work of Christ has no effect on you.”
I went on to explain to this inquirer at the Kaifeng
meeting the following. Do you know how the electric bulb gives light? It gives
light through the electric wire which is connected with the power plant. The
power of light-giving is not in the bulb; rather, it is back in the power plant.
Because the bulb is in touch with the power plant, it lights up. Remove the
bulb from its contact with the power plant and it itself has no light, because it
is the power plant which produces electricity, not the bulb. Similarly is the
work of God. God conducts no work in man: all His works are done in Christ: death
is in Christ and resurrection is also in Christ: all are accomplished in Him. So
that by having living faith which is in touch with Christ all God’s works will
be effective in you. Without that contact with Christ by exercising faith which
is living you will remain your usual self. Therefore, the issue lies in whether
or not you have faith. By faith you are able to be related to Christ. So you
must believe in what God has done in Christ.
I continued explaining to this same inquirer as follows. By
carefully reading the Bible you will come to realize that you can never change yourself;
God has not said that He will change you. You will remain the same forever.
Imagine a light bulb one day saying to itself : “I have
been here for a long time; I shine forth light every day. I am sure I have
light within me.” But, then, suppose the bulb disconnects itself to see if
there is still light shining forth. Naturally, there will no longer be any light
coming forth, because whenever the bulb is disconnected from its source of
electricity, it cannot give light anymore. In like manner, unless you are in contact
with Christ, you will remain the same as you always have been. If there is no contact
with Christ, you shall be like someone studying a book of geography without that
person ever having visited the places he had been reading about. You may know
the truth of co-death, but to experience being really dead is another matter.
Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, doctrine is useless and has no
effect.
Even though I had responded to my inquirer this way, he
still could not be convinced. So I continued by asking him the following: “Who
is the ancestor of the Chinese?” “We Chinese,” he replied, “are the descendants
of Yellow Emperor.” So I next asked: “Do you remember that on one occasion Yellow
Emperor went forth to fight against Tsuyu?” “Yes, I remember,” answered the
inquirer. “Suppose Tsuyu had killed Yellow Emperor at that battle,” I further
said, “could we still be said to exist?” He answered me by saying: “If Yellow
Emperor had died at that moment, with us not yet having been born, there would be
none of us today.” So I said to him in conclusion: “Exactly! Thus by your
answer I see that you realize that the descendants of Yellow Emperor were in
Yellow Emperor and that when he did eventually die, all his descendants died
with him. Similarly, God has put us in Christ, and thus we are united with
Christ. So that when Christ died, we died with Him; and when He arose, we too were
raised up. We cannot say that, Christ having died on the cross, we are still
alive. That is impossible. We are in Christ, so His experience is our
experience.”
Mere mental understanding of the doctrine of co-death
with Christ and co-resurrection with Him is futile. May God give us light and
revelation so that we may see and experience the fact that we are united with
Christ in His death and in His resurrection: it is not only understanding the death mentally, it is also experiencing the fact of it, we realizing how we
are united with Christ in one. Have we all therefore seen our place in Christ?
Nowadays, God’s children pay much attention to doctrine
but do not see what the context of a given doctrine is. Let us therefore not be
content in merely knowing the various
I went on to explain to this inquirer at the Kaifeng
meeting the following. Do you know how the electric bulb gives light? It gives
light through the electric wire which is connected with the power plant. The
power of light-giving is not in the bulb; rather, it is back in the power plant.
Because the bulb is in touch with the power plant, it lights up. Remove the
bulb from its contact with the power plant and it itself has no light, because it
is the power plant which produces electricity, not the bulb. Similarly is the
work of God. God conducts no work in man: all His works are done in Christ: death
is in Christ and resurrection is also in Christ: all are accomplished in Him. So
that by having living faith which is in touch with Christ all God’s works will
be effective in you. Without that contact with Christ by exercising faith which
is living you will remain your usual self. Therefore, the issue lies in whether
or not you have faith. By faith you are able to be related to Christ. So you
must believe in what God has done in Christ.
I continued explaining to this same inquirer as follows. By
carefully reading the Bible you will come to realize that you can never change yourself;
God has not said that He will change you. You will remain the same forever.
Imagine a light bulb one day saying to itself : “I have
been here for a long time; I shine forth light every day. I am sure I have
light within me.” But, then, suppose the bulb disconnects itself to see if
there is still light shining forth. Naturally, there will no longer be any light
coming forth, because whenever the bulb is disconnected from its source of
electricity, it cannot give light anymore. In like manner, unless you are in contact
with Christ, you will remain the same as you always have been. If there is no contact
with Christ, you shall be like someone studying a book of geography without that
person ever having visited the places he had been reading about. You may know
the truth of co-death, but to experience being really dead is another matter.
Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, doctrine is useless and has no
effect.
Even though I had responded to my inquirer this way, he
still could not be convinced. So I continued by asking him the following: “Who
is the ancestor of the Chinese?” “We Chinese,” he replied, “are the descendants
of Yellow Emperor.” So I next asked: “Do you remember that on one occasion Yellow
Emperor went forth to fight against Tsuyu?” “Yes, I remember,” answered the
inquirer. “Suppose Tsuyu had killed Yellow Emperor at that battle,” I further
said, “could we still be said to exist?” He answered me by saying: “If Yellow
Emperor had died at that moment, with us not yet having been born, there would be
none of us today.” So I said to him in conclusion: “Exactly! Thus by your
answer I see that you realize that the descendants of Yellow Emperor were in
Yellow Emperor and that when he did eventually die, all his descendants died
with him. Similarly, God has put us in Christ, and thus we are united with
Christ. So that when Christ died, we died with Him; and when He arose, we too were
raised up. We cannot say that, Christ having died on the cross, we are still
alive. That is impossible. We are in Christ, so His experience is our
experience.”
Mere mental understanding of the doctrine of co-death
with Christ and co-resurrection with Him is futile. May God give us light and
revelation so that we may see and experience the fact that we are united with
Christ in His death and in His resurrection: it is not only understanding the death mentally, it is also experiencing the fact of it, we realizing how we
are united with Christ in one. Have we all therefore seen our place in Christ?
Nowadays, God’s children pay much attention to doctrine
but do not see what the context of a given doctrine is. Let us therefore not be
content in merely knowing the various
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