature. As a creature of God, man does not have the divine life or the divine nature. However, man was created in God’s image and after His likeness. God created us in this way because His intention is to come into man and be one with man. For this reason, God created man in such a way that man could receive Him and become one with Him.
The relationship between God and the man created in God’s image may be illustrated by a glove designed to contain a hand. The glove is made in the image of the hand for the purpose of containing the hand. When a hand enters into a glove, the hand and the glove become one. In a similar way, man is a vessel created in the image of God for the purpose of containing God. Romans 9 indicates that we are vessels created to contain God.
On man’s side, man was created as a vessel to contain God. On God’s side, a certain process was necessary. After passing through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Triune God was ready to come into man. After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus charged His followers to disciple the nations and baptize the believers into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). To baptize believers into the name of the Triune God is to immerse them into the very Person of the Triune God. The name denotes the person; and the person is the reality of the name. In his Epistles Paul speaks of being baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). To baptize believers into Christ is the same as baptizing them into the Person of the Triune God. Those who believe in Christ and are baptized into Him become one with the Triune God in life and in nature.
We praise the Lord that, as believers, we have the divine life and partake of the divine nature. Second Peter 1:4 indicates clearly that we are partakers of the divine nature. Because we partake of the divine nature, it can rightly be said that we are divine. However, this definitely does not mean that we are evolving into God or that we shall ever become God as an object of worship. The Bible does not teach that believers will ever be deified. But, according to the Word of God, we who believe in Christ have truly been born of God. Thus, we are genuine sons born of Him, not adopted sons. Because we are sons of God, we have the life and nature of God. By having the divine life and nature, we are one with God. But we repeat that this certainly does not mean that we shall ever become God Himself as an object of worship.
According to the Bible we teach that we are one with God because, through regeneration, we have the life and nature of God. Just as a child has the life and nature of his father, so we, as sons of God, have the life and nature of God. But some Christians are humble in a religious way, and, although they confess that they have been born of God, they dare not say that they have God’s nature. They will say only that they are sinners who have received God’s mercy. They are reluctant to confess that they have God’s nature and are one with Him.
Regeneration does not make us part of the Godhead. To say that believers become part of the Godhead as objects of worship is to blaspheme God. We cannot share the Godhead. But we can partake of the divine nature. To share in the Godhead is one thing; to partake of the divine nature is another. What a great blessing it is to be one with God in His life and nature!
Although this matter is so crucial in the Bible, many Christians today do not pay attention to it because they are preoccupied by ethical, cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts. When they come to the Bible, they are impressed with admonitions such as the command for children to honor their parents, for husbands to love their wives, and for wives to submit to their husbands. Some Christian husbands appreciate the Bible because it teaches a wife to submit to her husband. Likewise, Christian wives may appreciate the Bible because it requires a husband to love his wife. Those who are occupied with ethics and religion will pay attention to those matters in the Bible which they regard as ethical or religious. However, they do not see the basic revelation in the Scriptures.
Suppose that a Chinese hears the preaching of the gospel and believes in Christ. In his reading of the Bible, he may pay special attention to those portions of the Word which seem to be concerned with ethics. He may have very little understanding of Genesis 1:26, a verse which says that God created man in His own image, but he may devour the book of Proverbs, appreciating all its ethical teachings. Likewise, he may appreciate Paul’s words concerning the behavior of husbands and wives, for these sound much like the teachings of Confucius. He may praise the Lord’s salvation because it helps him to be ethical and moral. We may say that in his daily life he is a “Confucius Christian,” a believer who regards the teachings of the Bible as if they were the same as the ethical teachings of Confucius.
A believer with a different cultural background may appreciate the Bible because it teaches us not to make a display of ourselves. He may pay attention to those matters in the Word which seem to be in line with his national characteristics and cultural background. Thus, living Christ is replaced by ethics and culture.
When we come to the Bible, we should forget about ethics, culture, and different kinds of national characteristics. With an unveiled face and an inner being that is not preoccupied with anything, we should pray-read the Word. In doing this, we shall receive not only revelation, but also nourishment.
In 1 Timothy 4:6 Paul speaks of nourishment: “Being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.” Nourishment is related to life. All the words in the Bible are words of life, words that are nourishing and healthy. Paul even uses the expression “healthy teaching” (1 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:9), referring to teaching that nourishes us and makes us healthy. It is important that we all receive nourishment from the Word of God.
