«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Eph. 4:20-21 But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus.

　　The reality in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, a life filled with truth, reality…. Jesus lived in a way that always corresponded to God’s righteousness and holiness. In Ephesians 4:24 Paul says that the new man is created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. This reality no doubt is the very reality in Jesus. Our standard of living should not be according to the law or according to the standards of society; it must be according to the truth in Jesus, the reality lived out by Jesus when He was on earth. Hence, the life of Jesus should be our life today in the church. In other words, the living of the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus. The way Jesus lived on earth is the way the new man should live today.

　　If we would live in such a way, we should not reason according to right or wrong. Instead, we should consider the various aspects of our daily life according to the reality as it is in Jesus. For example, if we are about to go shopping, we should ask whether the Lord Jesus is going shopping. The life of the one new man must be that of the reality of Jesus. If we all live in a way that is heavenly, divine, righteous, holy, and glorious, we shall have a wonderful community life in the church. This is the corporate life of the new man. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 781)

　　Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21). We learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life.

　　After a person is saved, deep within him he desires to live a life in the pattern established by the Lord Jesus. However, many either ignore this desire or cultivate it in a mistaken way, thinking that by self-effort they can succeed in imitating Him. It is a mistake to think that we can imitate Christ by the exercise of our natural life. The believers in Christ should imitate Him, but they should not do so according to their natural life.

　　The reality in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels. In the godless walk of the nations, the fallen people, there is vanity. But in the godly life of Jesus there is truth, reality. Jesus lived a life always doing things in God, with God, and for God. God was in His life, and He was one with God. This is the reality in Jesus. We, the believers, regenerated with Christ as our life and taught in Him, learn from Him as the reality is in Jesus.

　　It is a mistake to endeavor to imitate Christ by the efforts of our natural life…. When we believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved, God put us into Christ as the mold. This mold is the life of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels, a life absolutely according to reality, truth. Truth is the shining of light, the expression of light. Since God is light (1 John 1:5), truth is the expression of God. Every aspect of the life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels is an expression of God. In everything He said and did, He expressed God. This expression of God is the shining of light; hence, it is the truth, the reality. This life of Jesus according to reality is the pattern in which God has placed us. In this pattern we have learned Christ as the reality is in Jesus. This means that we have learned Christ according to the reality, the truth, shown in the Gospels, that is, according to the life of the Lord Jesus, which was wholly according to God’s reality, God’s truth. This life is the shining of light. The shining of the light is truth, and truth is the expression of God. Therefore, in the life of Jesus there is truth, reality. The essence of the pattern set up by the Lord Jesus is reality. This means that the essence of the life of Jesus is reality. We have learned Christ as the reality is in Jesus. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 393-395)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 46-47