Day: December 25, 2022

The third portion from the Word is John 16:13-15. These three verses reveal to us the transmission of the Divine Trinity. All that the Father has is in the Son, all that the Son has is given to the Spirit, and all that the Spirit has is realized in us. In these verses the Lord said, “When He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify Me, for He will receive of Mine and will declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; for this reason I have said that He receives of Mine and will declare it to you.” The work of the Holy Spirit is, first, to convict the world; second, as the Spirit of reality, it is to guide the believers into all the reality, to make all that the Son is and has real to the believers. All that the Father is and has is embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9), and all that the Son is and has is declared as reality to the believers through the Spirit (John 16:13-15). This declaring is the glorifying of the Son with the Father. Hence, it is a matter of the Triune God being wrought into and mingled with the believers.

The fourth portion is Matthew 28:19: “Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This also implies the Divine Trinity. In this verse the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three, yet the “name” is singular in number. This shows us that we have all been baptized into the unique name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The name is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person. To baptize someone into the name of the Triune God is to immerse him into all that the Triune God is.

The fifth portion is Ephesians 2:18: “Through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” Both the Jewish and the Gentile believers have access to the Father through Christ, who abolished [361] the law of the commandments in ordinances, broke down the middle wall of partition, slew the enmity to reconcile the Gentiles to the Jews, and shed His blood to redeem the Jews and the Gentiles to God. Here the trinity of the Godhead is implied. Through God the Son, who is the Accomplisher, the means, and in God the Spirit, who is the Executor, the application, we have access unto the Father, who is the Originator, the source of our enjoyment.

The sixth portion is Ephesians 3:14-19, which says that the Father will grant us to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ, the Son, may make His home in our hearts through faith, with the result that we will be filled with the Triune God unto all the fullness of God.

The seventh portion is 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The grace of the Lord is the Lord Himself as life to us for our enjoyment, the love of God is God Himself as the source of the grace of the Lord, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit Himself as the transmission of the grace of the Lord with the love of God for our participation. These are not three separate matters but three aspects of one thing, just as the Lord, God, and the Holy Spirit are not three separate Gods but three “hypostases…of the one same undivided and indivisible” God (Philip Schaff). The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the hypostases, the supporting substances, which constitute this one God.

The eighth portion is Revelation 1:4-6: “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.” He who is and who was and who is coming is God the eternal Father. The seven Spirits who are before God’s throne are the operating Spirit of God, God the Spirit. Jesus Christ—“the faithful Witness” to God, “the Firstborn of the dead” to the church, and “the Ruler of the kings of the earth” to the world—is God the Son. This is the Triune God. From such a Triune God, grace and peace are imparted to the churches. At the opening of the other Epistles, only the Father and the Son are mentioned, and from Them grace and peace are given to the receivers. Here, however, the Spirit is included, and [362] from Him grace and peace are imparted to the churches. Through the work of the Divine Trinity, we are made not only a kingdom to God but also priests to God (1 Pet. 2:5). The kingdom is for God’s dominion, whereas priests are for the expression of God’s image. This is the kingly, royal priesthood (v. 9), which is for the fulfillment of God’s original purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:26-28).

These are the four great matters in the Bible: the economy of God, the dispensing of God, the union of God with us, and God’s corporate expression in us.

THE DIVINE TRINITY IN THE CREATION

Before the creation of man, the Triune God, whom we also call the Divine Trinity, held a council of the Divine Trinity. We may say that there was a conversation within the Godhead before God created man. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to [357] Our likeness.” To whom was He speaking when He said, “Let Us”? Could it be that He was speaking to the heavens and the earth, since Adam was not yet created at that time? By studying the context and pondering over the situation at that time, we can readily discover that it was God speaking to Himself and fellowshipping with Himself. Thus, based upon this, some Bible readers concluded that there was a council of the Godhead. For this reason we must realize that in preparation for the creation of man, God first held a council of the Godhead within Himself, in which the three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—of the Divine Trinity were all present.

CREATING MAN IN HIS IMAGE

The council of the Divine Trinity was concerned directly with the four great matters in the Bible: the economy of God, the dispensing of God, the mingling of God with the believers, and the corporate expression of God. According to Genesis 1:26-27, God “mobilized” His Trinity for the creation of man. The Bible does not say that while the Father was creating, the Son was standing and watching, and the Spirit was not doing anything. It was not so. Even before the creation of man, the three of the Divine Trinity were all present, and the Triune God said to Himself, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This is very meaningful.

We should not take things for granted when reading the Bible. When we come to Genesis 1:27, we should question and try to find out what image means. The truth of the Bible is rich and many-sided, so it is not easy to answer this question clearly. In brief, God’s image refers to what God is inwardly. What man is, is mostly in his mind, emotion, and will. These three parts are all inward. God created us according to what He is intrinsically.

