We need to Daily Take Christ as our Person for the Church as the One New Man

The Bible reveals that the one new man is a corporate, universal man, that takes Christ as its person; we all need to take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man. Amen!

Christ is not only our life; He is also our person.

We believers in Christ are complicated and complex persons; we not only have our own person, our soul. But we have another person living in us – the Lord Jesus Christ!

When we believed into the Lord we received not only His life in addition to our human life but even more, we have received His very person in our spirit!

Through regeneration, our spirit became our inner man, where Christ dwells; we are joined to the Lord in spirit to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

But He doesn’t want to merely remain in our spirit. He wants to spread from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will, until He becomes the person in our whole being.

Too many Christians, however, imprison the Lord and confine Him only to their spirit.

You cannot deny that they have the divine life, but the person of Christ has not yet become their person.

Christ is in our spirit, in the center of our being, and He wants to infuse His mind into our mind, His feelings into our emotions, and His will into our will, so that He may make His home in all our heart (Eph. 3:17).

But do we allow Him to make His home in our heart? Do we welcome the Lord in our decisions, feelings, likes and dislikes, thoughts, and desires?

Many times we clearly sense that the Lord does not want us to do a particular thing or go to a particular place, but we still do that thing or go to that place.

Many times we feel that the Lord is bothering us inside concerning the way we speak to someone, but we ignore HIm. Oh Lord Jesus!

The Lord is not forcing us to open the doors to the inner chambers of our heart; He is waiting for our cooperation.

So we need to be strengthened into the inner man with power through the Spirit; when our inner man is strong, the Lord can make His home in our heart.

The result is that we apprehend with all the saints how universally vast and wonderful Christ is, and we become the fullness of God.

We need to be inwardly strengthened with power through the Spirit into the inner man; we need to pray this and let the Father strengthen us inwardly!

As the inner man becomes strong, the Lord can spread in our way of thinking and His mind will become our mind.

As the inner man is strengthened, the Lord spreads in our emotions, and His likes and dislikes become ours.

He can also subdue our will and make it one with His will to stand with His will on the earth.

May we come to the Lord day by day and ask Him to strengthen us into our inner man with power so that Christ may make His home in our heart through faith for the church as the one new man!

The Church is a Corporate, Universal Man, the One New Man to Accomplish God’s Eternal Purpose

Our being strengthened into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our heart through faith is not only so that we can have a richer and deeper experience of Christ; it is for the church as the one new man.

We need to take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man (Eph. 3:17; 4:24; Col. 3:4, 10-11).

The issue of our taking Christ as our person is the church life, even the genuine church life; this is the one new man.

In the New Testament the church is revealed in many aspects; it is the assembly, the congregation of the believers meeting together, it is the house of God, where all the folks in God’s house are together, and it is the Body of Christ, where there are many members one with one another, growing together.

The church is also the one new man; this is the highest, the most intimate, and the most subjective aspect of the church.

The church as the one new man is even higher than the church as the Body of Christ.

The church, the Body of Christ, is the one new man to accomplish God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:9; Rom. 8:29; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 2:15-16; 4:22-24).

The goal of God’s economy is to gain the church as the Body of Christ and as the one new man.

The emphasis on the church as the Body of Christ is on life, for the Body is a matter of life; the emphasis on the church as the one new man is the person, where Christ is the person of the one new man.

On the cross, Christ created the two – the Jews and the Gentiles, into one new man (Eph. 2:15-16), and He has reconciled us to God in one Body.

Strictly speaking, the Body of Christ and the one new man are the same thing – they refer to the same thing, but they denote two different aspects of that same thing.

The Body of Christ refers to the organism of the Triune God, where the emphasis is on life; the one new man refers to Christ being the unique person of the one new man.

For us to have the Body of Christ, we need to take Christ as our life and live Christ.

For us to have the one new man we need to take Christ as our person and live because of Him.

The Body of Christ needs the life of Christ to grow in all the members in order for the Body to be built up.

The one new man needs that all believers take Christ as their person so that Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:10-11).

The Bible reveals that the one new man is a corporate, universal man (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11).

