Paul, a man of God, was the acting God in comforting the believers, in conducting himself in the simplicity of God, in expressing the jealousy of God, and in being an ambassador of Christ to carry out the ministry of reconciliation; we can also function as the acting God today.
The Lord is looking for some who are fully one with Him to the extent that they release His will on earth and exercise His authority in prayer for Him to do what He wants to do.
He gained such ones throughout history, and He is looking for such ones in this age today.
In the age of Elisha, he was one who not only ministered life to others by his ministry of grace in life but also represented God with His authority.
In the age of Samuel, he was the acting God, for his being and God’s heart were one.
In the age of Moses, he was so one with God that he was God to Pharaoh, and he just represented God with His authority to those around him.
What about today? Who today sees what is in God’s heart and is joined to Him for Him to do what He wants to do? Who is so one with the Lord that he prays for and lives a life for the fulfilment of God’s heart’s desire?
Today God doesn’t need a great person who does amazing things for God; He simply needs those who are one with Him to release His will on earth.
He wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom, and for this, the Body of Christ must be built up and the bride of Christ must be prepared.
Who today prays for this? Who today cares for what God cares? Who is so one with the Lord that His heart becomes their heart, and His desire becomes their desire?
Many today think they do a work for God, and there’s a certain amount of blessing in what they do, but is this what God wants to accomplish today?
Who today allows God to work Himself into them for the fulfilment of His purpose? We need to be such ones.
We need to open to the Lord not only in a general way concerning our going on with Him, our growth in life, and our function in the meetings for the building up of the church.
In a very specific way, we need to open to the Lord and give ourselves to Him so that we may be those who end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom, being one with the Lord for what He wants to do today.
Our aspiration is to be the overcomers, those who are part of a group of overcomers who stand with the Lord, pray His will, and release on earth what has been released in heaven. We need to open to the Lord to do this in us.
He will gain this in all His believers, but it is up to us if He does it sooner or later.
The Pattern of Paul being Jesus Living Again on Earth, even the Acting God on earth
If we look at the life and ministry of the apostle Paul, we see that Paul, a man of God, was the acting God in comforting the believers, in conducting himself in the simplicity of God, in expressing the jealousy of God, and in being an ambassador of Christ to carry out the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 1:3-4, 12; 11:2; 5:20).
As we read in Acts 27-28 concerning Paul’s voyage toward Rome, though it was an unfortunate and perilous voyage, Paul was Jesus living again on earth even in this situation.
On one hand, Paul preached the all-inclusive Christ who went through death and entered into resurrection and ascension.
On the other hand, Paul’s living was the expression of the life-giving Spirit, for he was the expression of the very Christ he preached.
When he was on the island of Malta, he lived Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit, even as he said in Phil. 1:20-21 that in nothing he would be put to shame but that Christ would be magnified in his body.
![For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present [you as] a pure virgin to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2 On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats [you] through us; we beseech [you] on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5:20](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/For-I-am-jealous-over-you-with-a-jealousy-of-God-for-I-betrothed-you-to-one-husband.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present [you as] a pure virgin to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2 On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats [you] through us; we beseech [you] on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5:20")
Paul cared only for living Christ and magnifying Him as the life-giving Spirit, whether through life or through death.
In Luke’s account of Paul’s living what we see is that Jesus lived again in the living of Paul.
Paul’s living was the all-inclusive Christ as the consummation of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ.
As they were journeying on the sea, the Lord made Paul not only the owner of his fellow voyagers (Luke 27:24) but also their life guarantee and comforter (vv. 22-25).
Then, when they were on the land in peace, the Lord made Paul not only a magical attraction in the eyes of the superstitious people (Acts 28:3-6) but also a healer and joy to the native people (vv. 8-9).
Paul was not affected by the long and unfortunate imprisonment voyage; rather, he was kept by the Lord in His ascendancy and was enabled to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety.
He not only was not anxious but also was fully dignified with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes.
The life that Paul lived was a life that resembled the one that Christ lived on earth years before.
It was Paul who lived, but it was Jesus living again in him, for he was the acting God. How wonderful! How mysterious!
The same Jesus who lived and worked in the Gospels now continued to live in Acts through one of His many members, Paul, and this one was Jesus living again, even the acting God.
The outward environment was not very positive or pleasant, but Jesus lived again in Paul, and he was a living witness of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ.
