With God’s purpose there is the kingdom, the church, the Christian living, walk, or conduct, and the Christian work, service, or ministry. With the kingdom of God, the church of Christ, the Christian living, and the Christian ministry, there is a seed. The seed of life is related to everything of God’s purpose.
Some Bible teachers refer to the matter of the kingdom merely as a dispensational truth. But we need to see that first in Matthew the kingdom is likened to a seed sown into the soil (Matt. 13:3; cf. Mark 4:26). This seed is Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God. How could this holy Christ as the very divine embodiment of God be sown into us when we were so sinful, so much related to Satan, and thoroughly, absolutely, involved with all the negative things in the universe? Before He came into us, this seed passed through death and resurrection. He prepared a place in the Father and paved the way for us to be brought into the Father. This seed has accomplished whatever was needed so that He could come into us. Out of this seed the kingdom will grow out.
In Matthew 13 there are seven parables related to the kingdom. In those seven parables, the seed is Christ sown into us to grow in us, and the enemy, Satan, comes in to do whatever he can to frustrate and to damage the growth of this seed. Satan’s aim is to frustrate the growth of this seed because the growth of this seed will bring forth the kingdom. In Matthew 13 the seed is sown, and then it grows in the good earth to produce fruit. Also, in those seven parables a treasure hidden in the field (v. 44) and pearls are mentioned (vv. 45-46). These items signify the transformation of life. Thus, the kingdom is something of life and of the enjoyment of God as the tree of life for the transformation of life.
John 3:5 says, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God is a matter of life. You have to partake of God as the tree of life to have a share in the kingdom of God. Our fellowship in this chapter shows that all the things related to God and to His purpose are a matter of the enjoyment of God as life. Even the kingdom of God is a matter of the enjoyment of God as the tree of life. From this life the kingdom of God will grow up and grow out. The seed of the kingdom is the very Triune God as the tree of life planted into us. The kingdom is the growth of the tree of life which has been planted into us. In Luke 17 the Lord Jesus told the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is among you” (v. 21). The Lord Jesus revealed that the kingdom of God is the Savior Himself, who was among the Pharisees when He was questioned by them. The kingdom is the Lord among us and within us.
We need to see that the church is also the growth of the tree of life planted into us. The more we enjoy Christ as the tree of life, the more the element, the reality, of the church will be growing up. The more we grow in Christ, the more the church will come into existence. Thus, the church is the outcome of the tree of life growing within us.
Now we need to consider what the Christian walk, the Christian living, is. Galatians 5:22 refers to the fruit of the Spirit, which is the outcome of the tree of life within us. This outcome of the tree of life within us is the Christian’s daily walk or living. The Christian walk, Christian living, Christian conduct, Christian behavior, must not be a religious performance but must be something divine and spiritual, something of the Spirit of God.
When I was young, I was taught by the missionaries that Christianity was a religion of love, that we Christians had to love others. Some of the teachers in my school were students of Confucius. They compared the teachings of the Bible with the teachings of the classical book of Confucius. They said that the teachings of Confucius were much better, ethically speaking, than the teachings of the Bible, and they could prove it. It was hard to argue with their logical reasoning. I was very confused. As one who was born Chinese, I thought that there was no way for me to receive Christianity since the teachings of Confucius seemed to be better. When I got saved, I realized that no matter how good the teachings of Confucius were there was no thought of redemption in them. I like to take Christ because with Christ, there is the redeeming blood. Years later I realized further that with Christ there is not only the redeeming blood but also the divine life.
With the Christian walk, with the Christian living, with the Christian behavior, it is not merely a matter of proper conduct but even more a matter of life. As Christians we are not just to love people but we are to live Christ out as love. We are not just to be humble, but we are to live Christ out as humility. Polished brass may shine more than a piece of gold, but their natures are entirely different. We are not just outwardly loving others, showing humility to others, or being patient with others. We are living out Christ. Our behavior, our living, our conduct, our walk, must be the outcoming of Christ, the fruit of the Holy Spirit from within us. When the Holy Spirit lives in us and we live by Him, then some fruit will come forth, the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is our Christian walk, our Christian behavior, and is something absolutely different from the teachings of Confucius.
Regardless of how good the teachings of Confucius are, they can never produce something divine and holy. They can never impart the holy, divine nature of God into you. But in our Christian walk, in our Christian living, there must be the divine nature. The Christian walk is not a kind of living corrected, adjusted, taught, and disciplined by the best teachings of the philosophers. The Christian living is something flowing out from within us by our taking Christ as life, by our living in the Holy Spirit. We have to give the seed of life, which has been sown into us, an opportunity to grow up and to grow out of us.