Our standard of living as believers in Christ must not be according to our culture but according to the reality in Jesus, the reality lived out by the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, for the living of the new man should be the way that the Lord lived on earth.
This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus.
We need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus (Eph. 4:20-21).
In these verses, we are told that “you did not so learn Christ”; this means that we did learn Christ already in a certain way.
When did we learn Christ and how did we learn Him? If indeed we have heard Him and have been taught in Him, even as the reality is in Jesus.
The reality is in Jesus; Paul didn’t say that the reality is in Christ (emphasizing His divinity) but in Jesus, emphasizing His humanity and human living.
If we read the four Gospels we see a certain kind of living, which has to do with the living of the one new man.
In the Gospels, we see the living of the God-man Jesus who had the divine life and divine nature, and He also had the human life and the human nature.
His life expressed the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues; this is what we see in the Gospels from many directions.
The life Jesus lived in the Gospels is a key to our living the new man, that is, our living the life of the new man today.
The life of Jesus, the living of Jesus seen in the Gospels, is the pattern of the life that God is looking for in the new man.
Many believers and unbelievers alike may wonder why did the Lord spend so much time, thirty-three and a half years, on the earth, since – according to their understanding – He came mainly to accomplish redemption.
What was the purpose of these thirty-three and a half years? Was it just to do a lot of miracles? No, Christ came and lived to establish a pattern, a mold, and an example for us to follow and imitate.
He established the pattern, and through death and resurrection He became the Spirit to come into us as our life; now we can live and we should live a life that is absolutely according to that pattern.
Our Standard of Living must be According to the Reality in Jesus, the way He lived on Earth
In the first three chapters in Ephesians we see a vision, and then chs. 4-6 show us the application, the living, and the practicality of the vision.
The first three chapters show us our position as the church in Christ, and beginning with Eph. 4:1 we see the matter of living; in particular, in ch. 4 we see the oneness, our growth for the Body, and the one new man.
He deals with the details of our daily walk, and the basic point is that our daily walk must be the living of the one new man.
He testified to us – not in theory but according to his experience – that we should not walk in the vanity of our mind as the Gentiles do.
It is possible for the believers to walk as the Gentiles do in the vanity of their mind, that is, walk and live according to our culture, our tradition, our upbringing.
Our standard of living in this case doesn’t refer mainly to our financial status but the standard by which we measure ourselves and others; this is how we live our life.
It is important for us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, for if we’re not renewed, we live in the vanity of our mind. It is so easy for the expression of opinions, especially through social media; everyone seems to have a voice and wants to be heard, and what is behind all this is darkness.
People are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God.
It is possible, however, that even we as believers would walk in the vanity of our mind, being under the authority of darkness.
If we live in the vanity of our mind, we are alienated from the life of God in our spirit, and we may even be past feeling, being in ignorance; ignorance here also implies not wanting to know the truth. Oh, Lord!
Praise the Lord, we did not so learn Christ – we learned Him in a different way. Christ is not only our life but also our example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21), for in His life on earth He set up a pattern, as revealed in the Gospels.
Then, He was crucified and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit, and as such a One He came into us to be our life.
Now we learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example NOT by our natural life or by our human effort but by Him as our life in resurrection.
This means that we’re being molded in the pattern of Christ, that is, we’re conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
We have been put into the mold of Christ; we have been put into this pattern; it was through our regeneration and baptism that we were put in Him, for all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3).
We were baptized into His death and into Christ Himself, and as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
So now we need to put off the old manner of life and put on the new man. After our baptism, we need to live the life of the new man, a life according to the mold, the pattern of the Lord Jesus.
He experienced death and resurrection not only at the end of His earthly ministry but all throughout His life; He put Himself aside, and His whole life He was dying to live.
This same way that the Lord lived when He was on earth should be the way that the one new man should live today (Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:57; 4:34; 5:17, 19, 30; 6:38; 17:4).
He told us to learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart; to learn from Him is not to try to imitate Him but rather, learn from Him as the reality is in Jesus.
The first thing we need is to take His yoke so that we find rest for our souls; His yoke is the will of the Father.
We need to live not by our life but by His life, eating the Lord, digesting Him, and living because of Him, even as He lived because of the Father (John 6:57).
We should not do our own work but do His work; we need to put our will aside and, just like the Lord Jesus, we need to do the work that He gives us to do (John 4:34; 5:17).
The Lord Jesus could do nothing of Himself (John 5:17); this is the life of the new man, and this should be our living today.
In our living and actions, we need to depend on the Lord, looking to Him and doing what He does. We shouldn’t initiate anything but remain in fellowship with the Lord all the time.
