«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Col. 3:10-11 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

　　As the redeemed and recovered ones, those who have been transferred into Christ and into the church life, we must learn to hate the differences that divide the peoples. The worldly people regard cultural differences as a mark of prestige. But in Christ we have all lost this prestige. Now our only prestige is Christ and the genuine oneness… We all need to exercise ourselves to go along with others. As long as a certain practice does not involve idolatry or immorality, there is nothing wrong with it…. If we are willing to let go of our cultural pride, it will be possible for the Lord to have the proper church life. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 203)

　　To see the matter of one city, one church, is good, but it is not adequate. If we do not deal with our ordinances, we shall eventually be divided by our opinions or practices. Christ should be our only source. We should not allow anything of our background or culture to be our source. Otherwise, we shall bring in different ordinances according to our various backgrounds and cultures. Christ, not our ordinances, is the source of the church life. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 717)

　　Forty years ago I was in the Lord's ministry primarily in Chefoo in the north of China and Shanghai in central China…. At that time we had no other way but to take a steamboat. I had to be in the boat for about forty hours…. However, today one can fly from Los Angeles to Taipei in only thirteen hours. Through modern education people have also learned to speak other languages. There is a mingling of many different peoples.

　　Today the situation on the earth has been very much improved and made ready and ripe to have the new man. At the time of the apostle Paul it was not like this. Paul did not have a brother among the American Indians, but in the new man today we do have brothers and sisters from among the Indians. Eventually, I believe that among the Indian reservations there will be some churches in the Lord's recovery. The world situation has been raised up for the one goal of the new man. Now we have different peoples all mingled together in the one new man.

　　God's purpose is to have a man to express Him and to exercise His dominion. The old man failed God, but God has raised up a new man to replace the old man. Still even today we could not see a perfect new man on the earth to replace the fallen old man. However, our God can never be defeated. Now is the very time for Him to accomplish His purpose to perfect the new man. This new man will come into full existence on the earth. God needs such a man to express Himself and to exercise His dominion. When this new man is perfected, that will be the time of the Lord's coming, and the perfected new man will be the bride. We need such a vision.

　　If we see the vision of the new man, all the ordinances, rituals, different opinions, and differences will be gone. Today in certain parts of this country the white people and black people cannot come together in one church, but if both the white brothers and the black brothers saw the new man, they would realize that both white and black have no place in the new man, but Christ is all and in all. In the same way, if Christians with differing practices see the new man, they will say that none of them has a place in this new man, but Christ is all and in all. Sometimes certain ones among us may not like the way the church is practiced in their locality, or perhaps they do not like the elders or some of the sisters. But if we all saw the new man, we would all realize that in the new man all these things have no place, and Christ is all and in all. Such a vision will not only keep us in oneness but also will deliver us and rescue us from all things other than Christ. (CWWL, 1977, vol. 3, “The One New Man,” pp. 482-483)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1977, vol. 3, “The One New Man,” chs. 1, 3-7