We need to Magnify Christ in our Body by Living Christ to make Him Great

Like the apostle Paul, we need to magnify Christ in our body, whether through life or through death; we need to enlarge Christ, and make Him great in the sight of others, by experiencing with the top enjoyment and through our living.

The pattern of Paul is so vivid both in his writings and in his living. He did not only preach Christ and teach the truth; he also lived Christ and magnified Christ in his body.

He did not only bring a new teaching that is higher, more ethical, and more spiritual to many parts of the earth; he lived what he preached, and his living matched his teaching.

Even in prison, when he was in chains, though he was so limited and restricted, he still lived Christ, magnified Christ, and made Christ great in front of others.

He did not complain about his circumstances.

Though he had so much to complain about and to ask the saints to pray for his release from prison, he was one with the Lord to minister life to the saints instead of bringing in his situation and condition.

If you read the epistles of Paul you cannot but be amazed at the living and life that he had.

In Phil. 1:19-21 we see the secret of his living: he enjoyed the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the supply of the Body, so he was not put to shame but rather, Christ was magnified through him, for he lived Christ.

We may not be in a prison today, but many situations we’re in may be like a prison, for they limit us, restrict us, and cause us to not be so free. In our situations, we need to open to the Lord and enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

This supply is bountiful, and it contains all that God is, all Christ has done, and all that He is and has done and has accomplished.

The Spirit of God, the human living of Christ, the ability to endure sufferings, the cross of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the power of His resurrection, and even His ascension, all these are included in the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

When we turn to the Lord and enjoy His bountiful supply in spirit, we will be able to live Christ for His magnification in all kinds of circumstances.

We simply need to enjoy and experience this wonderful, all-inclusive, bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and we need to remain in the reality of the Body of Christ, being one with the Lord and with the saints.

If we enjoy this supply, all the things happening to us will turn out to salvation, and our earnest expectation and hope would be that in nothing we would be put to shame but that in all things Christ would be magnified in us. Amen!

How Paul Magnified Christ in his Sufferings, making Him Great and Enlarging in the Eyes of Others

The apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians, and even though he was in physical suffering, he magnified Christ in his body.

In his bodily sufferings, Christ was magnified; this means that Christ was shown or declared great, without limitation, exalted, and extolled.

Though he was suffering and was being limited, these things afforded him the opportunity to magnify Christ again and again.

To magnify is to make something large, to enlarge something, to make something great in our sight.

Christ is universally vast, great, and extensive; His dimensions are immeasurable, being the dimensions of the ever-expanding universe.

Paul said that we can apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ (Eph. 3).

Christ is vast, immense, and all-inclusive, but in the eyes of those in Paul’s time He was quite small and despised.

So Paul magnified Christ. When he was in prison, he magnified Christ before his guards, and he magnified Christ before the authorities above him to the extent that even some of the household of Cesar believed in Him (Phil. 4:22).

This little man, Paul, who was in prison, made Christ great in front of others.

He was a Jewish person, despised by the Romans, who was in prison; the Romans were the conquerors, he was a conquered one, and now he was in prison.

But still, Paul was there not in himself, by himself, and for himself, and he did not feel pity for himself and for his condition.

As Paul was held captive in a Roman prison, he magnified Christ, making Him appear great in the eyes of those around him. Wow!

We may think that, when Paul was preaching the gospel and raising up local churches, that was the time that he magnified Christ.

But Paul’s testimony was that in prison, in this limiting, constricting, and confining outward situation, he magnified Christ, and he expected and hoped that Christ would be magnified in him.

Paul enjoyed the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and benefitted from the petition of the saints in the Body, so he was inwardly supplied and nourished to live Christ for His magnification.

He enjoyed Christ very much, but those around him did not know who Christ is but rather, despised Christ and despised Paul also.

Whether he was in front of Felix the governor or in a Roman prison, Paul simply magnified Christ.

And he expected to magnify Christ not only in life, that is, as he lived in the Roman prison, but even in death, for he knew that martyrdom is coming.

He did not want to change his situation or adjust his circumstances so that he would have more freedom outwardly; rather, in this particular situation he was in, he magnified Christ.

What a pattern he was to us!

He magnified Christ in his imprisoned and chained body.

Whether through his life or through his death, his desire, expectation, and hope was to magnify Christ, for Christ was the One in him who lived, worked, acted, and spoke everything. Paul lived Christ, and Christ lived in Paul.

So to him, Christ was not a doctrine or a teaching; he lived by Christ and he lived Christ, and Christ was magnified through him.

May this be our situation today. May we be those who learn from the apostle Paul to enlarge Christ before others, making Him great in front of them so that they would see Christ magnified through us.

Lord Jesus, save us from the shame of not magnifying Christ in our daily living. We come to You to enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that Christ may be magnified in our body, whether through life or through death. Amen, Lord, may we be put in nothing to shame but with all boldness may we live Christ for His magnification through us. Lord Jesus, keep us in our mingled spirit. Keep us one spirit with You. We do not want to be found in our own righteousness but in Christ so that others may see Christ, enjoy Christ, and appreciate Christ through our daily living. Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to be filled with the enjoyment of Your riches! Be magnified through us. Be enlarged in us and through us! May our daily living and speaking magnify Christ so that others may see Christ enlarged and magnified!