![And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and while no small storm was assailing [us,] from then on all hope that we might be saved was being abandoned. And when they had been a long time without food, Paul then stood in their midst and said, O men, you should have listened to me and not set sail from Crete and gained this damage and loss. And now I advise you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but [only] of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood by me, Saying, Do not fear, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you. Therefore, cheer up, men, for I believe God that it shall be so, even in the way in which it has been spoken to me. Acts 27:20-25](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/And-when-neither-sun-nor-stars-appeared-for-many-days-and-while-no-small-storm-was-assailing.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and while no small storm was assailing [us,] from then on all hope that we might be saved was being abandoned. And when they had been a long time without food, Paul then stood in their midst and said, O men, you should have listened to me and not set sail from Crete and gained this damage and loss. And now I advise you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but [only] of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood by me, Saying, Do not fear, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you. Therefore, cheer up, men, for I believe God that it shall be so, even in the way in which it has been spoken to me. Acts 27:20-25")
This is what the Lord is after today; He is not after great preachers or miracle workers but those who cooperate with God to the extent that Jesus lives again through them.
After Paul arrived in Puteoli, he was warmly welcomed by the brothers from Rome and lovingly cared for by those in Puteoli (vv. 13-14).
This shows the beautiful Body life in the early days among the churches and the apostles.
On the Satan-darkened and man-inhabited earth, there was a heavenly kingdom life being lived out among the saints in the church life.
Though Paul was a prisoner in a chain being taken to prison in Rome, he was actually a member of the Body, even an ambassador of Christ with His authority (Eph. 6:20; Matt. 28:18-19).
And he came into another part of the participation in the Lord’s Body life in the kingdom of God on earth.
He was suffering the persecution of religion in the empire of Satan, but at the same time he was enjoying the church life in the kingdom of God, and this was such a comfort and encouragement to him.
May we be such ones today, the corporate Jesus living again on earth through His many believers, for Him to gain what He is after, a corporate expression and representation on earth.
Lord Jesus, keep us living one spirit with You today. No matter what happens to us and around us, we want to remain one with You in Your ascendancy! Enable us to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety but fully dignified with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes. Amen, Lord, live in us today. Make us those who are Jesus living again on earth for the expression and representation of God! Gain the corporate Jesus living again on the earth in our divinely enriched humanity! Amen, may the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man, who lived in the Gospels, continue to live in us and through us for God’s corporate expression!
Cooperating with God to be Jesus Living Again on Earth Today for His Expression
Paul used to be a persecutor, wanting to destroy the churches, even barging into people’s homes to drag to court and in prison those who believed into Jesus.
He was a murder-breathing man, a son of the devil (John 8:44), but the Lord appeared to him. He appeared to this great sinner and saved him, and he received mercy from the Lord to be a pattern to all those who will believe.
If the Lord can take such a person and make him a duplication of the all-inclusive Christ and even make him the acting God, He can surely do it with us.
There is nothing in our being and in our personal history that can hinder him or stop him from doing in us what He has done in Paul.
We as believers in Christ have the indwelling all-inclusive, life-giving, compound Spirit, and He is working in us and gaining our cooperation for us to be Jesus living again on the earth today for His expression.
There is nothing in our being or in our personal history that can prevail against the resurrection power of the indwelling Christ that follows the application of the cross.
We may not be in a chain like Paul was on his long and unfortunate imprisonment-voyage, but we can come to the Lord to be kept by Him in His ascendancy.
By coming to the Lord, again and again, He enables us to live a life that is far beyond any realm of anxiety, a life that expresses Christ with nothing of the natural man.
He in us can live the same kind of life, a life that is fully dignified, with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent attributes.
He wants to gain in us a life that resembles the one that the Lord Jesus Himself had lived a long time ago while He was on earth.
He will gain this in us and with us, whether now, in this age, or later, in the next age.
May we cooperate with Him in this age so that we may be Jesus living again on the earth today, His corporate expression and representation.
We as New Testament believers can be the same as Paul in functioning as the acting God (1 Tim. 1:16).
May we exercise our heart and spirit to believe this.
May we look to the Lord to infuse us with faith that He will do in us what He needs to do to make us His duplication.
He will do this sooner or later, and we want it sooner rather than later. He can make us the ones who are absolute for the Lord and His economy. He can make us those who are one with God in all things.
