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As the expansion, increase, reproduction, and continuation of the first God-man, we should live the same kind of life He lived—1 John 2:6:
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The Lord’s God-man living set up a model for our God-man living—being crucified to live that God might be expressed in humanity—Gal. 2:20.
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We need to deny ourselves, be conformed to Christ’s death, and magnify Him by the bountiful supply of His Spirit—Matt. 16:24; Phil. 3:10; 1:19-21a.
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We must reject self-cultivation and condemn the building up of the natural man; we need to realize that the Christian virtues are related essentially to the divine life, to the divine nature, and to God Himself—Gal. 5:22-23.
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The One who lived the life of a God-man is now the Spirit living in us and through us; we should not allow anything other than this One to fill us and occupy us—2 Cor. 3:17; 13:5; Eph. 3:16-19.
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We need to open our entire being to the Lord to receive (in a spirit and atmosphere of prayer) His charge to us in Luke 6:36: “Be full of compassion, even as your Father also is full of compassion”; we need to contact the Lord as the compassionate One every morning—Lam. 3:22-23; Rom. 9:15 and footnote 2; Exo. 34:6; Psa. 103:8; Luke 1:78-79; 10:25-37; Rom. 12:1.
Morning Nourishment
1 John 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The processed and consummated Triune God passed through human living to set up a model for the many upcoming God-men—being crucified to live that God might be expressed through humanity. This is clearly unveiled in 1 Peter 2:21, which tells us that Christ in His human living left us a model, an example, for us to copy. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, ” p. 42)
In Philippians 3:10 Paul says that he lived a life conformed to the death of Christ…. Paul put himself into that death-mold to be conformed there…. His old life was conformed to the image of the death of Christ by the power of Christ’s resurrection. The power of resurrection strengthened him to live the life of a God-man. The Lord expects that many of us would be such ones. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending, ” p. 129)
Today’s Reading
The human virtues taught by Confucius are the product of human effort. Those virtues do not have anything of God essentially. But the genuine Christian virtues taught by the Bible are not the result of human effort.The Christian virtues taught by the Bible are very different from mere human virtues. The difference is that the nature of Christian virtues is the nature of God. Concerning this, Peter says in his second Epistle that we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Therefore, Christian virtues are the product not of outward effort but of an inward nature, the divine nature that we have received through regeneration. The Christian virtues are related essentially to the divine life, the divine nature, and God Himself.
Humanly speaking, for the good of society, we all must care for ethics, morality, behavior, and character…. Nevertheless, with respect to living God and expressing Him, mere human virtues are of no avail. Rather, they become a frustration to living and expressing the Lord.
If we would live God and express Him, we need to see that it is necessary even for the natural human virtues to be terminated…. The beginning of the gospel implies the termination of all things other than God Himself.
According to the vision of God’s economy presented in the New Testament, as God’s chosen people, those who have been replaced by and with Christ, we should live only a life of God. This means that if a married brother has the thought of trying to be a good husband, he should drop that thought and simply live a life of God…. He should not live a life of culture, religion, or ethics. Instead of seeing these things, he should see Jesus only. Eventually, he will live in a way that is much higher than culture, religion, ethics, or morality. He will have a love for his wife that is much higher than his natural human love.
We should not be occupied even with good things such as ethics and improvement of character or be frustrated by these things. Instead, we should be occupied, thoroughly filled, with the Triune God. The One who lived a life fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy, the One who has replaced us with Himself, is now the Spirit living through us. We should not allow anything other than this One to fill us and occupy us. (Life-study of Mark, pp. 475-476, 559-560)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, ” chs. 1, 6; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending, ” ch. 4