Some Bible readers think that the one new man refers to us as a newly saved one – we become a new man! Yes, there is a verse that says that, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; there is this aspect.

Every one of us in Christ is a new creation, for after being regenerated a new life came in, and now we are a new man in the Lord.

But what the Bible also reveals is that Christ created the two – the Gentiles and the Jews – in Himself into one new man, breaking down the middle wall of separation and making us one in Christ.

We the believers in Christ are all one with Christ to be the new man; thus, we all are parts, components, of the corporate one new man.

We are one in Christ Jesus, for the very Christ who lives in me is the same as the Christ who lives in you and in all the believers in Christ.

There’s no such thing as an American Christ, a British Christ, an Australian Christ, etc; we all have one Christ, and in Him, we are one.

We all share the same Christ, and we are all parts, members, components of this corporate, one new man.

The one new man is a corporate God-man, the aggregate of all the God-men; when we put all the God-men together, we have the one new man. Hallelujah!

We all are God-men, those who live a God-man life by allowing Christ as a person to live in us. God lives in humanity, He is mingled and incorporated with us, and together we all as the many God-men are the universal, corporate God-man, the one new man.

For the church as the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person, not only as our life.

Lord Jesus, thank You for creating in Yourself the one new man, breaking down the middle wall of partition and making us one in You! Hallelujah, Christ on the cross tore down anything that separates us and created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself to be one new man! Praise the Lord, in Christ we are one! He has made us one, and He has put us in Himself! Amen, Lord, keep us in You today. Keep us turning to our spirit today. We want to take You as our life for the church as the Body of Christ. We want to take You as our person for the church as the one new man. Lord, gain a corporate one new man on the earth for Your corporate expression! Gain the new man that accomplishes God’s eternal purpose on the earth! We want to take Christ as our person for the one new man and be one with You for the accomplishing of Your purpose!

We need to take Christ as our Person for the Church as the One New Man

Christ is both the life of the Body of Christ and the person of the one new man. In the one new man there is no place for the natural man; we all have no place in the new man, for here Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:10-11).

There’s no Jew nor Greek, no circumcision nor uncircumcision, no barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, German, French, British, American, Chinese, Korean, etc. but Christ is all and in all!

This doesn’t mean that we don’t exist here; we all are here, but it doesn’t count or matter what we have outwardly – what matters is that Christ as our person is living in us.

What matters is Christ in you and Christ in me; Christ must be all and in all.

Christ is all the Germans, Christ is all the Brits, Christ is all the Chinese, Christ is the religious or unreligious ones, Christ is the high class or low class one, Christ is the cultured and uncultured – Christ is all and in all.

We are nobody and nothing, but Christ is everything, for we take Christ not only as our life but also as our person.

This means that, whether we are in the meetings with the saints or at home, we need to take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man.

In the meetings Christ is so rich and sweet, and we are richly supplied; but after the meeting is over, Christ as a person is still with us!

He needs to be real to us, even to become our very person, as we are living our daily life. When we’re driving on the road and are upset with the slow car in front of us, we need to take Christ as our person.

When our spouse irritates us, instead of asking the Lord to help us not lose our temper, we simply need to take Him as our person. Christ is our everything. He is our salvation, our Savior, and our life.

Christ is patience, victory, holiness, and joy; we don’t ask God to give us more patience or joy, we simply take Christ as our person. Christ is in all of us, so we all have only one person (Col. 1:27; Eph. 3:17).

We don’t get a “slice” of Christ but the whole Christ; we all share the same person. What God cares for is whether or not we take Christ as our person (John 6:57b; Phil. 1:21a; Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17a).

May we all learn to take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man.

There is no other way for us to have the church as the one new man except for us taking Christ as our person.

We have not only received His life but also His person, and we need to take Him as our person.

In the one new man, there’s only one person – Christ. There are millions of believers on earth, but there is one person speaking with one mouth; Christ is the person.

The new man is not about members (Rom. 12:4-5) but about the person; therefore, we all need to ask, “Who is my person – is it I or the Lord Jesus?”

