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To learn the secret of being in Christ as the empowering One is to learn the secret of abiding in Christ; to abide in Christ is to dwell in Him, to remain in fellowship with Him, that we may experience and enjoy His abiding in us—John 15:4-5; 1 John 2:27:
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To abide in Christ is to live in the Divine Trinity—taking Christ as our dwelling place—vv. 6, 24, 27-28; 3:6, 24; 4:13:
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To abide in Christ is to abide in the Son and in the Father (2:24); this is to remain and dwell in the Lord (John 15:4-5).
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To abide in Christ is to abide in the fellowship of the divine life and to walk in the divine light, that is, to abide in the divine light—1 John 1:2-3, 6-7; 2:10.
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To have Christ abiding in us is to live with the Divine Trinity—having Christ's presence as our enjoyment for Him to be one with us and to be with every part of our being and every aspect of our living—Matt. 1:23; 18:20; 28:20; 2 Tim. 4:22; 2 Cor. 2:10; 1 Cor. 7:24:
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To have Christ abiding in us is to have the words of Christ abiding in us for the bearing of remaining fruit to glorify the Father—John 15:7-8, 16.
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To have Christ abiding in us is to have the Spirit of reality as the presence of the Triune God abiding in us—14:17.
Morning Nourishment
John 15:4-5 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me....Apart from Me you can do nothing.1 John 2:24 As for you, that which you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If that which you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
To live in the Divine Trinity is to abide in Christ as the true vine (John 15:5)....To live in the Triune God is just like the branches abiding in a vine tree....Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God is a vine tree...spreading and growing over the entire earth.
The Greek word for abide means not only to remain or to stay but also to have our home, or to make our home....To live in Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God means that we take Christ as our dwelling place for our daily life....The vine tree with its branches is the very organism of the Triune God. Thus, to live in the Triune God is to abide in Christ as God's organism.
In 1 John we see that we need to abide in the Lord, in the Son, in the Father, and in God [cf. 2:24, 27-28; 3:6, 24; 4:13]. This presents a full portrait of living in the Triune God. To live in the Triune God is to have a daily life in Christ as the organism of the Triune God, in the Lord with His headship, with His lordship, in the Son with His sonship, in the Father with His fatherhood, and in God with His commandments of believing in His Son and of loving all His other sons.... We abide in God by the Spirit of God (v. 24b).... The linking, the connection, between us and God, the Father, the Son, the Lord, and Christ is the Spirit. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 340-343)
Today's Reading
To live in Him puts us into the position of the enjoyment of the Lord. To live with Him is the enjoyment itself. To live with the Divine Trinity is to enjoy the Divine Trinity. To live with a person is to enjoy that person. Thus, to live with the Triune God is our enjoyment of the Triune God. According to my rough estimation, one-fourth of the New Testament is for our living in the Triune God, but three-fourths of the New Testament is for our living with the Triune God. To live in the Divine Trinity is to abide in Christ, and to live with the Divine Trinity is to have Christ abide in us (John 15:5). When we abide in Christ, Christ abides in us, and His abiding is His presence with us; ...we have Him with us for our enjoyment.To have Christ abiding in us is to have the words of Christ abiding in us for the bearing of remaining fruit (vv. 7-8, 16). In John 15:7 the Lord said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” This kind of asking is related to fruit-bearing (v. 8) and surely will be fulfilled. If we are to be those who go forth to preach the gospel, we must be those who love the word of Christ. We must be those who have the living word, the word of life, abiding in us. If we are not such persons, our preaching of the gospel will not last long. The living word of Christ stirs us up to go forth and bear fruit.
To have Christ abiding in us is to have the Spirit of reality abiding in us (14:17).... Actually, the words of Christ and the Spirit of reality are one. In John 6:63 the Lord told us that the words which He has spoken are spirit. God's word and God the Spirit are both God's breath. When this breath gets into us and remains in us, this breath is the Spirit. When this breath comes out of us through our speaking, it becomes the word. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 355-357)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol.1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” chs. 4, 8-10; CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “Abiding in the Lord to Enjoy His Life,” chs. 1-2; Life-study of 1 John, msg. 25