We need to Magnify Christ in our Body by Living Christ and Experiencing Him with the Topmost Enjoyment

Today we may not be in a dungeon, being chained to some guards in prison, but our aspiration still should be that we would magnify Christ in our body by living Christ.

In our daily living, we need to magnify Christ.

Others may limit us, but no one can limit Christ. We need to enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) and partake of all that He is, and we need to magnify Christ in our body by living Christ.

To those around us today, Christ may be quite small and insignificant; some may even take His name in vain and speak evil of Him.

But we need to enjoy the Lord and be saved from the shame of not magnifying Christ.

In all things, we need to exalt Christ. Our living should magnify Christ, making Him great, and enlarge Him, in front of others (1 Cor. 6:20; Rom. 14:8).

Through all the marketing strategies today, something so small and not very precious can be made great, and people are brought into a certain kind of feeling in order to be manipulated to buy something.

This is not what we are talking about here. We do not need to trick people or deceive them concerning Christ.

Rather, we need to enjoy the riches of Christ, be filled with Christ, and partake of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that, wherever we are, we would magnify Christ in our body by living Christ.

We need to put a magnifying glass on Jesus so that He would be enlarged and made great in front of others through our living and speaking.

Christ should not remain hidden but be extremely conspicuous, intensified, amplified, deepened, heightened, and enhanced in every way.

We may pass through sufferings and the situations we’re in may be very constricting and limiting; such situations should afford us the opportunity to express Christ in His unlimited greatness (Acts 9:16; 2 Cor. 6:4; 11:23; Col. 1:24).

He is the treasure within us, the very content of our vessel, and our vessel needs to be transparent so that others may see Him magnified through us.

To magnify Christ under any circumstances is to experience Him with the topmost enjoyment (Phil. 1:18; 4:23).

We need to enjoy and experience Him in a topmost way so that, no matter what circumstances we may face outwardly, we would be in the inward enjoyment of Christ.

To enjoy Christ doesn’t mean that we are happy in our soul, everything is fine, so we enjoy Christ; to enjoy Christ means that, even in suffering, we come to Him and enjoy Him.

In our daily living, we need to magnify Christ in our body by living Him and experiencing Him with the topmost enjoyment.

We need to make Him great in front of others.

When we go to work or are at school, those around us may look down on Christ. They may ridicule Christ, take His name in vain, and ignore Him.

So we need to let others see Christ not in a small way but in the way of enlarging Christ, magnifying Christ.

This is not by putting on a certain show or by deliberately doing something or speaking something.

Rather, we need to enjoy Christ, partake of His riches, and live Christ for His magnification.

We need to bear the responsibility of enlarging Christ before those around us, our family, our workmates, our colleagues, our neighbours, and everyone around us.

Yes, we have His life within, but we also need to live Christ for His magnification so that we magnify Christ in our body day by day.

Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy Your riches and be richly supplied with the bountiful Spirit so that we may live Christ for His magnification! Amen, Lord, we give You our daily living. We do not want to live by and in ourselves. May all situations and circumstances afford us the opportunity to express Christ in His unlimited greatness. Be magnified through us. Live in us. May others see Christ enlarged in our daily living. We give ourselves to experience Christ with the topmost enjoyment so that we may magnify Christ under any circumstances. Amen, Lord Jesus, keep us in the enjoyment and experience of Christ so that Christ may live in us and our living would magnify Christ! We want to make Christ appear great in our body through our daily living as we allow Christ to live in 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 the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 31-33, 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 4, entitled, Taking Christ as our Living for His Magnification and Dealing with the Self for our Oneness in the Divine Glory in the Genuine Church Life.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – To live and magnify Christ, a portion from, The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – What is the All-inclusive Christ? More via, Hearing of Faith radio newsletters.
  – Bountifully Supplied to Exist, Live, & Magnify Christ, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The all-inclusive Christ in 1 Corinthians, an article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What Does the Bible Say about How to Be Content? Read more at, Bibles for America blog.
  – Magnifying Christ by living Him, a portion from, Life-Study of Philippians, Chapter 6.
  – Taking Christ as Our Living for His Magnification and Dealing with the Self for Our Oneness in the Divine Glory in the Genuine Church Life, outline via, Puget Sound Blending.
  – Doing all things by Christ and in Christ, a portion from, The Experience of Christ, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Taking the lead to be patterns, article at, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Lord, we’re expecting that we’ll be given / Boldness with every breath. / Christ must be magnified in our body / Whether by life or death. / We hope in nothing to be ashamed, / For us to live is Christ— / He is the Person in all our living, / Our everything, our life. (Hymns #1295 stanza 3)
  – With longing all my heart is filled, / That like Him I may be, / As on the wondrous thought I dwell / That Christ liveth in me. / Christ liveth in me, / Christ liveth in me; / Oh! what a salvation this, / That Christ liveth in me. (Hymns #507 stanza 4 and chorus)
  – Jesus, I live to Thee, / The Loveliest and Best; / My life in Thee, Thy life in me, / In Thy blest love I rest. / Jesus, I die to Thee, / Whenever death shall come; / To die in Thee is life to me, / With Thee I’m ever one! (Hymns #504 stanzas 1-2)