We may go shopping and may intend to buy something; before doing this, we need to ask the Lord, Lord Jesus, would You buy this item? If you buy it, I will buy it, but if You do not, I will not.

God’s intention is not to merely have many individual believers who do their best to express Him and spread the gospel. He wants to gain the church as the one new man.

For this, Christ needs to become our person.

Even as we are getting closer to the end of this age and the Lord intends to recover the proper church life and hasten His return by building up His Body, we need to take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man.

In big and small things, we need to check with the Lord and tell Him, Lord, I take You as my person. If You do this, I will do this. If You speak this, I will speak this. But if You don’t do this, I will not do it. And if You don’t speak this, I will not speak it.

We shouldn’t try to be more holy, patient, spiritual, or loving by our own effort; we simply need to turn to Christ within and take Him as our person.

And we need to do this in our daily life with all our daily activities and things.

If we all live by the self and then come together, what we have is many natural persons; the church cannot be built up in this way.

But if we all live Christ as our person, taking Him as our person day by day and in all things, we will be one in Him, and our church life will be rich, uplifting, refreshing, and satisfying.

We all will have a portion of Christ to share with others, and the meetings will be the exhibition of the Christ we have enjoyed and experienced.

We all will bring our portion of Christ to share with one another, for Christ as our person will be eager to overflow with something of the riches of Christ we have enjoyed.

May the Lord gain such a genuine church life that issues out of our taking Christ as our person for the church as the one new man!

Lord Jesus, we take You as our person for the church as the one new man. Cause us to realize, Lord, that in the church as the one new man there is only one person – Christ. Save us from living in the self and by the self. Save us from expressing ourselves. We turn to You, dear Lord, and we take You as our person for the new man. May Christ become all and in all in the church as the one new man. We give You our daily living. Keep us checking with You in all things so that in both big and small things we would take Christ as our person. Amen, Lord, if You want to speak, we will speak, but if You do not speak, we will be quiet. How about our shopping, Lord? If You want to buy something, we will also buy it, but if You do not want it, we will not get it. Oh Lord, keep us turning to You and taking You as our person in all the details of our daily life. May all the saints take Christ as their person so that there will be an issue – the genuine church life as a rich exhibition of Christ! Amen, Lord, may we all take You as our person and have an overflow of the riches of Christ when we come together in the meetings! Gain this among us today!

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 brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, vol. 1, pp. 382-385, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life (2023 spring ITERO), week 3, entitled, Taking Christ as our Person for the Church as the One New Man.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The Sweetness of Taking Christ as our Person for the One New Man, article at, Living to Him.
  – God Manifested in the Church Meetings, article at, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Growing by taking Christ as our person, a portion from, One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – Taking Christ as my Person in my daily life, article at, Living to Him.
  – The secret to becoming the one new man, a portion from, One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
  – The church as the one new man in Ephesians – a corporate person, article by James Fite in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What is the New Man? Read more via, LSM radio newsletters to find out.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – One new man is the Father’s plan; / He redeemed us from the sons of men. / Every kindred, tribe and tongue, / In Himself He called us to be one. / God’s expression on the earth / Now reveals His glorious worth. / One new man is the Father’s plan; / He redeemed us from the sons of men. (Hymns #1230 stanza 1)
  – More and more our Person He must be; / That our natural personality / Be eliminated thoroughly / Till Christ is all. / Only Christ, our Person, must remain; / From our aims, our goals we must refrain, / Till the church be only Christ Himself / Built up as the one new man, / Thus fulfilling God’s great plan of— / Mingling fully with the human race / To obtain a proper dwelling place, / ’Stablishing His kingdom’s rule and grace; / Over all the earth. (Hymns #1180 stanza 2)
  – In spirit mingled, we are one, O Lord, / The human and divine in one accord; / Yet Thou must have a proper faculty / That all Thy glorious personality / May be expressed. / So, Lord, I give my heart to Thee today, / That it may be Thy home in every way, / A place for Thee to come and settle down, / And all Thy grand recovery work to crown / In one new man. (Hymns #1179 stanzas 4-5)