Romans 8:9 says that since the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are in the spirit, and therefore, we are of Christ. Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection.” This verse implies that only by knowing the power of resurrection can we know Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul said, “So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh.” Even though the apostle had known Christ according to the flesh, he no longer knew Christ in that way. The apostle Paul confessed that before his salvation he had known Christ according to the flesh, not according to the spirit, but now he knew Him so no longer.
In the Bible we see two principles that are related to Christ. One is the principle of incarnation, and the other is the principle of death and resurrection. Only when we know the principles of incarnation and of death and resurrection can we know Christ in a thorough way. If we do not know what incarnation and what death and resurrection are, our knowledge of Christ will be strictly doctrinal and will not have much impact on us. Only by knowing these two principles of incarnation and of death and resurrection can our knowledge of Christ be of life, not of doctrines, and be subjective, not merely objective.
What is the principle of incarnation? The principle of incarnation is God coming into man. This is something that is truly of the Spirit and that requires the Holy Spirit to thoroughly shine in us so that it may become our inward vision. The incarnation of the Lord is to bring God into man. Before the Lord Jesus was born, God could not enter into man because He had not been incarnated. God’s entering into man began with the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. Hence, in the Old Testament there was no such thing as God entering into man because at that time incarnation had not yet begun, and God and man had not yet been mingled together.
Incarnation began with the birth of the Lord Jesus, but did incarnation stop at that time? The answer is no. Not only was the birth of the Lord Jesus incarnation, but every time someone is saved, that is also incarnation. When you and I repented and believed in the Lord, we received the Lord Jesus into us. That was incarnation happening once again.
The birth of the Lord Jesus was the beginning of incarnation in the universe. Since that time, incarnation has been occurring again and again, time after time, and day after day. Ever since the birth of the Lord Jesus, which was the first time God came into man, there have been many other times in which God has come into man. What is the story of our salvation? Our salvation is the story of God coming into man. Every person’s salvation is a story of God coming into man. This is the principle of incarnation.
Therefore, we need to see that the first principle concerning Christ is incarnation—God coming into man. Do we have this principle in us? Are we incarnated people? The fact is that all of us saved ones have this principle in us. Through our believing in Him and receiving Him, the Lord Jesus entered into us. Thus, we became incarnated people. Strictly speaking, those who have not passed through incarnation have not been saved. Hence, we have to say from our heart, “Thank and praise the Lord! The principle of incarnation that is in Christ is also in us.” Incarnation is God coming into man. As those who have been saved, God has come into us. We all have the story of incarnation on us and in us.
The second principle concerning Christ is the principle of death and resurrection. What is the meaning of death and resurrection? Incarnation is God entering into man, and death and resurrection are man entering into God. If we want to know Christ, we have to know these two principles. Christ is God entering into man, and Christ is also man entering into God. God entering into man and man entering into God are the two principles concerning Christ, the two stories of Christ. Everything that Christ went through is included in these two principles. Through incarnation, He as God came into man to become man. Then through death and resurrection, He entered into God again. Through incarnation and through death and resurrection, He accomplished and passed through what He had to accomplish and pass through. These two principles embody everything that relates to Christ and also what God is doing throughout the ages. The work that God wants to do is to work Himself into man and man into Himself, so that God and man, man and God, would be mingled as one.
We all have the principle of incarnation in us, but do we have the principle of death and resurrection? As saved ones we all have God mingled with us, and we have the assurance to say that God has entered into us and is touching us all the time. We also can testify to people that we have God in us and that God is dwelling in us. In 1936 I was living in Tientsin, and one day I was praying in my room, preparing to give a message on the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in us. After I prayed, I had the feeling that it was so glorious to have God dwelling in me. I wanted to run through the streets, telling everyone that I had a wonderful person—God—in me.
All the saved ones have the feeling that God is in them, but some may have a weaker feeling, and others may have a stronger feeling. Every genuinely saved person has a mysterious story in him. Even though he may not be able to explain it, within him there is a mystery, a story, which only he himself is able to feel. This mystery is that God is in him. Thus, every saved one has the principle of incarnation. However, Christ has more than just the principle of incarnation within Him. In Christ there is not just a one-way traffic but a two-way traffic, a coming and a going. Christ came in His incarnation, and He went in His death and resurrection. His coming is God’s entering into man, and His going is man’s entering into God. His coming is His incarnation, and His going is His death and resurrection. Therefore, when we remember the Lord at the Lord’s table, we have to praise the Lord that He not only came through incarnation but also went through death and resurrection.