I would like to impress us again with the five wonderful statements mentioned in the first chapter which specifically express the burden of this book. First, man is the meaning of the universe. Second, Christ is the meaning of human life. Third, the church is the expression of Christ. Fourth, the church life is the real communal life. Fifth, go therefore and disciple all the nations.
In this chapter my burden is to share with you that God needs us. God needs man, and man needs Christ. Without man, God cannot fulfill His purpose. Without man, God can do nothing. On the other hand, we also have to say, "Without Christ, I can do nothing." Without us, God can do nothing, and without Christ, we can do nothing. God needs us, and we need Christ. We are here for God, and Christ is here for us.
If we were not for God and if we did not have Christ for us, we would be miserable and pitiful. Unfortunately, this is the real situation of today's world. The people in the world are not for God and they do not have Christ for them. They just go along by themselves and by trusting themselves. But we Christians are different in that we are for God and we have Christ for us. Do you have a genuine realization that you are for God and that you have Christ for you? If you really do, you will be on fire, and you will go and tell people this.
We said in the preceding chapters that God has a purpose. God's purpose is to express Himself and also to deal with His enemy. To carry out His twofold purpose, God needs man to be His expression and to subdue His enemy. But how can man do this? Humanly speaking, we may be incapable of doing many things, but all of us can breathe, drink, and eat. Even the little babes know how to do these things. There is no need for anyone to teach them. In the same manner, we are incapable in the spiritual realm, but we can breathe in Christ (John 20:22), drink Christ (4:14; 7:37), and take Christ in as our food (6:35, 51, 57). Christ is the air, the breath; Christ is the water, the drink; and Christ is the bread, the food. Therefore, we all can take Christ in. God has no intention for us to express Himself by ourselves or to do anything for Him by ourselves. God's intention is that we express Him and do things for Him by taking Christ as our life (Col. 3:4; John 6:57; 14:19).
There are two big mistakes—one made by the worldly people and the other by the Christians. The big mistake of the worldly people is that they do nothing for God. The Christians, on the other hand, try to do something for God by themselves. This also is a big mistake. The right way for us is to do something for God, not by ourselves but by taking Christ as our life. The Lord Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5b). Yet the apostle Paul said, "I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me" (Phil. 4:13). Without Christ, we can do nothing. But with Christ and in Christ, we are able to do all things. In John 14:20 the Lord told the disciples, "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." Hence, we are not without Christ. We have Christ and we are in Christ.
In today's human society, there is nothing except vanity and misery because people are on the wrong way. They have nothing to do with God. The Christians, however, are trying to do something for God by themselves. Now, at the end of this age, the Lord is going to recover something mainly through the younger generation. Therefore, you young people all have to learn how to be for God by taking Christ as your life. If I ask you what you are doing here, you should not say that you are here studying or working. Rather, you have to say, "I am here in Southern California for God!" What are the young people doing here? They are here for God! By what way? By taking Christ as their life! This means they are breathing Christ, drinking Christ, and eating Christ.
Without us, God can do nothing, and without Christ, we can do nothing. We are vessels for God who need to take Christ as our life. How wonderful it is that we are good for taking Christ as our life! The animals were not created for taking Christ but we were. We all are qualified to take Christ. If you truly realize this, you will go out to tell people that they are good and qualified for taking Christ. Christ is our life (Col. 3:4), and the eternal life is nothing less than Christ Himself (John 3:15-16, 36; 14:6a).