«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　John 3:15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

　　1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

　　As the many branches of the vine, the believers of Christ are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. In John 15:5 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Such a statement implies that Christ and His believers are one tree. Christ and the believers, the vine with the branches, form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. The vine in John 15, therefore, is a universal vine comprising Christ and His believers as the branches. In this vine, this organism, the Triune God lives, expresses Himself, and dispenses Himself to the uttermost. We are actually branches of the infinite God, organically one with Him. This means that we have been organically joined to the Triune God. Now we are part of God, even as the members of our bodies are parts of us. If we are in the light, we shall see that we are members of Christ, that we are part of Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2930)

　　By our natural life we are not branches of the vine. On the contrary, by our fallen nature we are branches of Adam and even branches of the devil. Just as a branch is the branching out of a tree, so when we were born, we were just the branching out of Adam. As branches of Adam, we were also branches of Satan. The wonderful thing is that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, He branched out into us. This branching out has made us branches of this wonderful Christ. Therefore, Christ’s branching out has made us branches of Christ as the vine. Now as branches we are filled with Christ as life, for to be a branch in the vine means that Christ has become our life. We should not say that we do not feel that we are filled with Christ. When the Lord says, “I am the vine; you are the branches” [John 15:5], we have to say a strong amen. Just keep saying, “Hallelujah, I am a branch!” We as branches of the vine will be filled with Christ.

　　No plant other than the vine can illustrate adequately the living relationship between the believers and Christ. A vine differs from a tree in that it has virtually no trunk. If you cut off the branches of a vine, there is practically nothing left, only the root….The vine is everything to the branches. Whatever is in the vine is also in the branches. This indicates that as the vine Christ is a great enjoyment for us, the branches. From the vine and through the vine, we receive everything we need to live as branches.

　　As branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine, the Christ of God….Only when the branches abide in the vine can the vine be everything to them. This is the reason the Lord said concerning Himself as the vine and us as the branches, “Abide in Me and I in you” [v. 4]. Our life and enjoyment are to abide in the vine. Our destiny as branches is to remain in the vine.

　　Apart from the vine, we, the branches, can do nothing. A branch of a vine cannot live by itself, for it will wither and die apart from the vine. The relationship between the branches and the vine portrays the relationship between us and the Lord Jesus. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing apart from Him. What we are, what we have, and what we do must be in the Lord and by the Lord in us. Therefore, it is crucial for us to abide in the Lord and for the Lord to abide in us. We should not do anything in ourselves; we should do everything by abiding in the vine. Christ as the vine is an all-inclusive portion for our daily enjoyment. Because we are branches to the Lord and the Lord is the vine to us, we must abide in Him and let Him abide in us. Then in our experience Christ will be everything to us for our enjoyment. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2930-2932)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of John, msgs. 32-34.