Therefore, firstly we need redemption, and secondly we need salvation. God’s redemption is to deal with man’s fall, whereas God’s salvation is to carry out God’s intention, which is to give Himself as the Spirit to be life to man (2 Cor. 3:6). It is notable that the founders of the religions of the world did not have the term redemption. What they taught is the need to atone for mistakes by meritorious service. Do you think you have merits? Even if you did, what about your former sins? Only the Bible tells us clearly that the Lord Jesus came to accomplish redemption for our sins. He not only redeems us but also saves us by giving Himself as the Spirit to be our life.
The redemption through Christ’s blood lays the foundation and paves the way for salvation in God’s life (Acts 11:18; Rom. 5:17b-18, 21b). One day, four thousand years after man was created, God was incarnated to become a man, and His name was Jesus. At that time God came and entered into man to be joined with man as one. Thus, He was God, and He was also man. His becoming a man effected His union with the human race. You and I are included in Him. One day He went to the cross and shed His blood to die for us, to bear our sins, and to solve all our problems.
The death of Christ on the cross is a mysterious death. Since He was in union with mankind, when He died as a man, we also were brought by Him to the cross to die there. This is a very mysterious teaching in the Bible. The Bible tells us that we are crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). He brought us, as mankind, with Him to the cross to be put to death there. Therefore, when He was crucified, we also were crucified in and with Him. Then He was resurrected, and in His resurrection He imparted God to us to be our life. Romans 5:17b shows that the grace and the gift of righteousness, which were brought to us through Christ’s redemption, can be abundant to such a degree that we are able to reign in the life of God- not only to overcome but even to conquer and reign over all things.
In the universe among the human race there is such a history. There was a man who was openly crucified, but three days after He was buried, He was resurrected. When He was resurrected, we also were resurrected with Him. In resurrection He imparted God to us. Therefore, the Bible says that we were crucified with Him, and we were raised up together with Him. To be crucified with Him is for redemption, and to be raised up with Him is for salvation. The salvation of God is carried out by His imparting Himself to us to be in us through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, today we are also the resurrected ones in Him.
The Lord is in us, that is, in our spirit. He wants not only to be born in us but also to live and move with us day by day. When we speak, He participates. Whatever we do, He is with us. This is unknown to the unbelievers. The unbelievers think that to believe in Jesus is to believe in a religion and reform one’s outward behavior. However, the Bible teaches us that God is life, and that apart from Him there is no life. Only His life is the eternal life. This God who is life wants to enter into man to be man’s life. He created man in order that man might be a vessel to contain Him. Therefore, today anyone who is without God or without Christ is an empty man; he does not have reality. The reality of man is Christ, who is God. God Himself was incarnated to be a man. In this man, He brought the human race to the cross to die there with Him. Then He brought the human race with Him to be resurrected, and in this resurrection He regenerated those whom He had chosen.
The Christ who died and resurrected was God incarnated to be a man to die for us and to bring us with Him into His resurrection. In resurrection He was transfigured to be the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, God, Christ, and the Spirit are not three separately. God is Christ, and Christ is the Spirit. Today, as the life-giving Spirit, Christ applies God’s redemption and salvation to us. God’s salvation in life consists of four major steps: regeneration, transformation, conformation, and glorification. In this chapter we shall look at the first step of God’s salvation in life, which is regeneration.
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