We have been put into Christ as the mold, the pattern; He lives in us as the Spirit, and we need to live the same kind of life that He lived – this is the living of the one new man.
This is what Paul did; in 2 Cor. 2 he forgave a brother as he looked into the face of Christ and was one with Christ, looking at the index of Christ’s eyes. Amen!
In John 17:4, before He accomplished redemption, the Lord said, I have glorified You on earth, finishing the work which You gave me.
What is this work? It is the establishing of a living, a pattern, a mold into which all the believers are put into so that they would become His reproduction. Hallelujah!
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being not only our life but also our example, our pattern, in living the life of the one new man. Thank You for establishing the pattern of a God-man life and going through death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit to come into us and be our life. We want to learn from You according to Your example, learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus. Amen, Lord, we put aside our natural life and natural effort, and we want to live by You as our life in resurrection. May we be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, may we be conformed to the image of Christ! Amen, Lord, may we live today the same kind of life that You lived while on earth by learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus!
We Learn Christ as the Reality is in Jesus by Taking Him as our Life and Living Christ
In the Gospels we see the clear pattern of the Lord Jesus who lived a life of reality, a life of truthfulness; reality is in Jesus and in His living.
In Eph. 4:21 Paul speaks of, the reality in Jesus, and, learning Christ.
The reality which is in Jesus refers to the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.
The kind of life that Jesus lived was in God and one with God; He did everything in God, with God, and for God, and God was in His living, for He was one with God constantly.
After we are saved, we have a deep desire in us to live a life in the pattern established by the Lord Jesus.
However, the way we do this is by cultivating it in a mistaken way, thinking that by our self-effort we can succeed in imitating Him, or at least our effort to do it is pleasing to God.
Some try to imitate Jesus and when they don’t succeed, they give up.
How can you turn the other cheek when someone slaps you on one cheek? Can you give someone your shirt when he asks for your jacket, or can you go an extra mile with the one who compels you to go a mile with him?
Can we be compassionate even as our heavenly Father is compassionate, and can we be perfect as He is perfect?
We may try to fulfill all these things in ourselves, but it is impossible to do it; we believers in Christ should imitate Christ, but we shouldn’t do it with our own natural efforts and according to our natural life.
Rather, we first need to realize that the reality in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, and the nations have a godless walk, full of vanity.
We need to see that Jesus lived a life always doing things with God, in God, and for God; God was in His life, and He was one with God. This is the reality in Jesus.
It is a mistake, however, to endeavor to imitate Christ by the efforts of our natural life; nothing we can do in our natural life can please Him.
We need to realize that we were put into Christ as the mold; this mold is the life of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels, and this life is absolutely according to reality, truth.
We need to contact the Lord, love Him, and enjoy Him; as we love Him and enjoy Him, spontaneously we will live like the Lord Jesus, according to the life of Jesus.
It is not by our natural life but by taking Him as our life; it is not by taking Him as an outward example and endeavoring to imitate Him.
We need to “contact the mold”, contact the pattern which was set before us and into whom we’re put, and allow HIm to live in us.
The life of Jesus according to reality is the pattern in which God has placed us; in this pattern, we have learned Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Praise the Lord, we have learned Christ according to the reality, the truth, shown in the Gospels!
An example of this is Stephen in Acts; as he was being martyred, he prayed, Lord, don’t hold this sin against them! Was this an outward imitation of Christ on the cross? No!
He contacted the living Lord in that horrid situation, and he was strengthened within, so out of him spontaneously forgiveness flowed out.
May we all learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus, and may we have the living of the new man by living the same kind of life as Jesus lived on earth!
Lord Jesus, we want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus today. Thank You for putting us in Yourself as the mold, the pattern. We want to learn from You and imitate You not by the effort of our natural man but by contacting You, loving You, and enjoying You, so that we may have the same kind of life that You had while on earth. Amen, Lord, may we live a life in which we do everything in God, with God, and for God, taking God as the source and being one with God in everything. Keep us learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus until we have the living of the one new man, the same kind of life that Jesus had while on the earth. Gain this in us, dear Lord, in such an organic and spontaneous way!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 46-47 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 5, Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus.
- Hymns on this topic:
– O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee! / Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; / Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; / Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. / O to be like Thee! full of compassion, / Loving, forgiving, tender and kind, / Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, / Seeking the wand’ring sinners to find. (Hymns #398)
– Lord, Thou art our Person, / In our inmost being, / May we constantly experience / This reality. (Hymns #1181)
– Jesus, Thy life is mine, / Dwell evermore in me; / And let me see / That nothing can untwine / Thy life from mine. / Thy life in me be shown, / Lord, I would henceforth seek / To think and speak / Thy thoughts, Thy words alone, / No more my own. (Hymns #365)
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