The Practical Way to Live a Life According to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, by Witness Lee

I. TO LIVE CHRIST

We need to live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19b-21a). The Spirit of Jesus Christ was not in the Old Testament, nor was He there before the resurrection of Christ. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is "the Spirit" spoken of in John 7:39. This is the Spirit after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Spirit of God has been consummated to be the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for bountiful supply is a rich word implying provision in full. The Spirit has a rich provision to supply us in full to live Christ for His magnification.

A. Not by Our Natural Human Life,
but by the Divine Life of Christ in Resurrection

Paul said in Philippians 1:21a, "For to me, to live is Christ." Paul said this when he was in prison at Rome. In that prison he was living Christ. If someone had asked Paul what he was doing, he could have said, "I am living Christ."

Christ is our life. We, the God-men, live a human life to express God, not by our own life, our natural life, but by the divine life of Christ in resurrection (Col. 3:4). This living of Christ includes pursuing and gaining Christ (Phil. 3:8, 12-14). If we have not gained Christ, how can we live Him? If I am wearing a jacket, that means I have gained it. Without gaining it, I could not wear it. In like manner, if we have not gained Christ, we cannot live Christ.

Living Christ also includes tasting Christ for growing in Him (1 Pet. 2:2-3) and enjoying Christ as the God-allotted portion and participating in His riches in the fellowship of God (Col. 1:12; 1 Cor. 1:9). If we do not gain Him or taste Him, we cannot enjoy Him. First Corinthians 1:9 says that God has called us into the fellowship of Christ, the enjoyment of Christ.

Abiding in Christ and having Him abide in us for the growth with His life in fruit-bearing is also a part of living Christ (John 15:4-5). To live Christ by the divine life of Christ in resurrection is to have Christ grow in us that we may be formed inwardly and even conformed to the image of Christ as the Firstborn of God among many brothers (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:29b). Also, to live Christ includes growing into Christ in everything that we may mature in the measure of the stature of Christ (Col. 1:28b; Eph. 4:15, 13b).

B. For the Magnification of Christ

We live Christ for His magnification (Phil. 1:20). If a Roman soldier had asked Paul what he was doing, Paul would have been able to say, "I am living Christ for His magnification. I am not really a prisoner. I am Christ here. I am here to show you Christ and to minister Christ to you." Christ’s being magnified is so that He may be seen by others in the reality of His resurrection. In prison the apostle Paul, a human being, was Christ. He was living in the resurrection of Christ.

Christ’s being magnified is also for Christ to be ministered to others in the reality of His Spirit. This happened when Paul was in prison. At the end of the book of Philippians he said, "All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household" (4:22). It should be that some of Caesar’s household became believers in Christ through Paul. Through their contact with Paul, they saw Christ, so they believed and received Christ. This means that Paul ministered Christ to them.

(The Practical Way to Live a Life According to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)