Christ is our Inward Pattern: He’s not just Objective but Subjective and Experiential

Christ as our pattern is not only objective but also subjective and experiential in our daily living, for He is both in the heavens on the throne and in our spirit as the inward pattern for us to live out and express today.

Amen, Lord, thank You for being both objective and subjective for us to enjoy, partake of, and live out today! We love You, Lord Jesus!

When we read the Gospels, we see a wonderful person, Jesus Christ, who was both God and man. One particular aspect of His living is that He never did what He wanted to do, nor did He manifest Himself as God so that everyone would see Him or appreciate Him.

Rather, as Philippians chapter 2 tells us, Christ humbled Himself and emptied Himself to the uttermost.

He was God, but He was willing to put aside and be emptied of the outward expression of His divinity and His majesty, and He humbled Himself. He became in the likeness of men, and when others saw Him, they saw a man.

Even more, He humbled Himself to be a slave, a lowly slave to serve us and serve God.

Outwardly, He had the appearance of a man, even of a slave, but inwardly, He had the reality of divinity.

He never put aside or abandoned His divinity; the divine essence was there with Him from the conception to His death and resurrection.

In Philippians 2:5-8 we see the seven steps of the Lord’s humiliation. First, He emptied Himself. Second, He took the form of a slave. Third, He became in the likeness of men. Fourth, He humbled Himself.

Fifth, He became obedient. Sixth, He was obedient unto death. Seventh, He was obedient unto the death of the cross.

He truly humbled Himself to the uttermost, and He learned obedience by the things which He had suffered. He took the Father’s will, He humbled Himself, and He lived not in and for Himself but for God and His purpose.

Because He humbled Himself to the uttermost, fulfilling God’s desire, God exalted Him to the uttermost!

If Christ only humbled Himself to the uttermost and that’s it, this would be quite sad; it would be amazing to look at and admire, but it would have no consummation or conclusion.

But God highly exalted this One, raising Him from the dead, giving Him the highest name, and enthroning Him to the highest point in the universe! Praise the Lord!

Now we can confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father! And now we can take Christ as our pattern in our daily living today.

We need to see what does it mean for us to take Him as our pattern not only objectively but also subjectively in our experience.

Christ as our Pattern is not only Objective but also Subjective and Experiential

Christ is our pattern (Phil. 2:5; 12-13); He is not only objective but also subjective and experiential for us as a pattern.

If we are to take Christ as our pattern and let His mind be in us, we need to realise that He is our pattern not only objectively but also subjectively and experientially in our daily living.

Where is Christ, our pattern? According to Philippians 2:9, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name. Hallelujah!

Christ as our pattern is objectively in heaven, being exalted to the highest peak in the universe, where God is. We praise Him as such a One, for now there’s a Man in the glory!

He suffered to the uttermost, He humbled Himself to the uttermost, and He emptied Himself to the uttermost, but God also exalted Him to the uttermost! Praise the Lord!

This is related to the objective aspect of Christ as our pattern.

Many unbelievers see this objective Christ when they read the Bible and they may wonder how they can imitate Him, for He is such a good pattern and at the same time an unattainable pattern.

It is true, we can’t imitate this One in ourselves and by ourselves, unless we have His divine life!

If Christ were only in the third heaven, how could we take Him as our pattern today? We are men on earth; how can we follow the One who has been exalted and who is now in heaven?

Humanly, this is impossible. But praise the Lord that He is not only objective but also subjective and experiential to. He is our objective pattern and also our subjective pattern.

We see this in Philippians 2:12 where we are told to work out our own salvation, and in the next verse, we see that it is God who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

We need to work out our own salvation; this is not a matter of working or doing good works for us to be saved, but rather, we need to cooperate with the Lord to work out our daily salvation by enjoying and experiencing Christ day by day.

We cannot do anything to save ourselves from eternal perdition; we can only believe into the Lord Jesus, for He has done everything.

We are saved by faith through grace, not by works, so that no one would have something to boast.

But not that we are saved, we need to continually be saved, and for this we need to work out our own salvation by taking Christ as our pattern subjectively in our experience.

