We have seen clearly that the unique heart’s desire of God in the universe is to work Himself into us to be our life. This is the greatest miracle, and it is also the greatest revelation. But I am afraid that many who have been Christians for a number of years still have not heard about this matter, nor can they speak this word. Therefore, they do not see that at the beginning of the Bible there is a tree, the tree of life. At the conclusion of the Bible, this tree of life appears again. This tree of life expresses God’s desire, and it also symbolizes God’s goal.

After God created Adam, He waited for two thousand years and still did not come. Then He promised Abraham that Abraham would have a seed and that in this seed all the nations would be blessed. This seed would be God who was to come. At the time of Abraham, although God had created man two thousand years before and the history of the human race also had quite a long record, He still did not come. After another two thousand years John the Baptist appeared. One day he saw Jesus coming to him, and he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). This Jesus was God, the Creator of all things, coming among men. At that time the human race already had four thousand years of history. The Lord Jesus came, but He did not come with a great noisy display; rather, He came quietly. He was born in a royal family, being a descendant of King David, but at that time the royal family was in complete ruin. The Lord Jesus lived in a little town of Nazareth in Galilee which was a despised land in Israel. He did not live in the home of a rich man but rather in the home of a carpenter, a laborer who worked hard. Even up to the present day, we do not know all that He did there. The Creator of the heavens and the earth actually lived in that little cottage for thirty-three and a half years and worked as a carpenter.

This Jesus was actually God. He was God who became a man, and people called His name Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23). Jesus was God with man. He was not only a royal descendant; He was God. Isaiah prophesied that a Son would be given to us, yet His name would be called Mighty God, Eternal Father (9:6). When He was thirty years old, He began to minister. Then one day after three and a half years He told His disciples that He was going to die on the cross. Apparently, it was men who nailed Him to the cross. Actually, in God’s view it was He Himself who went to the cross. It was not men who killed Him; rather, it was He Himself who gave up His life to die for us sinners. His death was a vicarious death. He was the One who died to make redemption for all our sins, to solve our problems, and to terminate our old man. On the cross He solved all the problems in the universe between God and man.

He was on the cross for six hours, and at the end He declared, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He accomplished the great work of redemption on the cross. Then a rich man took His body, wrapped it in linen cloths with precious spices, and laid it in a new tomb hewn in the rock. After three days the Lord resurrected. He took off the linen cloths in which He was wrapped, folded them neatly, and laid them to one side. Then He walked out of the tomb. At early dawn some of the women who had been following Him came to the tomb and saw that the stone which had been against the door of the tomb was rolled away. Two angels in white sitting there said to them, “I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised, even as He said” (Matt. 28:5-6; John 20:12).

As the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus put on human nature and became a man. Then through His death and resurrection, He brought His humanity into divinity. This means that originally His humanity was not the Son of God, but at this time He brought His humanity into divinity. This human part of Him also became the Son of God. Thus, He became the firstborn Son of God. He was no longer just the only begotten Son but the first among many sons. Firstborn Son indicates that there would be many sons after Him. Therefore, when He resurrected, it was not He alone who resurrected. Rather, He brought a group of people whom God had chosen and predestinated before the ages, before the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all things, to be resurrected together with Him. Before the heavens and the earth were in existence, before we were born, we believers all had been chosen and predestinated by God. We are those chosen by God, and we are those predestinated by God.

On the day of His resurrection, the Lord brought us to be resurrected with Him. That resurrection was our regeneration. Originally God created us in His image and according to His likeness. Regrettably, we became fallen. So He was incarnated and then brought us all to the cross to be crucified with Him. This is why Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ.” Furthermore, He brought us with Him into resurrection. Thus, 1 Peter 1:3 says, “God...has regenerated us...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We were regenerated before we were born. Not only so, we were all regenerated together. In our view there are the elements of space and time, but in God’s eternal view there is no element of time. In His eyes a thousand years are like one day. We died together with Christ, and we were also raised up together with Him. Moreover, we were regenerated together with Him.

To be regenerated is to receive the life of God in addition to having our natural life. This God who is life entered into us to become our life. On the one hand, it is a blessing to have God as our life; on the other hand, it is a great suffering. The Chinese say that to get married is “to have a family.” I say this is right, except that the family becomes a bondage. Once you get married, you are put in shackles. Marriage is a blessing on the one hand and a bondage on the other hand. Similarly, we all have been saved. It is good to be saved, and it is also good to have God as life. When God lives in us, however, He is always bothering us. He “meddles” in our trivial affairs, not to mention the big ones. Reading the newspaper is a small matter, yet often within us we sense He will not allow us to read it. Before they were saved, some sisters were very free and at peace when they went shopping on Saturdays. They went whenever they wanted, and they bought whatever they considered inexpensive and suitable. After they were saved, however, the Lord within them would bother them and not want them to go shopping. Sometimes they went anyway and subsequently were not at peace. We often have this kind of experience.

This can be compared to two persons who are married and cannot get along with each other. God has come into you to be your life. Now, does He balance you, or do you try to balance Him? Do you go along with Him, or does He go along with you? We all should yield ourselves to the Lord and say, “Lord, You have chosen me. You arranged all the circumstances for me to be saved. Now You are living in me. Lord, You are the Lord who was God, who became the life-giving Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. You are the Spirit today. I call on Your name. I tell You that I love You and that I want to be transformed.”

The first step of God’s salvation in life is regeneration. After we are regenerated, we cannot avoid Him; He will always follow us. Apparently He is following us, but actually He wants us to follow Him. The second step of God’s salvation in life is transformation. After we were saved, we thought that everything would be peaceful and smooth. Little did we know that when we were saved, we were “caught” by the Lord. Very often He stirs within us in order to transform us. This transformation is not merely an outward change; it is a metabolic change. At the zoo in Taipei there used to be a show with a monkey eating a Western-style meal. This was a real monkey, but when it came out, it imitated a man. It walked on two legs, sat down, put on a napkin, and began to eat a Western meal with a fork and knife. A man with a whip stood close by to direct the performance. After the performance, however, the monkey jumped about on all four legs, revealing its true nature. Man’s outward change is just like the monkey’s eating a Western-style meal. Man is deceitful. He can make many changes on the surface because he is capable of pretending. But the Bible tells us that after we are saved and have God as our life, He then does His transforming work in us with the elements of His divine nature so that we may be like Him.
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