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Christ’s God-man living constituted Him to be a prototype so that He might be reproduced in us and live again in us, the God-men—John 14:19; Gal. 2:20:
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As the reproduction of the God-man, we need to live the life of a God-man—Phil. 1:19-21a; 3:10.
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Christ’s human living was man living God to express the attributes of God in the human virtues; His human virtues were filled, mingled, and saturated with the divine attributes—Luke 1:26-35; 7:11-17; 10:25-37; 19:1-10.
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As the expansion, increase, reproduction, and continuation of the first God-man, we should live the same kind of life that 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 so 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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The Christ in Philippians 1:21a is the God-man in Philippians 2:5-8; therefore, to live Christ is to live the God-man by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ—1:19.
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When we open ourselves to the Lord, love Him, and desire to be joined to Him as one, we are filled and possessed by Him and live out the glory of divinity and the virtues of humanity—1 Cor. 2:9; 6:17; Phil. 4:4-9.
Morning Nourishment
John 3:6 …That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.2 Cor. 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
In Luke we see how Christ was incarnated and lived the life of a God-man. In Philippians we see how Christ is lived out from us in order to have many duplicates of Himself. All Christians should be duplicates of the unique God-man.
How can we be such duplicates, such reproductions? First, we need to be reborn of the pneumatic Christ in our spirit, and then we need to be gradually transformed by the pneumatic Christ in our soul. Then spontaneously we shall live Christ, the God-man, by the bountiful supply of His Spirit, taking His mind and shining the word of life as luminaries reflecting His brightness. We shall also be found in Christ with Him as our surpassing righteousness, in the power of His resurrection, and conformed to His death. Then we shall express Him in all the human virtues created by God for man. With the divine attributes of the God-man these virtues are strengthened, enriched, and filled. (Life-study of Luke, p. 543)
Today’s Reading
The Spirit as the extract of Christ contains the element of the highest standard of morality. As the Spirit moves within us, the element of the highest human virtues also moves in us. The Lord does not rescue us from our temper by doing something miraculously…. Instead, He rescues us by moving in us and mingling Himself with us as the One who indwells us. If we turn to Him as the One in our spirit and call on His name, He will move in us with all His elements. In this way He saves us. (Life-study of Luke, p. 533)The God whom we preach has become the life-giving Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. Today He is both God and man. When He came to be a man and lived on earth, He did not forsake His divinity….Therefore, some Bible expositors call Him the “God-man.”…The Spirit who has entered into us possesses not only divinity but also humanity. Before we were saved, not only were we void of divinity, even our humanity was fallen. However, from the time we were saved, not only do we possess divinity, but we also have received the highest humanity for us to live a transcendent life. We do not merely adhere to outward regulations; rather, we have an element added to us, and that element is the excellent humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ…. Because of His divinity we can live out all the glory of divinity, and because of His humanity we can live out all the virtues of humanity. Therefore, the glory of God and the virtues of man flow out spontaneously from one who is truly saved and who lives by the Spirit within him.
Our Lord is both God and man. Of all the biographies of the world, there is none like that of the Lord Jesus recorded in the four Gospels of the New Testament. When we read these Gospels, not only do we marvel at His divinity, but even more we are moved and attracted by His human virtues. His behavior, His attitude, and the way He treated others were too wonderful; His humanity is unsurpassed. We praise Him! Such a God-man is pleased to indwell us. He passed through incarnation, death, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. Now He is waiting for us to call on Him and believe into Him. Once we call on His name and receive Him as our Savior, He enters into us, and thereby we have an organic union with Him. When we open ourselves to Him, love Him, and desire to be joined with Him as one, we are filled and possessed by Him every day. In this way what we live out are the glory of divinity and the virtues of humanity. What a glorious, wonderful, and sweet life this is! (CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “The Wonderful Being of Christ,” p. 151)
Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msgs. 62-63; CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “The Wonderful Being of Christ,” ch. 1