When we become one with Him, our speaking will be His speaking, and our silence will be Him being silent in us.
May we give ourselves to the Lord to be one with God and be actually one with Him and not initiate any change but rather, live Christ and express Him in our daily life.
In our fellowship with the saints and comforting them, in our conducting ourselves in the simplicity of God, and in being an ambassador of Christ, we need to live Christ and be His expression on earth.
May we care for this, magnifying Christ and expressing Him. May we care not for merely doing a work for God but even more, for living Christ and magnifying Him as the life-giving Spirit in our daily living.
May Phil. 1:20-21 may also be our testimony, that we would magnify Christ in our body, whether through life or through death, so that He may live in us and be expressed through us for His magnification.
Lord Jesus, we aspire to know You and experience You so that we may magnify You and express You. We only care for living Christ and magnifying Christ, for we want to be Jesus living again on earth. Grow in us, Lord, and infuse us more with Yourself. Live in us today. Express Yourself through us. We want to be the living witnesses of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ. May our daily living be one of magnifying Christ. Make us fully one with You. Amen, Lord, we want to be absolutely one with You in all things. Keep us in our spirit, one spirit with You all the time! Gain us and gain all the saints to be part of the corporate Jesus living again on earth for the expression and representation of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Acts, msg. 71, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 3, entitled, Elisha being a Type of Christ in His Ministry of Grace in Life and as a Man of God behaving Himself as God’s Representative.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I am crucified with Jesus, / And He lives and dwells with me; / I have ceased from all my struggling, / ’Tis no longer I, but He. / All my will is yielding to Him, / And His Spirit reigns within; / And His precious blood each moment / Keeps me cleansed and free from sin. (Hymns #564, stanza 2)
– I am one with Thee, Lord Jesus, / One in spirit now with Thee; / All Thyself I now possess, Lord, / All Thou art now lives in me. / One with Thee, one with Thee, / One with Thee, one with Thee; / Day by day I share Thy riches, / Thou art everything to me. (Hymns #474, stanza 1 and chorus)
– 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)
About aGodMan
Throughout the voyage and now on the island of Malta [cf. Acts 27—28] Paul certainly was walking in the Spirit. He surely lived a life that was the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. Paul’s living was actually the expression of the life-giving Spirit. In every situation of his daily living, Paul was the expression of the very Christ he preached. He preached the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ as the life-giving Spirit, and on the island of Malta he lived such a Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. This is indicated by Paul’s word, written later, in Philippians 1:20 and 21a: “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ… “Paul cared only to live Christ and to magnify Him… Paul lived Christ and magnified Him as the life-giving Spirit. As we read Luke’s account of Paul’s living, we see that his living was the all-inclusive Spirit as the consummation of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ. Life-study of Acts, p. 616, by Witness Lee
What a pattern we see in Paul.
He preached and lived the all-inclusive Christ in His death and resurrection, and even in his long, unfortunate voyage, he was Jesus living again.
Paul lived and magnified Christ in his body as the acting God on earth, the continuation of Christ’s human living on earth – His divine attributes being expressed in human virtues.
His jealousy over the saints was the jealousy of God, showing us that he was God’s representative.
As we little members are also the continuation of Acts we need to live such a life as the expression of the life-giving Spirit to live such a Christ even in the voyage of this life in the Satan darkened world!
Aaaaameeeen
Live Thyself Lord Jesus through us!
So Paul’s living was actually the expression of the life-giving Spirit. In every situation of his daily living, Paul was the expression of the very Christ he preached.
The Lord kept the apostle in His ascendancy and enabled him to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety, but fully dignified with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes, a life that resembled the one that He Himself had lived on earth years before.
amen brother even in Paul suffering being persecuted and Imprisoned he still managed to enjoy the Lord in those situations and through his enjoyment he managed to express christ in his virtues in his living and represent him as a ambassador of christ,actually he reproduction of Christ and we can express Christ in the same way by enjoy him so may we be those who are enjoying the Lord moment by moment day by day
The apostle Paul was the expression of the very Christ he preached. He cared only to live Christ and to magnify Him.
Like Paul, Jesus can keep us in ascendancy and enable us to live a dignified life with the highest human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes.
Yes, Jesus can live again in our divinely enriched humanity! May we all exercise our spirit continually to be living witnesses of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected & exalted Christ.
We need to be not only absolute for the Lord but also absolutely one with Him.