God’s Economy: we are Crucified with Christ & Christ Lives in us as we live by Faith

We are crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us as we live by faith – the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us!

In Galatians 2:20 we see the most basic truth of God’s economy – no longer I but Christ living in me; God’s economy is not that we try to keep the law in the strength of our flesh but that He comes into us to mingle Himself with us so that He lives in us and we live by faith in Him. Hallelujah!

Many Christians, however, do not see or know what it is to be a Christian and what it means to live a proper Christian life. They think they need to try harder to please God, and they consider that they have to improve themselves and perfect themselves according to what the Bible says.

In this way, many Christians fail, for we are not supposed to try harder but rather to turn to the Lord in our spirit so that we may experience being crucified with Christ and having Christ live in us.

We need to realize that the Christian life is something very subjective and personal, for it is a matter of our personal, intimate, and subjective relationship with the Lord.

The Lord wants to live in us and be expressed through us. For this, He first regenerates us to become our life in our spirit, and then He spreads in our mind, emotion, and will to transform us and conform us to His image.

God desires to have a subjective relationship with us; He doesn’t want to remain up in the heavens and we down here on earth trying our best to worship Him but rather, He wants to enter into us and be one with us. The Father is pleased to reveal His Son in us. Not just to us, but in us.

This means that the Son of God, Jesus Christ as the embodiment of the Father, is revealed in our being, for us to know Him personally, intimately, and subjectively.

When Saul of Tarsus had the Son of God revealed in him, the trajectory of his life changed; he had a complete turn, even a conversion, from being a persecutor of the church to being a believer in Christ.

The Christ whom he persecuted was revealed by the Father in him, and he announced this One as the gospel among the Gentiles.

Day by day we believers in Christ need to have a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in us.

We need to turn our heart to the Lord and deal with anything that blocks us from seeing Him. Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veils are taken away, and we can see the Lord face to face.

May we remain in the fresh shining of the Lord’s face in our spirit. May we enjoy Him to the uttermost as the One revealed in us so that we may also shine Him forth to others around us!

Appreciate Christ’s Constraining Love to have Faith and Live by Faith, One with the Lord

Galatians 2:20 is a verse that shines with new light whenever we come to it with an unveiled face, for this verse is one of the main secrets of our Christian life.

In v. 19 we see that we through law have died to law so that we may live to God, and verse 20 we see how we can live to God. It is an accomplished fact that we have died to law, and it is an accomplished fact that we have been crucified with Christ.

Even though Christ died on the cross more than two thousand years ago, when we believe into the Lord and are joined to Him in spirit, we experience the reality of being crucified with Christ.

Hallelujah, we believers in Christ have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us!

We died in Christ through His death; now He lives in us through His resurrection. Christ’s experience is our experience, for we have been organically joined to Him as one spirit.

He is the vine, and we are the branches; we abide in Him and He abides in us, and in this abiding, all His accomplishments and attainments become ours by faith (John 15:5).

On the one hand, Christ died on the cross for our redemption; we cannot share in this aspect of His death, for only He is the Lamb of God. On the other hand, Christ died on the cross to terminate everything and everyone negative in the universe; we can share in this all-terminating aspect of His death by being joined to Him in spirit.

When we exercise our spirit, we are one with Him and we share in His death and resurrection; through His death we are crucified to the world, the sin, the flesh, and everything negative, and through His resurrection Christ lives in us.

Oh, when we see the Lord’s dying love for us, when we see how much He loved us, we are filled with appreciation for Him!

Like Paul at the end of Gal. 2:20, we realize that Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me; so we live by faith in Him. His dying love is so constraining, attracting, and subduing; He died for us, even for me, and we just love Him.

When we see the Lord’s dying love, we appreciate His constraining love, and we have faith and live by faith, one with the Lord. Faith rises up in us whenever we see the Lord; faith is our appreciation for the Lord Jesus with all that He is and He has done.

As we look to the Lord and appreciate Him, His love constrains us.

2 Cor. 5:14-15 tells us that the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.

Oh, Christ died for us, and we live to Him, for His dying love constrains us to no longer live to ourselves but to Him!

The more we appreciate His constraining love, the more faith we have.

Faith is produced in us when we see Christ, appreciate Christ, and are infused with Christ, for Christ Himself is infused into us to become our faith by which we believe into Him and by which we live today.

We simply appreciate Him and treasure Him, and He operates in us to become our faith.

We all can testify that many times, as we come to the Lord in His word or we come to the meetings of the church, we may not have much faith; we may even consider that everything is futile and meaningless, for there are so many problems, issues, and trials, and nothing seems to be right.

But when we see the Lord Jesus, when we see His dying love and all that He is to us, we are filled with appreciation for Him, and faith rises up in us. We then can tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we love You! We appreciate You. We treasure You. Thank You for dying for us, even for me. We open to You, Lord, and we turn our heart to You. We set our whole being on You. We no longer want to live to ourselves or for ourselves but to You and for You! Amen, Lord, we appreciate Your constraining love. Constrain us with Your love today so that we may no longer live to ourselves but to Him who died and has been raised. Amen, Lord, we want to live to the Lord today! We want to live in the organic union with You. We want to live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to live in the organic union with You, abiding in You in all things and in all situations. Oh, how much we love You, dear Lord Jesus! How much we appreciate You! Thank You for coming into us to be our very faith, our ability to believe, for us to believe into You and to live by faith in You! We love You, Lord Jesus!