God Creating Man according to His Attributes— 
Love, Light, Holiness, and Righteousness

The image of God includes not only His being but also His attributes, the characteristics of His nature. According to the entire Bible, the attributes of God include love, light, holiness, and righteousness. The characteristics of a lawmaker are revealed through the laws he makes. In other words, the kind of laws a person makes expresses the kind of person he is. If you ask a bank robber to make laws, he will surely legalize bank robbery because he considers it [358] something that deserves sympathy and compassion. Likewise, the Ten Commandments were enacted by God according to His own attributes. According to our study of the Ten Commandments, we can summarize them in four words: love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These four items are God’s attributes.

According to His attributes of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, God created man with a conscience of morality and a concept of morality. Man is not a beast, for within man there is patience, brightness, holiness, and righteousness. This is why the Chinese have the saying: “Justice is inherent in man’s heart.” This indicates that righteousness and justice are not acquired by learning; rather, they are inherent in man. For example, when you buy something and the cashier gives you back too much change, you may be very happy, but even without being told, you know that this is not right. This is the inherent sense of righteousness. There is not such a sense in cats, dogs, and monkeys. They steal food without knowing that it is improper. However, if you steal food, even if it is your favorite food, you know within that it is not right to steal. What is this? This is the function of the conscience, which was created for us by God according to His attributes.

The faculties of our mind, emotion, and will, which constitute what we are, were created according to God’s intrinsic being. Moreover, human beings delight in love, light, holiness, and righteousness because we were created in this way according to God’s attributes. When God’s attributes are expressed through us, they become our human virtues. Therefore, when the Chinese sages discussed the conscience, eventually they spoke about the “bright virtue,” indicating that within man there is something bright and good. This is the conscience. Hence, we can say that God created man according to His love, light, holiness, and righteousness.

The Image of God Being His Beloved Son—Christ

Let us now consider several verses from the New Testament. Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “Christ, who is the image of God.” Philippians 2:6 says, “[Christ], existing in the form of God.” Colossians 1:15 says that Christ, the Son of God’s love, “is the image of the invisible God.” And Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is “the impress of His [God’s] substance.” All these verses clearly show us that Christ is the image of God. Therefore, for man to be created in the image of God means [359] that man was created according to Christ. In other words, what the created man is inwardly is altogether created according to Christ. The principle for the proper exposition of the Bible is to interpret the Bible both according to biblical facts and according to the biblical text itself. According to the fact, God created man in His image; that is, He created man according to His mind, emotion, and will and also according to love, light, holiness, and righteousness. According to the biblical text, the New Testament says that Christ, God’s beloved Son, is the image of God. Hence, God also created man according to Christ. God created us in this way, expecting that one day we would receive and contain Christ.

Man Being Created 
according to the Image of Christ 
for the Purpose of Containing Christ

The way that man would be created was determined through the council of the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The image here is neither the Father nor the Spirit but the Son. God created man in the image of the Son. In this respect, we are containers of Christ; we were created to contain Christ. If Christ is “square” and we are “round,” we will never be able to contain Him. Thus, God had to make us “square” just like Christ. Before we were saved, and even at birth, we were already created in the image of Christ to be exactly the same as Christ so that we would be fit to receive Him. For this reason, once we received Christ and were saved, we felt so comfortable and at ease within. Let me use an illustration. When you purchase something, the salesperson often puts it in a box. The box that the salesperson uses is just right, being neither too large nor too small. This is not a coincidence, because the box was made precisely according to the shape of that particular item. Everyone who has received Christ has experienced this indescribable sense of comfort, because we were created in His image, and we were created for Him.

How then does Christ come into us? According to the New Testament revelation, the Son comes into us as the Spirit (John 14:17; 1 Cor. 6:17; 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; 2 Tim. 4:22). Without being the Spirit, the Son could not come into us. These truths are implied in Genesis 1:26-27. [360]

SPENDING TIME TO STUDY THE TRUTH

Now we come to the second portion of the Word that we will discuss—John 14:16-20. These five crucial verses clearly unveil the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In verses 16 through 17 the Lord said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter,…the Spirit of reality.” These two verses show us the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Lord said that the Spirit would come and enter into us.

The changing of one’s concept is a strict requirement. Unless this happens, no one can enter into the kingdom of God. The law of Moses taught people how to conduct themselves. It said, Do not murder, do not lie, do not steal, do not bear false testimony, honor your parents, and earnestly care for others. Moses’ teachings, however, could only cause people to be lawful in the human kingdom; they could not bring them into the kingdom of God. It was in this situation, with this background, that John came. From the very beginning he told people to have a change of concept because God’s world, God’s kingdom (which is God Himself), had drawn near and was right at the door. Hence, John charged people to change their concept quickly, not to hold on to Moses any longer, and to have a turn in purpose by receiving Jesus Christ (who was God become [354] man, who was the very God Himself, and who was the reality of the kingdom of God). This is to have a change of concept, a change from the law to God Himself and from Moses to Jesus Christ. Only by receiving Him can men enter into the kingdom of God.

