GOD CREATING MAN WITH A SPIRIT THAT MAN MAY CONTACT AND RECEIVE HIM
The Bible tells us that in the universe there is only one sovereign Lord. This fact is undeniable. It has been proven by science, by your heart, and by the need which is in your spirit that there is one unique sovereign Lord in the universe. You may call Him Jehovah; you may call Him Jesus; you may call Him the Triune God; you may also call Him the Lord of heaven and earth, the God of all things. He is the origin of the universe and the source of all things.
God created all things in the universe for man. The heavens are for the earth, and the earth is for man. If there were no heavens, then there would be no sunlight, air, or rain, and the living things would not grow. These things are for the earth and for the men on earth. Thank the Lord that the earth produces everything we need for our existence. The earth produces all the things that our bodies need. Therefore, the heavens are for the earth, and the earth is for man. Man’s living on earth is not meaningless. Man was created for God. Therefore, God created man with a spirit that man may contact and receive Him. God is Spirit, and those who contact Him must contact Him in spirit. Just as only metals can conduct electricity, so only the spirit can communicate with the Spirit.
In order to contact God in spirit, sometimes we have to stop the activities of our body and our soul, and then we have to cry out to God and call on the Lord Jesus from our deepest part. If we do this, immediately there will be light within us. Whenever we stop the activities of our body and our soul, allow the Spirit to work in us, and call from our spirit, “O God! O Lord Jesus,” then, instead of being in our outward activities, we remain in our spirit, the innermost part of our being. At that moment, we know for sure that the existence of God is a reality. This may be compared to breathing. You may not feel that air exists, but it is very convenient for us to enjoy air today. We neither sense that air is here nor feel that we need it. However, when we are deprived of air, we begin to realize that air is real. Just as our body needs air, so our spirit needs God. Therefore, the Bible says that our life and breath depend on Him (Job 12:10). Our physical body needs air; without air, there is no life. Likewise, God is man’s true breath. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus came to His disciples after His resurrection, He did not charge them to be zealous, instruct Peter to change his quick disposition, or ask John to listen to Peter. The Lord came to the disciples to breathe into them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, the holy breath (John 20:22). The Holy Spirit is the life-giving Spirit, and the holy breath is the breath of life. Consequently, the disciples received the life of God.
WORSHIPPING GOD, WHO IS SPIRIT, IN SPIRIT AND TRUTHFULNESS
God is our spiritual life. We have a spirit in us, and God wants us to use our spirit to contact Him, and not only to contact Him but to receive Him. The more we contact Him, the more we receive Him, and the more we receive Him, the more we have life. Religion teaches us according to what we worship. However, this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible tells us that we must receive God as our life. The Samaritan woman in John 4 was a religionist, yet she had no satisfaction. She had sinned and had changed husbands five times, and even the one whom she had at the time was not her husband. However, the Lord Jesus did not rebuke her. Instead, He told her to bring her husband to Him. As soon as the matter of her husband was brought up, the woman’s conscience was touched. Immediately she tried to avoid the issue by asking some religious questions. The Lord Jesus turned her back to her spirit and showed her that man worships God neither on Mount Gerizim in Samaria nor on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The worship that God desires is in the human spirit.
We must be in spirit and receive Christ as truthfulness; only then can our worship of God be true, real, and not empty. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” We must worship God with Christ as truthfulness. The Bible does not speak about religion; it speaks about God. God did not come to teach but to enter into us to be our life. This is the fundamental truth in the Bible. We are not preaching a religion, nor are we trying to make ourselves different from others. We only preach the truth because, by the mercy of God, we have seen the truth in the Bible. Not only are the Gentile religions futile, but even Judaism and Christianity, including Catholicism, are useless. All religions are empty; only Christ Himself is reality. Christ is the embodiment of God; He is God. To receive Christ is to receive God. This is the true worship towards God.
If we see this, it will be a great help to our enjoyment of the subjective salvation of the Triune God. The Bible does not teach us how to behave. Rather, it tells us to enjoy the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Triune God is neither a doctrine nor a designation in theology; rather, the Triune God is to be received as our life that He may become our enjoyment. The Bible shows us that God is our food, our living water, and our spiritual breath; all these are for our enjoyment. No one ever says that he has to experience eating. Eating is not an experience but an enjoyment. God saves us not only for us to experience His salvation but also for us to enjoy Him.
(The Subjective Experience of the Indwelling Christ, Chapter 9, by Witness Lee)
