In order for the divine life to be dispensed into us, this life first had to pass through a long process involving incarnation, human living, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and descension. The life dispensed into us is actually the processed Triune God. In Genesis 1:1 this life could not be dispensed into man, for as yet it had not passed through the necessary stages. But now it is fully possible for such a wonderful life to be dispensed into us. This life is present and available, and we can receive it simply by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.
Romans 8:10 says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness.” That the spirit in this verse is not the Holy Spirit is proved by the fact that here Paul contrasts the body with the spirit. Paul says that the body is dead but that the spirit is life. We would expect him to say that the spirit is living. Instead, he says that the spirit is life, or zoe. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, this zoe gets into our spirit and causes our spirit to become zoe. Now not only the Triune God is life, but our spirit is also life.
If we see this, we shall have the boldness to declare to the whole universe and especially to Satan that our spirit is life. We shall proclaim that at least one part of our being, our spirit, is zoe. Oh, how we all need this revelation! May we see not only that we are saved and regenerated, but also that the innermost part of our being has become life.
Knowing that our spirit is zoe will be a great help to us in our daily living. When you are tempted to lose your temper, do not suppress your anger. Instead, simply declare, “My spirit is zoe!” Likewise, if your wife or husband gives you a difficult time, do not argue, but tell the one troubling you that your spirit is zoe. Saying this enables us to resist Satan’s temptations. Praise the Lord, our spirit is zoe!
The reason that I am so lively and energetic is that my spirit is zoe. However, I spent years in organized Christianity and no one told me that my spirit is zoe. I was instructed in various religious practices, but I was not told that my spirit is life. But now I know that the divine zoe has been dispensed into my spirit, into the center of my being. Now I know that my spirit has become zoe!
Confucius was a great ethical philosopher who taught his disciples to develop what he called the inner bright virtue. What he called the bright virtue is actually the conscience. The disciples of Confucius may have a bright virtue, but we have the divine life. In fact, the very divine Being Himself has come into us to be our life. There is no comparison between the bright virtue and the Triune God as the divine life.
Because we realized that our spirit was life, we were able to convince a number of philosophical teachers in China to believe in the Lord Jesus. They boasted that they knew how to develop the bright virtue within. After listening to them for a while, we would tell them that what they had was nothing in comparison to what we had. Some of them were very surprised and inquired honestly about this. We explained that as Christians we have the Triune God in us as our life. We told them that what they have may be a bright virtue, something created by God, but what we have is the very Creator of this bright virtue. We helped them see that this Creator has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Now He is both in ascension and available to come into anyone who calls on His name. As a result of such a testimony, many of those philosophical teachers opened to the Lord, called on His name, and received Him into them to be their life. Then they themselves testified about the difference between the bright virtue and the divine life. By preaching the gospel on a high level in this way, we brought a good number of professors, doctors, nurses, and lawyers to the Lord.