Ephesians 4:13 says, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Galatians 4:19b says, “Until Christ is formed in you.” God shows us clearly in His Word that all spiritual matters related to a Christian depend on Christ. Whether it is our believing in the Lord, our baptism, or our breaking bread in remembrance of the Lord, everything in our Christian life depends on Christ. All spiritual matters depend on whether or not we have Christ. Any experience in which we do not experience Christ cannot be counted as a spiritual experience in God’s eyes.
Many of us still do not have a real seeing or feeling regarding this matter. We know that the Lord Jesus is God, that He has the eternal life, that the Lord Jesus is the Savior, and that we have received His salvation and have His life. Yet in our feeling, we are still not very clear that God’s purpose is for Christ to be our life and everything. Even though we have believed in the Lord and now belong to the Lord, there is one thing that we have not seen accurately. God wants Christ to be everything to us. This is not something outward but inward. Christ is in us as our life. Life is intimately related to us. To say that we do not have life would be to say that we do not have ourselves. God’s purpose is for Christ to be our life, yet we who are saved do not have much realization that Christ is our life.
Very often we are able to live and walk as if everything is normal, even though we have put Christ aside. Often at these times we are even pleased with ourselves, thinking that we have done well. This shows that although we are saved, we still have not clearly seen that Christ is our life and that we have to live by Him. If we see this clearly, we will have a deep sense that apart from Him we can do nothing and that apart from Him we cannot live. Deep within us we must see this revelation and vision so that our living will be in Christ and by Christ.
Today we still do not have an adequate understanding of the fact that Christ is our life and that, as the Bible says, apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). We have not seen that God rejects and refuses all that comes out of us. Anything that comes out of us, no matter how good it may be, is not acceptable to God. Only Christ counts; only Christ is valuable. Our hatred is definitely not acceptable to God, but our love is also not acceptable to Him. Only that which comes out of Christ is acceptable to God. God’s ordination concerning His Son is that we would love His Son and live by the life of His Son, so that His Son would be able to pass through us to be our life within and our living without. This is God’s intention, God’s purpose.
Many of God’s children have not seen God’s intention. Rather, they think that God wants them to improve themselves. Hence, their deepest pursuit is focused on improving themselves. Every time they pursue the Lord, they want to change themselves. When a person does not care for spiritual matters, he is indifferent to everything. He does not like to preach the gospel, to attend meetings, or to fellowship with the saints. However, at a certain time, perhaps when he is touched in a meeting, or if he suffers a blow and is disciplined, his heart is awakened, and he begins to have a heart to pursue spiritual things. At this time he has the strong thought that he will change his condition. In the past he was slothful, but now he will be diligent. In the past he did not read the Bible, but now he will read the Bible. In the past he did not pray, but now he will pray. In the past he was not zealous, but now he will be zealous. In the past he did not attend meetings, but now he will attend meetings. Of course, all these things are right and good, but they are not God’s purpose. God’s purpose is His Son, Christ.
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