In the previous three messages we have seen that the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-has passed through all kinds of processes and has worked Himself into us, the tripartite beings with a spirit, a soul, and a body. For Him to work Himself into us, the main thing is for Him to be our life. Our usual concept is that we need the Lord’s redemption and deliverance. We do not have much concept that we need God’s life, that is, to have the life of God in addition to our original human life. This does not mean that we will become God and will no longer be man; rather, it means that God will be added into us.
Even if our original human life had not been corrupted, God would not want it. What God wants is not simply His own life but His own life added into our human life. In other words, what God wants is two lives to be joined as one life. In the physical world, the grafting of branches is a simple matter which perfectly symbolizes this union of two lives into one life. For example, here is a peach tree. Its fruit may be small and bitter. Another tree may bear large and sweet peaches. If we graft the branches of the good tree onto the poor peach tree, the union of the two will produce large and sweet fruit. This is the meaning of grafting. It is not a matter of retaining the large and sweet and cutting off the small and bitter. Rather, it is a matter of grafting the large and sweet onto the small and bitter. It is not an exchange or a replacement, but a union. That which is large is grafted onto that which is small, and that which is small is mingled with that which is large. This is the grafted life.
God has no intention for us to stop being man. He has no intention for us to be spirits. God wants us to be God-men, those into whom God has been “grafted.” There is no such thing in our concept. In our concept, there is only ourselves, and we consider that we are not too bad. However, we are not good enough; there are still some flaws. As a result, we need some improvement and expect some changes for the better. To change for the better is a human concept. The schools educate people with the hope that man would improve and would be better than before. Although this kind of improvement may superficially seem to work a little, in the end, the person will be worse than before and will have no hope of being improved. God does not want this. He does not want us to have our bright virtue developed, as Confucius said, and to arrive at supreme goodness. He wants us to be filled with God until the living water of life flows out from us like rivers. This is to have the divine life added to the human life, to have God’s life grafted into the human life, and to have two lives becoming one life, thus living a mingled living of a God-man.
The highest standard of living for a Christian is to live the mingled life of a God-man. God’s purpose is to work Himself into us to the extent that He becomes us and we become Him, that we and He become completely identical in life, nature, and image. This is the pinnacle. This is much higher than being good. Unfortunately, although many of us are saved, we are not very clear about this matter, and do not know what is the real Christian life. We think that the Christian life is merely to have good behavior and to glorify God. But the real meaning of glorifying God is not to do these things, but to express God. We often think that to be humble, patient, and have good works is to glorify God. Actually, our so-called humility, patience, and gentleness do not express God. Rather, they express ourselves.
I fully believe that everyone’s condition, including my own, is not quite proper. But thank God, one day we all repented, and we believed in the Lord Jesus. When we called on His name, the holy breath came into us. From that time on, God has been grafted into our life. This Jesus Christ who is in us is the embodiment of the Triune God. Moreover, this embodied Triune God has become a Spirit, who is the compound Spirit of life. He is diverse and all-inclusive. This Spirit is Jesus Christ and is also the Triune God. He is our Redeemer and our Savior as well. When He entered into us, we received another life, the life of God, in addition to our human life. This is called the grafted life. God’s life has been grafted into the human life, and the two lives have been joined to become one life. This is like the grafted branches being joined to the tree. Hence, it is not a matter of cultivation or improvement, which has only temporary results. We have God grafted into us. He and we have become one. He is our life, and we are His living. He is our content, and we have become His expression. The Triune God has been processed and has entered into us to be life in our tripartite being, that is, in our spirit, soul, and body. This life is like a law, operating daily in us in a natural, spontaneous, and powerful way. It is like an electric fan, which, though turning slowly, is operating steadily and powerfully. The reason for this is that there is power coming from the power plant. The Triune God can be compared to electricity. He has been processed and has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. In resurrection, He has become the life-giving Spirit and has entered into us. This Spirit of life has become a law and is regulating us day by day.
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