II. THE FUNCTION OF THE TRUE VINE AS A SIGN OF THE SON
A. To Have an Organism in the Son
The function of the true vine as a sign of the Son (John 15:1-8, 16) is for the Triune God to have an organism in the Son for His multiplication, spreading, and glorification in His divine life (v. 8).
B. Through the Fruit-bearing of the Believers
This is through the fruit-bearing of the believers in Christ as His grafted branches, by their faithful abiding in the organic vine (vv. 4-5, 16).
III. THE FUNCTION OF THE NEW CHILD BORN OF THE SPIRIT
A. To Become the Corporate New Man
The new child born of the Spirit (John 16:13-15, 21) becomes the corporate new man as the increased Christ (Col. 3:10-11; John 3:30).
B. To Carry Out God’s Eternal Economy
The function of the new man is to carry out God’s eternal economy through the move and work of the consummated life-giving Spirit in building up the Body of Christ for the consummation of the New Jerusalem.
The functions of the Father’s house, the true vine, and the new man are the contents of the New Testament in its twenty-two Epistles from Romans to Revelation. The twenty-two Epistles define these functions. The outline of this message is actually a crystallized abstract of the twenty-two Epistles. The Lord told the disciples in John 16 that He had many things to reveal to the disciples, but they could not bear them until the Spirit of reality would come to unveil all these things to them. This prophecy was fulfilled and the Spirit’s unveiling is recorded in the twenty-two Epistles. The contents of these Epistles are a revelation of the unique universal incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers in three aspects with various functions. God needs a house for His rest, satisfaction, and manifestation; He needs a tree for His multiplication, spreading, and glorification; and He needs a man to carry out His eternal economy.
(The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