As our pattern, Christ Himself is our salvation; this salvation needs to be worked out by us.

Thank the Lord that Christ as our pattern is not only objective but also subjective and experiential!

On the one hand, He’s in the third heaven, enthroned and far above all, having the highest name in the universe.

On the other hand, He is in us as our life, indwelling us as our subjective pattern, for Him to live in us and be expressed through us.

If He were only objectively in heaven, He could not be our daily salvation for us to be worked out.

On the one hand, we have initially received salvation from God’s condemnation and from the lake of fire; this is a salvation none of us need to work for, since it is by faith.

On the other hand, we need to work out our own salvation by enjoying and experiencing Christ day by day.

Our salvation is the wonderful person of Jesus Christ, whom we live, experience, and enjoy!

He is our pattern, and we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

The book of Philippians is on the experience of Christ; this is very subjective.

Based upon this principle and upon the context of the book of Philippians as a whole, Christ as our pattern is not only objective in heaven but also subjective and experiential.

We see this in verse 13 where, after Paul tells us to work out our own salvation, he gives us the key, For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

Yes, we need to work out our own salvation, but we do this because it is God who operates in us. God operates in us and we cooperate.

God’s operating in us is related to our working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

In ourselves, we’re not able to work out our own salvation; however, God, the One who operates in us, is able.

He is able to save us to the uttermost, and He operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

Since God is operating in us both the willing and the working, we can work out our own salvation.

We just need to cooperate, for He operates and does everything in us.

He operates, we cooperate; we open to Him to enjoy and experience Him, and He operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

When we do this, when we cooperate with God’s operation in us, we take Christ as our pattern not only objectively but also subjectively and experientially.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being our pattern not only objectively but also subjectively and experientially! Hallelujah, Christ is not only in the third heaven, being exalted by God to the highest point in the universe, but He is also in us! Thank You, Lord, for being both objective and subjective to us. We take You as our pattern today. We take You as our pattern not only in an objective way by knowing the processes You went through and the humiliation You experienced but even more, by working out our own salvation! Amen, Lord, we want to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling today. We want to enjoy, experience, and live Christ today. You are our salvation. We take Christ as our salvation and we work out our own salvation, for it is God who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure! Hallelujah, God operates in us and we cooperate! Amen, Lord, You are our pattern in a subjective and experiential way, for You are in our spirit, indwelling us and living in us!

Christ is our Inward Pattern: we’re Partners with Christ in His Human Living

May the Lord shine on us to show us that Christ as our pattern, is not only objective but also subjective and experiential. He is not only our objective pattern in heaven who accomplished everything after going through such a process; He is also our inward pattern subjectively for our experience today.

We begin with knowing Christ as our pattern objectively, and we admire Him, know Him, and enjoy Him as such a One; this One infused us with faith, and we are then joined to Him organically and subjectively.

The objective Christ is becoming the subjective and experiential Christ.

The objective pattern is becoming the subjective and experiential pattern inwardly.

The One who set up the pattern and who Himself is the pattern is now operating within us as the indwelling God (Phil. 2:13). Wow, the indwelling God is our pattern, our inward pattern today!

He operates in us not in a powerful way but gently and constantly.

His resurrection power is the greatest power in the universe, but this power can be activated only when we turn to our spirit and turn our heart to the Lord.

When we turn our heart to the Lord and exercise our spirit, we are deeply at peace, for we sense something of the indwelling God.

Something is going on in the depths of our being: God is operating in us, and Christ is our inward pattern.

He is spreading Himself in us. He is saturating us. He is the Shepherd of our soul and He cares for us.

On the one hand, He dispenses Himself into us as the life-giving Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life.

On the other hand, as the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, He wants to bring us into the enjoyment of Christ and make us happy in our soul. Hallelujah!

We simply need to turn our heart to Him and exercise our spirit to contact Him, and the indwelling God will operate in us.

The principle of Christ as the inward pattern for our living is that, even if we have the highest standard and the highest position, we should not grasp it.

