In this chapter I have the burden to fellowship about how to contact the all-inclusive and subjective Christ.
In the preceding chapters we have seen clearly not only what Christ is in Himself but also what Christ is to us. He is the center, He is the Head, He is the life, and He is the hope. He is so subjective to us. He is more subjective than objective to us. We have to know and experience Him as the subjective Christ. All our experiences of Christ are based on our real knowledge of Christ as the subjective One. Our urgent need today is to know Him in a subjective way. If we desire to have a genuine church life, we must realize that all the life matters depend on our real experience of the subjective Christ.
We have such a Christ who is central, universal, all-inclusive, and subjective, but what is the proper way for us to contact such a Christ? This is something clearly revealed in the Scriptures, and it is also clear to many experienced Christians. However, Christians in general are not clear about this matter. Many Christians today do not know how to contact Christ in a practical and living way.
First of all, we have to know that if we are going to contact Christ, the living Christ, the subjective Christ, we have to realize what He is. I do not say who He is, but what He is. What He is, is different from who He is. Here we have a stand. This stand is something of wood; it is a wooden stand. What is Christ? We need to realize what He is, and then we will know how to contact Him.
Let us read 1 Corinthians 15:45: "So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul'; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." This verse speaks of two Adams, the first Adam and the last Adam. The first Adam became a living soul, and the last Adam, Christ, became a life-giving Spirit. The Greek word for life-giving is the verb form of the noun life. Christ is the Spirit who gives life or the life-giving Spirit. This is very important. I was in Christianity for many years under some good teachers. I was taught that Christ is God, the Lord, the Head, the Master, and many things, but I was never taught that Christ is the Spirit. I was taught that in the Godhead there is the Holy Spirit, but I was never taught that Christ is the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit.
We have other verses to confirm the fact that Christ is the Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, "The Lord is the Spirit." According to the context of this verse, the Lord here refers to Christ the Lord (2:12, 14-15, 17; 3:3-4, 14, 16; 4:5). This then is a strong word in the Bible, telling us emphatically that Christ is the Spirit.
Then Romans 8:9 says, "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him." First it says, "The Spirit of God dwells in you," and then it says, "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ." First it mentions "the Spirit of God" and then it changes to "the Spirit of Christ." This proves that the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God. We should not consider them as two Spirits. Then verse 10 says, "But if Christ is in you." First it is "the Spirit of God"; then it is "the Spirit of Christ"; and then it is "Christ" Himself. Are these three or are these one? Of course, if we read the context of this passage, we will realize that these three are one. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. So by these verses we can clearly know that Christ today is the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit. Then we have to read John 6:63: "It is the Spirit who gives life." Who is this Spirit? In 1 Corinthians 15:45 we get the answer—"the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit."
When I was a young Christian, I always had the wrong concept that Christ and the Holy Spirit were separate persons. We have to realize that Christ Himself is the life-giving Spirit. If you have the Spirit, you have Christ because the Spirit is Christ Himself. The Spirit is the reality of Christ. Outside of the Holy Spirit, you cannot find Christ or meet Christ. Outside of the Holy Spirit, there is no Christ. Christ is the Spirit. If we want to contact Christ, we must know that He is the Spirit.