Scripture Reading: Col. 3:1-4; John 6:57b; 14:19; Rom. 5:10
Ⅰ
Life is a person, Christ the Son of God; since the divine life, zoe, is a person, we should contact Him, love Him, experience Him, enjoy Him, be one with Him, live Him, and express Him—1 John 5:11-12; John 11:25; 14:6; 1 Cor. 6:17; Phil. 1:20-21a.
Ⅱ
The fact that Christ is our life is a strong indication that we are to take Him as life and live because of Him—John 6:57b; 14:19:
A
We should live Christ in our daily life in order to experience the universally extensive Christ revealed in the book of Colossians—1:15-19; 2:2, 9, 15-16; 3:10-11.
B
If we take Christ as our life and live Him, then all that He is and has attained will not remain merely objective to us but will become our subjective experience—1:27; 3:4.
Ⅲ
The life of God is the life of Christ, and the life of Christ has become our life— John 5:26; Col. 3:4:
A
For Christ to be our life means that He is subjective to us to the uttermost—John 1:4; 14:6a; 10:10b; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:10, 6, 11.
B
It is impossible to separate a person from the life of that person, for a person's life is the person himself; thus, to say that Christ is our life means that Christ has become us and that we have one life and living with Him—John 14:6a; Phil. 1:21a.
C
With Christ as the believers' life, there are three characteristics that distinguish it from the natural life:
１
This life is a crucified life—Gal. 2:20.
２
This life is a resurrected life—John 11:25.
３
This is a life hidden in God—Col. 3:4; Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18.
Ⅳ
In order to experience Christ as our life, we need to see that we have one position, one life, one living, one destiny, and one glory with Christ—Col. 3:1-4; cf. 1 Cor. 6:17:
A
Our position is that we are in Christ; because we are in Him, we are where He is— sitting at the right hand of God—Col. 3:1; John 17:24; Eph. 2:6:
１
The Son's position is in the Father (John 10:38; 14:10); we are in the Son (1 Cor. 1:30a), so we are in the Father (John 14:20; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1).
２
It is when we are in the spirit that we are in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven practically and experientially:
ａ
There is a transmission taking place from Christ in heaven to us on earth by means of the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit—Eph. 1:19, 22-23; 2:22.
ｂ
The Christ who is on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also in us (v. 10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is (Eph. 2:22).
ｃ
Since today our spirit is the place of God's habitation, it is now the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us to heaven and brings heaven to us—v. 22; Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51:
⑴
Whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder.
⑵
Our spirit is the receiving end of the divine transmission, whereas the throne of God is the transmitting end—Heb. 4:16.
B
To seek the things which are above and set our mind on them is to join ourselves to the Lord in His heavenly ministry, His divine enterprise; this is to live Christ, to have a living that is one with Christ's living—Col. 3:1-2:
１
In His heavenly ministry Christ is living as the High Priest to intercede for the churches—Heb. 8:1; 4:14; 7:25; 4:16; cf. Col. 4:2.
２
In His heavenly ministry Christ is living as the heavenly Minister to supply the saints with the riches of Christ—Heb. 8:1-2; Eph. 3:8.
３
In His heavenly ministry Christ is living as the universal Administrator of God's government for the accomplishment of God's purpose—Rev. 4:1-2, 5; 5:6; 1:10-11:
ａ
From the throne in the heavens, the divine transmission brings the things above into the local churches—Eph. 1:19, 22-23.
ｂ
What takes place in the local churches should be under the direction of the throne of God in heaven; in order for the recovery to be the Lord's recovery, it must be under His direction—Col. 1:18; 2:19; Rev. 4:2-3.
Ⅴ
Our life is the Christ who dwells within us, and this life is hidden with Christ in God; the Christ hidden in God is typified by the manna hidden in the golden pot— Col. 3:4; Exo. 16:32-34; Rev. 2:17:
A
Christ as the hidden manna is in God the Father as the golden pot; the Father is in Christ as the Ark with His two natures, divinity and humanity; and Christ as the indwelling Spirit lives in our regenerated spirit to be the reality of the Holy of Holies— cf. John 14:16-20; 2 Tim. 4:22.
B
When we eat Christ as the hidden manna, we are incorporated into Him for the mutual abode of God and the believers in Christ—John 15:5, 7; 8:31; 6:57, 63; 14:23.
Ⅵ
The more we take Christ as our life and experience Him in a practical way day by day, the more we will be saved in His life—Col. 3:4; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 5:10:
A
To be saved in the divine life from the slavery of sin, the law of sin, is by the spontaneous operation of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus—8:2.
B
To be saved in the divine life from the present age of the world is by the sanctification of the consummated Spirit—12:2a; 6:19b, 22b.
C
To be saved in the divine life from our natural being is by the transformation of the life-giving Spirit—12:2b.
D
To be saved in the divine life from individualism is by being built up in the Body of Christ—v. 5.
E
To be saved in the divine life from self-likeness is by the conformation of the lifeimparting Spirit—8:29b.
F
To be saved in the divine life from our body of humiliation is by the transfiguration in the virtue of the divine life—v. 30; Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:11.
G
To be saved in the divine life is to reign in the divine life—5:17.
H
To be saved in the divine life will result in the victory over Satan—16:20.