We are one with the Lord to such an extent that, we are willing to lower ourselves, humble ourselves, and allow ourselves to be humiliated; this is because of the indwelling pattern, Christ living in us.

This is something continual, something constant, not an experience we have once in a while.

The Lord Jesus lived such a life when He was on earth, and He wants to live such a life in us today.

Christ is our inward pattern, and as we live the Christian life one with Him, we do not grasp our standard or position.

May we be partners with Christ in His human living, especially in His emptying and humbling Himself and in His not grasping equality with God as a treasure (Phil. 2:6-7).

We are partners with Him today. He is in us and we are in Him. Even as He was in this world, so we are today. He emptied Himself and humbled Himself to the uttermost, being obedient to God to death; we are one with Him in this.

In ourselves, we can’t do it, for we are rebellious, selfish, and full of ambition; but because we have the indwelling God, Christ as our inward pattern, we can do it, for it is God who operates in us.

We need to live such a life today. His living needs to become our living. In our experience, we are emptying ourselves out, humbling ourselves, and we are not grasping equality with God as a treasure.

We believe that God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead; this is our destiny, our future.

But we do not grasp equality with God today; we simply open to Him, turn our heart to Him, and allow Him to live in us.

We take Him as our inward pattern and we want to live one spirit with Him, even to have His life and living manifested in us today.

Lord Jesus, thank You for setting up the pattern and for being our pattern in our Christian life. Hallelujah, Christ as our pattern is now living in us and operating within us as the indwelling God! Wow, we believers in Christ have Christ as our inward pattern and we can live one spirit with Him to express Him today! We turn our heart to You today, dear Lord. We exercise our spirit to contact You and be one with You. Operate in us as the indwelling God. We want to live in the organic union with You today. May we be Your partners today, one with You and having the same kind of living that You had while You were on the earth. Amen, Lord, we are one with You to empty ourselves, humble ourselves, and not grasp equality with God as a treasure. Hallelujah, even as He lived, so we live today, for we are one with Him and He is our indwelling pattern today! Amen, Lord, be expressed through us today in our daily living!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ron Kangas in this conference, and portions from, Life-study of Philippians, msg. 10, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (part 3 – 2025 Summer Training), week 26, Knowing and Taking Christ as Our Pattern – day 2.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Taking Christ as our pattern, Nuggets and gems from the Bible.
  – Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery, Part 3: Applying the Biblical Pattern of Leadership, via, Shepherding Words.
  – How Can Christ’s Crucified Life Become Our Pattern? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Philippians (Program #10) – Taking Christ as Our Pattern, via, Bible study radio.
  – The prayer and the subjective experience of Christ that we must have for God’s building, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Life and Ministry of the Apostle Paul // Solid Ground Spring 2022 // CSOC TX.
  – Christ as our pattern and expression, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Dealing with the Self, via, Living to Him.
  – Christ Is the Reality of the Good Land for Us to Enjoy, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Sanctified in Christ Jesus for the Holy City, via, New Jerusalem blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – “Consider Him,” let Christ thy pattern be, / And know that He hath apprehended thee / To share His very life, His pow’r divine, / And in the likeness of thy Lord to shine. / “Consider Him”; so shalt thou, day by day, / Seek out the lowliest place, and therein stay, / Content to pass away, a thing of nought, / That glory to the Father’s name be brought. (Hymns #656 stanzas 1-2)
  – He’s washed all our sins, purified them fore’er; / Tasted death on the cross, ended slavery there. / He took on our nature, the devil has slain, / And put you and me in His glorious train. / So great the extent of salvation to us— / We’re partners of Christ in His plan glorious. / He’ll bring us to glory and we’ll rule with Him, / To the uttermost saved by His working within. (Hymns #1129 stanzas 3-4)
  – Not just by the outward teachings, / But by His anointing moved; / Not just by the outward pattern, / But by inward vision proved. / Not by human rules or rituals, / But by heaven’s rule within; / Not by human-made decisions, / But by guidance giv’n of Him. (Hymns #908 stanza 2)