If we would be nourished by the Word, we must be free from all preoccupying concepts. We need to lay aside the veils of culture, domestic logic, and national philosophy. We need to read the Word of God without wearing any kind of colored glasses, that is, without any preoccupying concepts. Then we shall receive both nourishment and revelation.
Often after people are saved, they make up their minds to improve themselves. They may say, “I used to be godless and evil. I mistreated my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my children. From now on I will pray that almighty God will help me to be kind to everyone. I make up my mind never to lose my temper again. Instead, I shall be loving.” I believe that virtually every Christian has made a decision like this. However, for believers to make such decisions is not the right way. From experience I have learned that there is no need for us to make up our minds to be good, or to pray that God will help us to improve. What we need is to come to the living Word and receive nourishment.
The Bible reveals that the fullness of the Godhead is embodied in Christ. This means that all the riches of what God has and of what He is are embodied in Christ. Having passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ is now the all-inclusive Spirit with the bountiful supply. The bountiful supply of the Spirit in 1:19 is nothing less than the riches of Christ in Ephesians 3:8. Paul testifies that he was given grace to preach the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ. With respect to Christ, there are the unsearchable riches, but with respect to the Spirit, there is the bountiful supply. I repeat, the bountiful supply of the Spirit is the unsearchable riches of Christ. Both the riches and the supply are embodied in the Word, in the Bible. If we would touch the unsearchable riches of Christ and partake of the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we must come to the Bible.
God’s intention is to impart Himself to us and work Himself into us. He does this by means of the Spirit as the “antenna” and the Bible as the “ground wire.” By these means, the heavenly riches are transmitted into us. On our part, we need to turn away from trying to do good and away from taking the Bible merely as a book of ethics and instead come to the Word for nourishment. We should not simply read the Bible and study it; we also need to pray-read it.
It is not sufficient to understand the Bible — we also need to eat the words of the Bible. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them.” Furthermore, Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The Bible is not only good for reading and studying, but, even the more, it is especially good for eating. Oh, we need to eat the Word of God!
The best way to eat the Word is to pray-read. If we want to enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we need to eat the Word. We have pointed out that the bountiful supply of the Spirit is equal to the riches of Christ and that the riches of Christ are embodied in the Word. Therefore, to enjoy the riches we must pray-read the Word.
The riches of Christ have certain basic elements. The first is divinity, and the second, humanity. In Christ we have true divinity and a proper, uplifted humanity, a humanity which expresses God. The third element of the riches of Christ is the human living of the Lord Jesus. The human living of the Lord Jesus was altogether wonderful. In His human life on earth God was expressed. The fourth element is His wonderful, all-inclusive death on the cross. The next ingredient is Christ’s resurrection. We may use a carnation seed to illustrate resurrection. After a carnation seed is sown into the earth, it sprouts, grows, and develops, and eventually a carnation blossom appears. This is a picture of resurrection. Resurrection is a matter of rising up and growing up in life. After the Lord Jesus was crucified and buried, He rose up. In the illustration of the carnation seed, we see not only the growth of life, but also the life shape, the life function, and the life power. Christ’s resurrection with all these aspects is another element of His riches. Yet other ingredients are Christ’s ascension and His glorification, with His enthronement.
The New Testament reveals Christ’s divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and glorification with enthronement. Along with these seven basic elements, there are innumerable other ingredients: light, life, love, holiness, righteousness, peace, joy, patience, kindness, wisdom. All these, however, are subordinate elements; the primary elements are divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification.
All these marvelous elements of the riches of Christ are embodied in the Bible. But they are not embodied in the Word in a systematized way. The Word of God simply cannot be systematized. God’s riches are too profound for this.
We have pointed out that in the Bible there is embodied the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Furthermore, we have seen that the Spirit and the Word actually are one. Because the Word is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Word, they cannot be separated.
When we read the Word, we should mingle our reading with prayer. As we exercise our eyes and our mind, we should also exercise our spirit to touch the Spirit. Then all that is in the Word will become in our experience the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
Let us use Psalm 133 to show the difference between analyzing the Bible and enjoying the nourishment contained in it by pray-reading. In their time of personal devotions, some Christians may read Psalm 133. As they read, they may begin to analyze and to ask about the precious ointment, the beard, the skirts, the dew, and Mount Hermon. Instead of receiving the bountiful supply, they are left with many unanswered questions. But if we pray-read Psalm 133, we shall take this portion in the way of life. As we pray-read, we may say, “Behold, amen! How good and how pleasant, amen.” By taking the Word in this way, we shall apply the all-inclusive Spirit to our inner being. By pray-reading we exercise our spirit to receive spiritual nourishment from the Word. Through this nourishment we grow in life. We are nourished with the words of faith and healthy teaching. If we take even as little as ten minutes to pray-read a portion of the Word, we shall receive nourishment. Furthermore, we shall experience the various elements of Christ’s riches.
