TO BELIEVE BEING TO RECEIVE
Most people understand believing in Jesus as a matter of simply having our sins forgiven and being able to go to heaven. However, according to the Scriptures the meaning of believing in Jesus is much higher than this. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” This verse speaks about our receiving the Lord Jesus into us. For example, we believe that this glass of juice is orange juice; therefore, we drink it. Thus, we receive the juice into us; this is to believe. The same is true with our believing in the Lord Jesus. Not only do we confess with our mouth that we believe in Him, but we also receive Him into us from within our heart. To believe is to receive. To believe in this glass of orange juice is to receive the orange juice into us; to believe in Christ is to receive Christ into us.
CHRIST BEING ALL
Once we believe in Christ, that is, once we receive Christ, Christ comes into us. What then is the element of this Christ who comes into us? Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The element of this Christ is nothing less than God Himself, because all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. The element of Christ is the element of God. God Himself as the element of the Godhead is in Christ. This is neither abstract nor theoretical but tangible, concrete, and real. All that God is and all that God has are in Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. This is the element of Christ. Therefore, the Scriptures tell us that it is not a matter of being Greek, Jew, circumcision, uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free man; all these do not matter. Rather, the only thing that matters is that Christ is all and in all (3:11). Christ is all; He is God, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. Now He is in us (Rom. 8:10; Col. 1:27).
God created man as a vessel with the intention of putting Himself into man. In order to carry out His intention, He first put Himself in Christ for man to believe in and receive. When someone receives Christ, then Christ with all His elements, which are God Himself, enters into him. Whenever someone receives Christ, Christ enters into him to be his all. Ephesians chapter one tells us that we, the saved ones, are the church, the Body of Christ, and that Christ is the Head of the church (vv. 22-23). This shows us that our relationship with Christ is the relationship of the Body and of life. We are the Body, and He is the Head; all that the Head has is in the Body. In this way Christ fills all, and He fills the church. All of us who belong to the Lord have Christ within us. When Christ is in us, this means that God is in us.
MAN’S INNER SATISFACTION BEING DEPENDENT ON THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PURPOSE
Since Christ, who is everything of God, is in us, we should be satisfied. However, although we have been saved, we are often unsatisfied. The reason is that the intention of God in coming into us is not only to satisfy us but even more to mingle Himself with us. God puts Himself in us to mingle Himself with us. Therefore, our real satisfaction depends on God’s being able to carry out His purpose in us so that God and man may be mingled together until one day everyone who has been saved is a God-man. This is God’s desire.
Praise the Lord! Not only is He the God who created the universe, but now He is also the God in us. Because He is in us, all that is required of us is to stop our outward man and come before Him, bowing down in worship to Him and beseeching Him, “O Lord, open my eyes that I may see how great, how rich, and how full You are in me. Lord, You are unlimited, and all that You are is in me.” When we see this, spontaneously we will cooperate with Him. Such a revelation, such a vision, will move us and lead us to cooperate with Him. Then He will be able to flow out of us. At that time we will not need to seek satisfaction; we will have satisfaction and rest within because God the Creator will have been mingled with us. This fulfills the original purpose of God’s creation of man, allowing Him to put Himself into the vessel He created.
(Dead to Law but Living to God, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
