Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 2:12; Phil. 1:20-21a; Rom. 6:4; 1 John 1:7
Ⅰ
As believers in Christ and children of God, we should walk in a manner worthy of God—1 Thes. 2:12.
Ⅱ
God's economy is a matter of having God as life and living Him—1 John 5:11-12:
A
God's intention in His economy is to impart His element, substance, and nature into us so that we may live Him—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 3:17; Phil. 1:20-21a.
B
God's aim in His economy is for us, His chosen and redeemed people, to have His life and nature inwardly and His image and likeness outwardly—Gen. 1:26; 2:9:
１
God is working Himself into us to make us the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11, 29.
２
Eventually, we will become a corporate entity—the Body of Christ—to be one with Him and to live Him for His corporate expression—Eph. 4:4-6.
Ⅲ
To walk in a manner worthy of God is to live God—Phil. 1:20-21a:
A
Our daily living should actually be God Himself—John 5:26.
B
Only God is worthy of Himself; only God can match Himself—1 Pet. 1:15-16.
C
Since only God is worthy of Himself, to walk in a manner worthy of God is to live God, that is, to express God in our daily living—1 Cor. 10:31:
１
To live God's life means to live by God and even to live God Himself.
２
Only a life that lives God is worthy of God; when we live God, we walk in a manner worthy of Him—Phil. 1:20-21a; 1 Thes. 2:12.
Ⅳ
To walk in a manner worthy of God is to live the life of a God-man, a man of God—1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17:
A
A man of God is one who partakes of God's life and nature, thus becoming one with God in His life and nature and thereby expressing Him—John 1:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Cor. 6:17.
B
God's intention was to make Job a man of God, filled with Christ, the embodi-ment of God, to be the fullness of God for the expression of God in Christ— 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17; Eph. 3:16-19.
C
God's stripping and consuming were exercised over Job to tear him down so that God might have a base and a way to rebuild him with Himself, thereby making him a God-man—Job 42:1-6.
D
We need to see that we are God-men, born of God and belonging to the species of God—John 3:3, 5-6:
１
A God-man lives God and expresses God; the living of a God-man is the living of God in man—Phil. 1:20-21a.
２
God are divine and mystical persons, doing everything with God, in God, by God, and through God—1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17.
Ⅴ
To walk in a manner worthy of God is to walk in newness of life—Rom. 6:4:
A
The newness of life is of the divine life, which we have received of God—John 3:15-16.
B
The realm of the divine life is newness, and our walk should be in the realm of the newness of the divine life—Rom. 6:4.
C
To walk in newness of life is to live in the realm of resurrection and to reign in life; this kind of living deals with all that is of Adam in us until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ—5:17; 12:2; 8:29.
Ⅵ
To walk in a manner worthy of God is to walk in the light—1 John 1:7:
A
Light is the nature of God in His expression—v. 5.
B
When we walk in the light, we enjoy the Triune God and participate in His purpose:
１
The fellowship of the divine life brings us into the divine light—v. 3.
２
The divine light keeps us in the enjoyment of God and in the participation in His purpose—vv. 5, 7.
Ⅶ
To walk in a manner worthy of God is related to entering into the kingdom of God and being ushered into the glory of God—1 Thes. 2:12:
A
The kingdom of God is the sphere for us to worship God and enjoy God under the divine ruling with a view to entering into God's glory—Matt. 6:13b.
B
When the authority of God's kingdom is allowed to operate in us, righteous-ness, peace, and joy will characterize our daily life—Rom. 14:17.
C
We need to walk in a manner worthy of God so that we may be able to enter into His kingdom and participate in His glory—1 Thes. 2:12.