On the one hand, the food we eat each day nourishes us; on the other hand, it contains elements that kill germs. There is no need for us to try to kill the germs in our body. We should simply eat properly and allow the elements in the food we eat to accomplish this work. In like manner, through pray-reading the Word, we experience both nourishment and the putting to death of the negative things within us. As we pray-read, we unconsciously and automatically partake of the basic elements of Christ’s riches: divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification. On the one hand, the element of Christ’s all-inclusive death kills the negative things within us. On the other hand, His resurrection strengthens us and builds us up. This does not come from outward teaching, but from inward nourishing.
If we receive the riches of Christ by pray-reading the Word, it will not be necessary for us to decide to do good or to improve ourselves. Spontaneously we shall live Christ. We shall live a life full of the basic elements of Christ’s riches. In our living there will be divinity, humanity, the experience of Christ’s death, and the strengthening in His resurrection life. To live in this way is to hold forth the word of life and to magnify Christ.
Furthermore, I wish to point out that there is no need for us to make up our minds to magnify Christ. When some hear messages on living Christ and magnifying Him, they may say, “From now on I shall magnify Christ. I shall magnify Him at home, at work, and wherever I may be. Oh, Lord, I ask You to help me to magnify You.” Instead of making this kind of decision and praying in this way, simply come to the Word, to the embodiment of the riches of Christ and of the bountiful supply of the Spirit. As you feed on the Word in a proper way day by day, you will grow. The flesh, the natural man, the self, and different evil tendencies and intents will be dealt with. The bountiful supply of the Spirit embodied in the Word taken by pray-reading will accomplish this work. Furthermore, Christ’s resurrection life will release the divine riches into you, strengthen your spirit, and edify your whole being. Spontaneously, unconsciously, and automatically you will live Christ. Living Christ in this way is equal to holding forth the word of life. As you live Christ, having a daily life full of divinity, humanity, Christ’s human living, death, and the fragrance of His resurrection, you will magnify Christ. This is what it means to live Christ by the riches of the bountiful supply of the Spirit embodied in the Word.
Day by day we should come to the right source — to the Word as the embodiment of the riches of Christ. As we pray-read the Word, these riches will become to us the all-inclusive and bountiful supply of the Spirit. Let us come to the Word every day to pray-read, to eat and absorb the riches of Christ. By pray-reading we shall receive the riches embodied in the Word.
Although I do not know very much about the composition of the physical food I eat each day, I have been eating for more than seventy years. As far as food is concerned, the important thing is not to know — it is to receive the food into our bodies by eating. Then all the elements and ingredients of the food will come into us and function within us to nourish us, strengthen us, build us up, and to kill the germs. Then we shall be healthy and have a proper daily life. As we have pointed out, the same is true of the Christian life. The Christian life is not a life of ethics, religion, culture, or even morality. The Christian life actually is Christ Himself, who is higher than the highest ethics or the top morality. If we are to live a proper Christian life, God desires that we realize that we have been born of Him and are now His children. As members of Christ, we possess the divine life with the divine nature. Furthermore, we have the Spirit and the Word, the means to receive the divine transmission. Daily we must come to the Word with a praying spirit to receive both the riches of Christ and the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Nourished by the Word in this way, we shall grow and spontaneously live a life full of all the different elements of Christ’s riches. In our living there will be an uplifted humanity, the operation of Christ’s wonderful death, and the fragrance and power of His resurrection. All the negative things within us — the flesh, the self, and the natural life — will be nullified. Then we shall hold forth the word of life. This is the magnification of Christ.
I praise the Lord and thank Him for showing us this way to take the Word. This is the biblical way, the way of life. How marvelous that the Triune God has wrought Himself into us and has also given us His holy Word without and His Spirit within! Now we can come to the Word and by exercising our spirit receive the riches embodied in the Word and apply the all-inclusive Spirit to our whole being. Then we shall live Christ.
