«　WEEK 2　DAY 1　»

　　John 15:4-5 Abide in Me and I in you….I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

　　7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

　　14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

　　The Lord Jesus told us in John 15 that He is the vine and that we are the branches of the vine. As the branches of the vine, we should abide in Him. Then He will abide in us. To abide in Christ is to live in Christ, and to live in Christ is to live in the Divine Trinity. To have Christ abide in us is to have the Triune God living in us. This is to live with the Divine Trinity. Therefore, to abide in Christ is to live in the Divine Trinity, and to have Christ abiding in us is to live with the Divine Trinity. The book of John is a book on living in and with the Divine Trinity. The truth concerning living in and with the Divine Trinity is greatly expounded in the Epistles, especially in those written by Paul. In the Epistles we can see all the practicalities and details of living in and with the Divine Trinity. We need to be brought into the experiences of living in the Divine Trinity and with the Divine Trinity. When we abide in Him, we live in Him. When we have Him abide in us, we live with Him. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 337)

　　Outside of the divine revelation of the Bible, there is no religion or philosophy that says that we can live in another person. But the Bible reveals that we can live in the Triune God. What a wonder and an honor it is to be those who can live in the Triune God! To live in the Triune God is miraculous. In the entire universe there is such a miracle that we can live in the Triune God.

　　To live in the Divine Trinity is to abide in Christ as the true vine (John 15:5). Christ likened Himself to a vine tree. The illustration of a vine tree gives us the proper understanding of what it means to be in Him. The branches are abiding in the vine tree. This means that the branches are living in the tree. To live in the Triune God is just like the branches abiding in a vine tree. It is wonderful that Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God is a vine tree. Jesus is not a pine tree but a vine tree spreading and growing over the entire earth. His fruit is so available to us because He is the vine tree. This vine tree has many branches. All the branches are the completion of the tree. Without its branches a vine tree would not be a complete tree. This tree with all its branches is an organism to express its inner life and to fulfill its purpose. God with His divine life needs some expression, and He has a purpose. Because of this He needs an organism to express His life and to fulfill His purpose. Christ is this organism, the vine tree, and now we are abiding in Him.

　　The Greek word for abide means not only to remain or to stay but also to have our home, or to make our home. In John 14 the same word is used as a noun. The Lord told us that in His Father’s house there are many abodes (v. 2) and that He would come to make an abode with His lovers (v. 23). An abode is a dwelling place. Therefore, to abide is to dwell in a home. To live in Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God means that we take Christ as our dwelling place for our daily life. As long as the branches abide in the tree, they have their daily life in the tree because they are living there. Now we should understand the real denotation of living in the Triune God. To live in the Triune God is to have Him as our dwelling place, as our home, for our daily life. The vine tree with its branches is the very organism of the Triune God. Thus, to live in the Triune God is to abide in Christ as God’s organism. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 340-341)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 8