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The serpentine people are becoming the universal increase of the unlimited Christ by the immeasurable Spirit with the eternal life:
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In our experience we need to realize that we can be contending serpents who are apart from Christ as the life-giving Spirit; in the church life we can either be contending serpents or life-giving-Spirit drinkers—John 4:14; 7:37-39.
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John 3:30 refers to the increase of Christ, which is the bride of Christ in verse 29:
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According to our natural birth, all of us automatically live by our serpentine being; this is to live according to the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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Our natural life and living are not part of the increase of Christ; only the regenerated part of our being, our regenerated spirit, is Christ's increase—v. 6.
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In a real and practical way, Christ should be our life and our person; we live Him and are one spirit with Him; we abide in Him, and He abides in us; therefore, He and we have one life and one living (Gal. 2:20; 4:19; John 15:5)—this is the serpentine people becoming the bride of Christ.
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When we have this kind of living, then in reality we are serpentine beings in the process of transformation into the bride of Christ, the increase of Christ; the ultimate consummation of this bride will be the New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God and the wife of the Lamb—Rev. 21:3, 9-10.
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May the Lord have mercy on us that we may learn to live by our regenerated being—Rom. 8:4; Phil. 4:11-13.
Morning Nourishment
John 7:37-39 …Jesus…cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit…1 Cor. 15:45 …The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
When Adam was bitten by the serpent, we all became serpents. Christ has come to be our replacement, and we have believed into Him. At this point we need to ask an interesting question: Are we who believe in Christ still serpents? The answer to this question depends on whether, in our experience, we are in John 3, which speaks of the bronze serpent, or in John 7, which speaks of coming to the Lord and drinking (vv. 37-39). If we are drinking of the living water, then we are no longer serpents. But if we are short of the living water, then we are contending serpents.
Are [you] dry, lacking the life-giving Spirit, or are [you] drinking of the Spirit? Apart from the life-giving Spirit, we are contending serpents. In the church life we may be either contending serpents or life-giving-Spirit drinkers. May we all be those who drink of the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit! (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 232-233)
Today's Reading
In our actual daily living we may not be a newborn person. We may still be an old person, even perhaps a good, moral, ethical, religious, God-fearing”Nicodemus.” I say this because we may not live, walk, behave, and have our being in the Spirit. Instead of living by the Spirit, we may live by ethics or religion. According to our natural birth, all of us automatically live by our serpentine being. This is to live according to good and evil. With the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden there was not only the knowledge of evil but also the knowledge of good. But with the tree of life there is nothing but life. We should not think that morality is a matter of life. Morality is good, but it is not life.In Galatians 2:20 Paul says,”I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Here Paul is saying that he has been terminated and that now Christ lives in him. If Christ were not the living Spirit, how could He live in us? This would be impossible. It is important for us to realize that as believers in Christ not only do we have two natures—the old nature and the new nature—but we also have two beings, two persons. Although we have been regenerated and thereby have a new person, most of us continue to live by the old person, even in doing so-called spiritual things. We may even endeavor to live the church life by the old man. This is a serious problem.
Often I have said,”Lord, forgive me for not living You adequately today. In my family life and in my fellowship with the brothers, I am short of what You require.” I have seen that I may be religious, ethical, moral, and scriptural—all without Christ….But we all need to be able to say with Paul that we have been crucified and that Christ now lives in us. We should be able to declare this with assurance, not as a doctrine but as our experience day by day. When we have this kind of living, then in reality we are serpentine beings in the process of transformation into the bride of Christ. This is the transformation revealed in the New Testament. As we are transformed from serpentine beings into Christ's being, we become His increase, His bride. The consummation of this bride will be the New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God and the wife of the Lamb.
I urge you to bring this matter to the Lord in a serious way and pray,”Lord, show me by what person I am living. Am I living by my old person or by my new person? Am I living by the old nature or by the new nature? Lord, am I living You? Am I practicing being one spirit with You?” We all need to pray to the Lord like this. May the Lord have mercy on us that we may learn to live by our regenerated being. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 140-144)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” chs. 7,10-11