Thank the Lord, tonight I still have a burden to fellowship with you. First, I am sorry and I apologize to you, especially those who came from faraway places and have the desire to see me for some fellowship, but in the last few weeks most of the time I have been ill and have been resting, so I cannot comply with your request. I am truly regretful concerning this. Please forgive me. As to the messages, although I have not been able to fellowship with you all the messages from beginning to end, according to the news I received, I think that the one who substituted for me has done a better job than I would have. Therefore, this is proof that what we have is not one man’s individual ministry but a corporate ministry of the Body. I am weak temporarily, but other brothers can substitute for me. How pleasant and how good this is.
If you will allow me, I will sit down so that I can feel more relaxed. The burden of this conference is very mysterious, especially the main point on God becoming man and man becoming God. This is an economy that cannot be fathomed by angels and men; it is too high, too mysterious, and too mystical, even to the extent that we simply cannot believe that such a thing can happen in the universe. I sincerely hope that every brother and sister who is attending this conference will see this great vision. In the universe there are God, the heavens, the earth, and man. Of these four items, two—the heavens and the earth—are dead, without life, and two—God and man—are living. I hope that you all can see the story of God and man.
The six thousand years of human history show us that there are the teachings of religion, philosophy, and ethics; this is true throughout the world. Only the Lord gave us a Bible. In this Bible He shows us a great revelation, that is, that God wants to make Himself the same as man. Is this not wonderful? He is God, yet He took on human nature, put on a human body, and had a human life to dwell and live together with men in order to make men, His chosen people, the same as He is. Thus, although these men are human, they have His divine life and His divine nature. In life and nature, man and God are of the same kind. Eventually, He begot us, and we were born of Him. He is God and has our human nature; likewise, we are man and also have His divine nature. Hence, these two are God yet with humanity and are man yet with divinity. By these two natures and two lives God mingles Himself with man in order that His divine life may be lived out through humanity among men, and in order that His redeemed may have His divinity and in His divinity may live out the likeness of God through the resurrected and uplifted humanity.
Eventually, this will make God and man alike and mingled together and even built together. Through the steps that were just mentioned, God builds Himself into man and builds man into Himself. He Himself becomes this constitution with Himself as the intrinsic element—the source, element, and essence within—and with His redeemed people built together in the intrinsic element—the source, element, and essence— to become the framework. This is the one new man in the universe. This is what Ephesians 4 shows us. The ultimate consummation of this new man is the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is a constitution of God and man and man and God, who are constituted into one; it is divinity expressed in humanity and humanity glorified in divinity. Therefore, they two—divinity and humanity—become a mutual dwelling place. The One who is God yet man dwells in the one who is man yet God, and the one who is man yet God dwells in the One who is God yet man. They are a mutual dwelling place. Thus, His divine glory shines forth radiantly with great splendor in humanity. There is not one bit of good or evil here, and it has nothing to do with good and evil. God’s economy is absolutely outside of good and evil. This economy is God and man becoming one entity, as one who is God yet man and man yet God.
Brothers and sisters, you are all blessed to be able to see this. This is a tremendous blessing. May the Lord fully rescue you and me out of religion, philosophy, and human ethics into this great vision of God becoming man and man becoming God. It is here that the Lord can have the saints as the members of Christ, the church as the Body of Christ, and the constitution of God-yet-man and man-yet-God as the one new man. Eventually, in the universe the divine glory as the eternal expression of God will be manifested brightly in man. I truly hope that all of you will see this, and I pray that God will bless you with His limitless blessings and grace you with His boundless grace, and that He may grant you His eternal presence that you may enjoy this and bear testimony of this. Again I say, brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you and be with you.
W. L.
(The Dispensing, Transformation and Building of the Processed Divine Trinity in the Believers, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)