To Enter into the Kingdom of God 
Being to Receive God into Us

Now we all understand that the kingdom of God is God Himself. Following John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God has drawn near” (Mark 1:15) when He went out to minister. In other words, Jesus was saying, “God is on the way; He has drawn near.” For example, if you have a friend who is coming to visit you, and he is already on the way, then you will say, “My friend has drawn near. He will be here in just a short while, so I have to prepare to receive him.” Similarly, to proclaim that the kingdom of God has drawn near is to declare that God Himself has drawn near and that men should get ready to receive Him into them. The way to prepare is to put away the old, natural concepts and to hold on to the New Testament revelation, knowing that to enter into God’s kingdom is to receive God Himself. This is the central thought of the preaching of John the Baptist as the forerunner in the New Testament dispensation.

Our Understanding concerning 
the Kingdom of God Being Incomplete

In the past we had a considerable amount of knowledge concerning the kingdom of God, and although our understanding was not wrong, it was definitely incomplete. In our understanding God’s kingdom was merely God’s reigning. This kind of understanding was based upon human realization more than upon God’s revelation. If the kingdom of God is merely God’s reigning and the realm of God’s reigning, then this means that it is God controlling man. For example, when you are going to steal, He would not let you; when you are going to lose your temper, He would not allow you; when you are furious and are going to speak some angry words, He would stop you; when you are going to do a bad thing or say a bad word, He would warn you first, and if you refuse to listen, then He would chastise you. This kind of understanding and realization about the kingdom of God is too narrow.

Suppose you have a monkey and you want to teach the monkey [355] how to enter into the human kingdom. With this intention you may take a whip in your hands and try to teach the monkey to act like a man by using its two front legs as two hands to eat food and do other things. When the monkey does not obey your instructions, then you may whip the monkey. I am afraid that this is our common understanding of God’s reigning, that every day there is a “whip” regulating us from outside. In actuality, God’s reigning is not an outward matter but a matter of life. If a monkey could be regenerated, born again, to become a man and have the human life, this life would automatically regulate the monkey from within to live like a man. In this way the monkey would automatically and naturally enter into the human kingdom. If this happened, then to try to make the monkey to live and walk like a monkey again would be a suffering to the monkey. Therefore, it is altogether a matter of the innate ability of life, not a matter of outward teaching and regulation.

Every kind of life has its particular nature and ability. Take the banana tree as an example. You do not need to worry that a banana tree will grow round bananas. If you were to say to the banana tree, “Please make sure that you do not grow round bananas but that you grow long bananas,” the banana tree, if it could speak, would answer, “Thank you for your concern. However, there is no need for you to exhort me, because the banana life in me has the nature and ability to automatically regulate me and cause me to grow bananas in the shape of bananas.” In the same principle, you do not need to make demands of, or teach, the apple tree or the pear tree. They will spontaneously grow fruit in the shape of apples and pears respectively.

The Kingdom of God Being God Himself, the Life of God

We must have a clear understanding of the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is God Himself, and God’s kingdom has God as its content. Moreover, this content is Jesus Christ, who is God incarnated to be a man and who is God Himself as the reality of the kingdom of God. John 3:3 says, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” God’s kingdom is a divine realm, and man must have the life of God to enter into it. As we said before, life itself is a kingdom, a world, and a regulating element. Similarly, God’s kingdom is God Himself, and God Himself is life, having the nature, ability, and shape of the divine life, which forms the realm of God’s reigning. [356]

GOD BEING TRIUNE

If we desire to know the Bible and God’s economy, we must change our natural, human, religious, and moral concepts so that we may receive God’s revelation. In order to know the four great matters in the Bible, we must understand and be acquainted with the Scripture verses listed at the beginning of this chapter. Similarly, if we want to understand that God is triune, we need to be familiar with Luke 15, which gives the best illustration of this matter. That chapter consists of three sections concerning a shepherd, a woman, and a father. The shepherd signifies Christ, the Son, coming to find us. The woman signifies the Holy Spirit thoroughly illuminating us within. And the father signifies God the Father receiving us, fallen men, back to His house. We may say that in the entire New Testament Luke 15 is the chapter that most clearly unveils the mystery of the Divine Trinity, with a particular emphasis on the love of the Triune God toward sinners.

Now we come to the first Scripture passage concerning the four great matters in the Bible. Genesis 1:26-27 begins, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The word for God here in Hebrew is Elohim. This word is plural in number, usually indicating three or more. In Hebrew there is the singular number, the dual number, and the plural number, while in English there is the singular number and the plural number. Elohim is in the plural number, usually referring to three or more. A brother named Newberry, who was with the Brethren, put out the Newberry Bible in which he added marks and notes to the King James Version. In this version three lines were drawn next to the word God to indicate that the word is plural in number, referring to the Triune God. Because God is triune, He can say “Us” and “Our” when He is speaking to Himself. It is true that God is one, yet He can speak to Himself in one another because He is also three. There is only one God, but He has the aspect of being three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.