God’s Economy: We are Crucified with Christ and Christ Lives in us as we Live by Faith

The most basic truth of God’s economy is seen in Gal. 2:20 – no longer I but Christ living in me. Wow. This is the Christian life – no longer I but Christ.

This is God’s economy – no longer I but Christ. God’s economy or desire is not that we Christians try to keep His commandments in the strength of our flesh, and then He will reward us with something in the next age. Rather, God’s economy is to work Himself into us.

Wow, God desires not that we keep the law but that He would work Himself into us to be our life and our everything so that we may live one spirit with Him, even live Him out!

In His economy, God desires to be fully one with man and to make man fully one with Him so that He may obtain a corporate expression of Himself.

For Him to accomplish His economy, He first became man; God was processed in His incarnation by becoming a man. He came as a man in the flesh to fulfil the law and then set it aside.

Then, through His death on the cross He accomplished an all-inclusive redemption and died an all-inclusive and all-terminating death, terminating all things in the old creation and every negative thing.

In His resurrection, Christ became the life-giving Spirit for Him to enter into all those who believe into Him.

Now in His economy God in Christ as the Spirit enters into all those who believe into the Lord Jesus to regenerate them and make them children of God, those who are born of God (John 1:12-13). Hallelujah!

Through regeneration, the processed Triune God came into us as the Spirit to be our life in our spirit.

Now we need to realize that Christ lives in us, and we are crucified with Christ. Our old person has been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and we now live – yet Christ lives in us.

We are crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us as we live by faith in Him and by the faith that is of Him.

We need to pray over Galatians 2:20 until the Lord works this in our being. We need to pray over this verse and bring every single portion in this verse to the Lord to make it our reality in our daily living.

In our daily experience, as we take care of the things in our daily life, we need to realize that we are crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us, and the life we now live is in faith, the faith of the Son of God.

All this happens in the realm of our faith, for it is by faith that we live the Christian life. We live by faith in the Son of God and of the Son of God; this faith produces an organic union in which we and Christ are one. This is God’s economy.

In His economy God’s intention is for the processed Triune God to be wrought into our being to the extent that the old “I” is put to death and the new “I” lives by faith, yet Christ lives in us (John 6:57; 14:19). We live, yet we live with Christ and by Christ.

The old man has been crucified with Christ, and now we live in resurrection, living in faith and by faith. To live by faith is to live in oneness with the Lord, that is, to live Christ as Christ lives in us.

When Christ lives, we live, and when we live, Christ lives in us. When we live, He lives, and when He lives, we live, for He lives in us and we live with Him and by Him. Wow!

When we see this vision, when this becomes a heavenly vision to us, nothing can move us. We will be steadfast in the Lord, and we will be willing to give our whole life for the vision of God’s economy, for Christ lives in us and we live one with Him!

We are one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17) and we live in the organic union with the Lord, abiding in Him and enjoying all His riches (John 15:4-5).

This vision of God’s economy directs our heart and governs us in our daily living, for we realize that we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us, and the life we live in the flesh we live by faith in Christ! Amen!

The old person, the old man, has been crucified with Christ, but the new man, our new person, lives by faith, even the faith of the Son of God and the faith in the Son of God.

May this be our reality day by day. May we live in the mingling of God and man so that we may experience the fact that we are crucified with Christ so that Christ lives in us and we live one spirit with Him by faith.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see a vision of Your economy. May we realize that You do not desire for us to try to keep Your commandments in the strength of our flesh but rather, that You would work Yourself into us. Amen, Lord, thank You for coming into us as the life-giving Spirit to work Yourself into us and mingle Yourself with us. We open to You today. We come to You as we are and we just allow You to mingle Yourself with us more today. Hallelujah, we are crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us! Amen, Lord, live in us today. Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through us! We want to live by faith, the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us. Oh Lord Jesus, may we realize that our old man has been crucified with Christ so that we no longer serve sin as a slave. May we remain in the organic union with You so that we may live by faith, even live out Christ! Praise the Lord, we have been crucified with Christ and now Christ lives in us, and the life we live in the flesh we live in and by faith, the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us!

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 brother Ray Mulligan in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Galatians, msg. 12 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 19 (msg. 7), The One Who Is Formed in the Believers.
• Similar articles on this topic:
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – What a wondrous fact, I’m crucified with Christ; / Of my flesh and passion I’m relieved; / What a glorious fact, with Christ, the Lord, I live, / Resurrection life in Him received. / On the Cross of Calvary the Lord and I / Were crucified, were crucified; / Now in resurrection life with Him I live / And in Him e’er abide. (Hymns #487)
  – Oh, what a life! Oh, what a peace! / The Christ who’s all within me lives. / With Him I have been crucified; / This glorious fact to me He gives. / Now it’s no longer I that live, / But Christ the Lord within me lives. / Oh, what a joy! Oh, what a rest! / Christ now is being formed in me. / His very nature and life divine / In my whole being inwrought shall be. / All that I am came to an end, / And all of Christ is all to me. (Hymns #499 stanzas 1-2)
  – Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / For my very life art Thou; / Thee I take to all my problems / As the full solution now. / Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / In all things Thy will be done; / I but a transparent vessel / To make visible the Son. (Hymns #403 stanza 1)